Highend 3D cards for Mac OS X / PowerPC G5...!?!

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
www.xlr8yourmac.com notes:



Comments on 3Dlabs high end 3D cards for Macs -



" I just have received a email from 3DLabs stating that they are in discussions with Apple, for those who need 256MB and 512MB CADD DCC cards for Maya etc.



I expressed my interest in purchasing the Wildcat VP880 Pro. (512MB RAM) as soon as it's compatible with the new Dual G5's.

Lets hope the details get worked out and we can have Chester Cheetah dancing on our desktops!

-S.



copy of the email.



" Good evening... and thank you for your interest in 3Dlabs products. At this time we are having discussions with Apple to see how our two products will fit together. Do you have a preference for which 3Dlabs product family you would like to see support the Apple G5?

Sincerely,

Stephen D. Cox

North American Channel Sales Manager

3Dlabs - A CREATIVE COMPANY "
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 24
    Now this is more like it.



    Soon Apple's transition to leaders in 3d hardware will be complete...?



    Lemon Bon Bon
  • Reply 2 of 24
    I saw this exact same post at the Maya discussion forums at Alias.



    It is good news. I suppose I'll be dumping some cash into a wildcat. I prefer the Nvidia alternative, but it's better than anything we have ever had so far. I doubt with the miniscule amount of people using Mac's that would actually need such a card, and are willing to pay the high dollar amount that cards like this cost that Nvidia probably wont bother competing for this market. Unless like 5 major studios make a transition to PowerMac G5's, and it becomes worth there while to do so.



    I wonder how well they'll sell?
  • Reply 3 of 24
    bungebunge Posts: 7,329member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by onlooker

    I wonder how well they'll sell?



    How much do they normally cost? I'm not in the market for one but I am curious.
  • Reply 4 of 24
    Quote:

    Originally posted by bunge

    How much do they normally cost? I'm not in the market for one but I am curious.



    I work with the 3DLabs cards at work and they can range any where from $300 to $3000 depending on what you need.



    The Wildcat VP line usually runs from about $300 to $1000.



    The high end Wildcat 4 cards (7110 and 7210) can run you well over $1000, but they push polygons and geometry excellently.



    The major darw back to the 3DLabs cards (at least on the PC side of things) is that they don't yet support the cool shaders that nVidia and ATI do. So most games don't even start up with these cards.



    The one hopefull thing is that becuase 3DLabs was the key comapny behined the spec for OpenGL 2.0 (which Apple is a supporter of, can we say TNG Quartz Extreme) they will hopefully have cards that can take full advantage of the new capabilities on the way.



    - G in the S
  • Reply 5 of 24
    bungebunge Posts: 7,329member
    DOOM III
  • Reply 6 of 24
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by bunge

    DOOM III



    It's not really a gamers card, but I don't see that it couldn't be used as one. I doubt there will be much of a selection. I'm seriously doubting more than two to chose from. Probably (hopefully) a very high end one (for 3D work), and maybe a mid level so users don't feel neglected, and complain like all those whining biatches always do.
  • Reply 7 of 24
    bungebunge Posts: 7,329member
    I was just thinking that with the introduction of OpenGL 2.0 on the cards, it might be feasible.
  • Reply 8 of 24
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacRonin

    " I just have received a email from 3DLabs stating that they are in discussions with Apple, for those who need 256MB and 512MB CADD DCC cards for Maya etc.



    This Is Good News!!!
  • Reply 9 of 24
    I wonder if these cards will be a 'San Fran' announcement along with Rev B G5 PowerMacs?



    Lemon Bon Bon \
  • Reply 10 of 24
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Lemon Bon Bon

    I wonder if these cards will be a 'San Fran' announcement along with Rev B G5 PowerMacs?



    Lemon Bon Bon \






    Throw a Maya 5.5, or 6 Unlimited for Mac OS X on top of that list, and it will the Keynote that is rembembered for years to come.
  • Reply 11 of 24
    Quote:

    Originally posted by onlooker

    Throw a Maya 5.5, or 6 Unlimited for Mac OS X on top of that list, and it will the Keynote that is rembembered for years to come.



    exactly they need to get on the ball with that
  • Reply 12 of 24
    Quote:

    Throw a Maya 5.5, or 6 Unlimited for Mac OS X on top of that list, and it will the Keynote that is rembembered for years to come.



    I kinda hadn't thought of that. But, yeah. A Maya Unlimited 6 release would be nice.



    Ultimate Pro' Machine/Software bundle promotion would be nice.



    Yeesh, it's about time offered a truly high end was offered as an option for a machine like the G5 dual 2 gig machine. Wildcat cards with 512 megs on board, eh? Sounds okay to me. Be nice to see a Quadro card in the mix... The Quadro 3000 looks like a nice card. But with a price to match. Ulp.



    Hopefully, Apple can sell loads of G5 product and get the high end card boys in the mix with a little competition...



    It's kinda laughable that such a flagship machine ships with anything else less than an Ati 9800 Pro considering its price bracket.



    I'm really looking forward to 2004. Looks like some good things to come hardware and software wise if this year is anything to go by.



    Traditionally, San Fran' announcements are quite dramatic such as the 700mhz bump G4, the iMac2. I'm guessing Rev B announcement to keep the G5 on an aggressive upgrade schedule. Pile the pressure on Intel and AMD I say...



    Lemon Bon Bon
  • Reply 13 of 24
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    I'm holding out for a 3GHz G5 MP. That's when I think they they should announce all that stuff together. I would be thrilled to buy one with that package in January, but I think we'll never see it that soon. At least we wont see the 3GHz G5 by then I doubt.
  • Reply 14 of 24
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by bunge

    DOOM III



    Call me back when I've stopped salivating...



    But then the question will be, "When will Doom III be ported to Mac?"
  • Reply 15 of 24
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    I you want to get a wildcat to play Doom III, you're an idiot. (aka "prosumer")



    These cards are meant to do massively fast GL and, I think, Z-Buffer renders for CAD (among other things). As was said, the feature set can be quite different for a game card and a useful 3D card.



    Likewise, I prefer the Quattro over the wildcat, namely because it seems like a "tighter" product. (and cheaper!) But a wildcat would be cool.
  • Reply 16 of 24
    airslufairsluf Posts: 1,861member
    Kickaha and Amorph couldn't moderate themselves out of a paper bag. Abdicate responsibility and succumb to idiocy. Two years of letting a member make personal attacks against others, then stepping aside when someone won't put up with it. Not only that but go ahead and shut down my posting priviledges but not the one making the attacks. Not even the common decency to abide by their warning (afer three days of absorbing personal attacks with no mods in sight), just shut my posting down and then say it might happen later if a certian line is crossed. Bullshit flag is flying, I won't abide by lying and coddling of liars who go off-site, create accounts differing in a single letter from my handle with the express purpose to decieve and then claim here that I did it. Everyone be warned, kim kap sol is a lying, deceitful poster.



    Now I guess they should have banned me rather than just shut off posting priviledges, because kickaha and Amorph definitely aren't going to like being called to task when they thought they had it all ignored *cough* *cough* I mean under control. Just a couple o' tools.



    Don't worry, as soon as my work resetting my posts is done I'll disappear forever..
  • Reply 17 of 24
    leonisleonis Posts: 3,427member
    Year 2004. Year of the desktop



    Also...Year of my next hardware upgrade
  • Reply 18 of 24
    bungebunge Posts: 7,329member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Splinemodel

    I you want to get a wildcat to play Doom III, you're an idiot. (aka "prosumer")



    If anyone gets between me and my DOOM, they're an idiot! (aka a Beast after I've cut them to pieces with a chainsaw.)
  • Reply 19 of 24
    Quote:

    Originally posted by bunge

    If anyone gets between me and my DOOM, they're an idiot! (aka a Beast after I've cut them to pieces with a chainsaw.)



    Isn't DOOM III going to be a simulaneous release, meaning that it will be released for the major 3 platforms, all in house? I'm hoping to see a roadmap similiar to Quake III, at least that where people are pointing me.



    walloo.
  • Reply 20 of 24
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by AirSluf

    Once upon a time that was correct. Fire and Quattro cards have caused that once-upon-a-time distinction to pretty much vanish. Now the distinction is pretty much a a boost in memory frquency and certified drivers coupled with a couple firmware related throttles so you can't easily make a gamer card run Pro firmware/driver combinations at a fraction of the price. There are a couple so-called pro cards that add things like interlaced 3D for polarizing projectors, but those are really niche products at pro pricing, usually with less than cutting edge performance.



    I perpetuated a mispelling. . . It's Quadro. . . anyway. . .



    I'm pretty sure that most of the high end cards don't perform markedly better (or better at all) for game situations than do the high end consumer cards. That's where the idiot factor comes in. . . spending 10x the amont for the same thing.
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