Digit Magazine pitted Intel’s new Xeon, previously codenamed ‘Woodcrest’ and based on the same chip technology behind the company’s Core Duo processors, against AMD’s newly launched Opteron processors. Intel’s new Xeon’s are also the chips used by Apple’s first Intel-based workstation, the Mac Pro.
“The results show that Intel has reclaimed its crown in a majestical fashion. The Xeon 5150s were 35 per cent faster in Maya software renderer and 16 per cent faster in mental ray than the Opteron 2218s. Intel’s chips also gave an 18 per cent boost to Photoshop over AMD’s rival,” Neil Bennett reports for Digit.
Bennett reports, “The performance over the Power PC G5s was equally impressive. The 5150’s Maya software rendering time was a whopping 90 per cent faster, and its mental ray score was 32 per cent faster. It was also 27 per cent faster in Photoshop – though this is not something you could translate to the new Mac Pros as an Intel-native version of Photoshop is still at least six months away.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple flies aboard Secretariat, while Dell plans to hop on a nag headed for the glue factory. Who’s the Chief Processor Picker for Dell and what, if any, were his criteria exactly, besides their usual “lowest price, performance be damned?”
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Apple chose well: Anandtech – Intel Core 2 Duo ‘the fastest desktop processor we’ve ever tested’ – July 14, 2006
Report: Dell signs deal with AMD for millions of chips for full range of desktops, notebooks – June 26, 2006
Apple chose well: Intel poised to take massive lead across the board over AMD – June 07, 2006
Dell opts for AMD’s Opteron; deal confined to servers at this point – May 18, 2006
One thing the Opteron – new and old – have in common is that they can run 32-bit and 64-bit apps simultaneously. The Intel chips are either/or with Windows.
A minor nit to pick, but significant for people who would buy workstations like those priced to compete with the MacPro.
BTW: Sun is also using AMD chips in it’s “x86” lines.
The Wal-Mart of Computing.
Enough said
Yes and with Leopard the Intel chips will do the same thing. It’s just that Microsoft can’t code an OS to save thier lives.
That would be because Microsoft went with AMD’s extensions back when developing 64-bit Windoze.
Thank God that Apple choose Intel
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plus, dont you need a different version of windows for 64bit amd and 64bit intel, dumb windows
I heard an interesting little tidbit from my partner yesterday, who is a PC consultant and has some kind of Dell sales/service status. (no idea what it is but who cares) Anyway, he ordered some 3 gig Quads yesterday that will only run windows, after a phonecall to a mid level sales exec at Dell turned up some interesting intel. (take how much a mid level exec actually knows with several grains of salt, but I found it interesting) My partner asked why the Dell workstation was so much more expensive, and if they would match the price of the Mac Quad. To make a long story short, the exec told him the price was bellow there manufacturing costs, and Apple is getting better than normal pricing (even in Dell purchasing terms) and is Intel’s new darling. This kind of makes sence seeing how Dell just flipped of Intel with this AMD deal. Whats even more interesting is according to the dell guy, Apple got first silicon way before anyone else the industry, soemhting that dell always bosted. Interesting times we live in!
I don’t care how good a computer is, I want CHEAP!
Agreed about the MS/AMD link. Part of the reason for this was that Intel decided to go with two differentiated lines, while AMD decided to scale. Now Intel won’t license the AMD code. Still … Apple managed to create an OS that gets the job done.
Sun, though, mainly deals with 64-bit apps and could use any 64-bit CPU they wanted.
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Oh … that’s for the Parallels crowd.
One thing to note though is that Apple doesnt currently support Xp64 with BootCamp. That was a bit of a bummer. Lets hope that changes soon.
DLMeyer,
Do you know something the rest of the world doesn’t? Everything I’ve read says that 64-bit versions of Windows can only run 32-bit applications and drivers in an emulation layer. That would be independent of the processor.
If somebody’s going to nitpick about 64-bit/32-bit compatibility, they shouldn’t even be considering Windows when 32-bit apps and drivers can run side by side on a Mac without emulation layers.
Dell is going to Hell
“majestical fashion”???????
What cereal box did this guy get his journalism diploma off of?
MW = college, interestingly enough
I love words that have extra syllables that add absolutely no meaning–like majestical. (It means majestic.)
How old are the woodcrest chips and how old are the opteron chips? Exactly. Wait until the new opteron chips come out.
Brad, the Woodcrest chips are Intel’s latest and greatest (brand spanking new) and the Opteron tested is AMD’s latest and greatest (even more brand spanking new). These ARE the new Opteron chips.
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The IBM/Motorola woes are a distant memory.
Mike Napolitano, I think you are right and I have mentioned in some previous post(s), not long ago, suspicions that Apple was getting low ball pricing and delivery preference from Intel. Dell moving strongly to AMD has lost them their favorite status at Intel, whereas Apple is now in the favorite’s seat. Any Apple Mac victory is an Intel victory.
Another piece of data from late July is that Intel only expected to be able to produce 1 million Core 2 chips in the first ten weeks since the announcement – ramp up always takes time. I was not at all surprised at Apple’s Mac Pro announcement, but the fact that they were ready to deliver at the time of the announcement shocked me. I predicted that they would announce, but not ship for a month or so. I was wrong. Preferential treatment would seem to answer your rumor. If Apple can start stealing market share with the Mac Pro and then start making serious inroads in the server market (inherently in the business market), then Intel is using Apple as a weapon to defeat AMD and its customers in the business world. Intel and Apple are playing a win/win cooperative game. My AAPL stock is having an orgasm.
Intel chips may be “either/or” with Windows, but not with Leopard! You can run BOTH 32-bit and 64-bit apps at full speed in Leopard.
Where’s “lisa” with an incoherent rambling anti-Intel rant when you need her? Someone should set up a museum of famous MDN trolls.
This is one of the worst articles I have ever seen on MDN. The Opteron is about to go quad-core (before Intel), and is just barely beaten on per-watt performance after a year and a half in the lead. Moreover, the Intel processors on the low-end (non-Xeon), the Core 2 Duo and Core Duo, are still about even with the Opteron-derived AMD chips. AMDs next generation is about to hit, Intel’s just did. What do you expect?
AMD is not a nag headed for the glue factory. Do a little research and you’ll see that. They just made a major acquisition, too, and will soon be in the platform business. What happens when an 8 core CPU has two cores on-die dedicated to GPU processing? You’ll find out.
“majestical”?
LOL
use a spell checker. that way you can write more gooderly.
Abe J>
What happens when an 8 core CPU has two cores on-die dedicated to GPU processing? You’ll find out.
I’m not sure, but will I be able to replace my Dell Bar-B-Q-omatic.
One thing thats left out Dell has been riding the nag for too many years now they finally jumped on the winner AMD heh heh. These Intel losers get me , Hey wait till AMD runs over your Conroe with their Bulldozer Ha Ha.
Come with their what??
Are we now adding AMD vaporware to Microsoft vaporware, as opposed to shipping product on shipping product. Don’t buy a Woodcrest-based Mac Pro now, because you’ll be able to buy Vista running on Deerhound sometime in 2007.
No scrap that, don’t buy Vista in 2007 on Deerhound because by Xmas 2008, you’ll be able to buy AMD Cadiz.
But by then, we’ll be able to buy Leopard on an 8-core Yorkfield with 12MB of L2 cache, and we’ll be a year away from Bobcat or Cougar.
Seriously, this is geek masturbation of the worst sort.