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The 2009 (Gainestown) Mac Pro: Everything We Know

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Repost: Would Leopard Support Radeon HD 4870 X2 ?

If it supports the HD 4870, would we be able to stick a stock HD 4870 X2 in there? They are both 2-slots wide. Wouldn't most of the driver calls be the same, leaving the X2 to divide up the internal processing as it sees fit? It will be supported in Boot Camp Windows, but what about OS X Leopard? Or does the Mac version 4870 have a special ROM? Any speculation welcome. :apple:
 
Setmose said:
If it supports the HD 4870, would we be able to stick a stock HD 4870 X2 in there? They are both 2-slots wide. Wouldn't most of the driver calls be the same, leaving the X2 to divide up the internal processing as it sees fit? It will be supported in Boot Camp Windows, but what about OS X Leopard? Or does the Mac version 4870 have a special ROM? Any speculation welcome. :apple:
Click to expand...

i believe the power supply wouldn't be able to handle it, or at least that there aren't available aux. power cables

nanofrog said:
Nice discount :), though still a little high IMO. :(
Click to expand...

yeah, i saved about a thousand bucks but i had hoped to be able to get the RAID card or the 2.93ghz for this amount of money, but i NEED a machine and this is more than capable of editing 1080p ProRes

i got te 1tb drive so that i can do a software raid with my existing 1tb drive and the extra 2gb of RAM from apple so that i'll have 2gb sticks across the board when i order more third party.

still have to purchase an APC UPS and eBay applecare.
 
Fomaphone said:
Two 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
8GB (4x2GB)
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB
Two 18x SuperDrives
Apple Mighty Mouse
Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (English) and User's Guide
AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi Card with 802.11n
Apple Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter

$4,222.00 With Student ADC, before NYS sales tax
Click to expand...

I've been trying to find out what discount I would get with student ADC in UK, but no one seems to be able to tell me. Really annoying. How do you go about ordering once you're a member?
 
I wanted a new Nehalem Mac Pro so bad before today. I am severely disappointed by the prices for what they're offering, so forget it. No thanks, Apple. :mad:
 
nanofrog said:
I'll have to look at that one. IIRC, the Workstation parts have not released yet.

Those are what I wanted. Settled for an i7-920 to tide me over until they release, as I acquired all the other parts.

It was driving me crazy to not be able to do anything, as all of it is useless without a CPU. :D :p

For the '08 or '09 model?

I ask, as the '09 only has a maximum of 3 channels per CPU. If this is what you're looking for, Crucial has been offering DDR3 Unbuffered ECC DIMM's for awhile. Pricing isn't terrible either.
Click to expand...

Apple lets u build the new 09 one with 8 slots filled with 2 gb each so thats tge one i am asking about thx
 
Fomaphone said:
i believe the power supply wouldn't be able to handle it, or at least that there aren't available aux. power cables
Click to expand...

Well, it can handle 4 of the Nvidia cards as that is BTO option. But I don't know what the power spec is for 4870 X2. I could see that cables might be a problem if 4870 X2 expects to plug an additional power cable onto the motherboard. I would have to look at that.

I'm talking specifically about making the 4870 X2 the only graphic card in there. :apple:
 
Can someone suggest parts and places for a build it yourself

Howdy,

I was waiting for six months for this to come out. Obviously this release is very disappointing and I will not be giving Apple my money.

Would anyone here be able to suggest a parts configuration so that I could build something comparable myself?

Which motherboard, power supply, case, cpu's ram?

I think a little list, situated somewhere between the current and last rev's technology would be a very illuminating and useful for the folks here.

I am right in the middle of a 60 shot fully cg project starring Cheech and Chong... I am working on it alone on a 2ghz dual opeteron and single frame renders in Mental Ray are taking anywhere between an hour to five... I really need to get something figured out.
 
tokyorose said:
Howdy,

I was waiting for six months for this to come out. Obviously this release is very disappointing and I will not be giving Apple my money.

Would anyone here be able to suggest a parts configuration so that I could build something comparable myself?

Which motherboard, power supply, case, cpu's ram?

I am right in the middle of a 60 shot fully cg project starring Cheech and Chong... I am working on it alone on a 2ghz dual opeteron and single frame renders in Mental Ray are taking anywhere between an hour to five... I really need to get something figured out.
Click to expand...

If you don't really know what you're doing, you might want to give a store like Micro Center or Fry's a call, depending on which one is more local for you. They can help you choose the parts best for you.

Oops, double post. ;p
 
Fomaphone said:
i believe the power supply wouldn't be able to handle it, or at least that there aren't available aux. power cables
Click to expand...
I would think power would be a problem as well. :(

As I understand it, the board still only provides 2x 6 pin PCIe power connectors.

Fomaphone said:
yeah, i saved about a thousand bucks but i had hoped to be able to get the RAID card or the 2.93ghz for this amount of money, but i NEED a machine and this is more than capable of editing 1080p ProRes

i got te 1tb drive so that i can do a software raid with my existing 1tb drive and the extra 2gb of RAM from apple so that i'll have 2gb sticks across the board when i order more third party.

still have to purchase an APC UPS and eBay applecare.
Click to expand...
I know how you feel... Expensive to get what you need, but I assume you certainly have the justification. As long as it makes you money, it will be well worth it.

You can always upgrade to hardware RAID at a later time. ;)
KBS756 said:
Apple lets u build the new 09 one with 8 slots filled with 2 gb each so thats tge one i am asking about thx
Click to expand...
I haven't yet had a chance to look that closely at it. I was more interested in pricing/basic specs. :eek: :p

Either way, Crucial is currently offering DDR3 in both Unbuffered and Registered variants. Other sites may have updated their sites to coincide with today's release. (Haven't looked yet).
tokyorose said:
Howdy,

I was waiting for six months for this to come out. Obviously this release is very disappointing and I will not be giving Apple my money.

Would anyone here be able to suggest a parts configuration so that I could build something comparable myself?

Which motherboard, power supply, case, cpu's ram?

I think a little list, situated somewhere between the current and last rev's technology would be a very illuminating and useful for the folks here.

I am right in the middle of a 60 shot fully cg project starring Cheech and Chong... I am working on it alone on a 2ghz dual opeteron and single frame renders in Mental Ray are taking anywhere between an hour to five... I really need to get something figured out.
Click to expand...
You might want to start a new thread. ;)

Prepare to be patient though, as last I looked (a few days ago), I couldn't get enough details on any of the DP boards. None of the manufacturer sites I looked at had anything posted yet. All I could find were SKU's/extremely basic descriptions on a couple of sites, such as provantage.

I plan to do this research myself, as I might need to swap the workstation board I installed this weekend if it doesn't prove to do what I need, though I think it will. :D
 
Pardon my ignorance, but is there a tangible difference?

On the up side, the memory prices aren't terrible anymore.
 
Answered Half of My Own Question: 4870 X2 yes!!

Setmose said:
Well, it can handle 4 of the Nvidia cards as that is BTO option. But I don't know what the power spec is for 4870 X2. I could see that cables might be a problem if 4870 X2 expects to plug an additional power cable onto the motherboard. I would have to look at that.

I'm talking specifically about making the 4870 X2 the only graphic card in there. :apple:
Click to expand...

Bare Feats has 4870 X2 running under Vista 64 Ultimate in Harpertown 8-core 3.2 Mac Pro:

http://www.barefeats.com/harper19.html

Obviously, the card fits and runs ok with the Mac Pro power supply. Specifically they tested this version: Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 X2 100251SR (2GB GDDR5).

So I think we are really close to the possibility of support for it under OS X. If Leopard now has ATI/AMD 4xxx support, it is just a case of exactly what is included there.

I think I just rescued some enthusiasm from this mess! :apple:
 
Unfortunately, that was my first post so I wont be able to start a new thread till I hit 20 (unlikely)

The Frys in my area are populated by cretins.

Before I start to research, what would be an estimated total for a self built computer with comparable spec to the mid range of the last iteration of Mac Pro's. How about the 2.66 of todays offering?

I would greatly appreciate any advice.


nanofrog said:
I would think power would be a problem as well. :(

As I understand it, the board still only provides 2x 6 pin PCIe power connectors.


I know how you feel... Expensive to get what you need, but I assume you certainly have the justification. As long as it makes you money, it will be well worth it.

You can always upgrade to hardware RAID at a later time. ;)

I haven't yet had a chance to look that closely at it. I was more interested in pricing/basic specs. :eek: :p

Either way, Crucial is currently offering DDR3 in both Unbuffered and Registered variants. Other sites may have updated their sites to coincide with today's release. (Haven't looked yet).

You might want to start a new thread. ;)

Prepare to be patient though, as last I looked (a few days ago), I couldn't get enough details on any of the DP boards. None of the manufacturer sites I looked at had anything posted yet. All I could find were SKU's/extremely basic descriptions on a couple of sites, such as provantage.

I plan to do this research myself, as I might need to swap the workstation board I installed this weekend if it doesn't prove to do what I need, though I think it will. :D
Click to expand...
 
Well you can all go and buy your new toy's now eh? :D
But I see NO quadro? On a workstation class product? And what the fudge cake is with Apple, they update their entire desktop range, timecapsule and wireless rotuers, speed bumps it's laptops without so much of a speckle of glamour?
Is it changing times for Apple now?
 
m1stake said:
Pardon my ignorance, but is there a tangible difference?

On the up side, the memory prices aren't terrible anymore.
Click to expand...
Yes. :) ECC support is ENABLED in the W35xx parts. :D
Eidorian said:
Apple is making a killing in profits since the 3500 Series is just another label for the current i7 9xx line.

The 2.66 GHz i7 920 hovers between $229-279 on a good day.
Click to expand...
Hence the "greed" comment. ;) :D

ECC support is the only difference.
Setmose said:
Bare Feats has 4870 X2 running under Vista 64 Ultimate in Harpertown 8-core 3.2 Mac Pro:

http://www.barefeats.com/harper19.html

Obviously, the card fits and runs ok with the Mac Pro power supply. Specifically they tested this version: Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 X2 100251SR (2GB GDDR5).

So I think we are really close to the possibility of support for it under OS X. If Leopard now has ATI/AMD 4xxx support, it is just a case of exactly what is included there.

I think I just rescued some enthusiasm about this mess for myself. :apple:
Click to expand...
Nice to know Rob got it running. :D I would have thought power would be an issue.

I'll have to read through his review. Thanks for the link. :)
tokyorose said:
Unfortunately, that was my first post so I wont be able to start a new thread till I hit 20 (unlikely)

The Frys in my area are populated by cretins.

Before I start to research, what would be an estimated total for a self built computer with comparable spec to the mid range of the last iteration of Mac Pro's. How about the 2.66 of todays offering?

I would greatly appreciate any advice.
Click to expand...
:cool: No problem. :)

I'll start a thread then to git it started. :D (Please give me a little time though). ;)
 
Oh my F*CKING LORD!!!!!! I just looked at the apple website and saw this!!! OMG!! its finally out!!

Are these available in stores yet???
 
Fomaphone said:
yeah, i saved about a thousand bucks but i had hoped to be able to get the RAID card or the 2.93ghz for this amount of money, but i NEED a machine and this is more than capable of editing 1080p ProRes

nanofrog said:
I know how you feel... Expensive to get what you need, but I assume you certainly have the justification. As long as it makes you money, it will be well worth it.

You can always upgrade to hardware RAID at a later time. ;)
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

I have a Mac Pro v1.1 (first generation) that I upgraded myself to x5355 2.66 quad processors and a 3-drive internal (soft) RAID-0. It edits 1080p quite smoothly! It's one of the main things I do with my Mac. 3D rendering and video editing. On the Soft RAID I get a little over 300MB/s sustained average over the outer 80% of the platter surfaces. That's like 3 maybe 4 streams in real time.

I'm sure the new 8-core boxes are faster but just so you know... ;)
 
Eidorian said:
Apple is making a killing in profits since the 3500 Series is just another label for the current i7 9xx line.

The 2.66 GHz i7 920 hovers between $229-279 on a good day.
Click to expand...

vs. $690 for the 2.83ghz E5440 in the previous generation. x58 DP chipset is a bit more expensive, but memory is less expensive. If there wasn't some kind of discount that Apple is no longer getting, they might be making close to double on the new machines. So, either intel is now making them pay the same as Dell does (assuming they weren't) or Apple is taking the pro user for a ride with 50 or 60% margins.
 
nanofrog said:
Have you seen the specs and prices though? :eek: :p
Click to expand...

I think we were too overly expecting too much, but its a very good improvement over the last gen mac pros. I mean I dont mind 2x more speed than the last gen mac pro for just $300 more (and the higher end mac pros havnt been really benchmarked yet).
 
jjahshik32 said:
I think we were too overly expecting too much, but its a very good improvement over the last gen mac pros. I mean I dont mind 2x more speed than the last gen mac pro for just $300 more (and the higher end mac pros havnt been really benchmarked yet).
Click to expand...

The 2.93Ghz 8 core 2009 isn't even twice as fast as the 3.2Ghz 8 core 2008. While we've known this for months ever since Nehalem came out, the idea was that the 8 core 2.66 would be the same price or $200 more.

What's really scary about this comparison is that I bet the single 2.66 09 model is slower or identical to the 8 core 2008.
 
BenRoethig said:
vs. $690 for the 2.83ghz E5440 in the previous generation. x58 DP chipset is a bit more expensive, but memory is less expensive. If there wasn't some kind of discount that Apple is no longer getting, they might be making close to double on the new machines. So, either intel is now making them pay the same as Dell does (assuming they weren't) or Apple is taking the pro user for a ride with 50 or 60% margins.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure, but it doesn't seem to coincide with Apple's statement of "reduced margins". ;) :rolleyes:
jjahshik32 said:
I think we were too overly expecting too much, but its a very good improvement over the last gen mac pros. I mean I dont mind 2x more speed than the last gen mac pro for just $300 more (and the higher end mac pros havnt been really benchmarked yet).
Click to expand...
Check out the performance page.

They're using the 3.2GHz '08 as the baseline, and comparing it to the 2.93GHz '09 model.

I don't see the 2.26GHz model beating the 2.8GHz '08 myself, but I would like to see the comparison. ;)
 
nanofrog said:
I'm not sure, but it doesn't seem to coincide with Apple's statement of "reduced margins". ;) :rolleyes:

Check out the performance page.

They're using the 3.2GHz '08 as the baseline, and comparing it to the 2.93GHz '09 model.

I don't see the 2.26GHz model beating the 2.8GHz '08 myself, but I would like to see the comparison. ;)
Click to expand...

I guess we'll have to wait for barefeats to do the job.
 
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