nMP wishlist

[ManuelGomes]

Hi

How about posting some nMP (early 2015?) specs wishlist?
If it does come out soon, and I hope so although the lack of info is worrying, one of those will be on my desk right away.
If Apple does release the nMP soon, surely it will be Haswell-EP (Xeon E5 v3) based, DDR4, C612 chipset with (finally) integrated USB3 controller, TB2 (TB3 will take another year), i218 Intel GB Ethernet controller (maybe Apple ditches Broadcom) and probably AMD FirePro W7100/8100/9100 dual graphics cards (although I also heard about starting with W5100 - which has a 128bit bus that even with mem compression is a step back).
Also, a new TB2 Retina display would be nice, although not 5K, 4K would be better.
Thoughts?

 

[wonderspark]

My wishlist is basically:

• Offer dual GPUs with single CPU (current)
• Offer dual CPUs with single GPU in the same size tube
• Add a larger tube option with dual CPUs and dual GPUs
• Also in the larger tube option, offer single / dual CPU/GPU combos with a hardware RAID card as one of the four items, such as dual CPU, single GPU, and RAID card
• Thunderbolt that is the equivalent of PCIe 2.0 x8 lane, aka double the speed it is now

If Thunderbolt isn't doubled, I am not interested. I need x8 lane RAID card attachment, period. Until then, my cMP is better for my needs than anything offered by Apple so far.

 

[Average Pro]

Nothing New Till 2016

That apple announces the earliest a "new" or "refreshed" MP will not be available prior to 2016. Thus cutting the amount of #$%& on this forum.

And that a teaser for it show up as a trailer at Star Wars VII.

 

[Gav Mack]

A two piece haswell e/p chipset logic board with options of single or dual processor cards with ddr 4 ram slots to fit a certain workstation chassis. 4 sata 3 sleds, usb 3.0 headers, Bluetooth 4 LE and ac wifi and 4 thunderbolt 2 ports to fit on a PCI blanking plate to go in one of the slots.

You said it was a wishlist

 

[handsome pete]

That apple announces the earliest a "new" or "refreshed" MP will not be available prior to 2016. Thus cutting the amount of #$%& on this forum.

And that a teaser for it show up as a trailer at Star Wars VII.

Hear hear. God forbid we engage in speculation about the Mac Pro in a Mac Pro dedicated forum.

 

[Derpage]

I wish this computer goes the way of the cube and they revert to a machine that isn't form over function smoke and mirrors nonsense. Anybody seen my dead horse?

 

[Gav Mack]

I wish this computer goes the way of the cube and they revert to a machine that isn't form over function smoke and mirrors nonsense. Anybody seen my dead horse?

It's buried under the Cupertino doughnut. Most likely due to the tooling costs the 7,1 will be almost identical to the 6,1 with newer AMD silicon and Haswell E chipset with a single cpu. A reality and not a wish list sadly.

 

[koyoot]

Base Mac Pro: 2999$
3.5 GHz Six Core Intel Haswell - EP CPU
Options:
- 8 Core CPU
- 12 core CPU
- 14 core CPU
16 GB of RAM DDR4 2133 MHz ECC memory
Options:
- 32 GB
- 64 GB
- 128 GB
256 GB SSD PCi-Ex
Options:
- 512 GB
- 1 TB
Dual AMD Fire Pro D310 with 3200 GCN 2.0 Cores and 2 GB of HBM Memory with 320 GB of Bandwith, each
Options:
Dual AMD Fire Pro D510 with 3520 GCN Cores and 3 GB HBM Memory with 480 GB of Bandwith, each
Dual AMD Fire Pro D710 with 4096 GCN Cores, 4 GB HBM Memory with 640 GB of Bandwith, each
HDMI 2.0, DP 1.3
No pricing, cause it can be really different than last year.

 

[JesterJJZ]

Move back to the old design…done.

 

[whoosh]

Option for second SSD slot instead second GPU

Not going to happen - but as a wish: among the options/stock models should be a model with a user upgradeable SSD slot instead of the second GPU. There are folks who do not need the second GPU but need more storage space and would like to buy it ourselves much cheaper . Not sure if they are in a majority

 

[brand]

a model with a user upgradeable SSD slot

It has that, it's called Thunderbolt. I don't see Apple reversing their position on this.

 

[Gav Mack]

My wish may happen with Thunderbolt 3 in the 8-9,1 with PCIe 3.0 support 40gbit per link and possibly aggregation too. One more cpu and more ram slots would be nice before we all think about case mods putting that can in a dead 4,1

 

[whoosh]

It has that, it's called Thunderbolt. I don't see Apple reversing their position on this.

I did say I doubt it will happen. However it will be great for the consumer. There are a grand total of two expensive bus powered Thunderbolt external SSD types Elgato (super expensive) and Lacie's rugged (expensive - $500 for 500GB). Contrast it to the available internal standard SATA SSDs - its possible to get 1 TB SSD for a little over $400. This could be a slower SSD than the PCIe SSD - but could avoid the dangling wires for some people.

 

[ManuelGomes]

MacPro

Wow, some goodies but also some bad attitude...
I don't know why some people can't just talk about things normally, without going nuts!!

I'd say no change will happen on the outside, the tube will remain as is probably.
That would make late 2013 users happy as probably there would be an upgrade path available.
TB3 would be awesome but that would mean only 2016 or later refresh, which is a breaker really.
I find the current design superb, although also love the older cases. But this minimalist design got to me, I want one. Fast!!
TB is the way to go for Apple, and I believe it's a good option.
You can always hook up extra storage if you need it, but if you don't then you have a small quiet machine.
Dual processor would be nice of course but that would ruin the design I guess, a major overhaul would be required. Maybe a cube, a la NeXT Cube? Great machine at the time by the way.
I guess the worst design choice for the nMP was having the SSD installed on one of the graphics cards. This makes both cards different, and makes it difficult to expand. If the 2 cards were identical (having both an SSD slot that could be populated) it would allow RAID or simply having 2 disks.
I believe they'll keep the current prices for the updated hardware, and start with the 4 core the same way, not the 6 core. Mem will have to start at 16GB DDR4 though, no doubt. Hell, my rMBP has 16GB as base config.
I'm counting on more Intel integrated controllers, USB3, GbE and maybe WiFi AC. BT4.2 was announced but it should too early.
The integrated controllers would allow the additional (now unused) PCIe lanes to be used for something else, the other SSD maybe. PCIe from the CPU should remain the same, Dual graphics and TB - via the PEX switch.
My main concern is the FirePro options right now (or Quadro, but I don't think Apple will go the nVidia way now).
Will they be based on Tonga Pro and Hawaii?
If the D310 will be a Tonga 256b 4GB card this will be great. GCN 1.2.
And probably D510 and D710 will be Hawaii based. GCN 1.1.
As long as they can drive UHD Retina TB2 Apple display (again, wishful thinking) fine by me.

 

[whoosh]

Wow, some goodies but also some bad attitude...
I don't know why some people can't just talk about things normally, without going nuts!!

Are you referring to me? I don't see where I have talked with a bad attitude - please go through my posts again and point out a specific instance.

I guess the worst design choice for the nMP was having the SSD installed on one of the graphics cards. This makes both cards different, and makes it difficult to expand. If the 2 cards were identical (having both an SSD slot that could be populated) it would allow RAID or simply having 2 disks.

Actually the second SSD is not my thought alone - I see it echoed here (under the section of "GPU value in general"):

http://macperformanceguide.com/blog/2014/20141110_0814-4K-on-older-MacPro.html

In particular (from that article):

"To this day, very little software uses the dual GPUs in the 2013 Mac Pro effectively; one need only compare the disappointing performance of the dual GPU 2013 Mac Pro to an iMac. A year after introduction, the dual GPU approach of the 2013 Mac Pro is a practical failure in terms of performance delivered with real software, especially when set against the value of a 2nd CPU and/or 2nd internal SSD."

 

[ManuelGomes]

No, it wasn´t you I was referring to.
To be honest, the review of the guy at MPG doesn't strike me as very informative. Not to say he isn't right though.
The MacPro is not meant to be a gaming machine, the GPUs aren't there to be Xfire'd and blow everything else out of the water. Both have different roles, one handles the UI, the other the compute tasks.
Still, with the newer Dx10 cards Xfire will be available through the PCIe bus, so that opens up new possibilities.
The problem with AMD has always been the drivers.
Let's hope they optimize them soon.

 

[damezumari]

I think unless you do video, 2nd GPU is a waste (and very expensive waste at that). Sadly, my old gaming PC video card is faster than my nMP's D500 at _desktop stuff_; with two 4k displays, it is definitely sluggish. *sigh*

I would give second GPU for even 20% faster single GPU any day.

So, speaking of nMP wishlist, I would like to have 2 CPUs, 1 fast GPU, and otherwise the same - more cores I can use, but the unused GPU is just pointless.

 

[ManuelGomes]

Yeah, I see your point.
Good news is, if it indeed comes out, the newer graphics cards based off Tonga and Hawaii should be much faster, multi 4k displays should be a breeze I guess.
We'll have to wait and see....

 

[koyoot]

If they would want to use Tonga and Hawaii architecture, they would have used it right now.

They are waiting for availability of Caribbean Islands, with HBM stacked memory.

 

[Bwa]

My wish list:

Ability to run three 4K displays at 60 Hz.
Faster speed with 128 GB of RAM
More than 12 GB of VRAM for GPU computing
10gigE.
Some kind of locking Thunderbolt cable mechanism. Right now I have zip ties on the Thunderbolt cable going to my disk array in the closet so that the cable cannot accidentally come out when plugging/unplugging other cables.

These issues aside, I love mine.

 

[jdphoto]

Ability to run three 4K displays at 60 Hz.

This, I wish Apple allowed both GPUs to drive displays so this could occur. From what I understand one does displays and the other GPU related computation.

 

[VirtualRain]

This, I wish Apple allowed both GPUs to drive displays so this could occur. From what I understand one does displays and the other GPU related computation.

+1

Some of us don't need or use OpenCL, so that card and it's VRAM is sitting there wasted.

They should figure out a way to give the owner the option to run them both as OpenGL accelerators driving displays in which case you should be able to drive four 4K displays at 60Hz and a pair at 30Hz via HDMI, or a pair of 5K displays. It would require some kind of DisplayPort switch internal that would connect half the ports to one card or the other based on a preference setting...

 

[Nosferax]

Dual CPU and dual GPU in a pyramid shape case... Call it the Stargate Edition.

 

[goMac]

Well, I'm going to make my Wish List grounded in reality. Stuff like Thunderbolt 3 probably isn't going to happen this rev.

- Upgraded GPUs, either the new AMD FirePro series or Maxwell.
- Higher core counts at a reduced price per core.
- MST 5k Display using two Thunderbolt ports each.
- Larger SSD capacities, with a price reduction for each existing capacity.
- Bonus: Dual SSDs.

 

[ActionableMango]

I know it won't happen, but a PCIe slot for PC video cards. A real one, not one in an external $600 thunderbolt enclosure. I can live with all the other changes in the nMP except the GPU situation. That's a deal killer for me.

It's far more likely that we'd get options for white, space grey, and gold colors long before we'll see an industry standard slot inside a Mac ever again.