16 Core Mac Pro Late 2011?

[philipma1957]

I don't care for more cores. 6 is plenty with software around these days. Crank up the clock speed and RAM amounts please.

yeah My 6 core 3.2 w3670 is fast .

I can't help but wonder how a 6 core sandy bridge cpu lets say a 3.6 hex would be able to do. drop in a few yet to be built intel 600gb sataIII ssds along with 4 low cost 16gb sticks of ram (also not low cost as of today) and watch that machine fly. This machine may exist in less then 18 months at a non killer price.


the killer is the ram at 850 a stick

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-T610-16GB-...ltDomain_0&hash=item35b1e9ddc9#ht_3496wt_1141

 

[Chris7]

Thanks for the info, Umbongo and Hexley.

-Chris

 

[Chris7]

Questions I just posted answered here.

 

[ranbo]

6-core in the base model seems likely, given that there might be another one and a half years until the next Mac Pro update. Followed by 8-core etc. etc. I'm curios how long it will take until most software will really benefit from all these cores.

I wonder if the development until 2020+ will really be as many cores as possible, I don't know, somewhere more and more cores might start to become ineffective, just like with the ghz wall. What else would be there to improve next? I mean, 10 years ago everybody talked about 10 ghz chips in 2010, and look what we have now. Maybe in 10 years we will read predictions of 64 or 128 core machines from now and laugh about it just like we laugh about the predictions of 2001.]

My guess is that the industry will get better at utilizing the power of massively parallel processing such as that obtained from GPUs. For those doing "bitcoin mining", for example, people found that they could get 200 units of work done per second using a GPU compared to 6 using a good multi-core CPU. The challenge is figuring out how to get the code to utilize that power.

 

[Psychomacuser]

6-core in the base model seems likely, given that there might be another one and a half years until the next Mac Pro update. Followed by 8-core etc. etc. I'm curios how long it will take until most software will really benefit from all these cores.

I wonder if the development until 2020+ will really be as many cores as possible, I don't know, somewhere more and more cores might start to become ineffective, just like with the ghz wall. What else would be there to improve next? I mean, 10 years ago everybody talked about 10 ghz chips in 2010, and look what we have now. Maybe in 10 years we will read predictions of 64 or 128 core machines from now and laugh about it just like we laugh about the predictions of 2001.]

My guess is that the industry will get better at utilizing the power of massively parallel processing such as that obtained from GPUs. For those doing "bitcoin mining", for example, people found that they could get 200 units of work done per second using a GPU compared to 6 using a good multi-core CPU. The challenge is figuring out how to get the code to utilize that power.

I seriously doubt the mac pro will be around after 2015.. See NanoFrogs arguments and posts regarding this. He has given many clues for this.

 

[AMDGAMER]

When does it end? 100 cores? LOL

but seriously 16 cores sounds like a powerhouse

 

[macbook pro i5]

I'm betting on a 16 core mac pro although it will be interesting to see if it has sandy bridge architecture

 

[deconstruct60]

You mean EP? Socket 1356 is the replacement for 1366. Since the Mac Pro is on 1366 now, its seems only reasonable that it will go to 1356. Therefore it should be EN, not EP.

No it is not reasonable. The E5 Xeon place the PCI-e controller inside the CPU package. The '-EN' series looses PCI-e lanes from what it could have ( among some other things. ). Additionally, it is going to arrive later.

There are "uniprocessor" versions of the E5 ( 1600 ) that fit the 2011 socket (socket R)

http://www.cpu-world.com/news_2011/2011020803_Details_on_Intel_Xeon_E5_product_families.html

If Apple selected the some 1600 versions (replacement for the 3500 & 3600 series in current ) and 2600 ( replace for the 5600 series in current) that would be the natural line up.

The only reason to slide updates to 2012 to wait for the 2400 series would be that the prices on the 1600 and 2600 didn't closely match those of the (3500 & 3600) and 5600 options. Instead of '3' and '5' it is '1' and '2' as leading prefixes. Otherwise, it is a loosing choice because the 2400 series has the following properties:

i. it comes out much later.
ii. fewer high speed PCI-e lanes. (*)
iii. Mismatch to the 4 DIMM slot design. (**)
iv. lower memory bandwith because still stuck at 3 memory controllers when have increased cores and internal throughput. ( lower top end throughput on heavy workloads).


I think the 2400 Xeon is aimed at sub $2,000 "mini-tower" workstations and sub $1,500 servers. Systems where shaving costs to keep the price down. However, so is the 1600 and it comes out sooner. [guessing but suspect the 1600's will have higher clock rate and the 2400's will be slower but allow for dual packages with mild bandwidth problems (only QPI link for both processor and southbridge traffic) in similar system price zones. )

* -- Apple could "get by" with fewer lanes since only going to have around 4 slots. However, current designs use a switch. It would be better to get rid of the switch. 4 slots with 100% throughput.


** -- if Apple sticks with the horizontal daughtercard design for the CPU/Memory sockets then 4 is all have room for unless case gets a bump in width. While Apple probably won't go multiple DIMMs per channel ( 2400 shaves the limit to cut costs). Peak memory bandwidth is better if go 'wide' ( as opposed to 'deep' )

 

[deconstruct60]

What do the people here speculate will be Apple's offerings for the various Mac Pro's in late 2011, early 2012?

"Single Package " Mac Pro with E5 1600 series in it. 3 models: 4 core , 6 core, 8 core

[ Hopefully, Mac Pro product managers grow some balls and take back the lower end of $2,000 price range and put the 4 core model at the $2,099 price point. Or even $2,199 (where the optional i7 Mac is.)

but the 8 core model will be even higher priced than the current hex. ]

"Dual Package " Mac Pro with E6 2600 series in it. Depends upon Intel's pricing. If there is a 2600 with 6 cores that matches the 5620 4 core price then starts at 6. However, I suspect Intel will likely push prices up again by $20-80 so Apple will likely select a 4 core model. Wouldn't be suprised if this too went 4 , 6 , 8 core (in pairs) for a "good , better , best" line-up.

4 PCI-e v3.0 slots
4 DIMM slots ( per CPU package )

slightly shorter ( but deeper/wider ) case and two drive sleds on the front ( tossing the optical drive from the configs. )

There is will be a "server" variant which could use those two drive sleds to run the system.

Mainstream Video cards ( with just plain mini-display port ). [ whatever was 'current' for AMD line-up back in April-June timeframe that fits the Mac Pro power supply/dissipation envelope. ]

 

[Jack40]

When new Mac Pro is expected to be realeased?

When new Mac Pro is expected to be realeased?

 

[blunti]

When new Mac Pro is expected to be realeased?

there's been some rumor about a possible late july/early august release but tbh nobody knows...




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[derbothaus]

there's been some rumor about a possible late july/early august release but tbh nobody knows...

That can be said for every month from here on out. The rumor about the special Apple Intel chip thing has thrown timetable's into a panic. Otherwise (if they don't phase the Pro out) I would expect by no later than Q1 2012.

 

[xgman]

there's been some rumor about a possible late july/early august release but tbh nobody knows...

That rumor sure has grown cold. ice cold.

 

[Chris7]

... "Dual Package " Mac Pro with E6 2600 series in it. Depends upon Intel's pricing. If there is a 2600 with 6 cores that matches the 5620 4 core price then starts at 6. However, I suspect Intel will likely push prices up again by $20-80 so Apple will likely select a 4 core model. Wouldn't be suprised if this too went 4 , 6 , 8 core (in pairs) for a "good , better , best" line-up...slightly shorter ( but deeper/wider ) case and two drive sleds on the front ( tossing the optical drive from the configs. ...

Say, deconstruct... IIRC, you know something about NLE's. What effect do you think Apple's leaving the pro market with Final Cut X will have on the next gen of Mac Pro's?

(Hopefully the good moderators here will not kick me off for my assumption that Apple is done with pro NLE's. It's just the only way I can make sense of a $400 program with NO WAY to export to color grading suites. I think Apple knew they were about to either leave the market gracefully, or get squeezed out. Premiere Pro was getting too fluid/stable and Avid Media Composer was getting too affordable.)

I thought Apple kept FCP primarily to sell overpriced Mac Pro's. Fair enough, it looked like this was similar to the way Avid used to require outrageously overpriced propitiatory basic and necessary hardware -- Avid still has their own hardware, but it looks like it's mainly for graphics acceleration...

Anyroads, again my question is (assuming there's an ounce of truth to my assumptions about what Apple did with FCP X), will this make way for affordable Mac Pros? A Mac Pro Mini?

Last question: At this point, I just want a 6 core Mac Pro. What do the people here wager I might pay for it late 2011/early 2012.

(It's common curtacy to respond when someone answers one's questions. I'm going to be out for a while and may not be able to do so. But I'll be watching this thread. The people here's knowledge and speculations are appreciated.)

Back to work and no time to re-read this.. please kindly look past my typos.

 

[dndlnx]

I'm waiting on the 16-core Mac Pro with a 10 meg pipe.

 

[apolloa]

If Apple do change the MacBook Pro line at the end of the year and change it's design dropping the ODD etc, then I would fully expect a new design Mac Pro too. Apple would change the Pro lineup at the same time?

But if they do drop the ODD in the laptops, what does that mean for the Mac Pro re-design? ODD or no ODD? It's now gone from one desktop mac already..

 

[nanofrog]

If Apple do change the MacBook Pro line at the end of the year and change it's design dropping the ODD etc, then I would fully expect a new design Mac Pro too. Apple would change the Pro lineup at the same time?

But if they do drop the ODD in the laptops, what does that mean for the Mac Pro re-design? ODD or no ODD? It's now gone from one desktop mac already..

Hopefully, they'll have enough sense to keep it in this particular market, so users can actually install software they already own (i.e. shipped on an optical disk, not a download).