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Ship date for built-to-order Mac Pro slips to February; fully loaded config tops $18K
' Three words: pent-up demand. That is what's behind the quick jump from a label of "shipping in December" to "shipping to February" if you're trying to order a Mac Pro configured to your specifications on the Apple online store. The way the backlog has increased in just a few short hours has us believing that the ship dates may slip even more. If you want one of these towers of power soon, heading to your local Apple Store with credit card in hand may be your best option. Speaking of configuring a Mac Pro to order, a quick calculation using the online configurator tool showed that selecting the "power user's" option for every item that can go into one of the little cylinders can add up quickly. Grabbing a six-core and dual-GPU model and then tricking it out with 12 cores, 64 GB of memory, 1 TB of flash storage, dual AMD FirePro D700 GPUs with 6 GB of VRAM, a 32-inch Sharp 4K display, a Magic Trackpad, an Apple Wireless Keyboard and an AppleCare Protection Plan will set you back US$13,581. While you're at it, you may as well add on a black 2.0 meter Thunderbolt cable and a PROMISE Pegasus2 32TB Thunderbolt 2 RAID system. Now you're up to a cool $18,219. Fortunately, many creative professionals have been saving their pennies for this day and can write off the equipment purchase as a business expense...
DreamWorks CEO envisions an internet with more animation, fewer words
Is the internet on the cusp of a post-text era? Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg certainly thinks so. Speaking at the Techonomy conference in Tucson yesterday, Katzenberg confirmed that his company is already working on expanding 3D animation to the realm of social media, as part of a collaboration with Intel. As Technology Review reports, the two companies have been working on the project for the better part of four years, developing 12-core chips and software capable of delivering real-time photographic animation. Katzenberg didn't offer many details beyond that, but seemed confident that his company's new technology could radically alter the way users share and engage with online content by transcending the boundaries of traditional text. "Text is a learned process but what we do [at Dreamworks] is intuitive and instinctual and you do it from the moment you are born," he said, "We're trying to see if we can move many of these things we can do today in text but moving up to video and audio... with sight and sound." The exec went on to cite Apple's Siri personal assistant as proof that this transition is already underway: "Whether we do it or somebody else does it, we will move from a text world into a audio visual one." Intriguing claims, to be sure, but we'll know more next year, when Dreamworks' new campaign gets underway.
12-core Apple Mac Pro orders are go
After a brief outage the Apple Store is back with the previously announced 12-core Mac Pro (and revamped quad- and 6-core models) ready to order. Prices start at $4,999 for a pair of 6-core Xeon Westmere processors humming along at 2.66GHz, 6GB of memory, a 1TB hard drive, SuperDrive, and ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics. We configured ours with a pair of 2.93GHz CPUs, 2x HD 5770 graphics cards, 32GB of memory, 4x 512GB SSDs, and pair of optical drives for $16,249 just 'cause we could. Ships in 7 to 10 business days... bankruptcy in 365. [Thanks, Nathan]
Apple Mac Pro line overhauled with 12 processing cores, arriving in August for $4,999
So shall it be written, so shall it be done. The Mac Pro has at long last proven rumors of its impending refresh accurate, as Apple has just updated its most powerful hardware with even more grunt. As we'd heard previously, that means you can now get dual-CPU rigs that offer a full dozen cores to play with, courtesy of Intel's Xeon server-class chips, though in order to get in on that game you'll have to splash a cool $4,999 entry fee. The quad-core starting price is still $2,499, though the eight-core machines have jumped up to $3,499, with both variants getting mild speed bumps to 2.8GHz and 2.4GHz, respectively. Perhaps the most welcome upgrade is on the graphical front, where the Radeon HD 5770 takes up the mantle of default GPU, with additional options for a pair of such cards or a step up to a 1GB HD 5870 alternative if you're keen on maxing out those frame rates. Memory isn't neglected either, with choices ranging all the way up to 32GB of RAM, 4TB of conventional HDD storage, or an array of four 512GB SSDs -- though you're probably better off not asking how much that last one will set you back. The comprehensive specs can be found in the full press release after the break.%Gallery-98277%
AMD launches 12-core Opteron server chips, Intel counters with the 8-core Xeon 7500
You thought six cores were nifty? This week, AMD and Intel have begun the multithreaded battle in earnest -- if only on the IT front -- with chips that have up to double that core density. First up, AMD has officially brought us that Opteron 6000 series leaked last week, a set of 8- and 12-core processors aimed at dual- and quad-CPU servers that it claims have both higher performance and lower cost than Intel's recent hex-core offerings. Not to be outdone, Intel has just introduced a 8-core processor series of its own, the Xeon 7500, that it envisions deployed in mammoth 256-processor configurations. In bulk orders of 1,000, a single 12-core Opteron costs nearly $1,200, while the cheapest single 8-core Xeon will set you back a cool $2,461 in the same quantity. We don't doubt they're powerful, and we'd kill for a pair of either in our gaming rig. At those prices though, we'll stick to building our supercomputer out of PS3s -- oh, wait.
AMD 12-core Opterons leaked ahead of launch?
Provantage of North Canton (isn't that the birthplace of Marilyn Manson?) is featuring a number of 12-core AMD Opteron processors on its retail website. Obviously, this is well-ahead of the launch -- and subject to the usual caveats -- but if you're a chip-head the info is rather interesting nonetheless. The most expensive of the lot, the Opteron X12 6176 SE (pictured above) is a 2.3GHz processor with an 18MB cache, 105 watts, and it can be yours for $1,485.61. If you're not quite in the mood to break the bank, the X12 6128 SE is a 2GHz chip with 16MB, 80 watts, and it's currently listed at $291. According to PC World, the processors (codenamed Magny-Cours) should start shipping to retailers "around the time Intel announces the eight-core Nehalem-EX processor," later this month -- even if it appears that someone in Ohio has jumped the gun a little bit.
Apple said to be preparing 12-core Mac Pros and 27-inch LED Cinema Displays
AppleInsider has rounded up its stable of "people familiar with the matter" and squeezed them for info on Cupertino's plans for the near term. Firstly, they've heard that a 27-inch version of the currently available 24-inch LED Cinema Display is on its way, sporting a 2,560 x 1,440 resolution and targeted for release "by June." The more exciting tip from those in the know, however, relates to the well aged Mac Pro and its future upgrade path. Apple has apparently firmed up plans to offer 6- and 12-core options (to replace the current 4- and 8-core variants), though the star of the show internally is said to be Intel's Xeon 5600, rather than the similarly specced Core i7-980X that had been rumored. This seems to be motivated by the fact the i7 beast can't do dual-CPU configurations, which are necessary to offer a dozen cores. Pricing for the single Xeon CPU model is expected to be close to the current $2,499 starting sticker, but release dates still elude us.
AMD announces 6- and 12-core Opterons
AMD may be busy sorting out issues with its quad-core Phenoms and hard at work on "completely different" chip architectures, but that isn't stopping the company from aggressively updating its roadmap, announcing today plans for 6- and 12-core server-grade Opterons. Both the new 6-core chip, codenamed Sao Paulo, and the 12-core unit, codenamed Magny-Cours, are based on a brand-new platform called "Maranello," and slotting in to replace the planned 8-core Barcelona chip, which appears to have been canceled. According to AMD, 12-core chips are easier to manufacture, so it's going to skip over 8-core chips and go straight to the good stuff. That must be news to Intel, which is planning on shipping 8-core Nehalem chips later this year, and will probably then hold the coveted "number-of-cores" crown until AMD releases the 12-core chips in 2010. There's no word on whether any of these chips can make these processor roadmaps comprehensible or even chronological, but we can dream, can't we?[Via TG Daily]
