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Apple's slim MacBook Pro design could be holding back its i9 CPU
The 2018 15-inch MacBook Pro lets you crank up the processor power by swapping in an Intel 2.9GHz six-core Core i9 CPU for an extra $300. But the chip seems to be struggling when it's handling power-hungry tasks, to the point where the average clock speed is vastly below the advertised performance of the CPU. Some tests even showed that it fared worse than the i7 model.
Gulftown processor dubbed Core i7-980X, making its debut Q1 2010?
If you didn't make it to eBay in time to put down $1,200 or so for your very own pre-release Gulftown chip, cheer up! The countdown to the six core wonder continues apace, with more news each passing day. According to a purportedly leaked slide that popped up on China's PC Online, the 32nm chip will be known as the Core i7-980X and not the Core i9, as previously rumored. Part of the i7 "Extreme Edition" series (so extreme!). If everything goes as leaked, the 3.33GHz processor could be included in new Mac Pro systems come early 2010 -- which more or less jibes with rumors that the processor will be available sometime in March. See the new product name appear on the roadmap after the break.
Leaked Intel Core i9 chip makes its way to eBay?
Would you pay $1,200 for an as-of-yet unreleased Intel Core i9 chip? Hard to say if the transaction actually occurred, but an auction recently ended from a Taiwanese eBay user who claims to be selling a six-core, 2.4GHz Xeon Westmere Gulftown processor. We can't vouch for the validity of the listing, but those are some pretty convincing pictures being tossed around -- ones that aren't blurred, which might give Intel an advantage in snooping out the leak. That's not all, though -- Nordic Hardware (via Tom's Hardware) also reports that the OCTeamDenmark forums had it listed for on sale for $850. The 32nm fella had some promising benchmarks released recently, although its release isn't slated until at best sometime early 2010. Sure, it's great to be first, but with early adopter prices like that, we don't mind waiting until it goes official. %Gallery-79549%
Rumor: 6-core Intel Core i9 CPU on the way to a Mac Pro near you
Hardmac has provided the Mac universe with an interesting rumor -- that a future Mac Pro, expected in early 2010, will sport dual Intel Xeon Core i9 "Gulftown" CPUs. The website cites a Polish website, PCLab, as showing test results of the CPU at about 50% faster than the corresponding quad-core Xeon processor. Intel's new 6-core CPU features 32 nm engraving, which results in less power consumption in idle (50% less) and fully-loaded (10% less) modes. PCLab had posted a detailed review of the new CPU, but pulled it when asked by Intel to remove the data. Many Mac pundits have been wondering what Apple would do to differentiate the new iMac Core i7 and the Mac Pro models. The six-core CPU would give the engineers in Cupertino a growth path that results in a top-of-the-line 12-core Mac Pro that incidentally uses less power. Of course, applications will need to be properly coded to take advantage of the multiple cores, something that many Mac developers are already doing. [via Hardmac]
