Current Model = 980W Output
Assuming a nominal wall voltage of 115VAC, then the efficiency = 71% at full load. Not wonderful.
i wonder if the new mac pros will use an 80plus power supply
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The 2009 (Gainestown) Mac Pro: Everything We Know
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i wonder if the new mac pros will use an 80plus power supply
See, the thing there is, we don't know if Apple is going to shaft us with compatibility again.
At this point, I don't believe that they CAN, as any future cards would have EFI64 ROM, so at least the Penryn Mac Pro users would be able to use them, even if the first-rev users are left out.
Does anyone know of any reason that the cards would not work unless Apple specifically made them not work?
Which is quite normal for a switched-mode power supply but I am pretty sure an expensive power supply ($299.95) has better efficiency than that.
How did you measure the efficiency, out of curiosity?
It's not every day you max out a 980 Watt power supply
The 2006 Mac Pro only used around 200 Watt at load running Cinebench at the standard configuration.
Last I looked, a replacement PSU for the Mac Pro is at that price. (macpalace.com)
Simple calculation: (output power/input power)*100 = %
Members who posted their power draw (using a Kill A Watt) was no where near 980W. IIRC, the highest was around 500W or so.
A full load test would give more detail, and be more useful, as the efficiency isn't linear.
I just don't have a 1kW load to test anything that big. See, the thing there is, we don't know if Apple is going to shaft us with compatibility again.
At this point, I don't believe that they CAN, as any future cards would have EFI64 ROM, so at least the Penryn Mac Pro users would be able to use them, even if the first-rev users are left out.
Does anyone know of any reason that the cards would not work unless Apple specifically made them not work?
Yeah, that's the only caveat I am trying to wrap my mind around. An 8800gt won't cut it for me long term. I can deal (heh) with dual Harpertowns and ddr2 because I can add a bunch of ddr2 on the cheap right now. While ddr3 has dropped dramatically I doubt many Pro its will have nearly the same price point.
If I pull the trigger on a Pro now (and I have been waiting about 4 months for a Pro refresh after deciding to get one), I should be happy to use one while my guess it won't be until April-May for the new Pro. So I'll be getting 4 months use, and have a good PC for a good 2-3 years until the real **** hits the fans with the way architecture may change with stuff on the drawing board. Yes, the Gainstown may be a tock but its more like a tick in my book. Maybe I am looking for reassurance for my purchase.
At any rate, trying to extrapolate from current information about what may be in the new Mac Pro is enlightening and very helpful. It is invaluable to the purchaser and enthusiast. This thread is 10x better than "Don't Buy. Last refresh: Jan 08"
It is a "tick," actually. New architectures are "ticks" and shrinks are "tocks." I've done several i7 builds already, and they are "ticks" no matter how you slice it
Duly noted.
It is a "tick," actually. New architectures are "ticks" and shrinks are "tocks." I've done several i7 builds already, and they are "ticks" no matter how you slice it
Its backwards, Ticks are shrinks and Tocks are new micro-architectures. The Nehalem Mac Pro is definitely a "Tock." No doubt about that. I think your just trying to reassure yourself because you are impatient (I understand too).
If I could hook up my 24" LED ACD to the current Mac Pro's I might opt for the 3.0ghz model. But best thing to do is wait at this!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Tick-Tock
Whatever, silly marketing concepts! I think my point still got through
To rephrase, the i7 builds destroy the core 2s. Done and done. I tryed compressing 20 minutes of high quality match video footage (About 1.5GB/minute) into a 50MB WMV and it smoked my current build before overclocking.
To rephrase, the i7 builds destroy the core 2s. Done and done. I tryed compressing 20 minutes of high quality match video footage (About 1.5GB/minute) into a 50MB WMV and it smoked my current build before overclocking.
i can't mock it up because i'm not on a computer that can run any software that could help, and i'm terrible freehand. that being said, i'd like to share my thoughts.
i envision a tower approximately the same width as the current unit but standing lower without the current model's handles. instead, i think they will be oval-shaped metal bars that lie horizontally recessed in the top, parallel to the front of the machine. on the bottom, similar bars protrude slightly from to provide feet with minimal space below the computer. the side doors/panels are flush at the top and tapered slightly, more of a subtle roundover along the top and bottom edges.
black aluminum body with unpainted aluminum apple logo on the side, unpainted aluminum grid on the front rounded down toward the back at the bottom.
i envision a tower approximately the same width as the current unit but standing lower without the current model's handles. instead, i think they will be oval-shaped metal bars that lie horizontally recessed in the top, parallel to the front of the machine. on the bottom, similar bars protrude slightly from to provide feet with minimal space below the computer. the side doors/panels are flush at the top and tapered slightly, more of a subtle roundover along the top and bottom edges.
black aluminum body with unpainted aluminum apple logo on the side, unpainted aluminum grid on the front rounded down toward the back at the bottom.
The next cards aren't coming until Q4 with DX11. What's out now is what we're getting, which definitely isn't a bad thing
Just an FYI but ATI's linux drivers are much better now than in years past, and they just open sourced a lot of it
BTW, on power consumption: what your PSU is rated as isn't what you draw. I have a 1000W PSU in my enthusiast PC, and even with a 4870X2, a QX9650 OC'd to 4 GHz, and 2 water cooling loops, I don't draw more than around 400-500W at load from the wall. Multiply that by 80% efficiency, and i'm actually using far less.
Aside from OEMs not following Nvidias reference design, and using smaller EEPROM for the firmware...See, the thing there is, we don't know if Apple is going to shaft us with compatibility again.
At this point, I don't believe that they CAN, as any future cards would have EFI64 ROM, so at least the Penryn Mac Pro users would be able to use them, even if the first-rev users are left out.
Does anyone know of any reason that the cards would not work unless Apple specifically made them not work?
Um, the Mac Pro uses FB-DIMM... More expensive than regular DDR2 it is.... The new Mac Pro using Gainestown would use ECC DDR3, if it used Beckton it would need FB-DIMM (DDR3 I believe).
Aside from OEMs not following Nvidias reference design, and using smaller EEPROM for the firmware...
Um, the Mac Pro uses FB-DIMM... More expensive than regular DDR2 it is.... The new Mac Pro using Gainestown would use ECC DDR3, if it used Beckton it would need FB-DIMM (DDR3 I believe).
Well Registered ECC DDR3 DIMMs are four times the price of FB-DIMMs right now (~$100/GB vs. $25/GB) so his point is valid if it was that memory prices between current and future Mac Pros have a big difference.
All DDR3 is STUPIDLY expensive. ECC memory is STUPIDLY expensive.
Combine them and 16GB of DDR2 FB-DIMMs looks like chump change.
DDR3 should be much cheaper at the end of the year once more people adopt i7 and AMD comes out with AM3
Doesn't do us much good in the six month interim that we'll have our Mac Pros, though...
Intel's 4-series chipsets and Nvidia's 9000-series chipsets support DDR3 with Core 2s.
I hate to admit this too.
Yeah after Intel and AMD literally force DDR3 into the mainstream. It sounds like DDR2 again but why does it feel so much worse this time?
Maybe because the performance increase doesn't really justify being made to buy it for the sake of having it?
Let's just jump to DDR5, since we already have GDDR5 memory.
The voltage drop is nice for laptops but the performance gains just aren't there. I remember people saying they'd die for their DDR-400 before going to the stupidly expensive DDR2-533.Maybe because the performance increase doesn't really justify being made to buy it for the sake of having it?
Let's just jump to DDR5, since we already have GDDR5 memory.
Maybe because the performance increase doesn't really justify being made to buy it for the sake of having it?
Let's just jump to DDR5, since we already have GDDR5 memory.
The voltage drop is nice for laptops but the performance gains just aren't there. I remember people saying they'd die for their DDR-400 before going to the stupidly expensive DDR2-533.
The performance isn't really there due to the amount of pins that can be ran. FB-DIMM was supposed to help aleiviate that. GPU memory has stupidly high bandwidth with really really short traces and how the memory controller is set up. I mean look at ATI for a while they had a 512bit bus. Coupled with high speed ram that allowed crazy bandwidth. But it was also expensive, the board traces, the pinout on the GPU, etc. IIRC they have since gone back to a 256bit bus with even higher clocked RAM.
Note: I could be really wrong about all this...
See, the thing there is, we don't know if Apple is going to shaft us with compatibility again.
You really need to stop with this attitude that Apple is out to "shaft" anyone. Your posts are permeated with the idea that Apple consciously makes decisions to negatively affect your and everyone's computer experience. That's just not the case.
It's clear you don't understand how new products go from being ideas to product on the shelves. Nor how existing products are updated.
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GDDR5 is downright awesome, but GDDR and DDR for PC's are different on a lot of levels
DDR2 practically becoming free was a combination of AMD and Intel simultaneously using it as the standard w/ their AM2 and LGA775 platforms, as well as the fact that a lot of memory companies were convinced that Vista's high requirements + it going to be a hit meant that people would buy memory in droves. Well the first part was true, but the latter didn't happen so memory was practically given away last year
DDR3 speeds should ramp up this year, and if AM3 comes out on schedule, we should certainly see DDR3 prices drop a lot. They're actually not that bad for regular DDR3 nowadays, but having to buy 3 x 1 GB kits to keep Triple Channel going is a whole 'nother expense added.
DDR2 practically becoming free was a combination of AMD and Intel simultaneously using it as the standard w/ their AM2 and LGA775 platforms, as well as the fact that a lot of memory companies were convinced that Vista's high requirements + it going to be a hit meant that people would buy memory in droves. Well the first part was true, but the latter didn't happen so memory was practically given away last year
DDR3 speeds should ramp up this year, and if AM3 comes out on schedule, we should certainly see DDR3 prices drop a lot. They're actually not that bad for regular DDR3 nowadays, but having to buy 3 x 1 GB kits to keep Triple Channel going is a whole 'nother expense added.
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