The 2009 (Gainestown) Mac Pro: Everything We Know

[Tallest Skil]

why not add to the speculation... I hope the surprise will be a larger ACD than 30, though I know don't enough about them to know how big is plausible...

Any bigness is plausible, just over 30" is... insane.

No, really, it'd be cool. The only thing is, Apple would not tolerate having the same resolution, and so any size greater than 30" would require a new panel, and I don't know of any panels being manufactured larger than 2650x1600.

 

[kabunaru]

Doesn't anyone have an original thought anymore?

Mac Pros get a possible re-design.

 

[rylin]

Any bigness is plausible, just over 30" is... insane.

No, really, it'd be cool. The only thing is, Apple would not tolerate having the same resolution, and so any size greater than 30" would require a new panel, and I don't know of any panels being manufactured larger than 2650x1600.

The only thing better than a 24" or a 30" display is more than one
Personally, I find two 24" and a 20" to suit my purposes the best (far to the side, removed from the two 24" is the "communications" screen with email, IM etc. The 24"s are a hodgepodge of terminals and webbrowsers )

 

[ncc1701d]

I'll tell you what:

It's becoming increasingly difficult for me to find new information about Gainestown, Tylersburg, and case designs in relation to the next Mac Pro...

...because this thread is at the top of every Google search.

That, and other places are citing it as their source.

Doesn't anyone have an original thought anymore?

Yeah! Speaking of which, no update since the 19th??!! I want my money back!

Days since update 11 (Average = 1.3)

 

[Tallest Skil]

Yeah! Speaking of which, no update since the 19th??!! I want my money back!

Days since update 11 (Average = 1.3)

Well, as I said, what is there new that we know?

Oh, wait... the 48xx series kexts.

Frequenters of this thread chime-in time: Will Apple have FOUR cards available at once?

A 46xx, a 48xx, the GTX 260, and the Quadro FX 5800?

 

[rylin]

Frequenters of this thread chime-in time: Will Apple have FOUR cards available at once?

They will definitely allow you to put all your disks in a RAID configuration

What? You expected me to speak out on something that isn't storage related?

 

[J the Ninja]

Well, as I said, what is there new that we know?

Oh, wait... the 48xx series kexts.

Frequenters of this thread chime-in time: Will Apple have FOUR cards available at once?

A 46xx, a 48xx, the GTX 260, and the Quadro FX 5800?

There will be no 260. The 48** makes it redundant.

 

[m1stake]

Frequenters of this thread chime-in time: Will Apple have FOUR cards available at once?

A 46xx, a 48xx, the GTX 260, and the Quadro FX 5800?

Sounds reasonable. Question, is everything the current 3870 needs to function already in OSX? I know it comes with a driver disk, so I would assume not. At least this is the way it was when it launched. I would wonder if Apple itself is offering both cards? I would imagine both ATI and Nvidia would like customers to upgrade to their card, and it's awful hard to do that without a compatible offering.

Something more interesting: I remember reading one or two pages back about the 4870 and the 4850. While they're both excellent cards, they're not incredibly far apart performance wise. Price is the big difference there. Traditionally, Apple has offered a base card, a performance card, and a pro use card.

 

[Morriss]

Two rumors now for a March 24 special event for the desktops:

http://www.myappleguide.com/news/2180/apple-event-march-24
http://news.worldofapple.com/archives/2009/03/01/apple-event-scheduled-for-march-24/

If the new MP's are announced on the 24th, I assume that they will ship with Leopard. How long will we need to wait until Snow Leopard comes pre-installed on the new MP's?

 

[Tallest Skil]

There will be no 260. The 48** makes it redundant.

Do you mean that the fact that we've seen 48xx series kexts and haven't heard anything about the GTX series makes the 260 implausible for the mid-range card?

Or something else? The power draw is comparable, I'd assume, but I thought that the 260 performed better than even the 4870. I could be wrong.

If the new MP's are announced on the 24th, I assume that they will ship with Leopard. How long will we need to wait until Snow Leopard comes pre-installed on the new MP's?

I assume the Snow Leopard release announcement at WWDC, with it shipping July 31st.

 

[J the Ninja]

Do you mean that the fact that we've seen 48xx series kexts and haven't heard anything about the GTX series makes the 260 implausible for the mid-range card?

Or something else? The power draw is comparable, I'd assume, but I thought that the 260 performed better than even the 4870. I could be wrong.



I assume the Snow Leopard release announcement at WWDC, with it shipping July 31st.

I think the 260vs4870 performance depends on which version of the card you have, and the drivers to some degree. They're pretty close. But yes, that is what I meant.

 

[iMacmatician]

Frequenters of this thread chime-in time: Will Apple have FOUR cards available at once?

A 46xx, a 48xx, the GTX 260, and the Quadro FX 5800?

Maybe… after all we may see 4 CPU options too.

 

[Tallest Skil]

I think the 260vs4870 performance depends on which version of the card you have, and the drivers to some degree. They're pretty close. But yes, that is what I meant.

You make a very good point. We chose the GTX 260 based on power draw and the fact that they're in love with nVidia now.

Shall I change the first post to include information about the 48xx series instead, or is someone willing to comb through 10.5.7 for GTX drivers?

 

[J the Ninja]

You make a very good point. We chose the GTX 260 based on power draw and the fact that they're in love with nVidia now.

Shall I change the first post to include information about the 48xx series instead, or is someone willing to comb through 10.5.7 for GTX drivers?

Well, there were also 3600 drivers.....wasn't the 2600 a year out of date when the Pennryn model came out? And 4870s are currently retailing around $200, which is where the 8800GT was in Jan....so here are my bets:

Base: 3650
Mid: 4870
Pro: FX 5800

 

[voyagerd]

You make a very good point. We chose the GTX 260 based on power draw and the fact that they're in love with nVidia now.

Shall I change the first post to include information about the 48xx series instead, or is someone willing to comb through 10.5.7 for GTX drivers?

I'll comb through 10A261 if I could be pointed in a direction to comb. I personally want an Nvidia card though.

 

[voyagerd]

The 4800 driver includes the following:
pci1002,9440
pci1002,9456

9440 is the 4870

9456 is the ATI FirePro V8700

 

[grue]

There will be no 260. The 48** makes it redundant.

Except for the fact that the GTX260 Core 216 is faster than the 4870.

 

[grue]

I personally want an Nvidia card though.

+1

That having been said, I want one that I can use in my machine, without having to buy a new one to use.

 

[voyagerd]

Now for the Nvidia strings, updated as I find them. fyi: 10de is Nvidia:

pci10de,aa3 = nVidia Corporation MCP79 Co-processor
pci10de,7da = NVIDIA nForce System Management Controller

0x00f010de = old card
0x019010de = NVIDIA GeForce 8800
0x040010de = NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS
0x042010de = NVIDIA GeForce 8400 SE
0x06e010de = NVIDIA GeForce 9300 GE
0x060010de = NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512
0x062010de = NVIDIA G94 (Geforce 9600 series)
0x064010de = NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT
0x086010de = NVIDIA GeForce 9300
0x05e010de = NVIDIA GeForce GT200-400 = Geforce GTX Series = 0x05e0 is the GeForce 295 GTX specifically
0x05f010de = NVIDIA GT200 = Quadro FX series

 

[m1stake]

In Soviet Russia, stolen wireless double posts you.

 

[m1stake]

Those results sure bring up a lot more questions than answers. GT200 cores "confirmed," but why would they have the 8300, 8400, the 9500GT, etc? The first two cards are awfully old, and most of the ID's you've found have never been used in an Apple machine officially.

 

[Eidorian]

Those results sure bring up a lot more questions than answers. GT200 cores "confirmed," but why would they have the 8300, 8400, the 9500GT, etc? The first two cards are awfully old, and most of the ID's you've found have never been used in an Apple machine officially.

It's not the first time that Apple's drivers have shown a wide range of hardware support that's never shows up.

 

[voyagerd]

Also

<key>CStateDemotionDict</key>
<dict>
<key>MacPro4,1</key>
<string>CSDD_std1</string>
<key>Xserve3,1</key>
<string>CSDD_std1</string>
</dict>

 

[m1stake]

"omg!"

Verizon DSL is being installed or whatever next week, the next Mac Pro is oozing slowly into completeness, and I just saved a lot of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico!

 

[voyagerd]

lawl, it said "Trillions of Colors" somewhere else
/* Core Graphics Values */
CGSDefaultDepth = "Default";
CGSEightBitGray = "8-Bit Gray";
CGSEightBitColor = "8-Bit Color";
CGSSixteenBitColor = "16-Bit Color";
CGSThirtytwoBitColor = "32-Bit Color";
CGSSixtyfourBitColor = "64-Bit Color";