New Mac Pro sports eight cores - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 6th Apr 2007, 07:40

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/04...s_eight_cores/

ou7blaze · 6th Apr 2007, 09:06

Bit excessive? Hardly anyone has even heard of quad core for Windows and we have 8 cores now for Apple computers :O

flabber · 6th Apr 2007, 11:35

Not really all that excessive tbh. Mac Pro's aren't really targetted at gaming-rigs either. They're workstations, targetted at the pro-market. Renderers, 3D-dev's, Cad-Cam and such are the points where this rig is top dollar

The actual CPU-model used by Apple is the (at the time of this writing) unreleased Xeon X5365, which is being produced in a limited stock at the moment. At least, that's what Intel's PR director Ruben Simpliciano says

genesisofthesith · 6th Apr 2007, 11:50

Wonder how other vendors feel about apple (a small vendor in terms of volume and revenue) getting preferential treatment from intel?

DreamTheEndless · 6th Apr 2007, 13:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by flabber

Not really all that excessive tbh. Mac Pro's aren't really targetted at gaming-rigs either. They're workstations, targetted at the pro-market. Renderers, 3D-dev's, Cad-Cam and such are the points where this rig is top dollar

The actual CPU-model used by Apple is the (at the time of this writing) unreleased Xeon X5365, which is being produced in a limited stock at the moment. At least, that's what Intel's PR director Ruben Simpliciano says

Yeah - I think the fact that the proc is exclusive to Apple should be added to the article.

Currently, other vendors can only get 2.66ghz quad core xeons.

(Also, in regards to price - if you try to spec out an 8 core dell, it comes in at an even higher price, and that's with 2.66 ghz cpus, not 3.0)

Da Dego · 6th Apr 2007, 14:07

Points listed above have been added to the article. As well, please note the one other clarification - Apple IS intending to market this as a super-powered gaming rig as well as a workstation.

DreamTheEndless · 6th Apr 2007, 14:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Da Dego

Points listed above have been added to the article. As well, please note the one other clarification - Apple IS intending to market this as a super-powered gaming rig as well as a workstation.

That's why I love bit-tech - they actually listen to their readers....

Thanks guys.

(I know, "listen" is the wrong verb for a written media, but the spirit of it sounds better than the alternatives. Oops - there I go again with "sounds better" - you guys know what I mean.....)

DXR_13KE · 6th Apr 2007, 14:48

this is not a gaming system.... it lacks a great graphics card.

koola · 6th Apr 2007, 14:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by DXR_13KE

this is not a gaming system.... it lacks a great graphics card.

How is a X1900XT 512MB not a great gaming card?

You can even have a NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 512MB for the multi-monitor graphics workstation guru

DXR_13KE · 6th Apr 2007, 16:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by koola

How is a X1900XT 512MB not a great gaming card?

how about a pair of 8800GTX? if you are going to have a ludicrous GPU you better have a ludicrous GPU.

Cupboard · 6th Apr 2007, 17:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by DXR_13KE

how about a pair of 8800GTX? if you are going to have a ludicrous GPU you better have a ludicrous GPU.

Well, as it does quad sli, you can but hope for 4...

Hamish · 6th Apr 2007, 18:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamTheEndless

(Also, in regards to price - if you try to spec out an 8 core dell, it comes in at an even higher price, and that's with 2.66 ghz cpus, not 3.0)

it does come with a 10k rpm SAS 300gig drive and a SAS raid controller to match

if you match similar specs on the 2 sites you get something like this:

dell:
dual quad core 2.66
4gig ram
quadro 4500
300gig 10k rpm sas + raid controller
16x dvdrw
24" WS dell
3yr NBD dell support
£6k + vat :|

apple:
dual quad core 3ghz
4gig ram
quadro 4500
250gig 7200rpm sata
23" WS cinema
applecare (1 year warranty, 3 years support)
£4200 + vat

so still way cheaper but the disk subsystem and support seems to be lacking a bit on the apple side

anyone else think that 8 cores of xeon is going to be horribly horribly memory limited?

Ramble · 6th Apr 2007, 18:44

Fast workstation? Yes
Fast gaming station? No. Throwing tons of RAM and CPU at a game won't do much right now (and how fast is that RAM? As fast as that DDR-1000 RAM?).

Firehed · 7th Apr 2007, 00:24

Apple isn't exactly world-renowned for its gaming prowess. I would very much like to see a citation for that bit; the Apple site for the Mac Pro merely says killer *workstation* graphics (and über-customizable - props for that!). I can only assume that programs like Photoshop and Final Cut get some extra speed from a more powerful GPU, as that would really be the only reason to get anything above the baseline chip.

It's actually has great value right now, but it's not like computers hold their value especially well. Just a couple years ago, you'd pay well over $500 for a rig with a 3GHz processor in it, and this has eight of them in one box. That said, I couldn't possibly justify a $5000+ rig for what I do.

thefriscokid · 7th Apr 2007, 01:25

just waiting for steve jobs to say apple has "reinvented" gaming with this 8 core mac pro. just need to rename it Igame and mac fanboys will rave about it like there's no tomorrow.

koola · 7th Apr 2007, 10:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by DXR_13KE

how about a pair of 8800GTX? if you are going to have a ludicrous GPU you better have a ludicrous GPU.

Fair point, but a X1900XT can still play most games at acceptable frame rates.

I would rather see game developers taking advantage of the extra cores and offloading some processing like physics onto the extra cores.

DreamTheEndless · 7th Apr 2007, 12:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by koola

Fair point, but a X1900XT can still play most games at acceptable frame rates.

I would rather see game developers taking advantage of the extra cores and offloading some processing like physics onto the extra cores.

Yeah - the stuff Valve is doing along these lines is very exciting.

GoodBytes · 7th Apr 2007, 14:20

Wait.. 8 CORES!
There is already little number of application or GAMES on the PC or MAC or LINUX that uses 2 cores...
What a waist of money. Really!

Yea its cool to have, but what is the point... and it will create so much heat under LOAD, that it will sound a air plane reactor. Water colling must be a need for this computer.

genesisofthesith · 7th Apr 2007, 14:35

The tasks that do use as many cores as you can throw at it (video editing, image creation and manipulation, CAD + rendering etc.) are what the powermac/MacPro's user base generally use.

If there was an 8 core macmini that would be ridiculous, but for a macpro I don't think its overkill - maybe excessive (not that great an advantage compared to two woodcrests in the same configuration) but not overkill.

DarkLord7854 · 7th Apr 2007, 17:46

I use a Mac Pro with 2 CPUs in it, makes a big difference when editing movies, don't need to spend 6 hours waiting for the movie to be rendered

6th Apr 2007, 07:40	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	New Mac Pro sports eight cores http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/04...s_eight_cores/ __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

6th Apr 2007, 09:06	#2
ou7blaze sensational. Join Date: May 2003 Location: Kowloon, Hong Kong. Posts: 2,625	Bit excessive? Hardly anyone has even heard of quad core for Windows and we have 8 cores now for Apple computers :O __________________ █▓▒▒▓█▓▒▒▓█▓▒▒▓█▓▒▒▓ Originally Posted by Greeneyedguy advice to all u masturbators... its a good idea to keep a pringles can with the bottom cut out next to u so u can put it over ur wang when ur parents come and tell em u were enjoyong some delicious low-fat potato chips...

6th Apr 2007, 11:35	#3
flabber Multimodder Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Netherlands Posts: 122	Not really all that excessive tbh. Mac Pro's aren't really targetted at gaming-rigs either. They're workstations, targetted at the pro-market. Renderers, 3D-dev's, Cad-Cam and such are the points where this rig is top dollar The actual CPU-model used by Apple is the (at the time of this writing) unreleased Xeon X5365, which is being produced in a limited stock at the moment. At least, that's what Intel's PR director Ruben Simpliciano says __________________ motustudio.org <---- fiddling around with Wordpress and such - Thermaltake Mozart, DFI Lanparty UT NF4 Ultra-D - AMD64 3800+ - XFX 7900 GT - 2Gb Corsair ram - 160Gb HD

6th Apr 2007, 11:50	#4
genesisofthesith complete spanner Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: swansea, wales Posts: 533	Wonder how other vendors feel about apple (a small vendor in terms of volume and revenue) getting preferential treatment from intel? __________________ My sweetest downfall

6th Apr 2007, 14:07	#6
Da Dego Brett Thomas Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Cleveland, OH USA Posts: 3,906	Points listed above have been added to the article. As well, please note the one other clarification - Apple IS intending to market this as a super-powered gaming rig as well as a workstation. __________________ "Frankly that seems overkill. iluvtrees2 arguing with spec is the intellectual equivalent of a bunny rabbit taking on a pissed-off lion." - Nexxo

6th Apr 2007, 14:48	#8
DXR_13KE Madeira's banana is the best!!! Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Madeira ; Portugal Posts: 6,480	this is not a gaming system.... it lacks a great graphics card. __________________ RENEGADE X CONTEST! <---- CLICK if you want to win a free Command & Conquer 4 beta key!

6th Apr 2007, 18:44	#13
Ramble Ginger Nut Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Exeter, Devon/Wantage, Oxfordshire Posts: 5,235	Fast workstation? Yes Fast gaming station? No. Throwing tons of RAM and CPU at a game won't do much right now (and how fast is that RAM? As fast as that DDR-1000 RAM?). __________________ Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Ensign Ricky are beaming down to the planet. Guess who's not coming back.

7th Apr 2007, 00:24	#14
Firehed Why not? I own a domain to match. Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: An hour north of Boston Posts: 12,576	Apple isn't exactly world-renowned for its gaming prowess. I would very much like to see a citation for that bit; the Apple site for the Mac Pro merely says killer workstation graphics (and über-customizable - props for that!). I can only assume that programs like Photoshop and Final Cut get some extra speed from a more powerful GPU, as that would really be the only reason to get anything above the baseline chip. It's actually has great value right now, but it's not like computers hold their value especially well. Just a couple years ago, you'd pay well over $500 for a rig with a 3GHz processor in it, and this has eight of them in one box. That said, I couldn't possibly justify a $5000+ rig for what I do. __________________ hire me @ eric-stern.com - web developer and php ninja pics @ my smugmug :: Twitter @firehed :: blog @ firehed.net 40D\|580EXII\|285HV\|AB800\|70-200f/4LIS\|17-50f/2.8\|150f/2.8Macro\|50f/1.8 MacPro @ 8x2.8GHz, 10GB FBDDR2, 3TB HD :: MBP @ 2x2.2GHz, 4GB DDR2, 320GB HD

7th Apr 2007, 01:25	#15
thefriscokid wtflollmao Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Oxford UK Posts: 424	just waiting for steve jobs to say apple has "reinvented" gaming with this 8 core mac pro. just need to rename it Igame and mac fanboys will rave about it like there's no tomorrow. __________________ Q66004 GB Corsair DominatorAsus 4870Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi2x 74 GB RaptorWD 250 GBHitachi 500 GB X-Fi Extreme GamerOCZ 700WVista Premium 64-BitLogitech Z-5500 5.1 THXBenQ FP241W & LG L1980Q mygamercard.net

7th Apr 2007, 14:20	#18
GoodBytes mother into a board?! Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Canada, Montreal Posts: 3,485	Wait.. 8 CORES! There is already little number of application or GAMES on the PC or MAC or LINUX that uses 2 cores... What a waist of money. Really! Yea its cool to have, but what is the point... and it will create so much heat under LOAD, that it will sound a air plane reactor. Water colling must be a need for this computer. __________________ AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ S939 \| 3GB of Corsair/Kingston (mix) RAM @ 400Mhz 3-3-3-8-2T \| ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe \| Geforce 260 GTX \| X-Fi XtreamMusic \| Western Digital 250GB SATA-II 16MB of Buffer \| Corsair HX620W \| Antec SOLO case \| Monitor: 24inch Dell U2410 \| Win 7 64-bit Go for Pro!

7th Apr 2007, 14:35	#19
genesisofthesith complete spanner Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: swansea, wales Posts: 533	The tasks that do use as many cores as you can throw at it (video editing, image creation and manipulation, CAD + rendering etc.) are what the powermac/MacPro's user base generally use. If there was an 8 core macmini that would be ridiculous, but for a macpro I don't think its overkill - maybe excessive (not that great an advantage compared to two woodcrests in the same configuration) but not overkill. __________________ My sweetest downfall

7th Apr 2007, 17:46	#20
DarkLord7854 Web Developer Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: West Palm Beach, Florida Posts: 3,847	I use a Mac Pro with 2 CPUs in it, makes a big difference when editing movies, don't need to spend 6 hours waiting for the movie to be rendered __________________ Current Computer: eVGA 780i Motherboard \| Q6600 Core2Quad \| eVGA GTX260 896Mbs 216-core \| 2x Seagate 500Gbs \| 8Gbs OCZ Platinum DDR2 800 \| Creative XtremeGamer X-Fi \| Thermaltake Armor Case Custom WordPress, ZenCart, Joomla, vBulletin, etc installs and skinning, PM/E-Mail for a quote