Tim Gaden17 July 2006, 2:13 AM
Apple's rumoured decision to use the new 64-bit Intel Xeon (Woodcrest) chips in its forthcoming Mac Pro desktops will make them the fastest and most powerful desktop computers anywhere, insiders say.
Apple's rumoured decision to use the new 64-bit Intel Xeon (Woodcrest) chips in its forthcoming Mac Pro desktops will make them the fastest and most powerful desktop computers anywhere, insiders say.
The new chips unveiled last week signal a shift in strategy from Intel. It is no longer going head-to-head with AMD in a straight-out "Megahertz War", but is offering a chip with smarter features and better power efficiency.
The Xeon will top out at 3.0GHz on a 1333MHz FSB, but the real benefit to users comes from advances in Intel's "Core" microarchitecture.
The new chips use "Smart Memory Access" which automatically works around memory bottlenecks and lags, "Advanced Smart Cache" which allows one processor to use all the memory if the other processor is idle and "Wide Dynamic Execution" which allows more instructions per cycle.
The Woodcrest chips have one other important advantage over the Intel's Core 2 Duo Extreme (Conroe) range. They support multiprocessor configurations.
Apple is expected to capitalise on this by putting two dual-core 2.66GHz Xeons into the high-end model of the Mac Pro. Insiders who have seen pre-production versions of the new computers say that it is without doubt the most powerful desktop on the planet.
It is widely expected that Apple users will get a first glance at these new machines, when Steve Jobs previews them along with Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard) at August's WWDC.
And the price of power? Australian users are advised to start saving their pennies. A top of the range Mac Pro will retail at the same price as the current Quad 2.5GHz PPC G5 PowerMacs, sources estimate, which translates into $5,299.