Kentsfield iMac ???

[wakerider017]

Hey guys,

New to this site and I will be buying an iMac within the next few months.

Rumors have it that intel is coming out with a desktop quad core CPU named kentsfield...

What are the chances of this ending up in the iMac?

Anyone wanna take a stab at a timeline?

Do you guys think we will get a quad core iMac by the time leopard comes out?



What time is lopard out coming out anyway? (Spring is a very vague timeframe, lol)

Thanks!

 

[dsnort]

I think the odds of a Kentsfield ending up in an iMac any time soon is very remote. Although it would be kind of funny if a kentsfield went in the iMac before a Merom found it's way into the MBP.

And spring is a very vague timeframe, though it's likely a lot more accurate than any projections about Vista. Welcome to Apple. You'll love it here.

 

[rogersmj]

I think the odds of a Kentsfield ending up in an iMac any time soon is very remote.

Remote? Try never, at least in the iMacs as we know them. Wakerider017, as you said, the Kentsfield chip is a desktop chip. The iMacs are designed to operate on laptop chips -- hence why we have a Merom in the iMacs now. There is currently no quad-core mobile processor on Intel's roadmap (that I know of), so short of a complete iMac redesign, we'll never see Kentsfield in an iMac. And I don't think Apple will ever use desktop chips in an iMac, because then they'd have to make it bigger to accomodate the extra power circuitry and cooling that desktop chips require. The iMac does very well with mobile chips, so why would they change?

 

[macjonny1]

And I don't think Apple will ever use desktop chips in an iMac

What about the G5? Wasn't that a "desktop" chip? It probably ran a lot hotter than Conroe but I don't know the specs.

 

[rogersmj]

What about the G5? Wasn't that a "desktop" chip? It probably ran a lot hotter than Conroe but I don't know the specs.

True, but I'm thinking about them moving forward. They want to continue to make the iMac thinner, I assume, and use as little power and expel as little heat as possible. That's the ideal regular-consumer machine. It just wouldn't make sense, now that they've gone to mobile chips, to ever go back to desktop chips and the (rather large) heat and power requirement gains that come with them. Obviously, I could totally be wrong, but I think that's the slot they want the iMac to fill and they'd rather that people who need 4+ cores just get a Mac Pro, or an xMac when/if they become available.

 

[wakerider017]

Hopefully by the time Leopard comes out, intel will have something in store for the iMac!

There is supposed to be another CPU coming out later in the year that is quad core and uses much less power... Maybe there will be a mobile chip then... But looking that far away it is just pure speculation.

Either way I am going to wait to buy my iMac b/c I don't want to pay for an OS twice in 1 year...



You guys would not believe how much I am suffering!

Here are my current PC specs:

501MHZ Celeron (Mendocino - socket 370 ppga)
192MB Ram
i810 chipset
integrated graphics
linksys 10/100 ethernet card


Here are the specs of the PC I just sold:

DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR Expert
AMD Athlon 64 FX55 San Diego
Mushkin eXtreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR 500
eVGA 7900GT
WD Raptor 74gb
NEC Black DVD+/-RW ND-3550A
ENERMAX Liberty ELT500AWT ATX12V 500W Power Supply


You guys have no idea about the witdraw I am going through right now... It feels Like I have gone back in time 10 years!


I guess this shows you if I am willing to do this I must really want a Mac

 

[dsnort]

Remote? Try never....

Hmmm, yes, I believe your terminology would be more accurate.

 

[~Shard~]

I don't think we'll see a Kentsfield iMac. Technically, since the iMac has Merom, one could argue that they may go with Santa Rosa, Nehalem or Penryn instead. Regardless, I'd just wait for Clovertown myself.

 

[wakerider017]

Do you guys think the Merom chip has not found its way into the MB and MBP b/c of a surplus of older versions... (Being that the chips are soldered on...) ???

Or maybe a shortage of Merom chips???

 

[dmw007]

Not sure how you can live with that ancient PeeCee wakerider017, are you sure you don't want to buy an iMac this year?

What about the G5? Wasn't that a "desktop" chip? It probably ran a lot hotter than Conroe but I don't know the specs.

Yes, the PowerPC G5 was/is a desktop processor (and it runs even hotter than Conroe does).

Do you guys think the Merom chip has not found its way into the MB and MBP b/c of a surplus of older versions... (Being that the chips are soldered on...) ???

Or maybe a shortage of Merom chips???

I think that you will see Merom based MacBook Pros (and possibly MacBooks) released on September 25 at the Photokina event.

 

[wakerider017]

I don't think we'll see a Kentsfield iMac. Technically, since the iMac has Merom, one could argue that they may go with Santa Rosa, Nehalem or Penryn instead. Regardless, I'd just wait for Clovertown myself.

clovertown is a server chip and will have the same heat issues at kent...

Are you trying to tell me to get a Mac Pro? hahaha

 

[~Shard~]

clovertown is a server chip and will have the same heat issues at kent...

Are you trying to tell me to get a Mac Pro? hahaha

Yes, yes I was. Sorry, should have thrown a or in there...

Hey, at least I didn't recommend waiting for Dunnington!

 

[wakerider017]

Not sure how you can live with that ancient PeeCee wakerider017, are you sure you don't want to buy an iMac this year?

It is misery! I hate this POS! I swear, When I get my Mac I am going to take a hammer to this thing!


I want to buy an iMac this year.... But I want leopard worse! I am a poor college kid that has to get it right the first time around...

 

[rogersmj]

Do you guys think the Merom chip has not found its way into the MB and MBP b/c of a surplus of older versions... (Being that the chips are soldered on...) ???

Or maybe a shortage of Merom chips???

I think there is a high demand for Merom chips, and Apple wanted to shunt its first shipments into the iMac rather than spread it thin and face shortages across two whole product lines.

If I were you, suffering on that Celeron, I'd just buy the iMac. Don't wait for the next iMac, it will undoubtedly be quite awhile. Just knowing what I know about Intel's roadmap and Apple's release patterns, I'll put my personal wild guess at next March or May for the next serious iMac update, at the soonest; I can't find anything right now about what's next for Intel's mobile chips after Merom.

 

[~Shard~]

I want to buy an iMac this year.... But I want leopard worse! I am a poor college kid that has to get it right the first time around...

Just realize that if you're always playing the waiting game, you'll end up doing just that - waiting. If you wait for Leopard, then there'll be a rumor that new iMacs will be out a few months later. And then 802.11n will become cost-effective and widespread, so you better wait for that. Then something else will be on the horizon... ad infinitum. You just can't win, so decide what machine you want and when you need it and you can't go too wrong.

 

[Sobering]

It is misery! I hate this POS! I swear, When I get my Mac I am going to take a hammer to this thing!


I want to buy an iMac this year.... But I want leopard worse! I am a poor college kid that has to get it right the first time around...

I'm sorry to say but there is no such thing as getting it right the first time around.

 

[wakerider017]

Just realize that if you're always playing the waiting game, you'll end up doing just that - waiting. If you wait for Leopard, then there'll be a rumor that new iMacs will be out a few months later. And then 802.11n will become cost-effective and widespread, so you better wait for that. Then something else will be on the horizon... ad infinitum. You just can't win, so decide what machine you want and when you need it and you can't go too wrong.

I know I know....

If there is another big promotion for iMacs like the free ipod I might buy one...



Can someone let me know how often apple has big promotions like this?

I am very new to the apple world... Sorry.

 

[~Shard~]

I know I know....

If there is another big promotion for iMacs like the free ipod I might buy one...



Can someone let me know how often apple has big promotions like this?

I am very new to the apple world... Sorry.

No need to apologize at all. That's what we're all here for - to get your questions answered and help you make a good decision. Since they just had a promotion, I don't forsee another one coming anytime soon, but you never know. With the current iMac line being recently refreshed though with the introduction of the 24" model and C2Ds, I think you'd be fairly safe in buying one now. Just realize that no matter when you buy, something better will be released a few months afterwards...

 

[dmw007]

It is misery! I hate this POS! I swear, When I get my Mac I am going to take a hammer to this thing!

Be sure to post some pics when you do that!

I want to buy an iMac this year.... But I want leopard worse! I am a poor college kid that has to get it right the first time around...

Leopard as an upgrade is likely to only cost $69 (the current education price for Tiger).

 

[wakerider017]

I may try and pick up a 733Mhz G4 for around $100...

That will be much better than what I have now and I would be able to hold out for a few months with it...

But I still would be lusting for an intel mac, as I want to play conuter-strike again!

 

[Pressure]

What's wrong with the current iMac with Core 2 Duo?

 

[~Shard~]

What's wrong with the current iMac with Core 2 Duo?

Good point - absolutely nothing IMO.

 

[wakerider017]

Good point - absolutely nothing IMO.

Devil's Advocate: What was wrong with the Core Duo iMac? -- "absolutely nothing"




Haha

 

[Eidorian]

The mobile line of Intel chips DOES NOT currently have anything beyond dual core in its roadmap. The only way for the iMac to compete with other Quad-core offerings in the future would be to go to a desktop chip.

 

[wakerider017]

The mobile line of Intel chips DOES NOT currently have anything beyond dual core in its roadmap. The only way for the iMac to compete with other Quad-core offerings in the future would be to go to a desktop chip.

Which is possible... Apple changed the iMac case a LOT a few months ago... (So much that you can't replace the HDD any more without voiding the warranty)


Maybe they will make a cooler more efficient case....




Water cooling? LOL