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Crossfire for nMP on Windows / Boot Camp
- Thread starter drunkn
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You're probably thinking of the Verge review. They played Bioshock Infinite and said the machine was only using one card, but without indicating that they booted into Windows, one can assume they were playing the Mac version.
I am actually optimistic about the possibility that future Mac games will take advantage of both GPUs a couple years out. This could be like the introduction of the Power Macintosh in 1994. All of sudden in 1995 there was an influx of Mac games from PC developers just entering the Mac games market because they were excited about the PowerMac. When they made the Mac versions of their games, they made them better than their PC counterparts. Dark Forces had higher resolution and twice the sound quality on the Mac. Same with Descent and Descent II.
Okay maybe I'm too optimistic, but people who love the Mac and Mac games are going to buy this Mac Pro. The low end nMP is priced about the same as the mid-range PowerMac 7100 at its debut, $2900-3500, and that is not adjusted for inflation.
Crossfire has always worked under windows in mac pro... it's not hardware dependant 
also, SLI could be made to work as seen in my topic here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/974439/
also, SLI could be made to work as seen in my topic here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/974439/
Crossfire has always worked under windows in mac pro... it's not hardware dependant
I think you're a little confused - What people had been waiting for was confirmation that these amd cards supported crossfire in the nMP... Of course, it's windows only (with more chance to change now??) and only applies to games, ggpu workloads aren't effected either way.
What is entirely irrelevant but I'm still interested to know, is there a physical bridge between these cards (which I suspect is the case), or if the tahiti-based chips have been modernised/customised into using the pci-e as is the case with hawaii (which would be incredibly surprising).
Crossfire is definitely enabled, we need more testing to see how fast this thing actually is though.
15FPS with 4k BF4 on "Ultra" settings.
We need formal testing, but that's really not too great:
Great 3D Mark though.
I would really like to see how it runs over time, CF is a ton of heat, can it keep up the boost clock for the whole gaming time or just long enough to run benchmarks?
15FPS with 4k BF4 on "Ultra" settings.
We need formal testing, but that's really not too great:
Great 3D Mark though.
I would really like to see how it runs over time, CF is a ton of heat, can it keep up the boost clock for the whole gaming time or just long enough to run benchmarks?
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for comparisons
2 x r290 and a 3930k
2 - $500 cards and a $500 cpu
18572 Fire Strike (1.1)
http://www.3dmark.com/search#/?mode...ch/gpuname/fs/P/AMD Radeon R9 290&gpuName=AMD Radeon R9 290
2 x r290 and a 3930k
2 - $500 cards and a $500 cpu
18572 Fire Strike (1.1)
http://www.3dmark.com/search#/?mode...ch/gpuname/fs/P/AMD Radeon R9 290&gpuName=AMD Radeon R9 290
Where's that benchmark from? I just looked at a few and keep seeing the r290x outperforming the titan/780, with the 'cheap as chips' 290 pretty much equal (assuming adequate cooling).
Imagine a world where you really could get what you want in an apple device
Ignoring games, the compute performance for many real world workloads is utterly fantastic with non-fire branded hawaii (and some tahiti) chips. Again, ignoring the thermal and power compromises that go with a design, for those that build/buy machines to suit their code there was a real possibility to slash prices (assuming apple actually do pay considerably premiums for firepro over radeon designs) and increase performance quite dramatically.
What's why people watercool.
Also if you start gaming on the Mac Pro, the fan will spin up as your pushing both the CPU / 2x GPU , it will also start to get loud.
As the reviewer said in this mode the computer gets about as loud as a normal PC. According to Apple's specs that's around 24 dB IIRC, which would be inaudible under the sounds of a game.
It beats a Titan haha. Well done
Is that a single Titan card ?
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I do not believe anyone has tested the Mac Pro under gaming conditions yet.
If true I would be very impressed but let's see.
for comparisons
2 x r290 and a 3930k
2 - $500 cards and a $500 cpu
throw this mushkin scorpion enhanced in there for $499 (Check out the specs on this)
http://www.ramexperts.com/mushkin-e...ternal-solid-state-drive-ssd-pcie-2-0-x8.html
this thing will fly for a total of about $2700 with a case and power supply + ram and OS + MB
This for gaming!
2 x r290 and a 3930k
2 - $500 cards and a $500 cpu
throw this mushkin scorpion enhanced in there for $499 (Check out the specs on this)
http://www.ramexperts.com/mushkin-e...ternal-solid-state-drive-ssd-pcie-2-0-x8.html
this thing will fly for a total of about $2700 with a case and power supply + ram and OS + MB
This for gaming!
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People water cool because they're enthusiasts, it's a hobby and with a good setup you can extract more heat than with air, allowing for more overclocking headroom - Silent running is just an added benefit.
Nvidia's high end cards run pretty cool (and don't have loud reference coolers) and I can't think of a single 3rd party gfx vendor that doesn't have an excellent (capable and quiet) solution.
http://youtu.be/TdLOh8MdU20
They only tested BF4 in 4K. Didn't do too well, I don't think. We'll need more testing.
A proper review bro.
If you referring to the youtube video.... you have to be kidding if you think that is a proper review of the Mac Pro's gaming credentials.
All that youtube video told me is that, crossfire is enabled. And a quick overview in game.
Is that a single Titan card ?
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I do not believe anyone has tested the Mac Pro under gaming conditions yet.
If true I would be very impressed but let's see.
Yes it was in that video review, the website link was posted for the benchmark against a single titan gaming machine. It's in this thread.
We'll I think this confirms this can be a good gaming machine at least. You'd be stupid to do that though as you could do better by DIY, but that's not the point. The thing is that this is a Mac that will also do well at Bootcamp gaming, much like the old Mac Pro, iMac or MBP. Probably better, but if you are a serious gamer a DIY rig will be better.
Even better it seems that this probably is the best stock mac gaming solution available. Most Mac users who game just want it to work OK, which has been demonstrated. If your really serious about gaming you're not on a Mac in the first place.
Even better it seems that this probably is the best stock mac gaming solution available. Most Mac users who game just want it to work OK, which has been demonstrated. If your really serious about gaming you're not on a Mac in the first place.
There was sarcasm there.
Crossfire v single titan.
Point being this is suppose to be 2x D700, which people are comparing to W9000 and its just beating a single Q6000 (titan)
Im glad there is finally a mac with decent game potential, but one need to compare apples with apples.
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As you said, this looks like the best Mac ever in terms of gaming potential, and that is great.
One should never buy this just for gaming, but as a secondary function this is very welcome news. Its still long way behind my gaming rig, though good backup machine if the gaming rig ever has down time.
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Yup, that was the point I was making in this thread. We need to see more in depth reviews and further testing. Anyone quoting the youtube reviews as to how the mac pro will perform as a gaming rig, and under long gaming sessions is grasping at straws.
Hopefully on in depth review will be done by a respected site, who can compare past games benchmarks against that of the mac pro.
I'm really hoping the mac pro does well, stoked to have a machine that is a really decent gaming machine as a secondary function.
based on the numbes in the chart above, the nMP wasn't performing as well as even a single R9 280 / HD 7970.
From what I understand so far the 280 is the closest match to the D700. possible that it wasn't running in crossfire mode in bf4 in their demo?
the 3dmark scores definitely suggest crossfire was working though. maybe something that will improve with driver updates? or using the AMD drivers rather than Apple-provided ones?
Considering that it's not a gaming machine and there are "release one" workstation drivers - 30 FPS on 4K High is very, very good. This is not a gaming machine, and never was - but having a good workstation that can handle games well is a welcome news to many.
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Built-to-order watercooled rig will be much, much more than D700 upgrade.
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If you could fit SLI Titans into really quiet ultra-small-form-factor case that would be apples to apples.