Westmere Next Mac Pro?

[Tallest Skil]

Same amount of memory slots as the outgoing model.. Eight..

I think he meant that Gainestown boards are supposed to have 12 memory slots, but Apple took out 4 for space reasons.

Bingo.

Ah, I don't think you can even fit 12 without going eATX.

That doesn't matter. The fact that it could have had twelve means that it SHOULD have had twelve.

 

[dr. shdw]

Bingo.

That doesn't matter. The fact that it could have had twelve means that it SHOULD have had twelve.

Not really, if the form factor doesn't support it, why would they?

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12405&Itemid=37

ASUS Skulltrail Gainestown Motherboard. 6 Slots.

It's probably able to support up to 12 slots, but it doesn't have to. I doubt the motherboard spec Intel puts out requires 12 slots.

 

[Tallest Skil]

Not really, if the form factor doesn't support it, why would they?

The point I'm trying to make is that they should have changed the form factor to do so, then, right?

Had they made it JUST a little longer, they could have put all twelve RAM slots on the daughterboard front to back between the CPU heatsinks.

They could have then left the quad-core case as it was (to get rid of that size of case) and had their restrictive hardware throttling with just that.

 

[dr. shdw]

The point I'm trying to make is that they should have changed the form factor to do so, then, right?

Had they made it JUST a little longer, they could have put all twelve RAM slots on the daughterboard front to back between the CPU heatsinks.

They could have then left the quad-core case as it was (to get rid of that size of case) and had their restrictive hardware throttling with just that.

They could have, but nothing in the spec requires them to.

 

[iMacmatician]

The Mac Pro could have been so much better, but it isn't.

The lack of RAM slots is only the start. It doesn't matter that they don't have to have 12, would people be satisfied with 3 or 4?

And filling up all the RAM slots means a loss of 3-channel RAM.

 

[dr. shdw]

The Mac Pro could have been so much better, but it isn't.

The lack of RAM slots is only the start. It doesn't matter that they don't have to have 12, would people be satisfied with 3 or 4?

And filling up all the RAM slots means a loss of 3-channel RAM.

This is true, it could have been better.

What else is bad about it? Most single core boards have 3-4 memory slots, maybe the spec for a single Xeon doesn't allow for more slots, who knows. I'm sure we'll find out by the end of the month..

And yes, tri-channel of course is needed in triples.

 

[Tallest Skil]

Most single core boards have 3-4 memory slots, maybe the spec for a single Xeon doesn't allow for more slots, who knows. I'm sure we'll find out by the end of the month..

Single allows for six, it has four. Dual allows for twelve, it has eight.

 

[iMacmatician]

What else is bad about it?

Compared to the previous Mac Pro? Let's see…

• Lack of Quadro
• Lack of 3.2 GHz CPU
• Only 2.27 GHz CPU in low-end octo-core
• 4-core Mac Pro even more crippled
• Lack of certain hard drive options
• Low-end GPU as default instead of midrange

Most single core boards have 3-4 memory slots,

I was talking about dual-CPU.

 

[efxgraphx]

They should change the grill holes... and make it smaller... like the new unibody MacBook Pro speakers... and for dust proof reasons:

My kittens wouldnt like smaller grill holes =)

 

[Appelflap]

My kittens wouldnt like smaller grill holes =)

You just let them be, that's hilarious!