At WWDC SJ said almost word for word: the G5 can be outfitted with Pro Graphic Cards. What does that mean? Does it mean what it sounds like? Or is he just talking about what is available at the Apple store?
THis could be huge news that went unnoticed.
Comments
I think the number he mentioned was 70 watts. Not sure though.
Interesting that in the hardware session with IBM and Apple at the WWDC, when the G5's cooling architecture was being explained, the Apple engineer mentioned that the cooling for the PCI/AGP "Zone" of the G5 tower was a bit different than the other 3 zones. In the other 3, there is a temperature sensor that allows the system to control the fan speeds to keep the components within the operating temperature spec. In the PCI/AGP area, however, they do not know where to put the temperature probe because they do not know which slot a customer might use for a card that runs very hot. So in this case they rely on the power draw from the PCI-X slots and the AGP slot to determine how fast to spin the fans in that zone.
Originally posted by lundy
He said that the POWER available to the AGP slot was enough to power the "Pro" graphics cards. He didn't specifically say that any of those cards were available in a Mac version. Maybe someone else can help out on this.
He wouldn't have mentioned it if it wasn't coming.
I know he didn't say any of those cards would be available in a Mac version, but would it not be nice if we didn't have to use a specific Mac card anymore. That is what I was hoping was being said. The quote/semi wrong quote was given to me second hand. That why I didn't understand exactly what was said, but the way it was phrased to me was leading me to believe there could be a chance I could throw a Quadro, or card from 3DLabs in there. I was freak-in Man!
Both ATi and nVIDIA use platform-agnostic chipsets now, so getting the card itself into a Mac is probably pretty straightforward. The fun part, from the vantage point of my armchair, will be porting the drivers.
I don't doubt that both ATi and nVIDIA engineers had G5s on their desks as soon as Apple could supply something they could work with. But Steve didn't announce what would be available when, which means that nobody knows that information.
Also, the engineers will probably want to test for compatibility with Panther, which is very much a moving target right now.
Originally posted by onlooker
...or card from 3DLabs in there.
Don't get your hopes up there...
Originally posted by Amorph
I don't doubt that both ATi and nVIDIA engineers had G5s on their desks as soon as Apple could supply something they could work with.
Well, we just learned that one of these companies at least had G5s since they were just cables off of a PCB - and one that changed a fair amount from what was shipped. Sounds like quite a while.
Originally posted by johnsonwax
He wouldn't have mentioned it if it wasn't coming.
I hope so but I don't think we can infer the certainty or 3rd party cards from his statement about 70watts of power being available on the AGP bus.
Somewhere in the Presidio audiance, there was probably a graphics card engineer thinking, we should start development on drivers...
Now, the Quadro series referenced is 'last gen' stuff... So when they do announce 'Pro' level cards, they better have QuadroFX series on the list...
I bet Apple didn't go into graphics cards, and the availablity of 'Pro' level cards for Mac OS X yet because:
Panther (and it's better OpenGL stuff) ain't ready yet...
Don't want anyone putting off getting a new G5 because they are waiting for faster cards...
'Pro' level cards would boost the price by at least US$450 over the baseline 2,999.00 for the dual 2Gigger...
[speculation]
Maybe Apple will have something faster running in demo G5s at Siggraph this year... As far as I know, the FIRST Siggraph for Apple to have a booth at... Booth # 1601... Wish I could make it out to San Diego to see the looks on peoples faces when they test-drive Maya & Shake on dual G5s with 8GB of RAM... Especially if there are 'unannounced' graphics cards in said G5s...
And if Pixar is showing RenderMan (using Qmaster?!?) on G5s...! I think they might have something running at the Apple booth, with a few Pixar reps running it... Maybe G5 vs. 'anything else' bakeoffs...!?! Pixar booth would be strictly the moviemaking side of things...
[/speculation]
Well, rant ran out of steam...
;^p
Originally posted by onlooker
At WWDC SJ said almost word for word: the G5 can be outfitted with Pro Graphic Cards. What does that mean? Does it mean what it sounds like? Or is he just talking about what is available at the Apple store?
THis could be huge news that went unnoticed.
There are two flavors of AGP Pro slots, the former provides 50 watts of power, and the latter provides a 110. Both flavors of a PRO slot are slightly longer than a regular slot.
Higher end consumer cards such as the new nVidia FX's already need to get more juice than the normal 8X AGP slot can provide, thus they require power from an additional molex connector, basically the same cable which gives a HD juice. This connector is required because PRO is not found on every wintel mobo.
Originally posted by maxcom29
There are two flavors of AGP Pro slots, the former provides 50 watts of power, and the latter provides a 110. Both flavors of a PRO slot are slightly longer than a regular slot.
Higher end consumer cards such as the new nVidia FX's already need to get more juice than the normal 8X AGP slot can provide, thus they require power from an additional molex connector, basically the same cable which gives a HD juice. This connector is required because PRO is not found on every wintel mobo.
Apple would be using the 110watt version of the spec, since they state that the AGP slot provided 75watts of power...
The remaining 35watts are going through the ADC port, to power Apple LCD displays...
Going to the Pro version of the AGP slot spec was a no-brainer for Apple, what with the whole minimum cable mantra they have going on...
;^p