Evidence! New Mac Pros's or BTO Options on the way!

[Chaos123x]

BREAKING NEWS from Rob-Art at Barefeats.com

"Turns out those are CTO cards that Apple (Steve) decided not to sell. That's why ATI did their retail version.

So these cards are basically unsupported by Apple and will never be sold as a CTO or kit on the Apple online Store.
It appears that OWC got their hands on the limited number that were built. They are clever at doing that.

I've sent some info to the OWC test engineer so he can see what the core and memory frequencies are set at.
I should have that info by the end of the day.

ATI says that the only difference should be the heat sink unless Apple engineering overclocked it.


Rob-ART"


Well I guess false alarm.

 

[Eidorian]

BREAKING NEWS from Rob-Art at Barefeats.com

"Turns out those are CTO cards that Apple (Steve) decided not to sell. That's why ATI did their retail version.

So these cards are basically unsupported by Apple and will never be sold as a CTO or kit on the Apple online Store.
It appears that OWC got their hands on the limited number that were built. They are clever at doing that.

I've sent some info to the OWC test engineer so he can see what the core and memory frequencies are set at.
I should have that info by the end of the day.

ATI says that the only difference should be the heat sink unless Apple engineering overclocked it.


Rob-ART"


Well I guess false alarm.

Almost makes you wish the 3870 was the stock card in the Mac Pro.

 

[nanofrog]

BREAKING NEWS from Rob-Art at Barefeats.com

"Turns out those are CTO cards that Apple (Steve) decided not to sell. That's why ATI did their retail version.

So these cards are basically unsupported by Apple and will never be sold as a CTO or kit on the Apple online Store.
It appears that OWC got their hands on the limited number that were built. They are clever at doing that.

I've sent some info to the OWC test engineer so he can see what the core and memory frequencies are set at.
I should have that info by the end of the day.

ATI says that the only difference should be the heat sink unless Apple engineering overclocked it.


Rob-ART"


Well I guess false alarm.

No wonder it's cheap! Woot. Apple users can actually save some money for a change.

 

[Chaos123x]

I remember before the ATI retail card came people kept seeing this thing pop up as CTO option for the Mac Pro and then being took down right away.

I guess steve could not decide to release it or not.


I'm happy with my Blue Ati retail version it is quieter than my 2600XT and my old G5 6800 Ultra.

 

[Chaos123x]

Also from Rob-ART at http://www.barefeats.com

"Okay. I got the answer. They are clocked identically.

The OEM only works on "late 2008" models. The Retail works on all Mac Pros.

Rob"

 

[Infrared]

I would love to see this happen. If only PC mother board makers would switch to UEFI 2.1. I'd be a happy camper!
Even UEFI 2.0, or EFI 1.10 would do at this point.

The current Mac Pros have EFI 1.1 firmware. I'd like to
see an upgrade to UEFI 2.1 for these existing Mac Pros.

 

[nick9191]

I wouldn't be surprised if they put a 3870 as the stock card in the next Mac Pro, then had the GTX260 as a BTO option.

Oh wait ATI said they were making the 4870. Even better. 9600GT as the stock and 4870 as the BTO perhaps?

 

[nanofrog]

The current Mac Pros have EFI 1.1 firmware. I'd like to
see an upgrade to UEFI 2.1 for these existing Mac Pros.

As would I.

It would really help if UEFI 2.1 gets implemented on the PC side of things though. BIOS is just beyond ancient, and needs to be given its last rites and a proper funeral.

 

[m1stake]

I would love to see this happen. If only PC mother board makers would switch to UEFI 2.1. I'd be a happy camper!
Even UEFI 2.0, or EFI 1.10 would do at this point.

Really. A Microsoft OS without legacy support would be a much bigger and more beneficial jump than OSX from OS9 by a long shot. All new code!

Oh well, maybe after I'm dead they'll think about doing it (and decide not to).

 

[Kosh66]

So no one can explain why Apple created this card that only works with 2008 Mac Pros, when Ati already have one that works in all Mac Pros.


Also when do you think this will show up in the Apple Store?

Alot of things are created in Apple's R&D area that don't see the light of day.

Apple could have tested this card and the Nvidia Geforce 8800GT, and decided to go with the Nvidia Geforce 8800GT for the current Mac Pros. What's strange is that OWC is selling this, without Apple first announcing or selling these? Something's fishy. How can you sell an OEM card that hasn't been sold or announced by the OEM.

 

[Chaos123x]

From http://www.Barefeats.com

"November 13th, 2008 -- OWC has an Apple OEM Radeon HD 3870 listed for $189. It comes with a "mongo" heatsink, does not have a CrossFire connector, and only works on "early 2008" Mac Pros. The Retail Mac and PC Edition works on all models of Mac Pro and does have a CrossFire connector (for extreme Windows gaming)."

 

[nanofrog]

Really. A Microsoft OS without legacy support would be a much bigger and more beneficial jump than OSX from OS9 by a long shot. All new code!

Dare we dream?

Oh well, maybe after I'm dead they'll think about doing it (and decide not to).

SHH... M$ might be listening, so don't jinx it.

 

[Minocan]

It doesnt have an s video port either. Glad ATI did a retail version.

 

[Eidorian]

It doesnt have an s video port either. Glad ATI did a retail version.

That's not just an S-Video port on the retail version.

 

[barefeats]

This so called "Apple OEM" 3870 is like the 1939 "Silver Arrow" Auto Union Type D that was recently offered for auction by Christies and then removed due to questions about its pedigree.

This is a rare gift to those Mac faithful crave performance upgrades that also make good eye candy. This will be impressive when you open the side panel of your Mac Pro and go "voila"! They will fall to their knees and cry, "I'm not worthy!"

The "Silver Arrow" 3870 is only going to be sold for a short period of time and never be offered again.

 

[AdiosVista]

This so called "Apple OEM" 3870 is like the 1939 "Silver Arrow" Auto Union Type D that was recently offered for auction by Christies and then removed due to questions about its pedigree.

This is a rare gift to those Mac faithful crave performance upgrades that also make good eye candy. This will be impressive when you open the side panel of your Mac Pro and go "voila"! They will fall to their knees and cry, "I'm not worthy!"

The "Silver Arrow" 3870 is only going to be sold for a short period of time and never be offered again.

I'm afraid that was too cryptic for me, not sure I follow. In the end, I hope this is a positive comment, as I have the "Silver Arrow" being shipped to me right now.

 

[barefeats]

I'm afraid that was too cryptic for me, not sure I follow. In the end, I hope this is a positive comment, as I have the "Silver Arrow" being shipped to me right now.

It was positive. I ordered one, too.

 

[AdiosVista]

It was positive. I ordered one, too.

Thanks for the clarification Looking forward to whatever gains I find over the current 2600...

 

[m1stake]

would you mind throwing a picture up? Out of curiosity I'd like to know if it's the same as the picture on OWC.

 

[AdiosVista]

would you mind throwing a picture up? Out of curiosity I'd like to know if it's the same as the picture on OWC.

Sure thing, I'll post as soon as it arrives. Unfortunately, the shipping said around 8 days before it gets mailed, then however long it takes ground shipping to get here.

 

[Chaos123x]

I guess the "Sliver Arrow" would be good for people who keep getting defective blue retail cards with the constant hairdryer fan.

My Blue retail card is silent, so not all of them are loud.

 

[G-Force]

It doesnt have an s video port either. Glad ATI did a retail version.

I think that's because you can buy a DVI-to-Video-adapter from Apple for that?

 

[iMacmatician]

I'd hope they keep it the same but I see a $3,000 2.66GHz 8 core on the horizon based on all the current information.

That seems reasonable.

Not a chance. The processors arent changing in price and I doubt the 3.4GHz is in demand for Apple to bother. At the end of July 2007 quad core prices fell to near those of dual core yet Apple didn't take the opportunity to offer 8 core systems for the same price during those next five and a half months.

The ONLY reason I see Apple introducing the 3.4 GHz is if Nehalem DP (or its supply) is delayed until mid-2009 or later and Apple wants to do a stop gap update. Even then, like the original 8-core Mac Pro, I see no changes besides the 3.4 GHz add-on.

At least Westmere's coming in H1 2010, so the next next update should be relatively soon. Unless Apple does a tiny update then and waits until Sandy Bridge (H1 2011) for the next decent update.

 

[TheStrudel]

I would get this video card, but I actually have a use for the analog component/S-video port on the retail card - useful to do external video out to a monitor while editing on the other two screens. We're absolutely certain it posesses no such port, right? Wasn't one on the picture, but the pictures aren't always spot-on. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you Rob?

 

[barefeats]

I received my "Silver Arrow" on Wednesday. I'm getting similar 3D game benchmark numbers to the Retail Radeon 3870 "Mac and PC Edition." I say "similar" because some are slightly slower. Some are slightly faster.

The whole issue has been rendered academic because OWC is sold out of the "OEM" 3870 as of last night and I doubt there will be more available.

The "OEM" heatsink/fan assembly is sexy looking but is thicker than it needs to be if you are thinking of adding a second card to you "early 08" Mac Pro.

Also if you plan to jumper two 3870s for use in CrossFire mode under Windows, that isn't possible with the "OEM" whose heatsink cover renders the CrossFire port unreachable.

In answer to the question about ports, the "OEM" only has DVI ports. There is no S-Video port (like the Retail version) and no HDMI port (as some sources reported).

That leaves the only reason to choose the "OEM": The fan. It's silent. The Retail 3870's fan can get pretty noisy when the card is at 100% load.