[Andy8]

Link

pple customers may be the first to enjoy Intel’s new CPU goodies, with the Woodcrest family of processors making it into Macintosh workstations as early as the third quarter. Woodcrest systems will be symmetric multi processing (SMP), with dual processors with up to four cores each. One such machine was demonstrated at IDF, running benchmarks under Windows XP 64-bit edition, showing eight active cores.

[Ken_F2]

Intel's new Core architecture products (Conroe, Merom, Woodcrest) are expected for release as early as July 25.

[Andy8]

Originally Posted by Ken_F2

Intel's new Core architecture products (Conroe, Merom, Woodcrest) are expected for release as early as July 25.

The sooner the better. We are all waiting

[harrisjamieh]

Originally Posted by Andy8

The sooner the better. We are all waiting

I personallly dont see the rush for intel PMs. There are apps that many power users use, such as photoshop, which wont be universal for a long time. Its not like the PMs are underpowered and are in serious need of a speed boost - they are already very fast. I can see the reason for a need to get all the consumer products over, along with the PBs ASAP, because the majoirty (bar maybe the iMac G5) were underpowered, and could no longer compete with x86 laptops in terms of speed, but the PMs can, and PPC is currently still better at media encoding than x86, which is a primary use for a PM.

[dowNNshift]

I'll bet the new performance towers will use the new Intel vPro technology... reading into the vPro specs on Intel's website, the new procs will feature many similar techs as the current Yonah does.

Should be an exciting year for Apple... looking forward to more power Universal apps!

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by Andy8

The sooner the better. We are all waiting

No we're not, not all of us.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Big Mac

No we're not, not all of us.

Ok, MOST of us are waiting.

[©öñFü$íóÑ]

add me to the 'Most of us' category.... it's time i moved on from my PM 6100 and my 800mhz Presario from 2000.

This time, i -know- i won't be wasting my money, buying an Apple...... in fact, i'd be making the -most- out of my money, considering that i can get the best of Windows, Mac, and Linux..... -ALL- in one box! Games, productivity, server sh!t.... sure each OS has it's own software for each category, but when i want the best...... well dammit... I GET THE BEST!

(and don't we all deserve the best?)

[hmurchison2001]

Depends on what apps you're running. If you're running Adobe apps then waiting is the name of the game.

If you're running Apple's apps then you want the Intel PMs. FCS, Aperture and Logic 7.2 are all UB and seeing decent speed improvements.

Considering that a PPC is a bit behind a comparably clocked Athlon 64 and Conroe is as much as %20 faster I think that anyone running hefty apps is definitely going to want to make the transition as soon as they can.

[mduell]

I see no reason for Apple to implement/support vPro; it's targeted at customers outside of Apple's usual base.

[ajprice]

From what I understand, vPro is the business market equivalent of viiv. I haven't seen anyone properly explain what viiv is yet, apart from being something to do with media, it all gets a bit blurry after that!

[Big Mac]

Viiv Specs Revealed

seems like a poor name to me. . .

[hmurchison2001]

Intel is keen on branding. Centrino is basically a subset of features and a processor, viiv is the same and now vPro is their newest brand. There's nothing inherently special about them they are just a collection of features which are assigned a catchy name. Viiv is a joke. It offers nothing that we didn't already have. Marketers are trying to get the gist of it so they can create a hype machine but even Intel has a hard time explaining just what is special about viiv.

I like Intel but their obsessiveness with marketing cute little names is grating on my nerves.

Remember the Pentium branding was only supposed to last for Generation 5 processors but the name stuck and Generation 6 were Pentium Pro and so on.

[production_coordinator]

IMHO, Apple has time with the Mac Tower Pro. While it would be nice to see a quad CPU system that's amazingly fast... the core high end applications aren't there (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, QuarkXPress to name a few).

I would rather see Apple come out with something that makes EVERYONE (Mac, Windows and Linux) go bonkers.

[production_coordinator]

Also, isn't it nearly a lock that the Mac Tower Pro will use Intel's Conroe processor?

[mduell]

Originally Posted by production_coordinator

Also, isn't it nearly a lock that the Mac Tower Pro will use Intel's Conroe processor?

It depends how specific you're being when you say "Conroe." The Intel pro desktops will undoubtedly be Core microarchitecture based, but they could use Conroe (dualcore), Kentsfield (quadcore), Woodcrest (SMP capable dualcore), or Clovertown (SMP capable quadcore).

[Hal06]

This is funny… people like me gave up on SGI workstations due to the linux-intel switch, while Mac users are thrilled about the upcoming intel MacTower Pro… I guess Apple got it rightly…

[Ken_F2]

Intel announced this morning that its next-generation processors would be launching in six weeks. Woodcrest (server) launches in June, Conroe (desktop) in July, and Merom (notebook) in August. At WWDC in August, Mac users can expect a complete overhaul of Apple's entire lineup featuring this next-generation architecture, which offers superior performance and 64-bit capability.

You can read more in this pdf, released by Intel this morning (see slide 21):

Intel Spring 2006 Analyst Meeting

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by Inside Man

This is funny… people like me gave up on SGI workstations due to the linux-intel switch, while Mac users are thrilled about the upcoming intel MacTower Pro… I guess Apple got it rightly…

Not everyone is happy. But Apple has not switched to Windows (yet), so the SGI comparison isn't exactly analogous.

Btw, Inside Man was a great film - easily Spike Lee's best. . .

[Hal06]

Certainly, SGI switching both CPU & OS from MIPS & IRIX combo to linux & intel combo is where they lost it once more…

If all they have to offer now is the hateful linux, people would stick with old venerable hardware or better start to look for alternatives…

Rumor has it that SGI will now become …huge shock... a company focused on storage devices, it seems the 'G' standing for graphics is indeed lost, hell, they are not using the great Cube logo with their new stuff, that is pure sin…

I think back to all the great people I've met thanks to SGI and think of SO many positive & memorable moments, but now it is time to look forward.

You would be partially right… maybe Silicon Graphics died sometime around 1999.

So, what is next to die?, Cray anyone?

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Inside Man

So, what is next to die?, Cray anyone?

I doubt it. Cray is in the high performance computing business and they're doing quite well there. Our lab just recently co-financed a new Linux cluster consisting of 1100 dual Opterons built by Cray (Cray XT3). The thing is fast, reliable and not very expensive at all. These kinds of machines are very popular in scientific computing nowadays. The way Cray has positioned themselves in this market, I'd be surprised to see them disappear anytime soon.

Sun OTOH seems to not be doing very well. Scott McNealy didn't sound very positive about the company when he mentioned the reasons why he was resigning a week ago. It would be a shame to see another one of the more exotic Silicon Valley pioneers disappear.

[rhashem]

Originally Posted by Inside Man

Certainly, SGI switching both CPU & OS from MIPS & IRIX combo to linux & intel combo is where they lost it once more… ?

Yes, Linux/Intel caused the downfall of SGI, but not in the way you think. SGI started going down when companies switched to Linux/x86 from SGI hardware. Companies like ILM replaced their old SGI machines with Linux/x86/NVIDIA hardware that was faster then their SGI stuff, for a fraction of the cost. SGI died because its market became commoditized, and they could no longer compete.

For god's sake, SGI can't even make graphics cards any more to outdo consumer-grade gaming stuff! NVIDIA owns 70% of the workstation GPU market, using cards that are little more than tweeked GeForces with optimized drivers. SGI itself uses ATI's FireGL cards, which are again little more than tweeked Radeons. At least these days SGI has some hope selling Itanium machines to folks who really need the SPECfp/GHz of Itanium. If they'd remained on IRIX/MIPS, they would've been stuck with an increasingly ancient platform (what is R16k up to now, 800 MHz?) as their IRIX customers moved to greener pastures.

[cgc]

Originally Posted by harrisjamieh

I personallly dont see the rush for intel PMs. There are apps that many power users use, such as photoshop, which wont be universal for a long time. Its not like the PMs are underpowered and are in serious need of a speed boost - they are already very fast.

There are people out there like myself who are still running on a G4 that will not buy a G5 and want (need) an Intel Mac tower.

[Hal06]

Originally Posted by rhashem

Yes, Linux/Intel caused the downfall of SGI, but not in the way you think. SGI started going down when companies switched to Linux/x86 from SGI hardware. Companies like ILM replaced their old SGI machines with Linux/x86/NVIDIA hardware that was faster then their SGI stuff, for a fraction of the cost. SGI died because its market became commoditized, and they could no longer compete.

For god's sake, SGI can't even make graphics cards any more to outdo consumer-grade gaming stuff! NVIDIA owns 70% of the workstation GPU market, using cards that are little more than tweeked GeForces with optimized drivers. SGI itself uses ATI's FireGL cards, which are again little more than tweeked Radeons. At least these days SGI has some hope selling Itanium machines to folks who really need the SPECfp/GHz of Itanium. If they'd remained on IRIX/MIPS, they would've been stuck with an increasingly ancient platform (what is R16k up to now, 800 MHz?) as their IRIX customers moved to greener pastures.

I couldn't agree more… while you can not re-invent the wheel once and again, you would like to think there will be a place for innovation and discovery in computers industry. It is just sad that it seems nobody else is requesting innovation.

The high-end desktop is long gone, you have to have too specific needs to justify a $25,000 workstation while a common PC is $3,500 and might have a better cpu as well, sure quality suffers but no one seems to care, such is market…

The SGI's graphics card scenario is a pain, no wonder nvidia has most of SGI's graphics people nowadays… If is true that SGI is canceling graphics and 3DLabs is moving to mobile graphics, what will happen to OpenGL now?

It seems SGI is moving away from proprietary systems towards common technologies… much like Apple have done in the recent past, from suffering the same faith during the nineties to Jobs' return and the introduction of the iMac in 1998, both facts nudged them in the direction of the home-entertainment, which is now reaching the final stage with the adoption of Intel technology. No way I would think SGI is going to be that lucky, I wonder what is SGI worth nowadays… their high-end server & NUMAflex expertise?

[Hal06]

Originally Posted by Big Mac

Btw, Inside Man was a great film - easily Spike Lee's best. . .

Oh, missed that line… yes, I agree, it is a great film.

[MindFad]

I'll be there for some new tower action.

[rhashem]

Originally Posted by Inside Man

I couldn't agree more… while you can not re-invent the wheel once and again, you would like to think there will be a place for innovation and discovery in computers industry. It is just sad that it seems nobody else is requesting innovation.

Innovation is certainly happening in the computer industry --- it's just happening in different places. Back in SGI's heyday, innovation was in ISAs and interconnects and circuit design. RISC guys got huge dividends doing things like coming up with clever handling of unaligned loads in the ISA. These days, we have so many transistors to throw at the problem, these things don't matter anymore. Innovation in ISA has given way to innovation in the miro-arch. Conroe is a genuinely innovative CPU, from a micro-architectural standpoint. However, if you've got your ISA blinders on, you'll never see that.

Let me offer an analogy. In the world of compilers, you could fairly easily say "innovation has stagnated". However, that's really only true if you're looking at things from a 1980's POV. Sure, there isn't a huge amount of research these days into low-level optimization or things like register allocators. That's because everyone has moved to looking into things like proof-carrying code and secure systems. The fact is that industries evolve. Problems get solved, and people start looking at how to solve new problems. If you're still looking for innovation in the old places, you might conclude that innovation just isn't happening.

[jcadam]

Originally Posted by Inside Man

I couldn't agree more… while you can not re-invent the wheel once and again, you would like to think there will be a place for innovation and discovery in computers industry. It is just sad that it seems nobody else is requesting innovation.

The high-end desktop is long gone, you have to have too specific needs to justify a $25,000 workstation while a common PC is $3,500 and might have a better cpu as well, sure quality suffers but no one seems to care, such is market…

The SGI's graphics card scenario is a pain, no wonder nvidia has most of SGI's graphics people nowadays… If is true that SGI is canceling graphics and 3DLabs is moving to mobile graphics, what will happen to OpenGL now?

It seems SGI is moving away from proprietary systems towards common technologies… much like Apple have done in the recent past, from suffering the same faith during the nineties to Jobs' return and the introduction of the iMac in 1998, both facts nudged them in the direction of the home-entertainment, which is now reaching the final stage with the adoption of Intel technology. No way I would think SGI is going to be that lucky, I wonder what is SGI worth nowadays… their high-end server & NUMAflex expertise?

The end of non-x86 ISAs for general purpose computers (at least in everything other than extreme-niche applications) makes me sad. That market forces conspired to make x86 THE standard is a shame. SGI, Sun, NeXT, etc, used to make first-rate workstations that a consumer-grade PC could never hope to match. I miss the old days, I guess.

[rhashem]

Originally Posted by jcadam

The end of non-x86 ISAs for general purpose computers (at least in everything other than extreme-niche applications) makes me sad. That market forces conspired to make x86 THE standard is a shame. SGI, Sun, NeXT, etc, used to make first-rate workstations that a consumer-grade PC could never hope to match. I miss the old days, I guess.

At the time SGI, Sun, NeXT, etc, made those workstations, the mainframe folks looked down upon them as "microcomputer hardware". In any case, sure, a $1500 Dell isn't going to be the same quality of workstation as an SGI O2 (though it'll be faster), but a Sun workstation is still a Sun workstation, whether its running SPARC or Opteron.

[DrBoar]

My G4 is now 6 years old and even with CPU and GPU will not cope with the latest games, but I got a lowend AMD for that. But for generation 2 of Intel I will get one and have both X and XP running on it

[Horsepoo!!!]

Originally Posted by Big Mac

Viiv Specs Revealed

seems like a poor name to me. . .

Viiv
VVii

OMG Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

[Catfish_Man]

Originally Posted by rhashem

At the time SGI, Sun, NeXT, etc, made those workstations, the mainframe folks looked down upon them as "microcomputer hardware". In any case, sure, a $1500 Dell isn't going to be the same quality of workstation as an SGI O2 (though it'll be faster), but a Sun workstation is still a Sun workstation, whether its running SPARC or Opteron.

These days we look down on game consoles and cell phones and PDAs, I guess...

[Hal06]

Originally Posted by rhashem

At the time SGI, Sun, NeXT, etc, made those workstations, the mainframe folks looked down upon them as "microcomputer hardware". In any case, sure, a $1500 Dell isn't going to be the same quality of workstation as an SGI O2 (though it'll be faster), but a Sun workstation is still a Sun workstation, whether its running SPARC or Opteron.

True, Apple hardware has a great design, it is waaaaay ahead from the PC world… but remember how cool were i.e. the drive sleds from an old SGI Indigo, Indy… or how clean is the inner design from an Octane… no wires, whoa !

Told to be truth, SGI got pretty colors at their computers ahead of the rest of the industry