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Desktop-class CPU in new iMacs (E8xxx series)

B

b0lls1nne

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 6, 2007
3
0
Seems to me that Intel's custom CPUs for the recent (2008) iMacs all are labeled E8xxx, which is Intel's designation for desktop CPUs. This is in contrast to previous Intel iMacs which used the Txxxx mobile CPUs (except the previous 2.8GHz 24", which I believe used the X7900 -- still a mobile CPU, but with slightly higher power consumption).

Some recent Geekbench postings reveal the actual model numbers (which do not seem to be part of Intel's public products):

E8135 @ 2.40 GHz: http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/54815
E8335 @ 2.66 GHz: http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/54962
E8235 @ 2.80 GHz: http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/55542
E8435 @ 3.06 Ghz: http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/55388

Other people here have concluded that the chipset in these machines is Santa Rosa rather than Montevina. However, this site apparently categorizes these CPUs as part of Montevina:

http://www.nbcpu.com/showproduct.asp?ID=740 (note links to other CPUs on the right)

Does anyone else get curious by this? The new iMac seems to be some sort of Santa Rosa/Montevina hybrid on crack, with custom desktop-class CPUs thrown in.

Does the E8xxx designation actually say anything interesting about the CPU core, or is it just Intel's way of telling Apple that this is too hot for laptops?
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

This I'd very curious and I have wondered about the CPU in the new iMac myself. I don't know much about them but it would appear that Apple has in fact gone with a desktop class CPU which is some sort of Hybrid between Santa Rosa and Montevina. Anyone else have any info on this?
 
Intel has publicly stated that the systemboard in the new iMacs is based on the Santa Rosa platform / Mobile 965 Express with an increased FSB (1066MHz from 800MHz) and memory bus (800MHz from 667MHz). The Montevina / Mobile 45 Express chipset also has a 1066MHz FSB and 800 MHz memory bus which threw off many folks (myself included) who assumed Apple had been granted early access to Montevina.

The E8000 series of Core 2 Duo CPUs are designed for desktops, but their TDP is low enough to allow them to be used in the iMac. Ironically, the E8000 series are designed to support a 1333MHz FSB, but they work fine at 1066MHz.
 
they also should be about 200 bucks cheaper why arent the imacs:confused::confused:

ha like apple would drop the price lol
 
CWallace said:
Intel has publicly stated that the systemboard in the new iMacs is based on the Santa Rosa platform / Mobile 965 Express with an increased FSB (1066MHz from 800MHz) and memory bus (800MHz from 667MHz). The Montevina / Mobile 45 Express chipset also has a 1066MHz FSB and 800 MHz memory bus which threw off many folks (myself included) who assumed Apple had been granted early access to Montevina.

.
Click to expand...
Is it a useing the same SR chips or are they some kind of a Montevina Santa Rosa mix?
 
The E8x35 CPUs use Socket P

Hi guys,

and thank you for all your wise answers to my original questions!

CWallace said:
The E8000 series of Core 2 Duo CPUs are designed for desktops, but their TDP is low enough to allow them to be used in the iMac. Ironically, the E8000 series are designed to support a 1333MHz FSB, but they work fine at 1066MHz.
Click to expand...

I had another look at this link:

http://www.nbcpu.com/showproduct.asp?ID=740

It seems the iMac E8x35 babies use socket P, which was introduced with Santa Rosa (i.e., mobile Merom/Penryn). This suggests to me that these are basically standard laptop Penryn CPUs, but certified for higher frequencies/power consumption. So, the 'E8xxx' label probably just means 'too hot for laptops.'

Apple perhaps gets a better deal on these than the corresponding Montevina-compatible Penryns. The performance should be identical, and battery life is not an issue with the iMac anyway. I don't think Montevina was going to include a 2.66GHz option either.

(Disclaimer: I don't actually understand the asian writing on the page linked above...)
 
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