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2007 Harpertown Stoakley-Seaburg Motherboard With New Graphics Cards 8-Core Mac Pro
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$6,000 For Last Year's Tech? No Thanks.
This is at Developer's discount which you can get if you pay Apple $500 for an ADC membership:
After I join ADC for $500 and buy it from the Developer's Store and add sales tax and 8GB of RAM, I'm still looking at almost $6,000. I can't see it without a 2007 motherboard and graphics card.Well MM regardless of what you do, I am pushing the "buy now" button on Tuesday the 24th. Tuesday is supposedly the first Intel price drop date on the Cloverton 3.0 GHz.
I doubt Apple will pass on the discount but changes usually get announced on Tuesday, and I thought that I would wait just in case.
Besides, I was hoping that Apple might also update the Cinema displays by chance.
I've waited long enough, probably too long now and I know I am going to see a huge boost in productivity on this machine as is.
So go ahead MM, take the plunge.
I agree. It's just too much money into a Mac made up of mostly last year's parts.
This is at Developer's discount which you can get if you pay Apple $500 for an ADC membership:
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I find this odd. There really hasn't been anything new in the way of video cards since 8/06. ATI has only come out with the X1950 series, which is only marginally better than the X1900 that's current offered. The only REAL improvement over the X1900 that's available is Nvidia's 8800 series.
Even though that is true people will still bitch and moan just because the Mac Pro does not have a bleeding edge DirectX 10 card...
I can fully understand why Apple is waiting to include the newest graphic cards for their line-ups. They still have to write drivers but the R600 is also a lot more attractive with its ability to play two 1080p signals simultaneously with audio.
ATI also has their new Radeon HD series which blows the nvidia out of the water in performance.
While true, these cards have not been released yet. You cannot buy one. Nvidia also has their next gen card in the works as well, however I wouldn't count that either.
The only new card from ATi that you can current buy is the X1950, which is only slightly better than the X1900.
Why do people want a DX10 card for a Mac? Its not like it runs directx.
Because they will also be able to run OpenGL 2.1 which will be fully implemented in Leopard to expose the advanced features of the graphic chip architecture
Otherwise I don't understand the craving none other for gaming in Windows.
If the 8800 was available for the MP i'd probably be all over that.. its orders of magnitude faster than the 1900XT.. the fact is more and more apps (motion, cs3 AE, FCP, the next version of Shake supposidly) are offloading processes to the GPU.. the fact I make a living in 3d means i want the most powerful card i can get in my mac. The GPU often is the hardware that will age the quickest to me over the life of the computer so starting with a card thats 16 months old isn't very attractive to me.
Speaking from a videographer (FCS 2.0 & logic user) point of view,
At this rate, it probably be better to get the mac book pro with santa rosa (hopefully in june WWDC ??) and then wait till the new revision of mac pro later in the year.
There is no sense in dropping huge $$$$$$$ for a stock mac pro that is on the end of its life cycle. Especially when the new mac pro will have an increase boost in video rendering and FCS 2's motion is GPU utilized.
At this rate, it probably be better to get the mac book pro with santa rosa (hopefully in june WWDC ??) and then wait till the new revision of mac pro later in the year.
There is no sense in dropping huge $$$$$$$ for a stock mac pro that is on the end of its life cycle. Especially when the new mac pro will have an increase boost in video rendering and FCS 2's motion is GPU utilized.
MM: Pressing ahead wth 8-core clovertown or not?
Hi MM, been following your posts with great interest over the weeks on this 8-core MP topic. Finally subscribed to MR today to ask you if you have substantially 'weakened' to the point of moving on the MP 8-core (dual quad) of April2007?
I believe I'm in the same boat as yourself in that I beleive I need this additional power especially for TRANSCODING (even with QM and spare macs) and also rendering for FCS and others.
I can afford the 8-core but am put off greatly by:
lack of high end graphics card mentioned ny forum members within a few minutesof the annoucement.
the BF benchmarks
the instance of "clovertown = two dualcores gaffed tapes together" .. even this from an HP guy at NAB in their own workstations! he told me to hangout until December 2007 for Penryn (all confusing to me btw)
*rumours of TRANSIENT (my words) upgrade in July for newer chips or something that was mentioned...
Anyway .. have you weakened your stance and of so will you purchase this model in the immediate future?
Additionally I have found a buyer for my PMG5QUAD - 8GB .. but will nearly have to give it away
Aiden points out that the Cinebench score at BareFeats.com shows the 8 core to be more than 2x faster than the Quad G5. Most members think SS and Penryn won't happen before end of year 2007. So I'm starting to weaken about waiting for more than what's out now. Can anyone here please slap me silly and order me to keep waiting please?
Hi MM, been following your posts with great interest over the weeks on this 8-core MP topic. Finally subscribed to MR today to ask you if you have substantially 'weakened' to the point of moving on the MP 8-core (dual quad) of April2007?
I believe I'm in the same boat as yourself in that I beleive I need this additional power especially for TRANSCODING (even with QM and spare macs) and also rendering for FCS and others.
I can afford the 8-core but am put off greatly by:
lack of high end graphics card mentioned ny forum members within a few minutesof the annoucement.
the BF benchmarks
the instance of "clovertown = two dualcores gaffed tapes together" .. even this from an HP guy at NAB in their own workstations! he told me to hangout until December 2007 for Penryn (all confusing to me btw)
*rumours of TRANSIENT (my words) upgrade in July for newer chips or something that was mentioned...
Anyway .. have you weakened your stance and of so will you purchase this model in the immediate future?
Additionally I have found a buyer for my PMG5QUAD - 8GB .. but will nearly have to give it away
Still Waiting For Penryn and SS Motherboard
Why sell the Quad G5 EVER?? No way will I sell mine ever. For all the reasons you list I am waiting for Penryn in October with Leopard or however much longer - is my current thinking. I have a new woman in my life who has a C2D MacBook so I can use her Intel Mac until the Mac Pro 8 core is the way I want it by next year at worst.Hi MM, been following your posts with great interest over the weeks on this 8-core MP topic. Finally subscribed to MR today to ask you if you have substantially 'weakened' to the point of moving on the MP 8-core (dual quad) of April2007?
I believe I'm in the same boat as yourself in that I beleive I need this additional power especially for TRANSCODING (even with QM and spare macs) and also rendering for FCS and others.
I can afford the 8-core but am put off greatly by:
lack of high end graphics card mentioned ny forum members within a few minutesof the annoucement.
the BF benchmarks
the instance of "clovertown = two dualcores gaffed tapes together" .. even this from an HP guy at NAB in their own workstations! he told me to hangout until December 2007 for Penryn (all confusing to me btw)
*rumours of TRANSIENT (my words) upgrade in July for newer chips or something that was mentioned...
Anyway .. have you weakened your stance and of so will you purchase this model in the immediate future?
Additionally I have found a buyer for my PMG5QUAD - 8GB .. but will nearly have to give it away
Stoakley-Seaburg worth waiting for or not for photographer?
I've been reading this thread since it started, but I haven't found the answers to the questions I have. I hope someone can give me insight.
I'm a photographer that uses my iMac 2 GHz G5 for Aperture and PS CS2. Aperture is dog slow when using it to adjust the photos and CS2 is too slow for my tastes when using smart sharpen on large files. I want a Mac Pro and have been waiting in an attempt to get the most for my money, but I'm tired of waiting as it takes twice as long to process my photos (shooting RAW) than I think it should.
Will the Stoakley-Seaburg motherboard give me that much improvement over the current Mac Pro motherboard given my use? I understand (at least, I think I do) that the users working with video will see better performance, but I'm guessing I wouldn't see that much difference.
If that is indeed the case, I may jump on the current quad MP with 3.0 GHz and the ATI video card, which is what Apple recommends for photographers. http://www.apple.com/macpro/performance.html
At least I waited long enough to get a price break on the 30" ACD. Having said that however, can anyone speculate on probable upgrades on the ACD's that would be worth waiting for from a photography perspective?
BTW, I will be upgrading to PS CS3 when I get the intel machine.
Thanks
I've been reading this thread since it started, but I haven't found the answers to the questions I have. I hope someone can give me insight.
I'm a photographer that uses my iMac 2 GHz G5 for Aperture and PS CS2. Aperture is dog slow when using it to adjust the photos and CS2 is too slow for my tastes when using smart sharpen on large files. I want a Mac Pro and have been waiting in an attempt to get the most for my money, but I'm tired of waiting as it takes twice as long to process my photos (shooting RAW) than I think it should.
Will the Stoakley-Seaburg motherboard give me that much improvement over the current Mac Pro motherboard given my use? I understand (at least, I think I do) that the users working with video will see better performance, but I'm guessing I wouldn't see that much difference.
If that is indeed the case, I may jump on the current quad MP with 3.0 GHz and the ATI video card, which is what Apple recommends for photographers. http://www.apple.com/macpro/performance.html
At least I waited long enough to get a price break on the 30" ACD. Having said that however, can anyone speculate on probable upgrades on the ACD's that would be worth waiting for from a photography perspective?
BTW, I will be upgrading to PS CS3 when I get the intel machine.
Thanks
It is difficult to say how much actual increase SS will give you over the current Intel chipset. Most estimates I have seen are a 10% - 20% performance increase over the current offering.
I don't think it has been verified that Leopard will boost performance of the Mac Pro Octo. So right now it is a crap shoot.
The only thing we know for sure is that the X1900 GPU probably will be updated before too long and software that is specifically written to take advantage of multiple cores will help a lot.
Having said that, both the single quad core 3.0 ghz and the dual quad core 3.0 ghz Mac Pros running CS3 and Apeture will destroy your iMac running CS2.
I hope that Apple is waiting to put this bad boy in the Mac Pro, but I would be surprised if they do...
http://www.dailytech.com/ATI+Radeon+HD+2900+XT+Performance+Benchmarks/article7043.htm
http://www.dailytech.com/ATI+Radeon+HD+2900+XT+Performance+Benchmarks/article7043.htm
In other words, you don't even need a quad core MacIntel - since you're willing to run the PowerPC for another half year.
My bet, though, is that you'll hit the buy button at WWDC (MacWorld Summer 2007). A couple of months of your girlfriend's MacIntel laptop creaming your Quad G5 will send you over the edge...
?
I wondered why you don't simply buy the MacPro with the cheapest card, then get a 1950 (or whatever) at Newegg and throw the cheap card away, especially since Newegg sells 1950s for less than the price Apple charges for the 1900 upgrade.
Is the reason that only Apple makes OSX graphics drivers, and you're stuck with whatever Apple puts on the menu?
Or would it make sense to get the Mac Pro with the cheap card now, and then when Apple does upgrade get the latest Apple-supported card at Newegg and toss the cheap card then?
I wondered why you don't simply buy the MacPro with the cheapest card, then get a 1950 (or whatever) at Newegg and throw the cheap card away, especially since Newegg sells 1950s for less than the price Apple charges for the 1900 upgrade.
Is the reason that only Apple makes OSX graphics drivers, and you're stuck with whatever Apple puts on the menu?
Or would it make sense to get the Mac Pro with the cheap card now, and then when Apple does upgrade get the latest Apple-supported card at Newegg and toss the cheap card then?
Yes, were stuck with the small helping of OSX drivers apple makes. Plus I dont remember exactly but the BIOS, or EFI in the card for mac is different from the mainstream PC type.. if you want to run a card that apple does not sell/support.. and ati or nvidia also have not macified, u need to to do a hack.. flash the bios and look for some home brewed drivers on the net... assuming there are any rogue drivers or instructions out there and your willing to do this to your 500$?+ GPU in your $4000+ computer. I dont imagine its a world of stability since bob, ice cream man by day, graphics driver vigilante by night may not offer much support or updates.
. Plus I dont remember exactly but the BIOS, or EFI in the card for mac is different from the mainstream PC type.. if you want to run a card that apple does not sell/support.. and ati or nvidia also have not macified, u need to to do a hack.. flash the bios and look for some home brewed drivers on the net... assuming there are any rogue drivers or instructions out there and your willing to do this to your 500$?+ GPU in your $4000+ computer. I dont imagine its a world of stability since bob, ice cream man by day, graphics driver vigilante by night may not offer much support or updates.
Is that still true for MacIntels?
I thought that people dual booting Vista/XP on a Mac used the standard nVidia or ATI drivers....
All cards will work in Windows but not even boot into Mac OS X if it isn't EFI based and Mac OS X hasn't got drivers for it.
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