There is no upgrade path for the current 7.1 Mac Pro, Intel is not making any new Xeons for the socket on the mobo...
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MP All Models AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT / 6900 XT for macOS?
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There is no upgrade path for the current 7.1 Mac Pro, Intel is not making any new Xeons for the socket on the mobo...
MP 7,1 uses the LGA 3647 socket.
All the upcoming Xeons we know about (Cooper Lake, Ice Lake, onto Sapphire / Granite Rapids) are on other sockets: LGA 4189 and LGA 4677.
Intel is under life-threatening pressure to swat off AMD on three fronts: desktop, HEDT / workstation, and server. It would be a pretty wild thing for them to stall their progress and dedicate 10nm fab time to making new chips on a dead-end socket for a single vendor's single product that makes up basically 0% of their sales.
I think it is very unlikely we see any surprise new chips for the 7,1's current socket.
All the upcoming Xeons we know about (Cooper Lake, Ice Lake, onto Sapphire / Granite Rapids) are on other sockets: LGA 4189 and LGA 4677.
Intel is under life-threatening pressure to swat off AMD on three fronts: desktop, HEDT / workstation, and server. It would be a pretty wild thing for them to stall their progress and dedicate 10nm fab time to making new chips on a dead-end socket for a single vendor's single product that makes up basically 0% of their sales.
I think it is very unlikely we see any surprise new chips for the 7,1's current socket.
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2019 Mac Pro already have the LGA3647 upgraded processors (Cascade Lake-W). It's been more than 18 months that it was announced the new sockets, DDR5/PCIe v4.0 needs a lot more pins. Intel won't release anything new to the Skylake and Cascade Lake platform.
just thinking that the white paper state « up to 48 cores » and if i recall correctly there are no w3280 or w3290... I might be dumb but any how if there is no upgrade we will see discounted w3276m soon...
my 7.1 already paid for itself , so I don’t mind spending another 2000€ to upgrade from 16 to 28 core, and ad a 6900xt when they will be available...
that should fullfill my needs for a couple of year, and then, It will make a perfect replacement for my aging xserve...
I feel like most people who complain about the 2019 macpro, dont own one, and get stuck on benchmark instead of what it is like to use it in real life.
the time I save everyday using a machine where all my needs are met in one machine is just good for me.
I would say that basically if you can’t make it pay for itself within 3 years, then you probably be better with a macmini M1 or a 5.1.
for 8k editing and the large timelapse I do, it is the perfect machine.
sure if it had amd epyc processor or whatever 16 performance core + 16 low consumption core apple silicon it would be even better.
but realistically I also value the fact that if apple ecosytem gets even tighter, I can just instal windows or linux on it...
Sold 5700 XT for $300 more than what I bought it so if 6700 XT is supported then I got a free upgrade as long as mining idiots don’t hoard these ones too again.
Because 5700 XT prices went up so much the Apple version is same price and has double the RAM so better value than the third party cards.
Because 5700 XT prices went up so much the Apple version is same price and has double the RAM so better value than the third party cards.
There is a clip on youtube where Luke Miani puts an M1 mac mini mobo inside a 2011 iMac to make the first M1 iMac.... and you could fit the same M1 mobo on a PCI card in a 7,1. Yeah I know its totally pointless from an engineering standpoint, just saying 
There is a clip on youtube where Luke Miani puts an M1 mac mini mobo inside a 2011 iMac to make the first M1 iMac.... and you could fit the same M1 mobo on a PCI card in a 7,1. Yeah I know its totally pointless from an engineering standpoint, just saying
Yeah you can’t do processor upgrade on a a PCIE slot especially one with a different memory architecture. The last slot that allowed processor upgrade to different generation was the PDS slot.
No you would just be bypassing the 7,1 intel and powering another logic board in the case, you could not integrate anything so as i said its not a serious proposition
I saw one in Australia this morning sell for $1200 AUD!!
What’s that in USD ATM, about $900?
whoa. I paid 370 euro/about 450 dollars. Sold for 767 US dollars.
I rejected higher offers on eBay because the accounts didn’t have a high score.
There are some posts from OTOY, the developer of Octane Render, saying Big Sur 11.3 should support 6800/6900 XT cards.
They are saying the support should already be included in 11.3 Beta 3.
Can anyone confirm this?
View topic - NEW: Octane X - is finally here! [MEGA FAQ THREAD]
View topic - NEW: Octane X - is finally here! [MEGA FAQ THREAD]
render.otoy.com
They are saying the support should already be included in 11.3 Beta 3.
Can anyone confirm this?
on the other hand... if you think about it for a second... what other factory machine in pc world from hp or dell can have four rx6900xt internally silently without breaking a sweat?
And we haven’t seen big navi pro line yet technically if they put 2 big navi rx6900xt on a single gpu, it may not be as fast as a ryzen with rtx3090, but it will certainly move some data...
lets not forget that even being overpriced, radeon pro II duo, is basically a Mi60 instinct card... and there are not a lot of card that can can match the performance in certain applications... still today.
I bet in fact we are not that much waiting on rdna2 drivers, but for CNDA2 drivers instead.
Instinct family is now still on the ancient architecture, even the « new radeon pro VII » is a vega 20 architecture, not a rnda2 or cnda2 architecture.
so I think the new « high end mpx module » will not come until the instinct get revamped.
They will probably do one of the rx6xxxXt gpu but they are not in a hurry because typically those are the one people will buy in pc version for 2/3 of the price.... and they wont sale much until the mpx gives a true avantage such as .... thunderbolt 4... in a AS mac desktop.
and as ImacPro is dropped that was the only candidate to be using massively 6000 serie gpu.
vega drivers cames from macbook pro and imac / imac pro using vega gpu...
not macpro...
there will be no imac pro anymore, there will only be imac with apple silicon, and there will be no intel macbook anymore there will be only AS macbook pro...
so the only candidate for a 6000 serie gpu in a proprietary pci/mmx is the rumored middle range desktop...
and then even that might just get a 32 core AS chip and call it a day because it will do 99% of what the 2019 macpro will do with a maxed out configuration. the macpro will remain only for those like me who needs all the pcie slot they can have.
And we haven’t seen big navi pro line yet technically if they put 2 big navi rx6900xt on a single gpu, it may not be as fast as a ryzen with rtx3090, but it will certainly move some data...
lets not forget that even being overpriced, radeon pro II duo, is basically a Mi60 instinct card... and there are not a lot of card that can can match the performance in certain applications... still today.
I bet in fact we are not that much waiting on rdna2 drivers, but for CNDA2 drivers instead.
Instinct family is now still on the ancient architecture, even the « new radeon pro VII » is a vega 20 architecture, not a rnda2 or cnda2 architecture.
so I think the new « high end mpx module » will not come until the instinct get revamped.
They will probably do one of the rx6xxxXt gpu but they are not in a hurry because typically those are the one people will buy in pc version for 2/3 of the price.... and they wont sale much until the mpx gives a true avantage such as .... thunderbolt 4... in a AS mac desktop.
and as ImacPro is dropped that was the only candidate to be using massively 6000 serie gpu.
vega drivers cames from macbook pro and imac / imac pro using vega gpu...
not macpro...
there will be no imac pro anymore, there will only be imac with apple silicon, and there will be no intel macbook anymore there will be only AS macbook pro...
so the only candidate for a 6000 serie gpu in a proprietary pci/mmx is the rumored middle range desktop...
and then even that might just get a 32 core AS chip and call it a day because it will do 99% of what the 2019 macpro will do with a maxed out configuration. the macpro will remain only for those like me who needs all the pcie slot they can have.
I don't think MPX is dead. I don't see them putting that much R&D into that spec for them to let it die on the vine and it was probably designed with future Apple GPUs in mind.
If we see another AMD MPX card is another matter. I'd say a lot of video centric Mac Pro customers are happy with their Vegas and 5700xt, and it would only be 3D artists who own Mac Pros (very small market) that would trade up to a 6000 series card. AMD is having a tough time fulfilling their PC Card orders, so I don't see them or Apple making MPX modules as a priority, especially when you can run a stock PC Card.
We may see a 6000 series MPX if the Mac Pro gets a mid-cycle Intel refresh. Otherwise I'd say the next MPX we may see will be an Apple GPU.
OTOY is probably right about the drivers, and hopefully we will see those soon.
If we see another AMD MPX card is another matter. I'd say a lot of video centric Mac Pro customers are happy with their Vegas and 5700xt, and it would only be 3D artists who own Mac Pros (very small market) that would trade up to a 6000 series card. AMD is having a tough time fulfilling their PC Card orders, so I don't see them or Apple making MPX modules as a priority, especially when you can run a stock PC Card.
We may see a 6000 series MPX if the Mac Pro gets a mid-cycle Intel refresh. Otherwise I'd say the next MPX we may see will be an Apple GPU.
OTOY is probably right about the drivers, and hopefully we will see those soon.
Why would Apple provide drivers for RDNA2 GPUs?
They don't have any RDNA2 video cards - and I wouldn't bet on them making any MPX versions. The user base for them is too small.
There won't be a mid-cycle Intle refresh hifimac. The socket is dead; Intel isn't making any new 14nm chip designs. Every subsystem on the 7,1 was obsolete the day it was released.
6 months later and still no drivers for people that spent many thousands of dollars on a computer that should be upgradeable. LOL... this is embarrassing.
Apple gave end users numerous GPU choices when they purchased a 7.1 Mac Pro...
Apple NEVER said they would offer further GPU upgrades down the road...
Apple has CLEARLY stated their intent to end their reliance on third party CPUs (Intel) & GPUs (AMD)...
Intel does not have an upgrade CPU for the socket in the 7.1 Mac Pro...
AMD is having enough trouble supplying GPUs to the "regular" PC market, and they are being dropped from future Apple products; so why would they want to work with Apple to create another custom GPU for a very limited market...?
Apple owes current 7.1 Mac Pro users nothing...!
LONG LIVE THE NEW APPLE MAC PRO CUBE...!!! ;^P
( ...and the 8.1 Mac Pro; 1/3 the size of the outgoing 7.1, PCIe slots mainly there for the Audio folk & for new Apple Silicon dGPUs... )
I wouldn't be surprised if Apple released an Apple Silicon dGPU for the 7,1. You are potentially right, that Apple might not use AMD past this point. But we won't know for certain until we see what they do with the 16" MBP, the 27" iMac, and the Mac Pro / Macintosh (non-pro but non-mini desktop coming on Apple Silicon).
Just gotta kick our feet up until we see the next step up.