Mac Pro w/ x1900 XT SHIPPED!

[bob5820]

I'll be dammed it actaully worked. My Mac Pro shipped yesterday.

I upgraded my shipping to overnight yesterday morning, before I knew it shipped, so hopefully I'll get the Pro on Monday.

Edit: FedEx not showing any tracking info, which makes sense I doubt they pick up on Sunday. I probably won't see the Pro until Tuesday then.

FedEx updated their shipping data Sunday night and it showed my expected delivery date to be Thursday the 11th, certianly not overnight delivery. I called Apple this morning and they said they had submited the overnight status to FedEx but for some reason FedEx still had it down as standard. The rep called FedEx, and theres nothing they can do to change it so it remains standard shipping. Apple refunded my $70.00 for the overnight. I'm going to be pretty busy this week so the delay is not much of an issue. But I am taking Friday off so I'll have plenty of time for setting up.

 

[Macinposh]

3ghz,2GB,160GB,7300GT,BT+AirPort.

Ordered 9 days ago.
Arrived today.
Viva la European Union!





So apparently,the queuing system is a bit intresting.
I wonder how long it would have taken with the x1900..

 

[Trekkie]

Mine's still sitting in Anaheim, has been since the 7th. FedEx Sucks.

 

[Renovatio]

Mine is still scheduled to ship out on Friday. Here's hoping it ships a bit earlier than they say and doesn't get delayed for a third time

 

[TheFuzz]

Mine's still sitting in Anaheim, has been since the 7th. FedEx Sucks.

if it makes you feel any better, mine said the same thing until it arrived at the FedEx center outside of atlanta. the next day it was delivered. the whole time i wasn't thinking it was just sitting in anaheim but it was in fact on the way. love FedEx tracking.

 

[kromekat]

hey

I read about the "Video Bug" with certain builds of os x pre-installed on the new machines.
From CGTalk..

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304198

Maybe the ati 1900 users could check that and maybe re-test with Cinebench?

here is me hoping the 1900 OGL speeds are not that stinky... ;-)

start quote:/
"Mac Pro: Video frame rate appears to be slow in some programs
If you are running Mac OS X 10.4.7 on your Mac Pro and notice that the video in some programs or games appears to be slow, check the Mac OS X build number. The build number is available in the About This Mac window. To locate the build number:

From the Finder, go to the Apple menu and select About This Mac.
When the About This Mac window appears, click on the gray text that says "Version 10.4.7" directly under the large words "Mac OS X".
This will toggle the text to give you the build number. It should say "Build 8K1079" or something similar.
If your build number is 8K1054 or anything less than 8K1079, use the Install discs that came supplied with your computer to perform an Archive and Install. This will update your computer's version of Mac OS X to Build 8K1079 and should improve the video performance." / end quote


So - if you have a n ew X1900 MP, can you check this out and re-test - a lot of people want to know!

 

[Glen Quagmire]

Well, mine arrived this afternoon, and it's spectacular! I haven't had much chance to use it since it got here, as I had to pop out to pick up my car from the garage. Specification: 3 Ghz Xeons, 2GB RAM, 160GB HD, ATI 1900 graphics card, BT, Airport and twin Superdrives.

I haven't really had much exposure to the Power Mac/Mac Pro lineage and I'm not normally one to get over-excited but this thing just looks extraordinary. It's a work of art. The first thing you notice is the sheer weight of the thing - seriously, it weighs a ton. I had to make sure I cleared a route from the kitchen (where I unpacked it) to my room (where it will be living). This is the first computer other than my Mac mini (which is cute) that will be going on top of my desk. It looks that good.

First impressions/observations:

The startup chime is far too loud. There's also an internal speaker, which said "English" to me as I started the configuration assistant thing. That will be getting turned off at some point.

Noise isn't too bad - it's noisier than my Mac mini and the hard drive it came with (a Seagate 7200.9) is quite noisy as well. There is a low hum coming from it, but it's not too bad. The supplied hard drive will be relegated to running Windows XP, when I get round to it.

Both Superdrives are Pioneer DVD-111Ds. Not tried them out yet.

Hard drives are *very* easy to install. I addd a pair of Seagate 7200.10s (250GB and 500GB) and it took about five minutes at most.

The memory risers take a fair bit of effort to yank out. The memory in my Mac Pro is Hynix.

Seems very snappy (unsurprisingly). Windows zip around the screen (1680x1050 resolution) as I drag them around.

Mac OS X 10.4.7 is installed, unsurprisingly. The build is 8K1124. Software Update hasn't prompted me for any updates other than one for iPods.

Boot ROM version is MP11.005C.B00. SMC version is 1.7f8.

Interestingly, System Profiler has a "SAS" category under "Hardware". Presumably the Mac Pro will support SAS (Serial SCSI).

I am downloading Cinebench, and I'll attempt to post some benchmarks in due course (not used it before). For some reason, it's downloading at 100K/s, even though the connection can go four times as fast.

 

[Transeau]

Mine still hasn't shipped.

ordered Aug 7th with X1900 and Wifi, Estimated Ship Date is Tomorrow (Sept 12). I didn't order any extras, I already have everything else that I need.

 

[Glen Quagmire]

Here are my Cinebench 9.5 scores. I have no idea what any of this means, nor if my scores are any good.

CINEBENCH 9.5
****************************************************

Tester :

Processor :
MHz :
Number of CPUs : 4
Operating System :

Graphics Card :
Resolution : <fill this out>
Color Depth : <fill this out>

****************************************************

Rendering (Single CPU): 494 CB-CPU
Rendering (Multiple CPU): 1551 CB-CPU

Multiprocessor Speedup: 3.14

Shading (CINEMA 4D) : 588 CB-GFX
Shading (OpenGL Software Lighting) : 2214 CB-GFX
Shading (OpenGL Hardware Lighting) : 4410 CB-GFX

OpenGL Speedup: 7.50

****************************************************

 

[sunmade]

Hi Glen.

Thanks for the benchmark.

cheers

 

[TheFuzz]

Here are my Cinebench 9.5 scores. I have no idea what any of this means, nor if my scores are any good.

CINEBENCH 9.5
****************************************************

Tester :

Processor :
MHz :
Number of CPUs : 4
Operating System :

Graphics Card :
Resolution : <fill this out>
Color Depth : <fill this out>

****************************************************

Rendering (Single CPU): 494 CB-CPU
Rendering (Multiple CPU): 1551 CB-CPU

Multiprocessor Speedup: 3.14

Shading (CINEMA 4D) : 588 CB-GFX
Shading (OpenGL Software Lighting) : 2214 CB-GFX
Shading (OpenGL Hardware Lighting) : 4410 CB-GFX

OpenGL Speedup: 7.50

****************************************************

here are my results, as posted earlier in this thread, with the stock card. i'm not sure what's going on with the OpenGL or what those numbers mean.

CINEBENCH 9.5
****************************************************

Tester :

Processor : Dual Xeon, Mac Pro, 2GB RAM (512MB x 4)
MHz : 2.66ghz
Number of CPUs : 4
Operating System : OSX: 10.4.7

Graphics Card : nvidia 7300gt
Resolution : <fill this out>
Color Depth : <fill this out>

****************************************************

Rendering (Single CPU): 439 CB-CPU
Rendering (Multiple CPU): 1422 CB-CPU

Multiprocessor Speedup: 3.24

Shading (CINEMA 4D) : 525 CB-GFX
Shading (OpenGL Software Lighting) : 2104 CB-GFX
Shading (OpenGL Hardware Lighting) : 4420 CB-GFX

OpenGL Speedup: 8.42

****************************************************

 

[mustard]

Don't know if has been posted but the estimated delivery when configuring a system with the X1900 has dropped from three - four weeks to 2-4 days.

 

[relimw]

Don't know if has been posted but the estimated delivery when configuring a system with the X1900 has dropped from three - four weeks to 2-4 days.

And yet, no shippy for me Somebody is getting a call today to find out what the !#@#$ is going on.

 

[jansmith]

I just got off the phone. Same story -- since I ordered a "customized" computer, things go slowly. My estimated ship date is tomorrow (5 weeks to the day after ordering), and the guy I talked to thinks it will ship tomorrow, but he made no promises. Sigh.

 

[DXoverDY]

Are the delays only coming with those who ordered the 1900XT?

Just wondering how long it might take to get my customized Mac Pro...but no 1900xt.

 

[Trekkie]

Interestingly, System Profiler has a "SAS" category under "Hardware". Presumably the Mac Pro will support SAS (Serial SCSI).

FYI: SAS and SATA are interchangable at the controller level if it supports it. However sometimes they put a interchangable chip down and put SATA wiring in with not all the wires there to save a buck or two.

 

[relimw]

I just got off the phone. Same story -- since I ordered a "customized" computer, things go slowly. My estimated ship date is tomorrow (5 weeks to the day after ordering), and the guy I talked to thinks it will ship tomorrow, but he made no promises. Sigh.

Hmm, my system as I ordered would, if I ordered it from the apple store today, ship in 3-5 days. That's not right in my book.

 

[relimw]

Hmm, my system as I ordered would, if I ordered it from the apple store today, ship in 3-5 days. That's not right in my book.

Ok, update. Just finished talking with them, and my new ETA is the 15th. Apparently it shipped this past Saturday, but they didn't issue a tracking number until today. Whee.

 

[Mackeyser]

BTW I went to Fry's yesterday and re-ran my video compression tests - encoding DVD images with Toast 7.1 from EyeTV HD recordings and then ripping from those images with Handbrake to archival iPod compatible size mp4 files. I have concluded that the Mac Pro is NOT significantly faster than the G5 Quad for this particular type of work. Will have to wait for Clovertown before a real improvement may come to pass - I hope. Bummer.

I suppose I am the only person in the world running this pattern of workflow all the time.

Multimedia, your whole workflow seems bassakwards to me.

Why are you encoding anything to DVD when the output is already MPEG-2? why not just use iPod Video Converter for Mac from mp4converter.net?

Heck, with that, you can even batch encode? I mean, if you WANT the archive, cool, but that's not a knock on the Mac. As well, NO platform is gonna take 42 minutes of HD MPEG-2 files and crunch them in 5 minutes. Not for MANY years. The times will come down, but that's just an unreasonable bar to set at this point.

I am getting a Mac Pro very shortly with the X1900, 30" ACD and 8GB Ram (4x2GB), Raptor boot volume and 3x750 Seagate 7200.10 drives in a 2.25 TB Raid 0. When I get it all set up (it will be in stages...I'm not a Rockefeller or anything), I'll do tons of testing. Workflow is my speciality and I just don't understand yours. Perhaps you could give more detail?

 

[Mackeyser]

Don't be a baby, geez.

Duh. That's my whole point. I know that. I also know the difference between bad encodes and excellent encodes which you apparently do not.Congratulations. Let me know when you're ready to understand why I do it the way I do. I have over a year's experience doing this and only recenlty have perfected my technique. I am 95% sure the way I do it yields much higher quality mp4 files than any other way.

How much experience do you have crushing anything to mp4 so it works on an iPod AND looks like a DVD on an analog TV? My guess is not much at all. I just downloaded and looked at your iPod Video Converter and quite frankly it is a piece of manure. I can tell you right now that crushing anything to 320 x 240 is a false choice that no one should exercise.

Have you ever used Handbrake? Have you ever used EyeTV? Have you ever used Toast to make high quality MPEG2 files? I thought not.

Don't be a baby. Geez. I've been encoding video to just about every format since 1999 and built the first Mac-based render farm then, so no way you can pull the "you don't know my exclusive domain" stuff. Part of our architecture became coded into the Cleaner (formerly Media Cleaner Pro from Terran Interactive) application. I DO know my stuff. And NOTHING you are doing is "crushing" anything. Try rendering post files that are 2k HD. THEN tell me about "crushing". This is repurposing stuff for iPod and TV. It ain't rocket science or even close unless YOU are doing the coding. All you are doing is clicking some buttons in toast for cryin' out loud. Oooooooo....

It was an honest question. I totally understand the difference in encoders. My suggestion was about a direct path. I asked the question about your workflow because you didn't mention the NTSC output. Details, dude.

Perhaps you should read rather than assume. Clearly I have about 6 YEARS of encoding experience on you.

And from what I see, your workflow is bassackwards.

You wanna be bent that someone says that? Okay, it's on you. I was just trying to conversate...

Some people...waa, waa, waa...

 

[Trekkie]

now that the appropriate measurements have been taken can we get back to wah wah wah my Mac Pro hasn't shipped yet?

 

[EvilMonk]

i received my mac pro, i reinstalled mac os x, and now im installing windows xp , after that ill install both software on mac os and windows since i dont know if everything will work, its better to install windows before, if it crash my raid array with mac os on it i dont lost everything.

 

[Mackeyser]

totally agree, trekkie

Don't know where his snit came from at all.

I'm just waiting on a check and I'll be ordering the first of several parts, that being the CPU and hopefully the AppleCare initially. It may seem overly ambitious that I will get the monitor at the same time, but here's hoping...

Shortly, I will be among the "when will MY Mac Pro w/ X1900XT ship???"

Yay for me!

And when I get it, I'll run as many benchmarks as I'm able.

I've been toying with do I want to run boot camp or Parallels at all. I think I'll throw in with Crossover. Sure, it's beta (alpha) and all, but hey, if enough support can get DirectX apis ported, then no need to mess with Windows to get Windows games working. I know WoW works, but would like more across the board support.

LOL, this from a guy (me) who still plays Diablo 2: LOD because he won't pay for the subcription...lol. With the new machine, I just may have to break that rule I made...hmmmmmm

 

[Windshadow]

I just got off the phone. Same story -- since I ordered a "customized" computer, things go slowly. My estimated ship date is tomorrow (5 weeks to the day after ordering), and the guy I talked to thinks it will ship tomorrow, but he made no promises. Sigh.

Yes same here... word for word/// I wonder if we got the same rep!

 

[relimw]

now that the appropriate measurements have been taken can we get back to wah wah wah my Mac Pro hasn't shipped yet?

Maybe if we're lucky, both of our systems will come this week. I'm just so tired of not getting things done quickly. Shooting in RAW takes so much more horsepower on the backend