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ATI 5000 Series and GeForce GTX 480 Drivers Hint at Desktop Mac Updates

Eidorian said:
Southern Islands isn't concrete. I've heard that AMD wants to get it out this year but it appears that more effort is being placed on Fusion parts. They inched into Q4 2010 from 2011 in just the past few weeks. There is also handful of new sockets coming from AMD as well. It's a bigger change than AM2+ to AM3.
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Where have you heard that? Everything I've read strongly indicates that SI is right on track for a September/October release.
 
DesmoPilot said:
Where have you heard that? Everything I've read strongly indicates that SI is right on track for a September/October release.
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https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=10013088#post10013088

This was the last update I saw on AMD. Otherwise it has been nothing but Fusion news and GF104 from nVidia.

DoFoT9 said:
fair call, and good timing! 860 doing me fine here, silly 4850 though. will you grab a MP in 2 years time? or PC?
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I got a deal on it for $158 a few days after launch. I had to jump on it. I don't regret spending more either. It's perfect for video crunching and games. I hope to get a GTX 460 next week. I'd still want o see the reviews first though.
 
Eidorian said:
I got a deal on it for $158 a few days after launch. I had to jump on it. I don't regret spending more either. It's perfect for video crunching and games. I hope to get a GTX 460 next week. I'd still want o see the reviews first though.
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woah nice deal! hot specs too. that GPU will be a very nice addition for you :D what sort of work are you doing? or is it more a play around rig?
 
DoFoT9 said:
woah nice deal! hot specs too. that GPU will be a very nice addition for you :D what sort of work are you doing? or is it more a play around rig?
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It's my all around desktop. I'll usually cut recordings from Windows Media Center and burn them onto DVDs for my less fortunate family members. Handbrake flies as well.

I've been a fan of ATI since the 3850 but I'm looking at the GTX 460 in the ~$200 price range this time around. CUDA and other features interest me. It's a pair of 5770s in CrossFire or a 5850 otherwise. SLI has much better scaling though. Not that I need it...
 
I hope the Mac Pro gets an update soon. I have moved away from Apple products completely in my personal life but I know two designers at work who would be very pleased with the announcement of new MPs. They are both due for an updated system and have been holding off for this update.
 
jnpy!$4g3cwk said:
Just out of curiosity, what is the usage scenario that makes this so important?
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Sailboat cabin at night.

jnpy!$4g3cwk said:
You will probably be disappointed. Any upgrade Apple can offer right now will be modest compared to what you already have.

Just out of curiosity, what are you doing right now that is so CPU/GPU performance limited? Most people would benefit more from adding memory or adding SSD drives...
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Sure. I however already installed 32GB and use SSD's to boot from. And I'm fairly happy with it, but developers like me will never say no to additional power.

And what I do for a living, these days, has everything to do with: www.raymarine.com As in I am developing a new kind of iPad application – with additional hardware – to make a lot of people happy.
 
Chrispy said:
I hope the Mac Pro gets an update soon. I have moved away from Apple products completely in my personal life but I know two designers at work who would be very pleased with the announcement of new MPs. They are both due for an updated system and have been holding off for this update.
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Why have you moved away from Apple products?
 
Eidorian said:
It's my all around desktop. I'll usually cut recordings from Windows Media Center and burn them onto DVDs for my less fortunate family members. Handbrake flies as well.

I've been a fan of ATI since the 3850 but I'm looking at the GTX 460 in the ~$200 price range this time around. CUDA and other features interest me. It's a pair of 5770s in CrossFire or a 5850 otherwise. SLI has much better scaling though. Not that I need it...
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woaahh and you still went for the GTX 460? CUDA is very attractive ill admit, if only handbrake for Mac could support it directly ;) i use video converting a lot too, it would sure come in handy.
 
Eidorian said:
It's all about the hardware selection and prices.
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That's pretty much it. For what I do, being on the Apple platform is not necessary. Adobe's latest offerings take care of everything I need.

The iPhone was the last Apple product I still used but about 2 months ago it stopped charging. I sent it in for repair and it was returned as warranty void. When I called they said a sensor was tripped that indicated the phone was submerged in water causing it to stop working. This was not the case but nobody would hear my side of it. I canceled my plan with AT&T and decided to just use my work issued BlackBerry from now on. Knowing how easy it is for Apple to just deny service on such an expensive item, I decided to simply go with the free option from work.
 
DoFoT9 said:
woaahh and you still went for the GTX 460? CUDA is very attractive ill admit, if only handbrake for Mac could support it directly ;) i use video converting a lot too, it would sure come in handy.
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I've come into an unexpected bit of income in the past few months with some contract IT work. I'm still aimng for the best performance per dollar at the ~$200 price point. My friends keep telling me to get a 5970 though. :rolleyes:

Right now everything that doesn't go to rent or other expenses is going into savings. I'm far above my usual 25%.

Chrispy said:
That's pretty much it. For what I do, being on the Apple platform is not necessary. Adobe's latest offerings take care of everything I need.

The iPhone was the last Apple product I still used but about 2 months ago it stopped charging. I sent it in for repair and it was returned as warranty void. When I called they said a sensor was tripped that indicated the phone was submerged in water causing it to stop working. This was not the case but nobody would hear my side of it. I canceled my plan with AT&T and decided to just use my work issued BlackBerry from now on. Knowing how easy it is for Apple to just deny service on such an expensive item, I decided to simply go with the free option from work.
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My 2.5 year old MacBook takes care of my Mac experience. I don't see a need to replace it with how sluggish Apple is with hardware updates.

I have no use for gadgets either.
 
Eidorian said:
I've come into an unexpected bit of income in the past few months with some contract IT work. I'm still aimng for the best performance per dollar at the ~$200 price point. My friends keep telling me to get a 5970 though. :rolleyes:

Right now everything that doesn't go to rent or other expenses is going into savings. I'm far above my usual 25%.
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damn man. you lucky thing! congrats on the nice income, it sure makes things easier knowing that you dont have to stress making rent and whatnot. dont go the 5970 i think it will be overkill lol.

above 25% wowsa. with my car and uni expenses im well below that :(
 
DoFoT9 said:
damn man. you lucky thing! congrats on the nice income, it sure makes things easier knowing that you dont have to stress making rent and whatnot. dont go the 5970 i think it will be overkill lol.

above 25% wowsa. with my car and uni expenses im well below that :(
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I remember hitting something like 48% into savings back in my university days. It was straight income after taxes with no benefits though.

My current HD 4830 was only $89 and a dramatic improvement over my previous 3850. I did promise never to spend more than $100 on my next video card but things haven't changed in the past year and a half.
 
Eidorian said:
I remember hitting something like 48% into savings back in my university days. It was straight income after taxes with no benefits though.
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wow really? how do you save so aggresively? up until this last job i had zero savings whilst in uni, was only working 5hrs a week though - now doing 20.

My current HD 4830 was only $89 and a dramatic improvement over my previous 3850. I did promise never to spend more than $100 on my next video card but things haven't changed in the past year and a half.
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which is fair enough. my next PC build (home file server) i have budgeted $500aus for it, a low end i3 machine for my movies etc. but yea, thats another thread topic ;)
 
DoFoT9 said:
wow really? how do you save so aggresively? up until this last job i had zero savings whilst in uni, was only working 5hrs a week though - now doing 20.
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My expenses are nonexistent, I have a budget, and live frugally. I thank my mother for these skills and the perseverance to adhere to them.
 
Very pleased to hear this news. Haven't been on macrumors in a while but I've returned to a great leap forward in GPU power in the Mac lineup. Really curious about the GTX480. Apple might tempt me into getting a new Pro... how are they able to do it so easily :D
 
iSpoody 1243 said:
the ati 5870 would be awesome in an imac.
even tho it would end up being a notebook gpu.
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That would be a great update and will definitely push me forward to upgrading my iMac which has a HD 2600 Pro - the use of OpenCL definitely has improved the speed of encoding when used on my 9400M which supports OpenCL.
 
macintoshtoffy said:
That would be a great update and will definitely push me forward to upgrading my iMac which has a HD 2600 Pro - the use of OpenCL definitely has improved the speed of encoding when used on my 9400M which supports OpenCL.
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What application uses OpenCL to improve the speed of encoding?
 
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