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I know you're looking for an MB, not a system, but if you go to http://www.xicomputer.com/ and check out their NetRaider 64 LT. You can custom configure it to have up to 12GB of ram w/ a single Opteron 244.

Have fun!

Granted, there are some cool system and case mods done with Macs, the typical Mac owner is less interested in tweaking and modding than in having a computer that works.

I look at it like this... some folks like to buy a Honda Civic, bolt on a turbo, fiddle with the exhaust and intake, and have a cheap car that can run with a Porsche 911. It may not be as bulletproof, but even with repairs, it's more affordable than the Porsche 911.... but if you're the type of person that just wants a fast car (with a warranty!) that runs, you probably won't be modding up an "inexpensive import".

No one complains of Porsche, Ferrari, or Lamborghini using proprietary parts. If you check out the cost of maintenance on one of 'em, you may even see why AppleCare is an option for the "I want something that just works!"-crowd.

Price is a wonderful point of comparison, but there is room for the Civic and the 911 in the automotive world, and no one claims that the small marketshare of Porsche indicates they are going out of business anytime soon.

Also... consider this: the "ultimate build-it-yourself" PC may not come in much cheaper than a comparable Mac. Notice these benchmarks that show a dual 2.0 Ghz G5 like the one I paid $3299 for being very competitive with a dual 2.0Ghz AMD Opteron box from Xi Computing, which clocked in at $4107.

Also... note that the gamingcomparison shows the G5 (equipped with a Radeon 9800 or 9600) does pretty good, though the difference in APIs (DirectX vs. OpenGL) can also be a factor here.

So this bring up my big question...

How many people are building systems with "off the shelf" parts that are actually significantly cheaper than a PowerMac G5, and can compete toe-to-toe with it?

Don't send em to Dell, send em to Xi

Jaysyn

Of course, if they make no announcement, their silence may be even more of a bang, as it will prompt all sorts of speculation.

As for the Xtreme... I just don't see it selling for too much more than the regular P4 3.2. If its max speed boost (due to cache) is 20%, who would pay a 150-300% premium over the other P4, regardless of how hardcore they are?

Intel's probably modeled the price sensitivity of its target market three ways from Sunday and set the price in the upper ranges of what they think will work, but still... It's probably going to have to street for $1000 or less for it to move in any sort of quantity

BTW, xicomputer.com is taking orders for Athlon 64 systems already. They're not providing any specs about the chip, but they're selling it.

All I can say is that I'm ready for a hardware upgrade, but have been waiting for both Prescott and Athlon 64 to release, so all the hardcores can do their benchmarks and argue which one is superior. I could lurk, read, and figure out which chip I want.

But if Intel continues to play coy with the Prescott release date, reference systems for reviewers, and competitive info... F'em. I'm not buying the P4 XTreme.

I can afford to upgrade once every couple of years and I'm jonesing for a big dose of new. If AMD's ofering a pure fix while Intel's just cutting the product with cache... I may just shift my buying over to AMD's street corner.

- Greg

Xi's Opteron workstation. Only single processor.

Well, unless you count $2690 as substantially more than $3K, the guys at Xi would prove you wrong:

Xi NetRaider

Of this year. That's what? FOUR MONTHS AGO.

If you read the small print: "RUNS ALL WIN64 AND WIN32 BINARIES".

Unhappy with Intel? You've been able to buy AMD Opteron,
from several places for months.

Starting at around $1,100 and from about $1600 for a dual CPU system.