14 DAY TRIAL // At the end of last month it was reported that Apple was planning the release of an eight-core Intel-based Mac Pro. The announcement of its release is still expected to be made as soon as the second half of November and the new Mac Pro models should be featuring two of Intel's forthcoming quad-core Xeon 5300 series "Clovertown" chips. If the rumors turn out to be true, this means that the release would be only a few weeks from now, but it seems that Dell has won over Apple on the last few yards.
Dell has announced their Precision line of computers to feature two new Quad-Core Xeon chips. Dell, Inc. said Wednesday it's the first PC maker to market with workstations that feature Intel Corp.'s new quad-core processors, beating longtime-rival Apple Computer whose Mac Pro professional desktops have yet to make the jump from dual-core chips. The world's second-leading PC manufacturer said customers can now configure its two-socket Dell Precision 690 and Dell Precision 490 workstations with two new Quad-Core Intel Xeon chips, delivering a total of 8 processing cores and performance gains of up to 54 percent on multi-threaded applications, AppleInsider reports.
According to AppleInsider, the minimum investment for Dell Precision 690 and 490 models is of $4,392 and $5,348 when configured with two quad-core Xeons running at 1.86GHz; keep in mind that the dual-core models start at $2,399 and $2,149, respectively.
Also, Dell has announced the addition of Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors to its two-socket Dell PowerEdge 1900, 1950, 2950, 2900, SC1430 and 1955 blade models. Prices start at $1,599, $1,599, 1,699, $1,049 and $1,799 respectively.
Regarding the unveiling of the new models, Brad Anderson, senior vice president, Dell Product Group stated the following: Dell prides itself not only on being first to market with technology, but first to deliver exceptional value to the customer while helping to reduce costly complexity in their environment
Orders for Precision and PowerEdge quad-core computers can be placed beginning today; but - according to Dell - shipment might suffer a delay of two weeks.
This only means that Apple would better come up with something really good, as they lost the start on this one, and - even if the rumors are true and they are to introduce their eight-core models in a few weeks - Dell still won this one for now.
Related Links:
MacWorld's "Inside the Mac Pro" - Chapter III
MacWorld's "Inside the Mac Pro" - Chapter II