Intel Launches First 65nm Processor
Intel has launched the first processor based on the 65nm core. The Pentium D 955 boasts a significantly smaller core from the current 90nm and more common 130nm cores. It supports a frontside bus speed of 1066MHz, similar to the old 3.46GHz EE Prescott chip that wasn’t too popular. The Pentium D 955 Extreme Edition also sports a frequency of 3.46GHz. A new feature in the 955 is hyperthreading on 4 virtual cores due to the dual-core (physical cores) setup. Up until now hyperthreading, an Intel only feature that splits work loads into separate execution piles, has only used two virtual cores. Don’t get excited just yet, as with all EE chips the price tag is hefty; around $1100. Tom’s Hardware has the full story.
But what does it mean?
It means fasssstttt, especially at multitasking.
More importantly… much cooler running
Hope Apple gets these soon!
I agree, I’m holding out for the Intel Mac Mini.
I was just saying, the average reader couldn’t give two smurf’s ass hairs about what you typed there, you need to dumb it down, always. I want to get a Mac mini, it will be my first Mac since the old black and white ones. I need to learn macs, so should I wait?
Yeah definitely wait for the Intel macs. Buying a mac now is not worth it at all.
I wouldn’t say it’s not worth it at all. It really depends on which Mac you want. The iBooks and Mac minis are rumoured to be up first for the Intel switch in January 2006 with others to follow suit later during the year. If you are after an iBook or Mac mini, the answer would be to wait. But you should also consider Apple’s roadmap for their machines - the first “gen” of new machines usually ship with the bare minimum and come with teething issues etc.
Moreover, the big apps such as Photoshop CS for Intel Macs will not be out till later of 2006. What this means is if you get an Intel Mac now, you’ll be relying on the Rosetta translation engine to translate the native PowerPC PS binaries to Intel, which is also expected to struggle in terms of speed and performance.
If you can wait till 2007 for more stable releases of the Intel Macs and software that natively support that architecture, do that. For myself, I’m getting the current Powerbook G4 which is at its peak (some may say end) of its product cycle (best of everything - higher res, DL DVD burner, 128mb VRAM, longer batt life). Throw in the Applecare, I expect this workhorse to work well into the stable releases (i.e. 2nd/3rd revisions) of the Intel Powerbooks in 2007.
True, it will take some time for the universal binaries to come out but on the upshot I hear Rosetta is fantastic at what it does. However, nothing can beat native apps.
Well look at those Mac boys go!
I can’t wait until 2007, though I may have to since I don’t have the money as of yet :P
I want a Mac that can handle a lot of Word Processing, Websurfing and maybe even MP3s. I just want something that works! SO is the mac mini a go?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not playing down Rosetta and in fact I agree with that Rosetta will probably work great for non-resource hungry apps. However, I’ve read somewhere online (couldn’t remember the link for the life of me) that more “complex” apps like Photoshop suffers a bit to the point that it may run slower than the G4 1.67Ghz.
Bottom line is we just have to wait and see once these Intel Macs hit the market and the apps performance gets benchmarked. That’s probably a burning question for people who’s after specific app performance (perhaps a future article here? ;)) rather than general bump in speeds and cooler chips. No point speculating now since MacWorldExpo is just another 12 days away :D
You could always pickup a Revision B Mac Mini but I wouldn’t want to see the look on your face when the new Mac Mini’s surface in January (rumor). :-D
Beat me to the post why don’t cha Ka-Meng…
samureye: If what you’ve put down makes up the majority of your use of the Mac, a Mac mini is sufficient for your needs, or even an iBook if you want to go portable (rumour mill has it that a 13.3 widescreen Intel iBook will be out on January 10).
If you’re a hardcore graphics or multimedia designer, the mini may struggle a lil (that’s why most of them buy the G5 PowerMacs to start with! Dual Proc baby!)
Lol, sorry mate! For a moment I thought this was my blog. I kid!
I will get the new site up (now that both WP2 and K2forWP2 is released) soon enough. Now if I can get the Powerbook before I fly home in mid Jan on my annual leave. Thanks again, Santa Paul! ;)
Yeah my Mac Mini struggles a bit with heavy Photoshop, Illustrator and Aperture… and it’s overclocked too. I wish I could have 2gigs in the mini. :-(
Well the thing is, I DO have a PC as it is now and I could just upgrade that to do whatever it is I need to do that requires a major amount of CPU power, though I really don’t think I will need anything like that. As I said before, I really want a Mac to learn the platform, but I want something a little above average, considering I have a scant 128 MB RAM in my Dull, I mean, Dell PC right now, the Mac Mini would seem like the perfect thing, and the price seems nice too. But I’ma look out for this Macworld thing you speak of, oh strange Mac owners.
http://www.macworldexpo.com/live/20/events/20SFO06A/keynotes
Put that date down on your diary.