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Next Generation Mac Pro Video Card?

Topper

Topper

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 17, 2007
1,186
0
Correct me if I am wrong.
The next generation Mac Pro will have:
A Stoakley platform.
A Seaburg chipset.
The processor will be code-named Wolfdale DP for the quad-core Mac Pro.
The processor will be code-named Harpertown for the 8-core Mac Pro.

The next generation Mac Pro will support PCI Express 2.0.
Any idea what video cards will be available for PCIe 2.0?
I know Nvidia is coming out with their nForce 7-series chipsets.
What video cards would coincide with nForce 7-series chipsets?
How about ATI?
I haven't heard of them releasing a PCIe 2.0 video card in the near future.

I know that PCI Express 2.0 is backwards compatible with PCI Express 1.1.
Therefore older video cards can work with PCI Express 2.0.
But wouldn't it make sense to bring out a video card that is PCIe 2.0 compatible?
 
Topper said:
Correct me if I am wrong.
The next generation Mac Pro will have:
A Stoakley platform.
A Seaburg chipset.
The processor will be code-named Wolfdale DP for the quad-core Mac Pro.
The processor will be code-named Harpertown for the 8-core Mac Pro.

The next generation Mac Pro will support PCI Express 2.0.
Any idea what video cards will be available for PCIe 2.0?
I know Nvidia is coming out with their nForce 7-series chipsets.
What video cards would coincide with nForce 7-series chipsets?
How about ATI?
I haven't heard of them releasing a PCIe 2.0 video card in the near future.

I know that PCI Express 2.0 is backwards compatible with PCI Express 1.1.
Therefore older video cards can work with PCI Express 2.0.
But wouldn't it make sense to bring out a video card that is PCIe 2.0 compatible?
Click to expand...

nobody knows exactly what is coming in the next mac pro. One thing for certain is that the chipsets will be intel, not nvidia or ati.

PCIe 2.0 is useless, even PCIe 1 is not fully saturated.
 
LeviG said:
nobody knows exactly what is coming in the next mac pro. One thing for certain is that the chipsets will be intel, not nvidia or ati.

PCIe 2.0 is useless, even PCIe 1 is not fully saturated.
Click to expand...

um. you contradicted yourself in the first 15 words.

three years ago we "knew for certain" that apple was not going to release Intel powered machines.
 
Topper said:
The processor will be code-named Wolfdale DP for the quad-core Mac Pro.
Click to expand...
While great for consumers, it would be very in keeping with Apple's mentality to only offer 8 core Mac Pros.

Any idea what video cards will be available for PCIe 2.0?
Click to expand...
It's far too early for this sort of information, I'm sure there will be plenty of information before Apple start shipping Mac Pros based on Stoakley though.
 
Topper said:
Correct me if I am wrong.
The next generation Mac Pro will have:
A Stoakley platform.
A Seaburg chipset.
The processor will be code-named Wolfdale DP for the quad-core Mac Pro.
The processor will be code-named Harpertown for the 8-core Mac Pro.

The next generation Mac Pro will support PCI Express 2.0.
Any idea what video cards will be available for PCIe 2.0?
I know Nvidia is coming out with their nForce 7-series chipsets.
What video cards would coincide with nForce 7-series chipsets?
How about ATI?
I haven't heard of them releasing a PCIe 2.0 video card in the near future.

I know that PCI Express 2.0 is backwards compatible with PCI Express 1.1.
Therefore older video cards can work with PCI Express 2.0.
But wouldn't it make sense to bring out a video card that is PCIe 2.0 compatible?
Click to expand...

According to this article

http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199700659

NVidia have demonstrated a PCIe 2 graphics card.

And as with previous discussion about seaburg... Apple can't "bring out" seaburg or PCIe 2 stuff. It has to wait for the respective vendors, eg Intel or Nvidia to introduce it. If they are lucky they may get new things before everyone else, eg Apple getting the Xeon X5365 a few weeks before everyone else. So there's no point really in asking why don't bring forward this or that with new tech.
 
So there's no point really in asking why don't bring forward this or that with new tech.
Click to expand...

My point is that no one is talking about PCI Express 2.0.
I am pretty certain that the next Mac Pro will support PCI Express 2.0.
I've heard rumors about ATI Radeon X2800XT with CrossFire being a BTO card for the next Mac Pro.
The Radeon X2800XT will work but it is not PCI Express 2.0.
I am enquiring if there are any rumors about the next Mac Pro using a PCI Express 2.0 video card.
 
Well if the next Mac Pro uses Seaburg/Stoakley then of course it will support PCIe2. Whether Nvidia/ATI have a PCIe 2 graphics card in time... well thats not really something Apple can control is it?
 
For the graphics cards I am predicting:
nVidia GeForce 8800GTX, ATI Radeon HD X2900 XT, nVidia Quadro FX 5500 and the stock card will be some low end mid nnVidia 8xxx series card.
 
I would kill for ANY card better than what they have now.
Apple has surprised me with every new release thus far. So I have no clue what they will do next. It surely will be better though.
:)
 
dartzorichalcos said:
For the graphics cards I am predicting:
nVidia GeForce 8800GTX, ATI Radeon HD X2900 XT, nVidia Quadro FX 5500 and the stock card will be some low end mid nnVidia 8xxx series card.
Click to expand...

I think alot of people are going to be in for dissapointment when the new GPUS come. I can see Apple skipping the high end 8000 series cards and resting on the 2900XT for it's price, the slot it occupies in the high end cards, and it's HD playback features, Intel having Crossfire but not SLI licenses. The FX4600 is the most likely quadro card, similar price to the 4500 with better performance. Low end is likely to be an 8300GT, though perhaps if any of the ATi 2000 series cards come in at the same wattage they may be stock due to the HD capabilities, I could even see the 7300GT remaining (people have to have something to complain about right? :rolleyes: ). Of course if Apple can get over the fact that people don't need to be spoon feed choice and are willing to make drivers for more cards then we could see a broader range. Though I'm sure the numbers indicate those willing to buy the top high end gaming cards are in such a small minority they won't bother with them.
 
Umbongo said:
I think alot of people are going to be in for dissapointment when the new GPUS come. I can see Apple skipping the high end 8000 series cards and resting on the 2900XT for it's price, the slot it occupies in the high end cards, and it's HD playback features, Intel having Crossfire but not SLI licenses. The FX4600 is the most likely quadro card, similar price to the 4500 with better performance. Low end is likely to be an 8300GT, though perhaps if any of the ATi 2000 series cards come in at the same wattage they may be stock due to the HD capabilities, I could even see the 7300GT remaining (people have to have something to complain about right? :rolleyes: ). Of course if Apple can get over the fact that people don't need to be spoon feed choice and are willing to make drivers for more cards then we could see a broader range. Though I'm sure the numbers indicate those willing to buy the top high end gaming cards are in such a small minority they won't bother with them.
Click to expand...

They would do better to put even an 8800GTS in there over the Radeon HD 2900XT. It's cheaper and performs better than the HD 2900XT. Oh, and it was proven there are no HD playback features (decoding/whatever) in the 2900. There was a huge article on it. Those features will be present on the 2600/2400 series.

We hoped newer driver revisions would improve performance on the ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT. With the newer driver we used for this evaluation we did not see any “magic” happen when it comes to real world gaming experiences at resolutions at and above 1600x1200. The ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT is not even a match for even the much less expensive and much less power hungry 320 MB GeForce 8800 GTS. - [H]ardOCP
Click to expand...
 
I'd have to agree with Wild-Bill. The 2900xt has impressive technology on paper (512 bit ring bus, good shaders, etc), but actual RW performance has not been "all that". its a hot, power hungry GPU, and the so called "HD" UVD component turned out to be missing.

Perhaps by the time the new Mac Pro is announced there will be a revised one which swings it back in Ati's favor. Who knows.
 
nVidia eats ATI alive with the 8800GTX.

I consider ATI as AMD (How ironic, they own them now heh) and nVidia is Intel in the GPU world.

I wish a 7950GT (At least) was included with the Mac Pro instead of the X1900
 
Wild-Bill said:
They would do better to put even an 8800GTS in there over the Radeon HD 2900XT. It's cheaper and performs better than the HD 2900XT. Oh, and it was proven there are no HD playback features (decoding/whatever) in the 2900. There was a huge article on it. Those features will be present on the 2600/2400 series.
Click to expand...


Do you have a link to the article?
 
Sure, here you go. The comment I copied is on the last page, the conclusion.

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTM1MSwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

UVD5.jpg


Oh, one the articles about the UVD is here. I don't remember right now where the other one was I read:

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39884

But as you can see from the image above, the UVD for HD accelerated playback is not included on the 2900XT.
 
Wild-Bill said:
Sure, here you go. The comment I copied is on the last page, the conclusion.

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTM1MSwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

Oh, one the articles about the UVD is here. I don't remember right now where the other one was I read:

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39884

But as you can see from the image above, the UVD for HD accelerated playback is not included on the 2900XT.
Click to expand...

Thanks, this had somehow slipped by me. Makes the 2900XT a less attractive offer as the 8800GTSs can be had for cheaper and overclocked. Obviously Apple have the ability to demand things of a company so who knows what will happen. In the end I think the only real GPU option to be certain of is the Quadro FX4600 as senior Nvidia people have hinted at it, and it's a perfectly logical step forward. The base and highend consumer card options are still wide open.
 
Sure, no problem. Maybe Apple will go pure nVidia for the Mac Pro refresh, maybe not. Since AMD/ATI are in a bit of a financial crisis right now (and are considering outsourcing their CPU fabrication operations) Apple could very well squeeze them to the bone to get the HD 2900XT cheap. I'd really love to see an 8800GTS or 8800GTX in there though.

It's pretty well known that Apple downclocks the 1900XT that's in there now, for heat and noise reduction. And it's not secret that the HD 2900XT consumes alot of power and runs pretty hot. They can save themselves alot of headache by using the 8800 series in the Mac Pro. (fingers crossed).
 
Wild-Bill said:
Sure, no problem. Maybe Apple will go pure nVidia for the Mac Pro refresh, maybe not. Since AMD/ATI are in a bit of a financial crisis right now (and are considering outsourcing their CPU fabrication operations) Apple could very well squeeze them to the bone to get the HD 2900XT cheap. I'd really love to see an 8800GTS or 8800GTX in there though.

It's pretty well known that Apple downclocks the 1900XT that's in there now, for heat and noise reduction. And it's not secret that the HD 2900XT consumes alot of power and runs pretty hot. They can save themselves alot of headache by using the 8800 series in the Mac Pro. (fingers crossed).
Click to expand...

I agree the 8800 series cards would be the best option for consumers, a 320MB and 640MB 8800GTS and an 8800GTX can easily be a worthy line up, at something like $200, $300 and $500 upgrades. I get the feeling buyers might get jipped with a single offering of a 2900XT because of how Apple approach such things.
 
I love this "well we don't have anything that can saturate 2.0 yet so it's useless!"

Uh, who buys a mac pro for the short term? What if I want to upgrade to the latest thing 4 years from now? Will pcie2 be useless then?

Are you new to this?
 
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