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2007 Harpertown Stoakley-Seaburg Motherboard With New Graphics Cards 8-Core Mac Pro

Are You Waiting For A Stoakley-Seaburg and 2007 Graphics Cards 8-Core Mac Pro

  • No. I bought the FrankenMac

    Votes: 30 7.1%

  • Yes I Will Wait 'Til Apple Gets It Right

    Votes: 246 58.0%

  • Not sure. Waiting for benchmarks on the 4.4.07 model.

    Votes: 27 6.4%

  • I'll stick with 4 cores, thank you very much.

    Votes: 121 28.5%
  • Total voters
    424
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Next Generation Mac Pro Video Cards?

I don’t suppose there is any way of making an educated guess as to what video cards Apple will put in the next Mac Pro?
Eidorian says the GeForce 8700 GTS will run much cooler than the 8800 series cards.
Will this be the deciding factor for Apple?
Any guesses?

GeForce 8700 GTS (G92)?
GeForce 9800 series? (The 9800 series will not be G92 as originally forcasted. They probably will not be out until Christmas or later)
GeForce 8800 series?
GeForce 6600 LE? (In keeping the with name “Mac Pro Classic”)
ATI HD2900 XT?
ATI HD2900 GT/Pro?
All FireGL? (This would displease me greatly!)
SLI card?
Crossfire card?
 
Topper said:
I don’t suppose there is any way of making an educated guess as to what video cards Apple will put in the next Mac Pro?
Eidorian says the GeForce 8700 GTS will run much cooler than the 8800 series cards.
Will this be the deciding factor for Apple?
Any guesses?

GeForce 8700 GTS (G92)?
GeForce 9800 series? (The 9800 series will not be G92 as originally forcasted. They probably will not be out until Christmas or later)
GeForce 8800 series?
GeForce 6600 LE? (In keeping the with name “Mac Pro Classic”)
ATI HD2900 XT?
ATI HD2900 GT/Pro?
All FireGL? (This would displease me greatly!)
SLI card?
Crossfire card?
Click to expand...

Too hard to say. SLI won't be being promoted though as Nvidia won't let Intel license the technology, so from that standpoint all ATI might be something Apple looked at. The 2900 and Nvidia Quadro cards have both been linked with the Mac Pro, but that was months and months ago now.
 
Umbongo said:
Too hard to say. SLI won't be being promoted though as Nvidia won't let Intel license the technology, so from that standpoint all ATI might be something Apple looked at. The 2900 and Nvidia Quadro cards have both been linked with the Mac Pro, but that was months and months ago now.
Click to expand...

NVIDIA and Intel Sign Broad Cross-License and Chipset License Agreements

NVIDIA And Intel Sign Broad Cross-License, Chipsets License Agreements

Intel gets licenses for both SLI and CrossFire

Ramifications of the Intel / NVIDIA License Agreement

_____

Not sure what it all means - I Yahoo!d for "nvidia intel sli license" to see what was behind your comment - and all I found were stories about an extensive cross-licensing agreement. (Note that Nvidia needs Intel's permission to use the Socket 775 interface more than Intel needs SLI...)
 
Topper said:
I don’t suppose there is any way of making an educated guess as to what video cards Apple will put in the next Mac Pro?
Eidorian says the GeForce 8700 GTS will run much cooler than the 8800 series cards.
Will this be the deciding factor for Apple?
Any guesses?

GeForce 8700 GTS (G92)?
GeForce 9800 series? (The 9800 series will not be G92 as originally forcasted. They probably will not be out until Christmas or later)
GeForce 8800 series?
GeForce 6600 LE? (In keeping the with name “Mac Pro Classic”)
ATI HD2900 XT?
ATI HD2900 GT/Pro?
All FireGL? (This would displease me greatly!)
SLI card?
Crossfire card?
Click to expand...

The deciding factor for the base card will always be money. If Apple can get a good price on a passable card it will be offered as the base option.

Remember we usually only get 3 card options a low, mid and high end card.
 
Who knows? But you can be sure that whatever the "three" next cards are will be the cards that stay in there for the long haul, as we've already seen from Apple.

I just submitted another Mac Pro feedback form suggesting the 8800GTX as the midrange card and I also mentioned that it was disappointing, in the wake of the iPhone shenanigans, to see the Mac Pro priced the same as it was 13 months ago. - But the main point was the 8800GTX. :D
 
AidenShaw said:
Not sure what it all means - I Yahoo!d for "nvidia intel sli license" to see what was behind your comment - and all I found were stories about an extensive cross-licensing agreement. (Note that Nvidia needs Intel's permission to use the Socket 775 interface more than Intel needs SLI...)
Click to expand...

I think those articles were for the original nForce chipsets. This is more recent (June 2007).

AFTER SEEING THAT several Intel partners talked about Chipzilla getting a licence for SLI multi-technology and even showcased upcoming motherboards with SLI support, we got a request from Nvidia to correct our story.

Derek Perez, the PR headmaster, contacted us and said that Nvidia hadn't signed anything with La Intella and that SLI will continue to be technology exclusive to Nforce chipsets. However, Intel's keynote held on the first day of Computex had a slide which mentioned that Intel has licensed SLI technology for future products, after which one outlook for future V8 systems was a bit more optimistic.

So its between Nvidia, the grand-daddy of SLI technology, or partners that claim to have Intel products with SLI support. Only time will tell, but know this: if you see Intel branded motherboards with Nforce chipsets, this means Intel has paid for SLI tech at the high end. This nice volume OEM deal last time happened around the X1800 launch (Crossfire for 975X chipsets). µ
Click to expand...
 
Wild-Bill said:
Who knows? But you can be sure that whatever the "three" next cards are will be the cards that stay in there for the long haul, as we've already seen from Apple.

I just submitted another Mac Pro feedback form suggesting the 8800GTX as the midrange card and I also mentioned that it was disappointing, in the wake of the iPhone shenanigans, to see the Mac Pro priced the same as it was 13 months ago. - But the main point was the 8800GTX. :D
Click to expand...

Frankly I don't see your obsession with the Geforce 8800 GTX graphic card (would be much better if it just were Geforce 8 series and Radeon HD series in general).

But yeah, they should offer current graphic cards.
 
sdhollman said:
Remember we usually only get 3 card options a low, mid and high end card.
Click to expand...

I'd probably call it low-end consumer, high-end consumer (if that's what you want to call the X1900 XT), and middle ground workstation.
But that's just semantics.
If I were forced to guess, I think I'll pick the next Mac Pro as having ATI 2900 Pro, GeForce 8700 GTS, and ATI FireGL Y8600 video cards.
That's not what I what, just what I think is possible.

Thinking out loud... What if I am right and the next Mac Pro has a GeForce 8700 GTS 320 MB video card in it.
If higher-end GeForce 8700 cards come out, could the Mac OSX driver of the GeForce 8700 GTS be used to replace it with the higher-end cards?

Wild-Bill said:
I just submitted another Mac Pro feedback form suggesting the 8800GTX as the midrange card
Click to expand...

For what it is worth, I've done my part.

Umbongo said:
I think those articles were for the original nForce chipsets. This is more recent (June 2007).
Click to expand...

Yep, The Inquirer two days earlier said the Intel and Nvidia had agreed to an SLI license. Two days later Nvidia denied it.
Of course this could be a done deal at any time (or not).
 
AidenShaw said:
No, in October Apple will launch a mini-tower with the "Yorkfield" quad Penryn on an X38 "Bearlake" chipset - and make a fine small expandable desktop.

The case will be chrome and black glossy plexi and enamel, to match the new Iphone-styled LCD displays (20" and 24" with LED backlighting).

The Mac Pro won't be updated - so to add insult to the injury, it will be the only computer in the lineup to have that brushed aluminum finish that was so popular back when Pluto was a planet.

Here, there will be wailing about neglecting the "creative core", and posts will hit 2500 within a week of the mini-tower announcement.


http://www.dailytech.com/Intel+Prepares+X38+Express+Launch/article8467.htm
http://www.dailytech.com/dailytech+digest+intels+penryn/article7277.htm
Click to expand...

I for one would love the mini-tower and would be over the moon if something close to what you describe is announced. A Mac Pro is overkill for what I do, but with a Mini (which I currently own) being the only other headless option, there is a chasm between the two models in spec and price.

I understand the frustration I see in this thread, but you (as potential buyers of the next model) are at least aware of the Intel roadmap which gives you a big advantage over days gone by. A similar thread to this may not even have existed back during the G5 era where there was no real idea of what the future would have brought. I think the switch to Intel has given you all too much information and anticipation has turned into expectation and into frustration. Intel's roadmap taunts you.
 
You can do SLI on the Mac Pro today.

It has to be done under Windows with hacked SLI Drivers (that work on any motherboard).

You can only run in 8x / 8x.

With what Apple charges for video cards, SLI setups would cost a fortune.

Tracer
 
rob finch said:
I understand the frustration I see in this thread, but you (as potential buyers of the next model) are at least aware of the Intel roadmap which gives you a big advantage over days gone by. A similar thread to this may not even have existed back during the G5 era where there was no real idea of what the future would have brought.
Click to expand...

Yes, back in the days when the RDF encompassed complete mind control the faithful sang hosannas at every keynote.... Now, not so much.


rob finch said:
I think the switch to Intel has given you all too much information and anticipation has turned into expectation and into frustration.

Intel's roadmap taunts you.
Click to expand...

You think that it taunts today - just wait until next Friday after all those Intel goodies have been seen running on the Moscone show floor at MacWorld ^H^H^H^H^H^H^H Intel Developer Forum next week.

We won't have rumours of Bearlakes and X38s and Bonetrail/Skulltrails - we'll see them running with water cooling and unlocked Xeons. Quad core mini-towers will be the "average" system for demos.

We'll see 16-core 2U Xeon servers ready to order (http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2198155/sun-cosies-intel), but don't ask about the Xserve - not sure if Apple still sells those.

There will be Harpertown Stoakley-Seaburg 8-Core mini-towers, towers, 1U servers, 2U servers - everywhere you look it's SS.

It's Saturnalia in September!

______________________


Just noticed that this is post 911, entered on 11 September....
 
rob finch said:
I for one would love the mini-tower and would be over the moon if something close to what you describe is announced. A Mac Pro is overkill for what I do, but with a Mini (which I currently own) being the only other headless option, there is a chasm between the two models in spec and price.
Click to expand...

To emphasize the price chasm, Fry's again has an HP minitower with quad core, 3 GiB RAM, DL Lightscribe Superdrive, GbE etc for $849....
 

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Eidorian said:
Even uses a G33 based motherboard.
Click to expand...

Yes, up to 8 GiB RAM (needs 64-bit OS).

I bought one for my sister, put a 512 MiB x16 PCIe graphics card (Nvidia 8) and Vista Ultimate Anytime Upgrade, and a x1 PCIe dual NTSC/ATSC HD television tuner. Nice media center for about $1200.
 
Aight, 10th time I'm asking this question... Anyway Apple would get an exclusive MacPro out by September 25th? I'm starting to get weird noises on my G4. A weird beep/scratch type noise. Hard drive starting to go or something?
 
darthraige said:
Aight, 10th time I'm asking this question... Anyway Apple would get an exclusive MacPro out by September 25th? I'm starting to get weird noises on my G4. A weird beep/scratch type noise. Hard drive starting to go or something?
Click to expand...

I say no chance, expect them around the time of Leopard/Penryn release.
 
Apple Expo yet again is possible but highly unlikely.

I'm leaning toward a Leopard/Penryn launch as well. Apple has had too many chances to make updates in the past year and they appear to hold out for special processor releases just for them. This is true even at the cost of their image.
 
What are the chances of a case redesign? I don't really care as I think the current one looks beautiful. But I wonder if it does happen, will it add any functionality to the current case?

Anyone know how long the current design is? or how long the previous one was kept. It's no big deal, but it does have an effect on resale value. Many don't know what chips are in the case, they just see the box (and I'm not just talking about consumer customers, many professionals ie designers don't know the difference).
 
suneohair said:
The Powermac G5 has been around since June 23, 2003 according to http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g5/index-powermac-g5.html

That means the current case design (of course the insides changed) has been around for more than 4 years.

The G4 line (although it saw changes, the design was mostly the same) debuted in August 1999 and went out in June 2003. Putting it at just under 4 years.

New design anyone ;)
Click to expand...

blueg3.gif


The Smurf-hotel G3 was the first system with the El Capitan case, in January 1999. (http://www.apple-history.com/body.php?page=gallery&model=g3blue&performa=off&sort=date&order=ASC)

That means the case lasted 4½ years.

By that measure, expect a Mac Pro update in January 2008.
 
Ok, now with this special event September 18th for UK, maybe that crap will be the iPhone launch. What would Apple Expo in Paris hold for us? It would be awesome to see a chip change and price drop on the MP. I really don't care for a graphics card at this point.
 
Your post is a bit jargon-rich for those of us just tuning in. How about defining your terms?

And what about memory bandwidth and system bus speeds?

Tom
 
deboni said:
Your post is a bit jargon-rich for those of us just tuning in. How about defining your terms?

And what about memory bandwidth and system bus speeds?

Tom
Click to expand...

eh? what terms, whose post are you referring too? all the terms I've read here can be explained by a google search.
 
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