Details on Intel's potential Mac Pro 6-core i7 processor leaked
Intel's forthcoming "Gulftown" 32nm, six-core processor will be known as the Core i7-980X and could be a part of new Mac Pro systems from Apple in early 2010.
Contrary to earlier reports, the new processors will not adopt the Core i9 name, and will allegedly keep the Core i7 title, according to leaked information relayed by Hardmac, the English-language version of French Apple site MacBidouille. The new processor, code-named "Gulftown" will fall under the i7 "Extreme Edition" category, the first of which will be the i7-980X.
The alleged roadmap from Intel shows that the processor will clock in at 3.33GHz. That chip is expected to arrive in March 2010, but in the past, Apple has reached exclusive agreements with Intel to be the first to carry its new processors.
Previous reports have suggested Apple is testing the new Xeon chip, based on the Gulftown architecture, in its Mac Pro desktop. The new, upgraded processor features more horsepower and lower power consumption, and will be the first dual-socket, six-core processor for Intel.
The new 32 nanometer chips have 12MB of L3 cache, and six cores with 12 threads for each CPU. Apple usually doubles the processors in its high-end professional workstations, so it's possible the new Mac Pro system could have a total of 12 cores and 24 threads. The new hardware could be released sometime in the first quarter of 2010.
The last major refresh to the Mac Pro equipped it with its Nehalem Xeon processors, with a high-end eight-core Mac Pro offering two 2.26GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5500 chips. Earlier this month, Apple quietly upgraded that to a potential maximum 2.93GHz eight-core system.
Contrary to earlier reports, the new processors will not adopt the Core i9 name, and will allegedly keep the Core i7 title, according to leaked information relayed by Hardmac, the English-language version of French Apple site MacBidouille. The new processor, code-named "Gulftown" will fall under the i7 "Extreme Edition" category, the first of which will be the i7-980X.
The alleged roadmap from Intel shows that the processor will clock in at 3.33GHz. That chip is expected to arrive in March 2010, but in the past, Apple has reached exclusive agreements with Intel to be the first to carry its new processors.
Previous reports have suggested Apple is testing the new Xeon chip, based on the Gulftown architecture, in its Mac Pro desktop. The new, upgraded processor features more horsepower and lower power consumption, and will be the first dual-socket, six-core processor for Intel.
The new 32 nanometer chips have 12MB of L3 cache, and six cores with 12 threads for each CPU. Apple usually doubles the processors in its high-end professional workstations, so it's possible the new Mac Pro system could have a total of 12 cores and 24 threads. The new hardware could be released sometime in the first quarter of 2010.
The last major refresh to the Mac Pro equipped it with its Nehalem Xeon processors, with a high-end eight-core Mac Pro offering two 2.26GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5500 chips. Earlier this month, Apple quietly upgraded that to a potential maximum 2.93GHz eight-core system.
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But I don't think apple will drop the Xeon branding for their Mac Pros. After all, this is supposed to be a professional workstation and not just a gammer's computer.
By the way, I think this CPU alone will be around 90% of the power of two Xeon 5464 which where in the 2008 Mac Pro. Now imagine how fast a pair of them would be
Can someone explain what "dual-socket" means? Does this mean a redesigned motherboard and case?
It means that there is two sockets on the motherboard. This let you put two CPUs on one board and roughly double the computing power; just like dual-core did to single CPUs.
Can someone explain what "dual-socket" means? Does this mean a redesigned motherboard and case?
Dual socket means the motherboard has two cpu sockets, something the top end mac pros have always had. So no it doesn't mean that you will get a new case. You can hope though. The existing motherboards should be able to accept these processors, but that doesn't rule out a new motherboard... especially if lightpeak makes its debut.
Basically, so long as AMD continues to lag behind the Nehalem architecture, Intel has no reason to release these new chips at lower prices. I suspect that the 8 core, 2.26 GHz Nehalem Mac Pro released in March 2009 was the best deal on a Mac Pro that we are likely to see for some time (glad I picked mine up when I did).
Intel's forthcoming "Gulftown" 32nm, six-core processor will be known as the Core i7-980X and could be a part of new Mac Pro systems from Apple in early 2010.
This doesn't really make sense. Apple has historically used Xeon chips in the Mac Pros, not desktop chips, so we'd expect to see them using something like the X58*0 chips listed here, not something binned as an "i7-Extreme Edition."
DOWN WITH AT&T!!!!
( I am not a troll, I am just trying to spread the word)
Are you hoping to prove iPhone users are the problem?
I'll be interesting to see the performance benchmarks for these 12-core machines. There's some interesting research out there that suggests anything past 8 cores actually has a negative impact on overall performance. I hope it's proven wrong in real-world tests though.
I can?t see how multiple cores can be bad. We have GPUs and Supercomputers sporting a lot more than 8-cores. Any limitation seems to be from our OS and apps at this point.
I?m going to go out on a limb and say that a 2xSex-core Mac Pro will be impressive in benchmarks, yet not impressive enough to warrant the price for most people. Call me crazy!
I can?t see how multiple cores can be bad. We have GPUs and Supercomputers sporting a lot more than 8-cores. Any limitation seems to be from our OS and apps at this point.
I?m going to go out on a limb and say that a 2xSex-core Mac Pro will be impressive in benchmarks, yet not impressive enough to warrant the price for most people. Call me crazy!
Anyone who wonders why you need more than 8 cores has never worked with "real" HD footage in a large project in Final Cut. If there is a lot of rendering to be done... even 8 cores can takes hours to render minutes of footage.
Pretty!!
But I don't think apple will drop the Xeon branding for their Mac Pros. After all, this is supposed to be a professional workstation and not just a gammer's computer.
By the way, I think this CPU alone will be around 90% of the power of two Xeon 5464 which where in the 2008 Mac Pro. Now imagine how fast a pair of them would be
Its intel's decision, not Apple's.
This doesn't really make sense. Apple has historically used Xeon chips in the Mac Pros, not desktop chips, so we'd expect to see them using something like the X58*0 chips listed here, not something binned as an "i7-Extreme Edition."
Xeon and Core are brandings, nothing more. The only difference right now between a xeon 3500 bloomfield and a core i7 bloomfield is that ECC memory support is disabled. If they were to ditch the xeon branding, and use core I7-900 for high end single socket cpus and i9 for multi- socket cpus, intel could probably save some money having to give two different names to the same chips.
Its intel's decision, not Apple's.
Well, it does take two to tango. And it's the market's decision whether to pay a premium price for an early stepping that may be the subject of significant errata.
DOWN WITH AT&T!!!!
Iphone USERS, HELP BRING AT&T'S NETWORK TO ITS KNEES THIS FRIDAY AT
12:00pm PST... IF YOU HAVE AN iPhone RUN THE MOST DATA INTENSIVE APP
YOU HAVE OVER THE 3G NETWORK FOR AS LONG AS YOU CAN... REMEMBER, ITS
THIS FRIDAY AT 12:00pm PST, 3:00pm EASTERN
HELP SPREAD THE WORD!
( I am not a troll, I am just trying to spread the word)
Quit being a troll AND a jerk. All you're going to do is flood the network for the rest of us.
Xeon and Core are brandings, nothing more.
I'm not sure what your point is. Do you expect to see something binned as an i7 EE in a Mac Pro?
I'll be interesting to see the performance benchmarks for these 12-core machines. There's some interesting research out there that suggests anything past 8 cores actually has a negative impact on overall performance. I hope it's proven wrong in real-world tests though.
I think it's inevitable that performance will be hampered and this IMO is primarily due to limited memory bandwidth and latency issues once we move to 8+ cores and there's also the software inefficiencis.
Thankfully Intel has been working dilligently to improve multithreading capabilities in not only their CPU but also their development tools with Intel Thread Building Blocks. They've also helped with memory bandwidth with their Quick Path Interconnects
Apple will continue to push Grand Central Dispatch and my hope is that most developers are onboard with GCD optimized software after 10.7.
Sandy Bridge is going to bring 8-core per socket so we're going to see 16 core 32 thread CPU in 2011. We'd better have the bus bandwidth and software smarts to keep as many cores fed as possible.