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ATI Mobility HD3800 for next iMacs/MacBook Pros?

apple would never make anything thicker... "OMG LOOK HOW THIN IT IS!" should be apple's new slogan. Sure you can fry an egg on it, but damn it looks good.
 
masse said:
apple would never make anything thicker... "OMG LOOK HOW THIN IT IS!" should be apple's new slogan. Sure you can fry an egg on it, but damn it looks good.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I'd even visually notice the .25 inches needed to fit vastly better GPUs in MBPs.
 
Hd3800

Just looked it up WOW!!

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4441

The Mobility Radeon HD 3800 series has a 256-bit GDDR3 memory interface a PCI Express 2.0 interface. It supports Microsoft DirectX 10.1. and full 1080p Blu-ray video.

The Mobility Radeon HD 3800 series has support for HDMI, DVI, and DisplayPort, and has native support for up to four monitors. Notebooks with both integrated and dedicated graphics can benefit from ATI CrossFireX technology, which is a feature of ATI Hybrid Graphics Technology. It boosts graphics performance up to 70 percent by running the integrated and discrete graphics together.

Another new technology called ATI PowerXpress allows the notebook to use integrated graphics when on battery and turn off the discrete graphics card, saving up to an hour and a half of battery life.
 
You're not going to see much beyond the midrange video cards we see in the current MacBook Pro design.

This isn't the first time we've discussed it as well...
 
Eidorian said:
You're not going to see much beyond the midrange video cards we see in the current MacBook Pro design.

This isn't the first time we've discussed it as well...
Click to expand...

Aah, yes. Of what I remember, first it was the X1800. Then recently the 8800M, and now this. It's the ongoing game.

P.S. The idea that a "Pro" notebook with a "midrange" GPU is false advertising is dodgy. What use would a "Professional" have of a high end graphics card? Even pretty heavy CAD will run fine on an 8600M. And what else is there? Unless you are a "Professional Gamer", in which case, why the hell do you have a Mac? Now, don't get me wrong, I would love to see a 3800 in a MBP by the end of the year, but MBPs are not made for gaming.

The higher end iMacs, on the other hand, probably should be. And I guess seeing as you can get a 8800 in them, Apple probably thinks the same, at least to a degree. It is the crap version (and mobile version) after all.

It is worth noting that the X1600, that did make it into a MBP was branded as for "Performance Thin" notebooks. The HD 3600 is branded as for "Thin & Light" notebooks, like the X1400. In this respect, there is some credibility that Apple will be looking for something with a bit more power than a 3600. For example, the 8600 is branded as "Performance", second rank to "Enthusiast". And as the 3800X2's will be taking top spot of the ATI list, maybe there is a faint glimmer of hope after all. But that's just my logic.
 
Erasmus said:
Aah, yes. Of what I remember, first it was the X1800. Then recently the 8800M, and now this. It's the ongoing game.

P.S. The idea that a "Pro" notebook with a "midrange" GPU is false advertising is dodgy. What use would a "Professional" have of a high end graphics card? Even pretty heavy CAD will run fine on an 8600M. And what else is there? Unless you are a "Professional Gamer", in which case, why the hell do you have a Mac? Now, don't get me wrong, I would love to see a 3800 in a MBP by the end of the year, but MBPs are not made for gaming.

The higher end iMacs, on the other hand, probably should be. And I guess seeing as you can get a 8800 in them, Apple probably thinks the same, to a degree. It is the crap version (and mobile version) after all.
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The problem being the huge gap between the MacBook and MacBook Pro created by wanting a discrete graphics solution. Someone spending $1,999 or more wants more then just a midrange graphics card.
 
Exactly, it's not the fact that Apple sells a laptop with a mid range GPU that bothers me, it's that it doesn't sell one, or offer one BTO, with a better one.
 
If you argue your point for long enough without accepting the answers that people have given you (And given you, and given you more of), it'll eventually happen right??
 
I'm still waiting for someone to show me the TDP or heat production figures that rule the HD3850 out, so far the only "argument" has been ruling out completely on the grounds that as a GPU it doesn't suck.
 
masse said:
apple would never make anything thicker... "OMG LOOK HOW THIN IT IS!" should be apple's new slogan. Sure you can fry an egg on it, but damn it looks good.
Click to expand...

So true, they're pushing thin way more than motorola intended.
 
Yixian said:
I'm still waiting for someone to show me the TDP or heat production figures that rule the HD3850 out, so far the only "argument" has been ruling out completely on the grounds that as a GPU it doesn't suck.
Click to expand...

^^

Whats the 8600GT M power consumption? I think i read it in this thread somewhere...

Apparently *all* of the mobile chips in the 8*00 timeframe are broken and need replacing :eek:
 
@Concorde: Just because some idiot on a forum says that 100% of 8600M's are defective, why would you believe him when the only thing backing him up is THE INQUIRER (LOL)? "Significant quantities" could mean 5% for all we know. Game console manufacturers think of anything above 1% as terrible, to put that into perspective.

@Yixian: It's not about the physics of the chip being too small, it's about looking at what Apple has done historically for the graphics solution. They have always used a mid range card. To rephrase, they have never used a high end card.

Also, PowerXpress is an AMD solution, which doesn't rule out its use by itself. However, PowerXpress needs an AMD integrated graphics chip. Apple uses Intel boards obviously, so can you see how it might be hard to integrate a graphics solution from AMD on an Intel board? Hybrid SLI uses an Nvidia board (Which is not an Intel board), so wouldn't be a candidate either.

The Centrino 2 platform actually does allow for this using an Intel integrated graphics chip (X4500) and a discrete graphics card (Such as the 9600M).

The MacBook Pro is a professional computer that expects to be used for Final Cut, Logic, etc. These programs do not require a high power 3D gaming card for obvious reasons, which is why Apple does not include one.

You should know that the GPU in the 17" version is clocked higher than the 15" version because of a bigger and thus more efficient heat sink.
 
That would be cool but we need the top of the line!:p

ATI RADEON 4870 X2, top of the line ATI card stuffed into a 1 inch thick laptop im sure apple cannot do it but that would be sick if they did but such a power hog.

Chris
 
If you want to get really immature about apple's obsession with thin things, listen to the macbook air keynote and pretend SJ is talking about his weiner.

256 bit memory interface. At least give us that.
 
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