Shiny. The aging 5770 in my Pro is ready to be put to pasture. Can't wait for a decent replacement.
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Sapphire Previews Radeon HD 7950 Mac Edition Graphics Card for Mac Pro
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And to think some people are only just upgrading to 5770's from things like GT120's!
That makes a whole lot more sense. And in hindsight it is easy to see how it got morphed...
Thanks...
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I know he didn't specifically say Mac Pro, but something along the lines of a Mac Pro for Pro end users. Basically the same thing but sure
We will just have to wait and find out. I took delivery of a brand new refurbished Mac Pro a few months ago, so I'm good for 3 or 4 years. So this interest is mostly academic for me.
"Our pro customers are really important to us...don't worry as we're working on something really great for later next year."
So what are you suggesting then, a completely new model?
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And to think some people are only just upgrading to 5770's from things like GT120's!
I only recently upgraded to a 5870 from a 2600. 256MB?!? Couldn't deal with that anymore.
I think he's suggesting that there is no real indication they are planning to redesign the case/look of the machine. "something really great" could mean just a powerful machine with modern hardware in the same package.
Well looks like I have an option to update my Mac Pro this year that isn't buying a new system. Very happy to see this card.
Fantastic. Now work on OpenGL Core 4+ support, Windows and other OS's have been dusting OS X for a long while now.
Cannot wait for a new Mac Pro!
I'd love a system similar to the ill-fated G4 Cube
- Compact for easy placement
- Thunderbolt and USB 3.0
- 1-2 Processors (Xeon and perhaps i7 for base models allowing PowerMac G4/5 costs for those who want upgradability unavailable in iMac's and Mac Mini's)
- 2-3 PCIe slots
- 2-3 SATA III Internal Bays
- RAM (of course)
- Perhaps an external Thunderbolt graphics box
Run a Thunderbolt cable to a workstation for display(s), HID's, and attach external HDD/SSD's, Optical, etc via Thunderbolt. Small form factor, more BTO options, better range of processors, and open the system up to those who have jumped ship to Windows or Linux. I'm sold.
Cannot wait for a new Mac Pro!
I'd love a system similar to the ill-fated G4 Cube
- Compact for easy placement
- Thunderbolt and USB 3.0
- 1-2 Processors (Xeon and perhaps i7 for base models allowing PowerMac G4/5 costs for those who want upgradability unavailable in iMac's and Mac Mini's)
- 2-3 PCIe slots
- 2-3 SATA III Internal Bays
- RAM (of course)
- Perhaps an external Thunderbolt graphics box
Run a Thunderbolt cable to a workstation for display(s), HID's, and attach external HDD/SSD's, Optical, etc via Thunderbolt. Small form factor, more BTO options, better range of processors, and open the system up to those who have jumped ship to Windows or Linux. I'm sold.
The back of HD5770 and HD5870 is completely flat, this one is having very long screws near the core.
!! No Thunderbolt Port
Other than Apple, I think only ASUS has a Thunderbolt display out there. I think this is what really hung up Apple on the Mac Pro refresh. They just couldn't get Nvidia and AMD on board the Thunderbolt train. Will the next generation of Apple displays have MiniDisplayPort as a cable option?
Edit: Since Thunderbolt has the same physical connector as MiniDisplayPort, maybe one of the two ports is Thunderbolt?
Other than Apple, I think only ASUS has a Thunderbolt display out there. I think this is what really hung up Apple on the Mac Pro refresh. They just couldn't get Nvidia and AMD on board the Thunderbolt train. Will the next generation of Apple displays have MiniDisplayPort as a cable option?
Edit: Since Thunderbolt has the same physical connector as MiniDisplayPort, maybe one of the two ports is Thunderbolt?
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Wonder how quiet/cool this will run.
I hope it will run cooler than my 2GB 6870. It took a lot of work to keep the fan noise low... I might jump for this if it does run quieter.
I hope it will run cooler than my 2GB 6870. It took a lot of work to keep the fan noise low... I might jump for this if it does run quieter.
Considering what the sad little 5780 costs, this is a bargain.
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It's the same as being stuck on the phone: "Your call is important to us, please stay on the line and our next representative will be with you shortly. Estimated wait time is... (in another voice) 'four years'".
Anytime somebody tells you that you are important, they're just trying to not hurt your feelings.
First, this is pre-production hardware.
Second, the 5xxx cards for the Mac Pro have heat sinks on the back, this 7950 has no heat sink. If you look at the 5xxx cards in person the heat sink adds thickness to the card.
I would say that that is somewhere between very unlikely and not at all. For this, Sapphire would have had to work some way of taking the Thunderbolt signal from the Logic Board (where the chips live), and pushing this through the graphics card. Unfortunately, this just looks too much like every other reference designed 7950 I have ever seen. This will not have Thunderbolt.
If Apple do include Thunderbolt in their next Pro workstation, it would likely use the same technology that ASUS uses on its Z77 boards for Thunderbolt (the board takes the output from the GPU through the PCIe slot and then pushes the video signal through a Thunderbolt port on the Motherboard.
Here is one of the aforementioned boards: http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z77V_PROTHUNDERBOLT/
same as HD4870
My HD4870 has the exact same 4x heat-sink screws on the back (rises exactly 4mm from the PCB); in fact even the 2x 6-pin cables are the same.
The card will likely not be supported on the 2008 MacPro (3,1) because of MiniDisplay ports: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1000475/ DVI will work.
My HD4870 has the exact same 4x heat-sink screws on the back (rises exactly 4mm from the PCB); in fact even the 2x 6-pin cables are the same.
The card will likely not be supported on the 2008 MacPro (3,1) because of MiniDisplay ports: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1000475/ DVI will work.
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What's the point in having a Mac with a replaceable graphics card if almost every new graphics card that comes out for it (spaced years apart it seems) doesn't work in the previous generation machines?
Honesty, what more could anyone want? The current enclosure still looks great and has excellent cooling. All it really needs is new faster internals and for apple to keep spec bumping it as new components are released.
Ye that last wish is a bit of a slim chance....
That approach has about zero chance of working. The gap between the Thunderbolt controller and the physical ports has to be around an inch or two.
this is also backwards! The output from the GPU must be feed through the Thunderbolt controller and then out to the physical port.
The thunderbolt controller would have to be on the GPU card itself. That still leaves the problem of how the PCI-e x4 througput gets to the controller (can "steal"/"share" it with the GPU put you've chopped down its bandwidth to rest of system) and powering the TB controller and delivering power to TB sockets, since the are modest power producers. (Again you can steal/borrow from the GPU infrastructure but that too will mean compromises. )
Intel has said since Thunderbolt was intially release that it is aimed at the motherboard and there aren't any PCI-e solutions on the horzion.
Putting Thunderbolt on a GPU card isn't likely going to be certified any time soon. It is mainly an idea advocated by those who want to position that discrete cards can solve every problem. They don't.
Not! That solution takes the iGPU from the CPU socket and hooks it to the TB controller which is connected to the TB ports on the edge of the motherboard.
Any PCI-e graphics card is only virtually connected by copying its frame buffer over to the iGPUs. (on web you reference see the "LucidLogix Virtu MVP " section of the page. )
Apple is likely to use Xeon E5 1600 and 2600 solutions. Those have no GPU. The solution that exists that Apple has already deployed is to use an embedded GPU just like on the iMac. A GPU and VRAM soldered to the motherboard will provide DisplayPort output to the TB controller. That controller will connect to two ports ( probably on the back. Perhaps where the two analog auido ports are now. Or Apple tossing something else off the back. )
It isn't really necessary to virtually map a second GPU's output. All that is necessary for TB is just one. A discrete card could function in a new Mac Pro just like a second one does in the current Mac Pro. That card's outputs are hooked to a different set of monitors. There is no good rational reason why all the GPUs in a Mac Pro must output only through TB ports. Makes no sense at all.
I know he didn't specifically say Mac Pro, but something along the lines of a Mac Pro for Pro end users. Basically the same thing but sure
Apple Says New Models, Designs for Mac Pro In Works, Due in 2013 (Update)
But that too was wrong. The output from the PCI-e card is not connected to the TB input. Only the iGPU is. Software copies over the data but is like saying the GPU is hooked to the system's RAM.
The core issue is there need an embedded GPU on the main motherboard ( either GPU mounted on logical board or CPU/GPU combo ) to be aligned with what Thunderbolt is primarily designed for.
Classic form factor discrete PCI-e GPU boards are not the motherboard so not an aligned fit.
Thunderbolt inside of a personal computer device has to be equally both a displayPort and PCI-e source/sink. Both equally as much. Cards skewed toward just one of those are not a good match and so likely not a solution that will make it to market.
Is that actually profitable or is it just for the challenge?
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Why would Apple reveal what they are up to?
I actually only mentioned the passing of the video signal via the PCIe to be then integrated into the thunderbolt port.