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Santa Rosa - Worth The Wait?

D

dayne33

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 23, 2006
9
0
Hi all, I am a college student and have been looking at purchasing an iMac for quite some time now. I was kind of hoping for conroe, as it has a new chipset with it (or so i've been led to believe) with full 64 bit support. Though I have no problem with merom, I do have some questions regarding whether or not I should wait for Santa Rosa to purchase my iMac:

How 64-Bit compatible is the current chipset in the updated iMac (Napa, is it?)? I know it limits the comp to 3GB, but that's not a problem for me, as I will likely max it out at 2.

How will the current chipset take advantage of the 64-Bit nature of leopard?

Thanks In Advance
 
I was actually going to ask the same question, but you beat me to it. I am willing to wait till April, mainly so I don't have to buy Leopard for my lappy as well as my Mac Pro. Will it be worth the wait for Santa Rosa?
 
Merom is introduced in the iMac...and not even 2 full days later..SHOULD I WAIT FOR SANTA ROSA! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek: I did not think we would see these threads..this soon!!
 
Why would they even put santa rosa in the imac in april? Isnt there like an 18 month period between product revisions? Seems more likely that the lappys will get updated in april with new enclosures and santa rosa with leopard in 'em.

If someone has better info to prove me wrong please do, cause I might wait then also.
 
Cloud9 said:
Why would they even put santa rosa in the imac in april? Isnt there like an 18 month period between product revisions? Seems more likely that the lappys will get updated in april with new enclosures and santa rosa with leopard in 'em.

If someone has better info to prove me wrong please do, cause I might wait then also.
Click to expand...

Well, the long periods between product revisions are shorter now, because of Intel processors and the lack of a reality distortion field. (Although, arguably, you can say that revisions are roughly the same, with minor speedbumps along the way.)

As for waiting for Santa Rosa... can you really wait that long? That's a hell of a long wait.
 
no need to wait

what do you get with santa rosa? 6MB of level 2 cache as opposed to 4MB?

IMHO, this being the 3rd iteration of the core processors, with just one or two more left before Nehalem (?)...this is about as good as it gets.

who cares about 64 bits right now? the chips have been around now for a couple of years and to my knowledge there isn't one killer 64bit app out there. what's nice about having it on the imac now is that you're set for 3-5 years from now.

think about this, what is so great about santa rosa that you would wait for it besides being the "next big thing" TM?

for example: i am waiting for the macbook to go 64 bit, when it does that is my jumping in point. so is there that one feature in a chip that you're waiting for?
 
I can wait that long seeing as I'm using a Macbook as my lappy right now. What will the advantage of Santa Rosa be?
 
nsknike said:
I can wait that long seeing as I'm using a Macbook as my lappy right now. What will the advantage of Santa Rosa be?
Click to expand...

From what I've been reading from other posters, Santa Rosa itself won't be too great. You'd probably be waiting for "other" features, like GPU, enclosure modifications, etc.
 
Ok, I thought Santa Rosa was going to be using NAND? ram, so that it boots up in seconds and apps launch much faster, correct me if I'm wrong.
 
this is from the core 2 duo guide on this site:

Future Developments
Low voltage variants are set for Q1 2007. In Q2 2007 Intel plans to ship "Santa Rosa". [1] This will be the new incarnation of the Centrino mobile line. It will sport an 800 MHz Front Side Bus, 802.11n, the new Socket P for future mobile chips, and GMA X3000. [2].

See also: Penryn

Penryn is a mobile chip developed by Intel. It is a die shrink from 65nm (Core Duo, Core 2 Duo) to 45nm, which means that Penryn will be a much cooler and a more efficient processor than Merom, leading to thinner and quieter laptops with a longer battery life. Penryn will feature a 3MB and a 6MB L2 cache (up from 2MB and 4MB of Merom).

Penryn will be the last Intel processor based on the Core Microarchitecture and is set to be released during 2007. The successor to the Core Microarchitecture will be the Nehalem core.
 
Manzana said:
this is from the core 2 duo guide on this site:

Future Developments
Low voltage variants are set for Q1 2007. In Q2 2007 Intel plans to ship "Santa Rosa". [1] This will be the new incarnation of the Centrino mobile line. It will sport an 800 MHz Front Side Bus, 802.11n, the new Socket P for future mobile chips, and GMA X3000. [2].

See also: Penryn

Penryn is a mobile chip developed by Intel. It is a die shrink from 65nm (Core Duo, Core 2 Duo) to 45nm, which means that Penryn will be a much cooler and a more efficient processor than Merom, leading to thinner and quieter laptops with a longer battery life. Penryn will feature a 3MB and a 6MB L2 cache (up from 2MB and 4MB of Merom).

Penryn will be the last Intel processor based on the Core Microarchitecture and is set to be released during 2007. The successor to the Core Microarchitecture will be the Nehalem core.
Click to expand...

The cycle NEVER ends...I think if anyone needs a computer right now, BUY IT! I'm gonna buy a mac notebook now, if no merom on Sept. 12, im buying anyways. Then I wait..until Penryn hits..then buy AGAIN.. :)
 
Then come April next year you will be asking "Should I wait for Nehalem?"

Personally 32 bit to 64 bit is worth waiting for, since it affects what applications your machine can support, subsequently? Well it is kinda worth it too I suppose, if you are willing to wait..
 
I think the real upgrade to merom lies in penryn or dare i say it nehalem that seems to be the future proof road map i.e nothing seems to be in the works after it. Santa Rosa isnt all that. Its just 800MHz FSB and addressing of 4GB RAM or more. Robson Cache technology which i still dont get and 802.11n which is still not a mature technology. There is just no point. Todays machines are more than capable. Buy one now and when penryn or nehalems architechture is released, things will be more mature and "stable".
 
Seeing as I am fine with my iBook right now, and probably will be until Leopard is released, I will wait the while. I don't NEED a new computer now, it would just be nice. What I am really waiting for is 1920 x 1200 + resolution independent UI MBP's, if it so happens to clash into Santa Rosa, so much the better :D
 
Cloud9 said:
Why would they even put santa rosa in the imac in april? Isnt there like an 18 month period between product revisions? Seems more likely that the lappys will get updated in april with new enclosures and santa rosa with leopard in 'em.

If someone has better info to prove me wrong please do, cause I might wait then also.
Click to expand...
imac intel isn't even out for 18 month, and there's already a major update. (it's been what, 8, 9 month? so i think next april is within reason)
 
Jiddick ExRex said:
Seeing as I am fine with my iBook right now, and probably will be until Leopard is released, I will wait the while. I don't NEED a new computer now, it would just be nice. What I am really waiting for is 1920 x 1200 + resolution independent UI MBP's, if it so happens to clash into Santa Rosa, so much the better :D
Click to expand...

Could some please explain to me what resolution independent UI is and what it really means to a user.
 
Would anyone mind taking a look at this thread and telling me what they think. Even if you don't have a Mini. I am not trying to play the wait for something new game so much as determine how to spend my $$ over the next couple years.

Thanks.
 
JMies419 said:
The cycle NEVER ends...I think if anyone needs a computer right now, BUY IT! I'm gonna buy a mac notebook now, if no merom on Sept. 12, im buying anyways. Then I wait..until Penryn hits..then buy AGAIN.. :)
Click to expand...

Moreover, please remember that Santa will be Rev A again;) all new components = the same problems as Apple has been fighting for last 9 months:p
 
Ok thanks all, that link to the macworld article was especially helpful. I think basically I'm going to take the plunge. It doesn't seem like santa rosa will provide me anything worth waiting several months for. (i'm running a 700mhz eMac G4, 384RAM, come on, I've waited long enough, haha).

64 bit would be nice, but in another 2-3 years when I need an upgrade, it will be even better.

Thanks again.

Now here's hoping apple decides to include the new iMac in their iPod offer, they haven't yet :( .
 
NO NO NO

No, it is not worth the wait. Sure will be a nice improvement, but what are you going to do when it gets released? Wait for the next update!?

This is technology people, it is constatnly moving, sure i can understand people waiting a few weeks etc to get recieve the most upto date computer but I say just take the plunge and buy now, otherwise you will forever be waiting for the 'next one' - technology doesnt stand still, nor can you, whatever you buy will be outdated sooner rather than later...
 
I don't need Santa Rosa in a year. I needed and wanted the computer now, so I bought one now. Done!
 
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