Posted on 01/08/2008 6:52:47 PM PST by Swordmaker
Apple today introduced the new Mac Pro with eight processor cores and a new system architecture that delivers up to twice the performance of its predecessor*.
The new Mac Pro combines two of Intel's new 45 nanometer Quad-Core Xeon processors running up to 3.2 GHz, powerful new graphics and up to 4TB of internal storage to offer the ideal system for creative professionals, 3D digital content creators and scientists. The standard 8-core configuration starts at just $2,799.
"The new Mac Pro is the fastest Mac we've ever made," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "With 3.2 GHz 8-core Xeon processing, a 1600 MHz front side bus and 800 MHz memory, the new Mac Pro uses the fastest Intel Xeon architecture on the market."
The new Mac Pro features the latest Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5400 series processors based on state-of-the-art 45nm Intel Core microarchitecture running up to 3.2 GHz, each with 12MB of L2 cache per processor for breakthrough performance and power efficiency. With a new high-bandwidth hardware architecture, dual-independent 1600 MHz front side buses and up to 32GB of 800 MHz DDR2 ECC FB-DIMM memory, the new Mac Pro achieves a 61 percent increase in memory throughput**.
Every Mac Pro comes standard with the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics card with 256MB of video memory. The Mac Pro includes a new PCI Express 2.0 graphics slot that delivers up to double the bandwidth compared to the previous generation, and supports the latest generation of graphics cards from NVIDIA, such as the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT with 512MB of video memory, or NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 with 1.5GB of video memory and a 3-D stereo port for stereo-in-a-window applications. With support for up to four graphics cards, the new Mac Pro can drive up to eight 30-inch displays at once for advanced visualization and large display walls.
The Mac Pro is the most expandable Mac ever, featuring four internal hard drive bays with direct-attach, cable-free installation of four 1TB Serial ATA hard drives, totaling 4TB of internal storage and support for two SuperDrives. With optional 15000 rpm SAS drives that can deliver up to 250MB/s of RAID 5 disk I/O performance, the Mac Pro is ideal for film and video editors. Combined with SATA or SAS drives, using an optional Mac Pro RAID card offers the ultimate data protection and disk I/O performance on the Mac Pro. The Mac Prois easily and conveniently accessible in front and back so users can connect external devices with five USB 2.0, two FireWire 400, two FireWire 800, optical and analog audio in and out, dual Gigabit Ethernet ports and a headphone jack.
Every Mac Pro includes Leopard, the sixth major release of the world's most advanced operating system. Leopard is packed with more than 300 new features and introduces a brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock; a redesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs; Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application; Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; and Time Machine, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac. Featuring an improved scheduler and other multi-core technology, Leopard is a perfect companion to the Mac Pro, making applications faster and helping application developers take advantage of multi-core systems.
The new ultra-thin aluminum Apple Keyboard now ships with every Mac Pro and built-in Bluetooth 2.0 makes it easy to reduce cable clutter with the optional Apple Wireless Keyboard and Apple Wireless Mouse.
The new Mac Pro is shipping today and will be available through the Apple Store, Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.
The standard 8-core Mac Pro, with a suggested retail price of $2,799 (US), includes:
In addition to the standard configuration, the Mac Pro offers numerous build-to-order options including: one 2.8 GHz, two 3.0 GHz, or two 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors; up to 32GB of 800 MHz DDR2 fully-buffered ECC memory; up to four 1TB Serial ATA hard drives running at 7200 rpm or up to four 300GB SAS drives running at 15000 rpm; Mac Pro RAID card; up to two 16x SuperDrives with double-layer support; NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 graphics cards; AirPort Extreme 802.11n; Apple USB Modem; Apple wireless Aluminum Keyboard; Apple wireless Mighty Mouse; and Mac OS X Server Leopard. Complete build-to-order options and pricing are available at http://www.apple.com/macpro.
*Based on estimated results comparing a preproduction 2.8 GHz 8-core Mac Pro with a 2.66 GHz Quad-Core Mac Pro running professional applications like Maya, modo and Logic Pro.
**Testing conducted by Apple in December 2007 using a preproduction 2.8 GHz 8-core Mac Pro with a 2.66 GHz quad-core Mac Pro. All systems were configured with 4GB of RAM. Results are based on the STREAM v. 5.6 benchmark (http://www.cs.virginia.edu/stream/ref.html) using OMP support for multiprocessor-compiled builds. All systems were configured with 8GB of RAM. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Mac Pro.
In adjusted 2007 dollars that $2,638 Apple II computer would cost $9,810... that makes the new $2,799 Mac Pro quite a bargain!
And that Mac IIFX, which sold for $10,970 in 1990, would sell for $17,786 in 2007 dollars.
If the Mac Pro were sold in 1977, its adjusted price (using 2006 dollars) would be $818.12. That is really inexpensive...
Considering its faster and more powerful than a Cray of the period which sold for $8,860,000, you are probably on the low end of the price... the very low end... if we were comparing processing power.
"When in 1986 Apple bought a Cray X-MP and announced that they would use it to design the next Apple Macintosh, Seymour Cray replied, "This is very interesting because I am using an Apple Macintosh to design the Cray-2 supercomputer." Also, when Apple Computer took ownership of the machine they had a party for Apple employees where crayfish were served."
Of course you can save $6,300 by not buying the memory from Apple, and $730 by not buying the drives from them (and this savings includes throwing away the included RAM and HDD).
If you think about it, that's a dumb purchase unless you absolutely can't scrape up the extra $500. That extra quad-core Xeon chip is easily worth $1,000. They're not retail yet, but I see a slower Clovertown (2.66 GHz, 65nm, 1333 bus, 8 MB L2) is running almost $800.
I still have a IIfx with an 80mb hard drive, 128mb of RAM and an 8*24GC video card.
It still runs AU/X and is in occasional use. :D
I sold one for $5 about five years ago... it still ran also.
The IIfx with 8*24GC was an amazing machine for its time.
Maybe you’re right... maybe it’ll be a zippy new notebook, instead of the rumored subnotebook... and then also an iPhone update, and an iPod update, and Stacie Somers’ cell number will be included in the phone book of every iPhone shipped... ;’)
The product champion for the fx called it “Wicked Fast”. ;’)
The pricing is ridiculous, I can get a similarly equipped Dell for $19,572.00... /rimshot
This NVidia news is gonna further erode AMD’s position.
Still has the fastest serial ports ever put on a desktop machine (short of USB).
My IIfx was still competitive into the early PPC era. It was faster than the LC040s @25mHz.
It was never the greatest in standard Mac OS - that machine *really* screamed under AUX.
:’) My favorite of the monochrome Macs was the SE/30, but that’s probably true of most who used those. :’)
This is the machine I have been waiting for! Now I am al ready to switch from Windoze...Getting the base config (octo core) and upgrade the video card and wireless n. Can’t wait!
:’) The Apple II was a great value in 1977.
MUST get one of these!!!
I’ve got a Quad G5 right now, and run Maya, Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Dreamweaver and Flash, and I really need the extra horsepower!
Thanks for the ping, Sword!
The only thing that sucks is Classic being removed. I’ve got literally thousands of legacy PageMaker files of clients that I’ll no longer be able to open or modify, and InDesign never really opens them up with the same font metrics.
Ed
Interesting. Thanks for going to extra freeper mile on perspective.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.