ATI HD 4890 Available for Macs this Summer?

[Topper]

I am guessing that the HD 4890 will be available for Macs sometime late Summer or early Fall.
My reasoning:

The Mac HD 3870 became available in April of 2008.
The PC HD 4870 was released a month later.
The Mac HD 4870 became available in March of 2009.
The PC HD 4890 was released a month later.

Rumor has the HD 5870 may be released for PCs sometime late Summer or early Fall.
Going by previous history, the HD 4890 for Macs should be available one month before the HD 5870 release

Or with a little luck, maybe the HD 4890 driver will be included in the release of Snow Leopard.

By the way, contrary to previous rumors, ATI is now expected to launch the HD 4890 X2.
ATI’s hand was forced when NVIDIA came out with the GTX 295.

Drool Time:
The HD 5870 is expected to have 50 percent more shaders than the HD 4870.
It will have a 40nm die fabrication which means improved clock speeds, much lower heat, and much improved performance, especially if they use that extra space to increase the shader processors to 1200 or more as well as increasing the ROP's and putting in a 512-bit bus to take full advantage of that GDDR5.
Thanks in part to the small size of the GPU, the HD 5870 X2 is going not have two separate GPU's, instead it will be two RV770 cores stacked on top of each other.
That also means the gpu will be small enough to stack four RV770s on top of each other to make a single video card called the HD 5870 X4.
Radeon HD 5870 ------ 512MB, 1200 sp, dual MCM, 800MHz Core, 1200MHz GDDR5
Radeon HD 5870 X2 - 2GB, 1200 x2 sp, dual MCM, 800MHz Core, 1200MHz GDDR5
Radeon HD 5870 X4 - 4GB, 1200 x4 sp, dual MCM, 800MHz Core, 1200MHz GDDR5

NVIDIA is expected to bring out a new card; the NV GTX 390 - 3.6GB, 1792 bit memory connection, 4 gpus on one card.

 

[Pressure]

At least include your sources.

I need the laugh...

 

[Whiteyez]

At least include your sources.

I need the laugh...

I think he is the source. He is guessing...

 

[Tallest Skil]

Totally not happening. We won't see changes to the graphics lineup until Q1 2010 when the new processors come out. Apple has NEVER done upgrades to the graphics cards mid-revision.

 

[Topper]

I think he is the source. He is guessing...

I am too dumb to make that stuff up

At least include your sources.
I need the laugh...

I was in a bar drinking with a guy who said he was CEO of AMD. He said his name was Bubba.

 

[Topper]

Apple has NEVER done upgrades to the graphics cards mid-revision.

The 3870 was not an Apple card.

 

[VirtualRain]

Totally not happening. We won't see changes to the graphics lineup until Q1 2010 when the new processors come out. Apple has NEVER done upgrades to the graphics cards mid-revision.

That doesn't preclude ATI or Nvidia offering Mac compatible variants of their cards... although I agree that the 4890 is an unlikely candidate. I would expect to see an nvidia 260GTX above all else.

 

[Cycom]

Don't really think it's going to happen, bro. Apple isn't known for incremental changes to their graphics card options. The 4890 isn't really THAT much better than the current 4870.

 

[Mattww]

I'd have to agree that it is highly unlikely that Apple would update the OEM cards during the life cycle of a Mac Pro revision and the 4890 is too similar to the 4870 for AMD/ATI to really release it as a retail kit.

If and when a 5870 comes along then they may well consider a retail version if it offers enough of an improvement over the 4870 - it probably depends on how sales of the Mac 3870 retail card went. There is also the chance now of an NVIDIA retail card judging from the comments made about other routes to market when the FX4800 card was announced.

 

[TheStrudel]

Having released the 3870 fairly recently and with the 4870 available via , ATI won't be releasing another one anytime soon. If they were to release a new card, it wouldn't be from the same line. Now, from the 5000 series in the future sounds a bit more plausible.

 

[Topper]

The 4890 isn't really THAT much better than the current 4870.

It would be for me.

I looked at 8 benchtests with the 4890 and the 4870.
At the best, the 4890 beat the 4870 by 14.8 percent.
At the worst, the 4890 beat the 4870 by 10.7 percent.
The HD 4890 beat the HD 4870 by an average of 13.5 percent.

For running X-Plane, the HD 4890 has 1GB of vram.
That 1GB would be a big help using antialiasing at high resolutions.

 

[Topper]

Having released the 3870 fairly recently and with the 4870 available via , ATI won't be releasing another one anytime soon. If they were to release a new card, it wouldn't be from the same line. Now, from the 5000 series in the future sounds a bit more plausible.

The 3870 is a year old for Macs. 1 1/2 years old for PCs.

I wouldn't say the 4890 is from the same line as the 4870.
I wish it were so I could flash the PC HD 4890 and put in my computer.

I hate to even think about how long it will be before Apple gives us a ATI 5XXX card.

 

[VirtualRain]

I hate to even think about how long it will be before Apple gives us a ATI 5XXX card.

By your own analysis... 10-12 months after it's available for the PC?!

 

[wally21]

Totally not happening. We won't see changes to the graphics lineup until Q1 2010 when the new processors come out. Apple has NEVER done upgrades to the graphics cards mid-revision.

You keep saying this, yet Nvidia just anounced that the quadro fx 4800 will be added in May. Is this a different kind of upgrade than you have in mind?

 

[grue]

Trying to apply logic to anything Apple does is an exercise in futility.

 

[TheStrudel]

The 3870 is a year old for Macs. 1 1/2 years old for PCs.
I wouldn't say the 4890 is from the same line as the 4870.

Perhaps you wouldn't, but by all accounts it's the same technology with a different transistor arrangement, runs a bit cooler and faster. True, it's not the same card. But it's very much an incremental upgrade, which us mac users tend not to get. We'll get big ones (series upgrade to 5xxx, etc.), but not the small stuff.

 

[Wild-Bill]

Even if it is released for the Mac, you can bet dollars to donuts Apple will want twice the retail price for it.

We'll have better financial success by flashing a PC version to get it to work in the Mac Pro.

Apple continues to insult me and other informed consumers by pricing the Mac Pro video cards into the stratosphere.

 

[Topper]

Even if it is released for the Mac, you can bet dollars to donuts Apple will want twice the retail price for it.

We'll have better financial success by flashing a PC version to get it to work in the Mac Pro.

Apple continues to insult me and other informed consumers by pricing the Mac Pro video cards into the stratosphere.

You are right.
I really want a card with 1GB of vram.
If I was smart (operable word being "if") I'd flash a PC 4870 1GB card.

 

[Tallest Skil]

You keep saying this, yet Nvidia just anounced that the quadro fx 4800 will be added in May. Is this a different kind of upgrade than you have in mind?

Cards available as BTO from Apple.