carletonmusic said:
You are talking about high level guts in a consumer level machine. ATI 9800 etc will not be available in an iMac.
Currently, things like the 9800 and 5950 have just been superceded by models like the X800 and the 6800. the 5700 and 9600's are the generation prior to this, making them 3 generations old as of today. The 5750 and X600 are the PCI express versions of these cards and are aimed the mid-level. Sorry, but saying that these are high-level guts is just wrong. Besides, if you wre building a next-gen product, you'd want to get some longevity out of the architecture. That's why I'd even question using AGP given PCI-express will be the dominant player in less than 18 months...
With regards to DDR400 and other "Guts". This stuff is pretty much standard now, even in dodgy budget boxes. Someone speculated on ATA100 being in the new iMac. With SATA the successor to ATA (99% of all new mobos in the PC world have this connection now). Why would you use yesterdays technology when this is in other consumer-level stuff right now.
I'm not expecting Quadras, Gigs of Ram or Terrabytes of storage, but I would say that given the components out there right now in other platforms, how would you position a new (and potentially very lucrative product) in terms of market perception:
- iMac (Has a G5, but uses has-been tech)
- iMac (Darn good Mid-level machine that compares technically to anything else in its price range)
wrldwzrd89 said:
Well, as long as the 5750 and X600 don't have Mac versions, this isn't going to happen. In fact, the Nvidia 6800 Ultra DDL (which isn't even shipping yet) is THE most powerful Mac-compatible graphics card out there right now.
I agree that there are no versions available for Mac (yet). These are PCI-express versions of the 5700 and 9600s. Of course, I don't expect the 6800 to be in an iMac, but given the 5700 and 9600 parts are now 3 generations old now, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect this calibre card in a mid-level product (the iMac is not a budget model)
-- Dan