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- Thread starter derbothaus
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Chuckle.... oh course he has to pander for page views by throwing the xMac into the article. Sigh ...
The custom video card is the "likely" but doesn't cover the downside that the costs are jacked up higher for them.
Given ASUS kludge solution ... I doubt it is as simple as that. What he skips over is that "rube goldberg" system connection in addition to the external loop-back cable. I bet the TB card doesn't work if that "system link connector" is not attached. I also bet that the TB card doesn't work if the "system link connector" doesn't see the DP cable attached too.
Even if move the "kluge cable" inside the box there still would likely be a 'kill' switch on the TB controller if the DP signal is not hooked up. Same thing if go with the funky card with proprietary edge connectors... no valid DP edge likely no TB.
Here is hoping for some good ol' Apple "magic" and "brilliance". Still, resources may be elsewhere.
"magic"
There is a very simple solution he skips over. The Mac Pro goes from 4 PCI-e slots to 3 PCI-e slots. Apple puts a GPU like the one on the iMac on the motherboard ( just like on the iMac ). The "missing" slot is hooked to the embeddd GPU. Thunderbolt is hooked to 4 PCI-e lanes. (perhaps shared with one of the other slots but that isn't new ... the two x4 slots in the current Mac Pro share too. ) . Ta-da done. No klugey cables.
Technically the dual E5 2600 boxes don't need to go down a socket because they have more than enough PCI-e lanes for unshared TB + embedded GPU. They only need to hook the first CPU package to the PCI-e sockets and the second CPU packga to the the embedded GPU + TB solution. Again Ta-da done. No klugey cables.
The only problem is the single package E5 1600 box. Here Apple can use a PCI-e expander switch and oversubscribe the 40 PCI-e lanes coming out of the 1600. One over-subscription would be on one of x4 PCI-e sockets. The second over-subscription would be one one of the x16 PCI-e sockets. Again Ta-da done. No klugey cables.
There is no "magic" here. Just extremely straight forward problem solving without a bucket load of preconceptions. The flawed preconception is that the solution has to flow from the GPU card. Bull. The rube goldberg ASUS configuration flows from them not being willing to move some stuff around ( or delete legacy crap ) from their board. The TB port could easily in the same fracking place the Display Port connector is if they would just move some crap out of the way. Instead they have this monstrosity to loops out of the box and back end.. ... Good Grief.
"Magic" and "brilliance" were in quotes for maximum sarcasm. Like if I was miming them with my hands.
"Magic" and "brilliance" were in quotes for maximum sarcasm. Like if I was miming them with my hands.
Oh, the bombastic "these new Macs are 10 times better than sex" talk of the Apple product videos. That stuff is almost comical at this point.
That's one reason why I don't expect them to drop a whole new Mac line up or several models all at once. All that fake organism stuff will start to look like a porn video if they carry on too long. Apple is anti porn
Always struck me as odd. Apple, who priced their original computer at $666 and used newtonian anti-christian imagery, is family oriented (we hates the porn). See my avatar. I think they hate the parents who hate the porn. I wouldn't want to deal with halfwits either.
I think they could quite easily to make the chassis smaller while keeping it equally as expandable...
- Instead of two 5.25 inch optical bays, make these two 3.5 inch bays (offer a USB optical drive for those that still need it)
- Intead of four 3.5 inch drive sleds, make these four 2.5 inch drive sleds
- Redesign the dual socket CPU layout so a single more space efficient heat sink fan assembly can be used to cover both sockets
Assuming you could redesign the PSU to be slightly more compact, you could end up with a case that resembles the size of a typical desktop chassis that could either sit on its short side in a stand, on it's big side on the desk, or with rack ears in a rack.
- Instead of two 5.25 inch optical bays, make these two 3.5 inch bays (offer a USB optical drive for those that still need it)
- Intead of four 3.5 inch drive sleds, make these four 2.5 inch drive sleds
- Redesign the dual socket CPU layout so a single more space efficient heat sink fan assembly can be used to cover both sockets
Assuming you could redesign the PSU to be slightly more compact, you could end up with a case that resembles the size of a typical desktop chassis that could either sit on its short side in a stand, on it's big side on the desk, or with rack ears in a rack.