“As expected, Apple today started taking orders for the new Mac Pro,” Electronista reports. “The new systems are now known to include three configurations and include not just the 2.8GHz quad-core and 2.4GHz eight-core systems but a third 12-core, 2.66GHz model. It comes outfitted with the same 6GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive and Radeon HD 5770 video but, due to the cost of the more exotic Xeons, starts at $4,999.”
“As part of the rollout, Apple has also posted a Radeon HD 5870 upgrade card for Mac Pros,” Electronista reports. “The board gives either the new Mac Pros or early 2009 models added speed or a second display without sacrificing video speed. It carries a slight premium over Windows-only cards at $449 but includes both dual Mini DisplayPort outputs and a dual-link DVI connection.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
Drooling
Same on the outside, but very nicely improved on the inside.
Reminds me of those famous words by Willie Dixon, as interpreted by a guitar slinger named Ellas “Bo Diddley” Bates:
You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover (1962)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can’t judge an apple by looking at a tree
You can’t judge honey by looking at the bee
You can’t judge a daughter by looking at the mother
You can’t judge a book by looking at the cover
Oh can’t you see, oh you misjudge me
I look like a farmer, but I’m a lover
You can’t judge a book by looking at the cover
Oh come on in closer baby,
hear what else I gotta say!
You got your radio turned down too low
Turn it up!
You can’t judge sugar by looking at the cane
You can’t judge a woman by looking at her man
You can’t judge a sister by looking at her brother
You can’t judge a book by looking at the cover
Oh can’t you see, oh you misjudge me
I look like a farmer, but I’m a Lover
You can’t judge a book by looking at the cover
You can’t judge a fish by lookin’ in the pond
You can’t judge right from looking at the wrong
You can’t judge one by looking at the other
You can’t judge a book by looking at the cover
Oh can’t you see, oh you misjudge me
I look like a farmer, but I’m a lover
You can’t judge a book by looking at the cover
Will the Radeon 5870 be backwards compatible with the older MacPro1,1? I have a Radeon 4870 in my older Mac Pro and it runs perfectly. Apple neglected to tell people that it was backwards compatible with the older 1.0 standard. Looks like the same thing this time…
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”hmmm” style=”border:0;” />
Apple, I don’t have $3000 to drop on a damned Mac every time you upgrade. I want to be able to easily upgrade VIDEO CARDS. GIVE US A CHOICE!
They should partner with BFG Technologies IMO.
now we just need software that is programmed to run on 12 cores at once! Time to stop thinking linearly!!!
@zaphod
That and $5000 dollars. I don’t think Apple is planning on selling to many of these. $2500 to 3300, sure, but $5000. The tower is no longer being marketed to the graphic professional, it is being marketed to the scientist, 3D studio and video production crowed. Talk about a niche on a niche.
Competitors with similar specs won’t sell it much cheaper. Apple opened all the options. If you’ve got the money and need a kick@$$ computer, the MacPro is It.
I guess this somewhat faster than my wicked-fast Mac IIfx, huh?
I can now play the “what’s the most insane Mac configuration” game.
Two 2.93GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon “Westmere” (12 cores)… +$1200
32GB (8x4GB)… +$3550
Mac Pro RAID Card… +$700.00
512GB solid-state drive, x4… +$1250 (1st one) +$1400 x3
ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB… +$200
Two 18x SuperDrives… +$100
Total: $16,199
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
And I did not even include displays, input devices, and other optional hardware/software.
@Figurative LOL. Wasnt that from a Macworld magazine cover in the 80’s?
That was the actual Apple marketing term for the IIfx.
@ken1W – I think that is the model Mark Hurd is going to buy.
This is a five-thousand-dollar beast!
Who said the Mac is dead?
Oh to win the lottery, I could have one of these
Spittin’ out Maya models pretty as you please.
Calculatin’, massabatin’, gaming with ease,
Nothin’ comes close to my silver cock-tease.
Twelve cores a motorvatin’, is gonna get ‘er done,
Solid state feeds my pate, but only my skull will hum!
Churnin’ and burnin’ to overflow my cup,
I realized I pissed the bed when I woke up.
I figure less than $7,000 for a dual graphics card 12 core plus OWC ram. Still very steep.
12 cores, with 24 threads!
almost every thread halves my render time… sigh…
Had a fully tricked out Dual PowerMac G5, nearly $14,000, now they sell on eBay for $600.
.
12 cores? Only good for large CPU intensive jobs that can be split up, otherwise it’s rare anyone will be doing 12 things at once to max out the cores. Most 3D games need only one fast core and a fast graphics card. Since 3D games went to consoles, a powerful computer isn’t needed too much anymore, why Steve came out with the iPad.
.
Heck Ubuntu on a Atom netbook can run Firefox w/Flash, OpenOffice and some 2D games all at once just fine.
The new iMac’s offer tremendous value if you cannot come up with the scratch for a Mac Pro – and they are very fast compared to other machines out there.
So with the inclusion of the 5870 does this mean the driver support for the Radeon 5000 series? In which case, will the 5970 be technically supported?
@ a. coward
You spent 14 thousand dollars on a tricked-out G5 and then would have us believe what we really need is an iPad? On top of that, you suggest an Atom netbook would fill the needs of an iPad?
Uh, your anecdotal evidence swings from one end of the computing spectrum to the other, so you hardly qualify as someone who should be dispensing computing advice.
Thank you G4Dualie for your inspired poem!
In 2003 I started buying Apple stock @ $7.13 per share. Everyone said I was crazy as I continue adding more over the years. Today, I have 5746 shares.
I am saying thank you Apple. I am buying one of these beasts for $18,512.95. Do I need the processing power? Hell no, but who cares!
Long live Steve Jobs!
BTW, I also have MS stock since 2005 @ $27.69 per share. Today, it is still around the same price.
wow, great thinking with the Radeon cards; ask any Maya user what thIS means to them 🙁
eh. We’ve waited since last fall for this? Probably the exact same machine as the 2009 with minor firmware tweaks for the Xeon 5600s. Stock RAM so low as to be an embarrassment. Even the Mini has a stock configuration with 4GB. To use all those cores takes lots and lots of RAM. If Apple insist on selling RAM at 2.5 times retail, offer the damn machine without any.
@ Grumpy Old Man
If you took the shit out of your eyes, you would see how stupid you really are.
Erratum
@ Grumpy Old Man
If you took the shit out of your eyes, you would see how stupid you really look.
@MDMac
If your statement had any substance I might know what you meant.
Are you saying that the Xeon 5600s are not socket compatible with the 5500s? (they are). Are you saying that 3GB of RAM is a nice amount? (for 2004, yes) Are you saying that Apple doesn’t charge an exorbitant amount to upgrade the RAM? (they do) Are you saying there is no Mac Mini that comes stock with 4GB or RAM? (there is) Are you saying that these consumer ATI cards are so shinny new and cutting edge that implementing them required a whole new computer system? (they aren’t and they don’t)
So what are you actually so fired up about?