New Mac Pro 2015 Everything we know.

[Amethyst]

As many people here, i'm waiting for a new mac pro.
So, i just start this threads.
Let's get conversation guys.

Form-factor / Case:
Same as 2013

CPU:
Intel Xeon E5 V3 <- Haswell-E
If apple need to sell a mac pro at same price,
my guess about replacements cpu is.
$2999 -> E5-1620 v3 4C/8T 3.5GHz @ $294
$3999 -> E5-1650 v3 6C/12T 3.5 GHz @ $583
$5499 -> E5-1680 v3 8C/16T 3.2 GHz @$1723
$6999 -> E5-2697 v3 14C/28T 2.6 GHz @ $2702

GPU:
AMD:
Entry : Dual Tonga Pro based With FirePro brand (R9 285)
Mid : Dual Tonga XT based With FirePro brand (R9 285x ???)
High: Dual Hawaii Pro based With FirePro brand (R9 290)

NVIDIA:
Entry : Dual GK104 based With Quadro brand (GTX 760)
Mid : Dual GM204 based With Quadro brand (GTX 970)
High: Dual GM204 based With Quadro brand (GTX 980)

Memory:
DDR4 ECC

SSD
PCI-E 1GB R/W 512 GB Standard

Connectivity:
Thunderbolt 3 -> 40 Gbit/s speed, PCI-e 3.0, HDMI 2.0, DP 1.2, USB 3.0, 100 W power delivery (compatible with USB Power Delivery) presumably 18V, 5,5 A and some type of converter Chinese VR-Zone all that while using 50% power in the simplest implementation
USB 3.1 -> 10 Gbit/s

 

[lowendlinux]

The 960 is delayed but I don't think it's been pushed so far back that it wouldn't make it for a winter Mac Pro.

 

[AidenShaw]

Haswell-E is the Core i7-5xxx series (http://ark.intel.com/compare/82932,82931,82930).

The E5-x6xx v3 are Haswell-EP .

 

[beaker7]

TB3 isn't supported until Skylake. Xeon's on Skylake not until October 2016 at best.

So its going to be awhile.

 

[NOTNlCE]

I also doubt that USB 3.1 will be present in the next iteration of the Mac Pro. I'm currently using an X99 board, and I doubt the Haswell-EP chipset will support it. Also, there's always a chance for the 18 core Xeon to be included.

I also doubt that a 4 core will even be an option. With the gap between current i7 iMacs and Quad Core Xeons being so minimal, and with the price point of 6 core processors down (I mean, look at the i7-5820K - 6 cores for $329), I don't think the market for Quad Cores will be that high. I'd imagine a baseline model being a 6 core, probably at the current Quad Core price point or maybe a little higher, and of course, potential for that 18 core...

 

[koyoot]

Base Mac Pro(2999$):
Six Core 3.5 GHz Haswell EP, 16 GB DDR4, 256 GB SSD, Dual Nvidia Maxwell GM204 with 16 SMM and 256 Bit

Mid(3999$)
Eight Core 3.0 GHz, 16 GB DDR4, 256 GB SSD, Dual Nvidia Maxwell GM200 with 18-20 SMM and 384 Bit, and Double Precision enabled.

The top GPUs would be again GM200 with 20-24 SMM and 512 Bit.

That is My opinion for most important parts in new Mac Pro.

Oh, and we will not see it on upcoming event. It will be silent update someday this year or early next year.

 

[fuchsdh]

I also doubt that USB 3.1 will be present in the next iteration of the Mac Pro. I'm currently using an X99 board, and I doubt the Haswell-EP chipset will support it. Also, there's always a chance for the 18 core Xeon to be included.

I also doubt that a 4 core will even be an option. With the gap between current i7 iMacs and Quad Core Xeons being so minimal, and with the price point of 6 core processors down (I mean, look at the i7-5820K - 6 cores for $329), I don't think the market for Quad Cores will be that high. I'd imagine a baseline model being a 6 core, probably at the current Quad Core price point or maybe a little higher, and of course, potential for that 18 core...

There's still room for an entry-level quad in that the iMac and Mac Pro are different form factors—so while from a performance standpoint your money might in many cases be better spec'ing a iMac, there are people who want a workstation because they've got their monitors, want faster RAM, more ports, etc.

 

[Umbongo]

CPU:
Intel Xeon E5 V3 <- Haswell-E
If apple need to sell a mac pro at same price,
my guess about replacements cpu is.
$5499 -> E5-1680 v3 8C/16T 3.2 GHz @$1723

E5-1660 V3 is also an option here, Apple can still make the same profit per CPU upgrade while having a lower price attracts more interest.

NVIDIA:
Entry : Dual GK104 based With Quadro brand (GTX 760)
Mid : Dual GM204 based With Quadro brand (GTX 970)
High: Dual GM204 based With Quadro brand (GTX 980)

NVIDIA are highly unlikely to do this, which means AMD cards are likely to be around with the Mac Pro for a while. Doubt they want CUDA on one line of Mac Pros that badly.

SSD
PCI-E 1GB R/W 512 GB Standard

512GB isn't even close to standard for SSD space. No one will not buy a Mac Pro because it only has 256GB of SSD space, it's an easy add on item for Apple.

 

[VirtualRain]

Base Mac Pro(2999$):
Six Core 3.5 GHz Haswell EP, 16 GB DDR4, 256 GB SSD, Dual Nvidia Maxwell GM204 with 16 SMM and 256 Bit

Unlikely for a couple reasons. There isn't $1000 in saving anywhere here to justify the price drop for the Hex. In fact, expect DDR4 ECC to be more expensive due to supply constraints as the server market gobbles up all available supply. Nvidia expressed no interest in producing cards for the current model, and I see nothing that would indicate a change there. So the entry level system will undoubtedly be a Quad core at $2999 with AMD GPUs.

Mid(3999$)
Eight Core 3.0 GHz, 16 GB DDR4, 256 GB SSD, Dual Nvidia Maxwell GM200 with 18-20 SMM and 384 Bit, and Double Precision enabled.

The top GPUs would be again GM200 with 20-24 SMM and 512 Bit.

While the new 1660 v3 8-core is a possible candidate for a refresh, it would still be a $1300-$1400 upgrade over the entry level Quad after you factor in Apples margins. So this config with AMD GPUs would likely go for $4499. Alternatively, Apple could opt for the 1680 v3 which is a faster 8-core for the same money as today's 8-core option.

That is My opinion for most important parts in new Mac Pro.

Oh, and we will not see it on upcoming event. It will be silent update someday this year or early next year.

Agreed, that if it's updated, it would be without any fan-fare. However, I'm still of the opinion that Apple might skip Haswell altogether due to the lack of any real benefit for desktops.

 

[VirtualRain]

I also doubt that USB 3.1 will be present in the next iteration of the Mac Pro. I'm currently using an X99 board, and I doubt the Haswell-EP chipset will support it. Also, there's always a chance for the 18 core Xeon to be included.

I also doubt that a 4 core will even be an option. With the gap between current i7 iMacs and Quad Core Xeons being so minimal, and with the price point of 6 core processors down (I mean, look at the i7-5820K - 6 cores for $329), I don't think the market for Quad Cores will be that high. I'd imagine a baseline model being a 6 core, probably at the current Quad Core price point or maybe a little higher, and of course, potential for that 18 core...

I agree about USB 3.1. The new server chipset just got support for USB3 so you could go all-in on that bet.

People think the current 12-core CPU is overpriced at $2700. The new 18-core CPU costs $4500 alone which would set a new record for BTO Mac Pro pricing.

The pricing on the new v3 CPUs is virtually identical to the existing v2s with the only exception being the existence of a lower priced 8-core option at $1100 rather than $1700. Thus the Quad will very likely still be the entry level if Apple wants to maintain a price point around $3000.

 

[goMac]

I don't think Nvidia is completely out, as I think Apple is going to want the best bang for their OpenCL buck no matter where it comes from, but the easiest path for them is definitely AMD this upgrade.

No Thunderbolt 3. USB 3.1 is very doubtful.

I would hope we'd see SSDs move to 2 TB.

 

[fuchsdh]

AMD is the underdog currently, which means they're probably far more amenable to producing custom cards for the nMP and selling them for fairly low margins (despite the fact that the nMP cards are constrained compared to the analogous W-series GPUs... they're far more power for your money than those traditional cards as well, especially if you don't need ECC.)

If they aren't producing a SKU graphics solution, I wouldn't expect Nvidia to even try and field a card to test the waters for at least another year. I don't think many people would upgrade their GPUs just a year after.

 

[AidenShaw]

AMD is the underdog currently, which means they're probably far more amenable to producing custom cards for the nMP and selling them for fairly low margins (despite the fact that the nMP cards are constrained compared to the analogous W-series GPUs... they're far more power for your money than those traditional cards as well, especially if you don't need ECC.)

If they aren't producing a SKU graphics solution, I wouldn't expect Nvidia to even try and field a card to test the waters for at least another year. I don't think many people would upgrade their GPUs just a year after.

It's really not a matter of upgrading an MP6,1 to the MP6,2.

There are lots of people who need CUDA who glanced at the MP6,1 and moved on. Uninteresting. Next.

An MP6,2 with a GM204 might have them whipping their credit cards out on the spot.

 

[fuchsdh]

It's really not a matter of upgrading an MP6,1 to the MP6,2.

There are lots of people who need CUDA who glanced at the MP6,1 and moved on. Uninteresting. Next.

An MP6,2 with a GM204 might have them whipping their credit cards out on the spot.

That is true, but it's up to Apple and Nvidia to come to terms. I don't think Nvidia really has much to gain compared to the involved costs.

 

[MMcCraryNJ]

I'd be really happy if Apple decided to move over to NVIDIA.

That being said, it wouldn't influence my purchasing decision whatsoever. Whenever the refresh drops, I'm in for a 6-core with as much storage as I can afford.

 

[goMac]

That is true, but it's up to Apple and Nvidia to come to terms. I don't think Nvidia really has much to gain compared to the involved costs.

NVidia's power usage and performance per watt looks very good this round. But the development cost of designing an Nvidia board might be higher. It's also unknown if the crossfire bridge would have to be redesigned, or if it could accommodate an Nvidia card.

If Apple is planning on offering card upgrades they'll be even less inclined to touch the bridge. Someone who knows the pin counts involved might be able to answer that question better.

CUDA will not factor into any decision by Apple.

 

[Amethyst]

Do u guys think, the next gpu option although it will be nv or amd can push on old 2013 mp?

 

[koyoot]

Do u guys think, the next gpu option although it will be nv or amd can push on old 2013 mp?

Let me put it to you this way.

Maxwell is:
Cheaper to buy
Faster
Uses less power
Gives better power to watt ratio
Handles 5K
Has HDMI 2.0 and DP 1.3 that 5K display requires.

How do ya think?
Max TDP on Mac Pro cards is 129 Watts. It was sqeezed from 250W cards.
How many performance will be Apple able to squeeze from 190-200W cards(GM200)? Let alone the 145 and 165W cards...

In terms of pure performance, DUAL D300 are only 15% faster than SINGLE 65W GTX970M.

Fiji GPUs are due to next year. And from what we can hear, they will need dozens of galons of power to run... Even if they use HBM Memory.

 

[lowendlinux]

We haven't seen what the 3xx AMD cards are going to be like yet. Depending on when the new mac pro debuts nVidia won't necessarily be the winner in power usage and compute performance. AMD has also stated that custom is one of their focus points I can't believe that AMD wouldn't jump at the chance to debut their next gen FirePro's in the new Mac Pro. AMD has a new CEO and has already made some good for me changes so perhaps they have some good for Mac changes.

 

[koyoot]

We haven't seen what the 3xx AMD cards are going to be like yet. Depending on when the new mac pro debuts nVidia won't necessarily be the winner in power usage and compute performance. AMD has also stated that custom is one of their focus points I can't believe that AMD wouldn't jump at the chance to debut their next gen FirePro's in the new Mac Pro. AMD has a new CEO and has already made some good for me changes so perhaps they have some good for Mac changes.

Well in this point of view, yes it is possible, that Fiji can go to MP IF it will be updated early 2015, cause Fiji GPUs will be presented in february.

However, im still not sure they will be more powerful than Maxwell GPUs(GM200 with 512 Bit...).

 

[lowendlinux]

We haven't seen GM200 yet though, but judging from the 980's performance it should be a screamer. Maybe Apple will go big die Maxwell but I suspect they won't.

 

[mcarling]

TB3 isn't supported until Skylake.

The Intel chipsets for Skylake will have integrated Thunderbolt 3 controllers. If Apple want the Haswell-E Mac Pro to support Thunderbolt 3, they will have to use discrete controllers. Not a big deal.

Whenever Apple support Thunderbolt 3, they will support DisplayPort 1.3 at the same time. There is about zero chance of a Thunderbolt 3 / DisplayPort 1.2 combination.

 

[beaker7]

If Apple want the Haswell-E Mac Pro to support Thunderbolt 3, they will have to use discrete controllers. Not a big deal.

Where will those come from? The thunderbolt fairy?

They've never bothered to bolt a custom thunderbolt controller on any other machine so no reason to anticipate them starting now.

 

[goMac]

The Intel chipsets for Skylake will have integrated Thunderbolt 3 controllers. If Apple want the Haswell-E Mac Pro to support Thunderbolt 3, they will have to use discrete controllers. Not a big deal.

Whenever Apple support Thunderbolt 3, they will support DisplayPort 1.3 at the same time. There is about zero chance of a Thunderbolt 3 / DisplayPort 1.2 combination.

I don't think chances are good for this to happen.

 

[mcarling]

Where will those come from? The thunderbolt fairy?

They've never bothered to bolt a custom thunderbolt controller on any other machine so no reason to anticipate them starting now.

Here is a photo of the discrete Thunderbolt controller in the early 2011 MacBook Pro (from the ifixit.com teardown):