Post your 970 Tower mock ups

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Comments

  • Reply 41 of 215
    netromacnetromac Posts: 863member
    Don't think an entirely aluminium box seems likely. I think there will be some kind of mix between aluminium and plastics to match keyboards, monitors etc.

    If they make an all alu box, they would at least have to redesign the rest of the stuff with some aluminium elements, like the pro keyboard with alu keys a.s.o.



    Any opinions?
  • Reply 42 of 215
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Well, the new powerbook keybords are metal...and they look bitchin'.
  • Reply 43 of 215
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Jonathan

    how's a 12" aluminum cube sound?



    You jest...I think, but I really do think the cube still has a lot of promise. You could integrate expansion into it and still make it a reasonable size and design.
  • Reply 44 of 215
    If there's one thing that I would like apple to reintroduce. It would be the cube.
  • Reply 45 of 215
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Placebo

    Well, the new powerbook keybords are metal...and they look bitchin'.



    i think the 12" is plastic painted silver, dont have one if front of me to check right now
  • Reply 46 of 215
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member




    Apple could refine a design like this. I know most people here would reflexively hate this little Shuttle cube because it looks a bit PC-ish, but I kinda like it. Apple could simplify and refine this basic design, which has room for an optical drive, a hard drive, a PCI slot, an AGP slot, and generally already has FireWire and USB 2 onboard.
  • Reply 47 of 215
    piwozniakpiwozniak Posts: 815member
    no problem with cooling :







    or one of these:









  • Reply 48 of 215
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Isn't it funny that after Apple screwed the pooch on the cube concept, it is steadily emerging as a form factor of choice in the PC world?



    A shuttle size cube (not really a cube) wouldn't make for the greatest PM, but somethin 12" cubed would be big enough to accomodate PM class expansion. Personally I think el-cap is great as it is, but...



    What you mention, luca, would make a great e/iMac alternative.
  • Reply 49 of 215
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Luca Rescigno





    Apple could refine a design like this. I know most people here would reflexively hate this little Shuttle cube because it looks a bit PC-ish, but I kinda like it. Apple could simplify and refine this basic design, which has room for an optical drive, a hard drive, a PCI slot, an AGP slot, and generally already has FireWire and USB 2 onboard.




    While this design is VERY PCish and FUGLY, I do love the concept. Give it the brushed aluminum, Johnny Ive treatment and it'll look great. Horizantal slot load Superdrive, full size upgradeable AGP slot, one full size PCI slot...mmmmmm, I'd buy one in a sec.



    Of course the whole point of this "Fat Cube" concept is the lack of mutiple PCI slots, so it really couldn't be a replacement for the Power Mac line...or could it?
  • Reply 50 of 215
    moosemanmooseman Posts: 126member
    ...I have Shuttle sitting on my floor with a fried mobo. It was used as a POS machine and was on 24/7. It was dead within 8 weeks from the heat. It had a 1.2GHz Tualatin, 20GB HD, and a serial card. The air circualtion in the damn thing is way beyond horrible.



    Now the parts are sitting in a nice big and plenty-fanned Antec case with a new mobo. Works sooooo much better. The Shuttle sucks ass for anything but a part time machine, at least in my experience.
  • Reply 51 of 215
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    Post my Power Mac 970 mock up you say?



    ***Slightly revised from original post several months ago***



    At WWDC in June, the Power Mac G5 will be introduced.



    It will be available in 3 models, all using dual PowerPC 970s.



    1.8GHz, 900 Mhz System Bus

    2.1GHz, 1050 MHz System Bus

    2.4GHz, 1200 MHz System Bus



    4 Memory Slots for Dual-QBM400 Memory.



    One AGP 8x slot, with whatever the latest nVidia and ATi graphics cards are.



    SuperDrive standard on all models.



    The biggest news: Modular form factor.







    As standard is the power supply and core, with a UPS an option (far left).



    However, using GigaWire for ultra-high-speed data transfer, stack-ons are sold. The computer is a GigaWire chain



    There are GigaWire standards for storage (removable and fixed, ROM, RAM, R and RW), PCI over GigaWire and Digital Video.



    GigaWire modules available from Apple include "CD6" for CD-Servers (far left), a "PCI6" and "HD6" (left), and lastly "CD2" and "Combo" modules (with 2 PCI slots and 4 hard drive bays, right).



    GigaWire Bases are sold to connect modules to the external GigaWire ports on PowerBooks.



    GigaWire is also used between system chips. There is an external port for linking two cores together (to form a Mega-Mac).



    The three system chips on the PowerMac are "GigaNorth", "GigaSouth" and "GigAudio".



    GigaNorth powers the CPUs, Memory and AGP.



    GigaSouth powers the internal drives (using Serial-ATA), FireWire 2, USB 2 and Ethernet.



    GigAudio powers the line-in, line-out (front-channel), rear channel and center-sub ports.



    The Power Supplys have power ports for speakers and displays, and all data and power in the GigaWire chain travels through the feet of modules.



    - Barto
  • Reply 52 of 215
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Jonathan

    how's a 12" aluminum cube sound?



    Not bad at all, actually. People's love for the cube must be something genetical, the only problem is that they have to be able to sell it as an expandable pro machine.
  • Reply 53 of 215
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    A cube is really impractical. No matter what, many of the components in the new Power Macs will be commodity parts. They're designed around certain dimensions.



    A 12 inch cube, for example, wouldn't be able to hold 12 inch PCI cards, and shoehorning several 7 inch cards into one would be impossible. Non-standard components can really suck...just take a look at a standard ATX PSU vs the MDD style PSU (80-92 mm fans vs 40 mm fans).



    Cubes also won't help air circulation much. There's less surface area to dssipate heat in addition to a wider cross-section to blow air across.



    Realistically, any Power Mac will be at least 16"x16"x7" ... about the same volume as a 12" cube, btu with a lot more surface area to work with...and a lot less wasted volume toward the center barring really exotic and expensive component layouts...
  • Reply 54 of 215
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Well, a 12" cube would be kinda fat, but not necessarily wrong in terms of fitting full 12" cards. They could fit if the box were merely cubish (like the last cube). Personally, I think that an evolution of the current case is the best thing they could do, it's already the best case on the market.



    However, if volume of air is important, then a cube could be just as good for holding/cooling. Imagine a core that slides out like the old cube. The Mobo sits on the bottom with the cards to the back and the CPU/heatsink to the side. That makes the bottom half of the cube and that slides out in a tray. The top half has another tray that holds the drives and PSU and slides in/out on a separate tray. It holds two optical bays and 4 vertical mount HDD's, two on either side of the horizontal opticals. Done. Lots a room, but is it really better than El Capt'n?



    I dunno think so. To me the current case still looks better than anything out there, the swing out door is unmatched, it holds enough drives, isn't overly large, has very convenient handles, and fits into spaces standardized around a tower design! (which a large cube would NOT).



    The only better looking case was the slow silver case. If Apple ditched the mirror doors in favor of one continuous face plate and perhaps tweaked the color/materials of the MDD, that's damn near perfect already!
  • Reply 55 of 215
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Eh, it's time for something new. The current case design is vintage 1999. Even Alienware spruced up its plastic panels...basically the same chassis as they had before though.



    The MDD Macs are proof that the old design needs to go. The MDD towers are an utter mess inside.



    And Apple, just stick a damned fan blowing down on or sucking up from the heatsink already.
  • Reply 56 of 215
    thttht Posts: 5,421member
    A new set of Power Macs should have xServe and xRaid design language! There should be consumer models and professional models.



    For the pro model, take the xRaid box, flip it on its side, make it 9 inches wide so the box dimensions are 17 x 9 x 18 (high x wide x deep) inches, have 4 hot swap hard disks vertically oriented, have 2 hot swap 5.25" bays, have front port Firewire and USB connectors, have a motherboard mounted door a la El Capitan with 5 PCI + 1 AGP slots, have fancy looking aluminum plastics/paneling, and have lots of blinking lights.



    For the consumer model, chop the pro model box in half to 17 x 9 x 9 inches, have 1 hot swap hard disk, have 1 5.25" bay, have front port connectors, have the internals pull out of the back like the G4 Cube with 1 AGP + 1 PCI slot, have cheap looking plastics, and a couple of blinking lights.



    I don't have Photoshop nor any graphics tools, so sorry, no mockups
  • Reply 57 of 215
    majormattmajormatt Posts: 1,077member
    Ladies and gentlemen, I have found the new G5 design, be scared, be very scared (of my illustrator skills or lack thereof)



  • Reply 58 of 215
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by THT

    For the consumer model, chop the pro model box in half to 17 x 9 x 9 inches, have 1 hot swap hard disk, have 1 5.25" bay, have front port connectors, have the internals pull out of the back like the G4 Cube with 1 AGP + 1 PCI slot, have cheap looking plastics, and a couple of blinking lights.





    Ugh, you've just described the typical SFF PC that Shuttle, Soltek, FIC and other brands make. No thanks. So, it's a cube with one PCI slot...big whoop. If Apple's going to go back to selling more than one Pro machine, I'd think a 19" tower with 6 PCI slots and a 14" mini-tower with 3 PCI slots would be the way to go. Also, 9" is spectacularly wide. My PC cases are both 8 inches wide with plenty of extra space on the side. You could go as narrow as 7" before you start getting really cramped.
  • Reply 59 of 215
    barto,



    I'm impressed with your basic design. I don't really see why people like cubes, so I'm mostly looking at the bigger tower range. The option for different sizes of cases would be a good step to take.



    Apple though would not want to take the direction of having several different models as they want to take the 'slim-line' approach.



    But it would be great to see a High-end Workstation boasting only the best specifications come out of Apple, then be utilized at Pixar with the Sun Farm; as well as sold as a PowerMac Workstation publically.



    now i'd have to get at least 20 of those. (um. $$. NOT. maybe 10)

    -walloo.
  • Reply 60 of 215
    709709 Posts: 2,016member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Barto

    Post my Power Mac 970 mock up you say?



    *snip*







    I was asking about that mockup a few months ago in another thread. Glad you re-posted it. Pure Genius.
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