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Apple intros new Mac Pro, the fastest Mac ever with eight processor cores standard
Mac Daily News ^ | Tuesday, January 08, 2008 - 08:37 AM EST

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.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet
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1 posted on 01/08/2008 6:52:52 PM PST by Swordmaker
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To: 1234; 50mm; 6SJ7; Abundy; Action-America; af_vet_rr; afnamvet; Alexander Rubin; Amadeo; ...
What's expandable to 32 Gigabytes?

The new eight core Mac Pro for $2799... PING!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

2 posted on 01/08/2008 6:54:48 PM PST by Swordmaker (We can fix this, but you're gonna need a butter knife, a roll of duct tape, and a car battery.)
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To: Swordmaker

3 posted on 01/08/2008 6:57:55 PM PST by the invisib1e hand
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To: the invisib1e hand

ominous metaphor ping!


4 posted on 01/08/2008 6:58:22 PM PST by the invisib1e hand
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To: Swordmaker
Hmmmmm.... Case stays the same but the goodies inside get a big boost. Quad core fades into history. 8 cores now standard.

I wonder at the timing of the announcement, one week before Steve Jobs Keynote Address at the San Francisco Macworld Conference. What is he going to announce? A new ultra-thin Macbook

5 posted on 01/08/2008 7:02:02 PM PST by Swordmaker (We can fix this, but you're gonna need a butter knife, a roll of duct tape, and a car battery.)
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To: Hyzenthlay; evilrightwingconspirator

ping


6 posted on 01/08/2008 7:03:16 PM PST by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: Swordmaker

Sweet!

I guess Rush has his on order. Of course, with all the free publicity he gives Apple on his program, he will get his for free. ;-)

Oh, to have $3,000 I could part with!


7 posted on 01/08/2008 7:04:07 PM PST by doc1019 (Rabbit and the Hare … Fred ‘08)
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To: Swordmaker
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 graphics cards;
Finally, the Macs have decent vidio cards. It was kinda of sad that unless one was willing to cough up 1200 for a NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500, their Mac Pro would be bested in graphics applications by a Macbook Pro.
8 posted on 01/08/2008 7:05:40 PM PST by rmlew (Huckabee flip flops so much it makes Romney cringe)
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To: Swordmaker
The system is Quad Core. It just has two Quad-core processors. For $500 less you can get a single quad core Xeon E5400.

Anyone have $3000?

9 posted on 01/08/2008 7:11:17 PM PST by rmlew (Huckabee flip flops so much it makes Romney cringe)
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To: rmlew
Finally, the Macs have decent vidio cards. It was kinda of sad that unless one was willing to cough up 1200 for a NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500, their Mac Pro would be bested in graphics applications by a Macbook Pro.

Well, the NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 will only set you back an additional $2,850 ....

A fully decked out 3.2GHz eight core with 32GB of memory and 4 TB of Hard Drives will only cost $19,585.00.... probably the most expensive desktop Mac ever.

10 posted on 01/08/2008 7:16:31 PM PST by Swordmaker (We can fix this, but you're gonna need a butter knife, a roll of duct tape, and a car battery.)
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To: Swordmaker

Interesting. Can you loan me one so I can run it through it’s paces? lol.


11 posted on 01/08/2008 7:18:49 PM PST by Blue Highway (The only cure for RINOvirus - Fred Thompson)
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To: Swordmaker

Well, I’m not a Mac fan but I’ll have one of these in the house by the end of the month, I suspect.


12 posted on 01/08/2008 7:20:36 PM PST by Filo (Darwin was right!)
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To: doc1019
I guess Rush has his on order. Of course, with all the free publicity he gives Apple on his program, he will get his for free. ;-)
Well, certainly AAPL should . . . but Rush can spare the pocket change for it, fully loaded - and he wouldn't want to be obligated by accepting a freebie.

13 posted on 01/08/2008 7:20:41 PM PST by conservatism_IS_compassion (The idea around which liberalism coheres is that NOTHING actually matters except PR.)
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To: Swordmaker
probably the most expensive desktop Mac ever.

how many times have you had to say that in the past though? haha

14 posted on 01/08/2008 7:22:39 PM PST by Blue Highway (The only cure for RINOvirus - Fred Thompson)
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To: rmlew
The system is Quad Core. It just has two Quad-core processors. For $500 less you can get a single quad core Xeon E5400.

You are correct. There are eight cores in the default Mac Pro... 2X4=8... although there is a custom option to have a single 4 core processor for $2299, $500 less than the standard format.

15 posted on 01/08/2008 7:22:46 PM PST by Swordmaker (We can fix this, but you're gonna need a butter knife, a roll of duct tape, and a car battery.)
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To: Swordmaker

Drool :). Of course it makes my little Quad Core 2.6Ghz Mac Pro look positively pedestrian.

I am happy that we will have some 8-series boards to put in my computer now though!


16 posted on 01/08/2008 7:25:42 PM PST by rom
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To: Blue Highway
how many times have you had to say that in the past though? haha

I think the record was held for years... until now... by a fully decked out Mac IIFX where the base system was $10,970... before adding memory expansion and upgraded harddrives.

17 posted on 01/08/2008 7:30:46 PM PST by Swordmaker (We can fix this, but you're gonna need a butter knife, a roll of duct tape, and a car battery.)
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To: Swordmaker

An Apple II in 1977 with 48k RAM was $2,638.00.

http://oldcomputers.net/appleii.html

I would have to say product value has improved a bit.


18 posted on 01/08/2008 7:35:32 PM PST by Eddie01 (Freepers don't let Freepers get spun)
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To: Swordmaker

>>lust<<


19 posted on 01/08/2008 7:36:56 PM PST by RightOnTheLeftCoast ([Fred Thompson/Clarence Thomas 2008!])
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To: Swordmaker

Wow! It’s hard to compare to the Dell 690 since they don’t have the same graphics options, but this at 3 GHz is over $1,600 cheaper with the top 512 MB GeForce card than the Dell with a 256 MB Quadro. The Quadro is worth about $700 more, making the difference still $900.

And you get the 5400 series Xeon, 1600 MHz bus and 50% more cache with the Mac.

The Mac Pro is again the best value OEM workstation.


20 posted on 01/08/2008 8:15:12 PM PST by antiRepublicrat
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