I think Apple will be looking for a $200-300 card in a $2k-ish dual-Woodcrest, so I'm going to say the low-end will come with a 7600GT
Mid and High Ends could start with a 7800GT or a 7900GT with one of the top two as BTO, and a Quadro BTO.
Fair enough, although I think Apple will stinge on the lowest-end Mac Pro and put in a 7600GS*. The mid-higher end would be a 7600GT or 7800GT. 7900GTX, 7950GX2 and Quadro as BTO options. Apple has a tendency to leave mainstream mid-ends out, so I doubt we'll see the 7900GT.
Again though, compared to the 7900s, the 7950GX2 is right now offering some incredible value.
*Look at the lowest-end PowerMac G5: It still comes with a 6600LE - which is pretty crappy by todays standards. Pretty bloody crappy.
Doesn't the 6600LE have dual video outs? Apple's page says their version has one dual link and one single link video output.
My MSI 6600GT 128MB GDDR SDRAM has one dual-link DVI port and one VGA port. I think the 6600s have one dual-link DVI out and one single-link DVI out normally.
The Apple versions make sense, I don't think there are 6600s out there with two dual-link DVI outs, unless you can point me to a specific manufacturer model:
Yeah, Apple says:
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE with 128MB of GDDR SDRAM, one single-link DVI port, and one dual-link DVI port.
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 with 256MB of GDDR SDRAM, one single-link DVI port, and one dual-link DVI port
NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT with 256MB of GDDR3 SDRAM, one single-link DVI port, and one dual-link DVI port
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 with 512MB of GDDR3 SDRAM, two dual-link DVI ports,
So with this, for the first three cards you can drive a 30" cinema display AND a 23" cinema display max. Driving two 30" cinema displays requires a Quadro FX 4500 or another 6600 card:
"Any new dual- or quad-core Power Mac G5 supports two Apple Cinema Displays, including dual-link DVI for one 30-inch model. Support for two 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Displays requires two dual-link DVI ports, available in configurations with the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 or by installing an additional NVIDIA GeForce 6600 card. Support for more than two displays requires installation of one or more additional NVIDIA GeForce 6600 cards."
"Any new dual- or quad-core Power Mac G5 supports two Apple Cinema Displays, including dual-link DVI for one 30-inch model. Support for two 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Displays requires two dual-link DVI ports, available in configurations with the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 or by installing an additional NVIDIA GeForce 6600 card. Support for more than two displays requires installation of one or more additional NVIDIA GeForce 6600 cards." [/B]
If one of the 6600 models are passively cooled, I'd have no problem doubling up if I wanted dual 30" screens. That Quadro takes two slots of space anyway. Maybe the Quadro's cooling is quiet, but just looking at it makes me wonder how loud that thing screams.
If one of the 6600 models are passively cooled, I'd have no problem doubling up if I wanted dual 30" screens. That Quadro takes two slots of space anyway. Maybe the Quadro's cooling is quiet, but just looking at it makes me wonder how loud that thing screams.
The Asus Silencer looks good for 6600 quiet operation. Not sure if you can just bang it into a PowerMac though...
Or you could get the 6600 from Apple, for full compatibility, and then bring on the Zalman UltraQuiet Heatsink and Fan: It would be virtually silent It does look quite thin so it should fit in one PCIExpress slot.
The GT models aren't that great. They are decent mid=range cards, but that's all you can say. If you want performance from any manufacturer, you need something with at least an "X" in the name.
ROFL It's true. The spec sheet of the MacPro as circulated by AppleInsider at the moment shows only an X1800 GTO on the higher end... (http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1886). I mean, come on, "ATI X1800 GTO" - okay, there is an X in the X1800 but the words that come after the numbers has NO X IN IT! OMFG!
But you are right. If the Mac Pro is going ATI then there should be a option for the Radeon X1900 XTX ! It has 2 X's in there after the numbers!!
Hmmph. The X1800GTO is the lowest card in the X1800 range, BTW.
The GT models aren't that great. They are decent mid=range cards, but that's all you can say. If you want performance from any manufacturer, you need something with at least an "X" in the name.
The GTs are second place, just after the GTX/Ultra variants. The GX2s are a special case. But that's for nVidia. Second place for ATi is XT, with first being the XTX, and GT being pretty low.
Oh, the confusion.
You can entertain yourself by looking at these charts:
The GT models aren't that great. They are decent mid=range cards, but that's all you can say. If you want performance from any manufacturer, you need something with at least an "X" in the name.
That said, I've been very happy with my nVidia 6600GT for the past year, and it's got another year of life in it. For playing the latest games at medium settings, with some antialiasing and quite a bit of anisotropic filtering.
The GTX-type variants are not worth the money, IMO, for example, going for a 7900GTX is more for bragging rights and feeling good about yourself if you have the cash to blow. Same with the 6800 Ultra when the 6 series was happening. Overkill, for mainstream, fun and fluid gaming.
I'll have to update myself on benchmarks of the nVidia 7900GT and 7600GT, but there's value for money there, I reckon.
I just want to be able to choose the best PC GPU, from whichever manufacturer I choose, at a price that isn't clearly exorbitant.
Right now, raising the 6600GT to a 7800GT costs $350.
On Newegg, a 7800GT costs under $300, period. The 6600GT is about $125.
So effectively, when you configure a Powermac with a 7800GT (and they don't even offer the GTX which is a pity), you are paying almost $500 for a card that costs under $300 off-the-shelf.
Comments
Let's look at prices:
$600: 7950GX2
$500: 7900GTX
$400: 7900GT
$300: 7800GT
$200: 7600GT
$150: 7600GS
I think Apple will be looking for a $200-300 card in a $2k-ish dual-Woodcrest, so I'm going to say the low-end will come with a 7600GT
Mid and High Ends could start with a 7800GT or a 7900GT with one of the top two as BTO, and a Quadro BTO.
Fair enough, although I think Apple will stinge on the lowest-end Mac Pro and put in a 7600GS*. The mid-higher end would be a 7600GT or 7800GT. 7900GTX, 7950GX2 and Quadro as BTO options. Apple has a tendency to leave mainstream mid-ends out, so I doubt we'll see the 7900GT.
Again though, compared to the 7900s, the 7950GX2 is right now offering some incredible value.
*Look at the lowest-end PowerMac G5: It still comes with a 6600LE - which is pretty crappy by todays standards. Pretty bloody crappy.
Originally posted by sunilraman
*Look at the lowest-end PowerMac G5: It still comes with a 6600LE - which is pretty crappy by todays standards. Pretty bloody crappy.
Yes, although it's still complete overkill for most of the users that want PowerMacs. ie. non-gamers.
Why pay $600 for a graphics card if all you're doing is Photoshop and Final Cut ?
The only reason that type of user buys a more expensive card is to run two monitors, not to get 5 more fps in Half-Life.
Originally posted by aegisdesign
The only reason that type of user buys a more expensive card is to run two monitors, not to get 5 more fps in Half-Life.
Doesn't the 6600LE have dual video outs? Apple's page says their version has one dual link and one single link video output.
Originally posted by aegisdesign
Yes, although it's still complete overkill for most of the users that want PowerMacs. ie. non-gamers.
Why pay $600 for a graphics card if all you're doing is Photoshop and Final Cut ?
The point is that the difference (not as much as $600 though) does not go to customer's but to Apple's pocket.
Doesn't the 6600LE have dual video outs? Apple's page says their version has one dual link and one single link video output.
My MSI 6600GT 128MB GDDR SDRAM has one dual-link DVI port and one VGA port. I think the 6600s have one dual-link DVI out and one single-link DVI out normally.
The Apple versions make sense, I don't think there are 6600s out there with two dual-link DVI outs, unless you can point me to a specific manufacturer model:
Yeah, Apple says:
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE with 128MB of GDDR SDRAM, one single-link DVI port, and one dual-link DVI port.
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 with 256MB of GDDR SDRAM, one single-link DVI port, and one dual-link DVI port
NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT with 256MB of GDDR3 SDRAM, one single-link DVI port, and one dual-link DVI port
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 with 512MB of GDDR3 SDRAM, two dual-link DVI ports,
So with this, for the first three cards you can drive a 30" cinema display AND a 23" cinema display max. Driving two 30" cinema displays requires a Quadro FX 4500 or another 6600 card:
"Any new dual- or quad-core Power Mac G5 supports two Apple Cinema Displays, including dual-link DVI for one 30-inch model. Support for two 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Displays requires two dual-link DVI ports, available in configurations with the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 or by installing an additional NVIDIA GeForce 6600 card. Support for more than two displays requires installation of one or more additional NVIDIA GeForce 6600 cards."
For example, the AGP 6600GT nVidia REFERENCE card looks like it has two dual-link dvi outs (based on looking at the pins)
http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?art=850
Originally posted by sunilraman
"Any new dual- or quad-core Power Mac G5 supports two Apple Cinema Displays, including dual-link DVI for one 30-inch model. Support for two 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Displays requires two dual-link DVI ports, available in configurations with the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 or by installing an additional NVIDIA GeForce 6600 card. Support for more than two displays requires installation of one or more additional NVIDIA GeForce 6600 cards." [/B]
If one of the 6600 models are passively cooled, I'd have no problem doubling up if I wanted dual 30" screens. That Quadro takes two slots of space anyway. Maybe the Quadro's cooling is quiet, but just looking at it makes me wonder how loud that thing screams.
If one of the 6600 models are passively cooled, I'd have no problem doubling up if I wanted dual 30" screens. That Quadro takes two slots of space anyway. Maybe the Quadro's cooling is quiet, but just looking at it makes me wonder how loud that thing screams.
The Asus Silencer looks good for 6600 quiet operation. Not sure if you can just bang it into a PowerMac though...
Or you could get the 6600 from Apple, for full compatibility, and then bring on the Zalman UltraQuiet Heatsink and Fan: It would be virtually silent
http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/...x=201&code=013
(image)
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/Graphics/...lmanVF700.html
But you are right. If the Mac Pro is going ATI then there should be a option for the Radeon X1900 XTX ! It has 2 X's in there after the numbers!!
Hmmph. The X1800GTO is the lowest card in the X1800 range, BTW.
Originally posted by melgross
The GT models aren't that great. They are decent mid=range cards, but that's all you can say. If you want performance from any manufacturer, you need something with at least an "X" in the name.
The GTs are second place, just after the GTX/Ultra variants. The GX2s are a special case. But that's for nVidia. Second place for ATi is XT, with first being the XTX, and GT being pretty low.
Oh, the confusion.
You can entertain yourself by looking at these charts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari...ocessing_Units
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari...ocessing_Units
nVidia, in descending order:
7900GX2
7900GTX
7900GT
7900GS
7600GT
7600GS
......
ATI, in descending order:
X1900 XTX \t
X1900 XT \t
X1900 GT
X1800 XT \t
X1800 XL \t
X1800 GTO
.......
The GT models aren't that great. They are decent mid=range cards, but that's all you can say. If you want performance from any manufacturer, you need something with at least an "X" in the name.
That said, I've been very happy with my nVidia 6600GT for the past year, and it's got another year of life in it. For playing the latest games at medium settings, with some antialiasing and quite a bit of anisotropic filtering.
The GTX-type variants are not worth the money, IMO, for example, going for a 7900GTX is more for bragging rights and feeling good about yourself if you have the cash to blow. Same with the 6800 Ultra when the 6 series was happening. Overkill, for mainstream, fun and fluid gaming.
I'll have to update myself on benchmarks of the nVidia 7900GT and 7600GT, but there's value for money there, I reckon.
Right now, raising the 6600GT to a 7800GT costs $350.
On Newegg, a 7800GT costs under $300, period. The 6600GT is about $125.
So effectively, when you configure a Powermac with a 7800GT (and they don't even offer the GTX which is a pity), you are paying almost $500 for a card that costs under $300 off-the-shelf.
I sincerely hope this changes with the Mac Pro.
Perhaps they can convince ATi and/or nVidia to simply provide replacement firmwares for download?
Originally posted by Chucker
I'm hoping Apple finds a way to implement this that neither compromises EFI features, nor being able to pick any off-the-shelf card.
Perhaps they can convince ATi and/or nVidia to simply provide replacement firmwares for download?
The firmware in the non EFI cards may be too small