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Philip D

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 16, 2014
12
0
Sorry if this has been asked before but I could not find anything around it.

My general questions are:
- if you believe the Mac Pros are likely to be updated in 2014
- if there are successors on the horizon for current components (haswell-e, GPU, etc.) or if the current ones are still very new with no imminent upgrades.

I don't see a reason to bore you with details of my uses, setup, reasons for asking, etc. I understand the Mac Pro is only a few months old. I am just asking some questions.

Thanks very much in advance.
 
It's possible, but I wouldn't count on it. If it does get a refresh in 2014 it'll likely be very late 2014. Most people are expecting 2015 though.
 
I've been told by my server and workstation vendors that around October will be the introduction of Xeon E5 v3 (Haswell) systems. The sightings of v3 chips in the wild supports this view (http://wccftech.com/intel-haswellep...le-spotted-wild-sold-650-ebay-r3-motherboard/).

When HP and Dell are shipping 28-core Haswell workstations, I'm sure that people in this forum will expect a 14-core nnMP. ;)

Any chance the heat characteristics of the new Xeon could support dual socket nMPs?
 
When HP and Dell are shipping 28-core Haswell workstations, I'm sure that people in this forum will expect a 14-core nnMP. ;)

That sounds scary powerful :eek: . I remember when 128Kb was a scary expensive and powerful upgrade. I think I'll pull out my old IBM PC XT with an 8088 processor and a 5-1/2" floppy just to make my current machine feel like it has 28 cores:D
 
Any chance the heat characteristics of the new Xeon could support dual socket nMPs?

I think you would be hitting more on the physical space available, unless you removed the second GPU board and inserted a second CPU board in there. If you could somehow fit physically a second CPU then what about the RAM slots.

Then would likely need to redesign the boards to allow the QPI between the Boards, unless Apple designed the nMP with that in mind already, and I would have thought something would of leaked about that capability if was coming.
 
or...

I think you would be hitting more on the physical space available, unless you removed the second GPU board and inserted a second CPU board in there. If you could somehow fit physically a second CPU then what about the RAM slots.

Just stretch the system so that you can have another bank of DIMMs above the current ones, but keep the same proportions. The second socket would be between the new DIMMs.

Since the diameter would be larger, you'd be able to fit 8 (or possibly 12) DIMMs slots for each socket - for 512 GiB (or 768 GiB) total. Also plenty of room for a 1000 watt power supply, and perhaps even some PMC (PCIe Mezzanine Card) or other SFF expansion slots. (Samsung's making 1 TB 840 mSATA drives for just over $500.)

With twice as many PCIe 3.0 lanes, you wouldn't need to put the T-Bolt ports on a PCIe switch. Add a few more SSD sockets and 10 GbE Ethernet ports to use up a few more lanes.
 

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Just stretch the system so that you can have another bank of DIMMs above the current ones, but keep the same proportions. The second socket would be between the new DIMMs.

Since the diameter would be larger, you'd be able to fit 8 (or possibly 12) DIMMs slots for each socket - for 512 GiB (or 768 GiB) total. Also plenty of room for a 1000 watt power supply, and perhaps even some PMC (PCIe Mezzanine Card) or other SFF expansion slots. (Samsung's making 1 TB 840 mSATA drives for just over $500.)

With twice as many PCIe 3.0 lanes, you wouldn't need to put the T-Bolt ports on a PCIe switch. Add a few more SSD sockets and 10 GbE Ethernet ports to use up a few more lanes.

I suspect that nnmp will be squired based, as a cube or cubical shape. Still small. 4 sides to put 2 CPU + 2 GPU. Silent again, but more importantly its shape could be scalable say 3 nnmp to be like a cMP size. That'd be nice. And hardly any one will call it trash can! :) Whether or not it will call power mac cube "father"...
 
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I suspect that nnmp will be squired based, as a cube or cubical shape. Still small. 4 sides to put 2 CPU + 2 GPU. Silent again, but more importantly its shape could be scalable say 3 nnmp to be like a cMP size. That'd be nice. And hardly any one will call it trash can! :) Whether or not it will call power mac cube "father"...

To a huge extent that would depend on whether the intra-socket QPI links can be bridged across separate boards. All of the current designs put the sockets very close together on the same board. The impedance/resistance/inductance/delay properties of two single-socket boards might not be compatible with QPI.

However, I seriously doubt that the nnMP will abandon the cylinder. The headlines would be vicious!

MAC TUBE FAILS - NEW NEW MAC PRO IS A CUBE
 
Just stretch the system so that you can have another bank of DIMMs above the current ones, but keep the same proportions. The second socket would be between the new DIMMs.

Since the diameter would be larger, you'd be able to fit 8 (or possibly 12) DIMMs slots for each socket - for 512 GiB (or 768 GiB) total. Also plenty of room for a 1000 watt power supply, and perhaps even some PMC (PCIe Mezzanine Card) or other SFF expansion slots. (Samsung's making 1 TB 840 mSATA drives for just over $500.)

With twice as many PCIe 3.0 lanes, you wouldn't need to put the T-Bolt ports on a PCIe switch. Add a few more SSD sockets and 10 GbE Ethernet ports to use up a few more lanes.

Next you'll find the nMP in home depot beside the PVC pipes... Buy an 8 foot long nMP :)
 
Next you'll find the nMP in home depot beside the PVC pipes... Buy an 8 foot long nMP :)

More likely at Bed Bath and Beyond - the single socket model with bathroom trash cans, and the dual socket in the kitchen trash can section.

;)

ps: The standard length for PVC pipe at Home Depot is 10 feet.
 
More likely at Bed Bath and Beyond - the single socket model with bathroom trash cans, and the dual socket in the kitchen trash can section.

;)

ps: The standard length for PVC pipe at Home Depot is 10 feet.

LOL... I stand corrected.

I'm more of an electronic/electricity/wood working kind of guy these days... Beside, my jeans fit too well for me to be a plumber :)
 
LOL... I stand corrected.

I'm more of an electronic/electricity/wood working kind of guy these days... Beside, my jeans fit too well for me to be a plumber :)

You don't have heavy tools? ("Designing Women" reference.)

I laid about a half kilometer of PVC on a recent home irrigation project - I've welded lots of 10 ft PVC pipes together....
 
Thanks a lot for the responses.

I've been told by my server and workstation vendors that around October will be the introduction of Xeon E5 v3 (Haswell) systems.

Are new likely GPUs released yearly or would a late 2014/2015 bump likely be purely to these processors mentioned above, maintaining the current D700s? In other words is a "Mac Pro GPU successor" likely in a similar timeframe to the Haswell Xeons?

The reason for my asking, when the current ones are still very new, is that I will probably be purchasing it at the end of the year at which time the machine will be further through its "upgrade cycle". If a 2014/early 2015 bump is likely then it will justify waiting. I do not need it quickly so not having one for a couple of months beforehand is outweighed by the longer useful lifespan offered at the other end.

Thanks very much
 
Are new likely GPUs released yearly or would a late 2014/2015 bump likely be purely to these processors mentioned above, maintaining the current D700s? In other words is a "Mac Pro GPU successor" likely in a similar timeframe to the Haswell Xeons?

I'm not familiar with AMD's roadmap, and a quick web search for rumours didn't turn up much.

Of course, there's no technical reason that the nnMP would need to have both new CPUs and new GPUs.

In fact, any day Apple could announce "Mac Pro now available with D900 GPUs" - just slap them in. Or it could release a E5-xxxx v3 Haswell with the D300/D500/D700.
 
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Yes to new Mac Pros this year. Likely with Haswell-E. Possibly Pirate Islands or Maxwell GPUs (although Pirate Islands looks like it's in production limbo.)

Possibly an announcement or hint at WWDC. I'd expect the Mac Pros to get some sort of mention at WWDC.

No form factor change. Probably no dual CPU option.
 
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