AppleNova Forums

2007-10-17, 15:36

Hi-

I'm looking to buy a Mac Pro sometime soon, but after reading rumor pages, etc, it seems as though a revision with Penryn processors is on the horizon.

I'm getting really annoyed by the ambiguity of this "someday" update, and was wondering if any of you have heard anything that might narrow down the arrival of these new models?

Just trying to plan ahead. And waiting. And waiting.

PB PM · 2007-10-17, 15:41

Penryn is due in mid November (12th or 13th IIRC) so I'm thinking mid to late November at the earliest.

chucker · 2007-10-17, 15:47

Buy now if you need now. Don't wait based on speculation of unannounced products.

PB PM · 2007-10-17, 15:51

Yup, and in any case the speed difference isn't going to be that much different for most apps anyway.

2007-10-17, 15:59

Well, I suppose I might wait it out a little bit. This article suggests that the Penryn processors will be 4 core:

http://www.macrumors.com/2007/10/05/...yn-processors/

Would I be jumping out on a limb to suspect that this might indicate all future Mac Pros being 8 core? That seems like a pretty substantial speed difference...

Am I wrong to imagine this?

chucker · 2007-10-17, 16:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by popvulture

Would I be jumping out on a limb to suspect that this might indicate all future Mac Pros being 8 core?

That is certainly conceivable.

Quote:

That seems like a pretty substantial speed difference...

The benefits of 8 cores aren't well-exploited at this point by most applications. Keep in mind that I/O scales nowhere near that quickly.

malcolm · 2007-10-17, 17:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by chucker

Keep in mind that I/O scales nowhere near that quickly.

Chucker, would you mind telling me what "I/O" stands for?
Malcolm

chucker · 2007-10-17, 23:34

Input/output. That would include your RAM, hard disk, optical drive, etc., but I was particularly referring to hard disks, which have made relatively minor speed increases. Thus, in many types of applications, your real bottleneck will be the hard disk, and no amount of CPU power will help against that. (Additional RAM will, to a degree, by caching hard disk data more aggressively, but even that is limited.)

Windowsrookie · 2007-10-17, 23:41

What about SSDs?

chucker · 2007-10-18, 02:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Windowsrookie

What about SSDs?

I don't think it's realistic that they'll even come as a BTO option on the Mac Pro.

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PB PM Sneaky Punk Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Vancouver, BC	2007-10-17, 15:41 Penryn is due in mid November (12th or 13th IIRC) so I'm thinking mid to late November at the earliest.
	quote

chucker ‽ Join Date: May 2004 Location: near Bremen, Germany	2007-10-17, 15:47 Buy now if you need now. Don't wait based on speculation of unannounced products.
	quote

PB PM Sneaky Punk Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Vancouver, BC	2007-10-17, 15:51 Yup, and in any case the speed difference isn't going to be that much different for most apps anyway.
	quote

popvulture	2007-10-17, 15:59 Well, I suppose I might wait it out a little bit. This article suggests that the Penryn processors will be 4 core: http://www.macrumors.com/2007/10/05/...yn-processors/ Would I be jumping out on a limb to suspect that this might indicate all future Mac Pros being 8 core? That seems like a pretty substantial speed difference... Am I wrong to imagine this?
	quote

Windowsrookie Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Minnesota	2007-10-17, 23:41 What about SSDs?
	quote

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Any known timeframe for Mac Pro revisions?