haha, i didn't check that, my apologies then
It was launched August 2012. So not 2 years
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new MacPro - D700 better under Windows
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haha, i didn't check that, my apologies then
It was launched August 2012. So not 2 years
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You don't like facts?
haha, i didn't check that, my apologies then
It was launched August 2012. So not 2 years
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You don't like facts?
I said nearly 2 years old...
You don't seem to be a fan of reality.
haha, i didn't check that, my apologies then
It was launched August 2012. So not 2 years
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You don't like facts?
I like facts. I also like video cards that are good and not just average. So far the facts show the drivers are sh!7. Just what I want to wait for, Apple to get around to fixing things that are half assed as-is. Sounds like a fantastic eco system to be buying into right now! /s
And for the price you payed, I'm wondering why you find average specs to be acceptable (I won't even get into the off chance that you might...just might...be able to upgrade them whilst the gpu market does laps around your tube). The new mac pro just seems to be a waste of money. I've yet to see a usage case outside of Final Cut Pro(sumer) that even warrants the set up. The "just waiting on developers" line is getting old so please don't drag that horse out; it's been beaten into it's next incarnation.
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My reality is clearer than yours pal.
I said "So show me the 2 year older FirePro card that matches that and I will apologise" and you replied the W9000 was launched in 2012. As the nMP was launched Dec 2013 I could have said thats only 1 year as you were omitting the actual month. It's still not 2 years old. A year and a half is not nearly 2 years either.
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Yeah, I agree that the drivers are crap compared to Windows, thats the point of this thread really but that doesn't mean the card is bad, The entire machine is only 6 weeks out the production line so some tweaking to make it all work together more fluidly now its out in the field is expected you would think?
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Rather than spitting your dummy out we can agree to disagree on this one. Lets move on
I have wondered about Autodesk's dedication to OSX for a while now. The license transfer utility hasn't worked for a couple of years...and if you watch any of the "expert challenge" videos you'll see Daryl Obert (their Maya guru) running Maya under Windows on his Macbook Pro. Funny think is, I was able to transfer my Maya 2014 license from a windows box to my new Mac Pro by noticing that the utility was looking for a file in the wrong directory on the Mac...and renaming that directory. Not sure why Autodesk hasn't noticed that.
I have wondered about Autodesk's dedication to OSX for a while now. The license transfer utility hasn't worked for a couple of years...and if you watch any of the "expert challenge" videos you'll see Daryl Obert (their Maya guru) running Maya under Windows on his Macbook Pro. Funny think is, I was able to transfer my Maya 2014 license from a windows box to my new Mac Pro by noticing that the utility was looking for a file in the wrong directory on the Mac...and renaming that directory. Not sure why Autodesk hasn't noticed that.
Development and debugging goes hand in hand with market share. Autodesk on the Mac is a tiny market compared to Autodesk on Windows, so they invest where the money is.
Oddly enough, though, they release service packs for all platforms on the same schedule...but to your point they most likely go after the "low hanging fruit" bugs that affect all versions.
Problem is Mac OS X 3D user base, is predominantly all Pixar type of people where models don't exceed 100 000 poly's .... All cute little stuff that asian girls like. And they are per say kind of lame would never go extra mile to file a bug, those are usually filed by mature dudes who want change. All students who use mac more or likely just suck it up and think it's normal.
On PC there are quite a power base with people pushing limits, who will troll Autodesk into oblivion if there is 5fps loss...
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I have wondered about Autodesk's dedication to OSX for a while now. The license transfer utility hasn't worked for a couple of years...and if you watch any of the "expert challenge" videos you'll see Daryl Obert (their Maya guru) running Maya under Windows on his Macbook Pro. Funny think is, I was able to transfer my Maya 2014 license from a windows box to my new Mac Pro by noticing that the utility was looking for a file in the wrong directory on the Mac...and renaming that directory. Not sure why Autodesk hasn't noticed that.
I have this crazy notion that they don't even open it in some cases, it feels like they run it thorough synthetic test, it comes all positive in numbers then they ship SP, while never even opening maya themselves on OS X, and seeing the horrendous **** it does, you gotta be borderline retarded to open OS X version and think it works smooth and not be bothered as a developer.
But your wrong. It is new (or current) hardware, Tahiti XT GPU.
it has the same GPU as the W9000.
It is under clocked (probably for TDP/heat reasons)
6GB Vram
2048 stream processors
384 bit memory bus
3.5 teraflops of performance
So show me the 2 year older FirePro card that matches that and I will apologise
When a computer boots it queries all of the devices connected to it for their "device id". From this they know which driver to load. They can further differentiate via "subsystem id" and "subsystem vendor id" but the primary identification is via the device id.
When AMD and Nvidia have made Pro cards in the past, they went out of their way to have the device id be hardcoded via resistors on the card. This was done so that people couldn't run simple driver hacks to make the cards show up as Fire-Pros or Quadros when they were consumer cards.
So while the consumer cards ids could be soft strapped in the BIOS, you could not "reach" the value of a Pro card via these soft straps typically. The core itself has an id number and then it can be added to or subtracted from via resistors or and/or straps in BIOS.
W9000 Device id is 6780
AMD Radeon 7970 Device id is 6798
AMD D700 in Mac Pro Device id is 6798
So as much as people want to believe that this is some special new silicon, it is running the same core and device id as the 7970 that was introduced in Dec of 2011.
It is interesting that AMD did not give "Pro" device ids to ANY of the nMP cards. Unlike their Windows ($$$$) versions which get specialized device ids, they all share a device id with a consumer card. This is likely so that they didn't have to add a whole new slew of id's to existing drivers. They just got the same consumer grade device ids as.....consumer grade cards. I'll bet they used better capacitors however.
These are 28nm Graphics Core Next 1.0 based GPUs, so not the absolute latest tech from AMD but the latest of what you’d find carrying a FirePro name.
I'm not super jazzed about these gpu's either, but that's mainly because I'm just not a huge ati fan . . .they're not terrible for the price apple's charging. but they are the reason I won't be buying this generation nMP. Given apple's history of vendor hopping between generations, I'm hoping for nvidia in the next rev.
I'm not super jazzed about these gpu's either, but that's mainly because I'm just not a huge ati fan . . .they're not terrible for the price apple's charging. but they are the reason I won't be buying this generation nMP. Given apple's history of vendor hopping between generations, I'm hoping for nvidia in the next rev.
Interesting, thanks for posting that.
A worry is, as your comparing it to the 7970 gaming card due to the core and device ID, is the conclusion that Apple should not have called the Dx00 range "FirePro" cards in their marketing, is that a lie?
Also, trying to match it to an older card is quite confusing in respect of all of this as the later released 280X also has the same core and device ID of 6798 and the expensive W9000 has the same core.
On the flip side of all of this, the part that matters to most who purchased the nMP I guess is that you are not getting 2 year old performance for the cost of the D700 upgrade. 2 x 7970's "might" do it but that closes the cost/performance gap considerably but the 7970 drivers are optimised for gaming, if Apple holds true to their own claim and provide D700 FirePro drivers then we should get faster OpenCL performance (double the shader units) than a single ($3,400) FirePro W9000 card. Would you agree with that?
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I assume you guys have seen this already?
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/0...d700-opengl-is-better-than-we-thought-it-was/
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/0...d700-opengl-is-better-than-we-thought-it-was/
pro cards have generally ALWAYS used the same drivers as consumer cards under os x since both pro and consumer cards are supported by the pro application vendors on os x. why rev the drivers just to add a new id? that's pretty pointless. <shrug> honestly can't figure out what you're upset about.
instead of the random dx00 name? seriously, what's the point? ati wanted to brand 'em differently, so who cares? you see this all the time on gpu's where the same cores get re-branded as they move around the lineup over time.
Apple is charging gaming card prices for gaming hardware and drivers. Nothing wrong with that, but call it what it is.
Or call it a workstation card, write workstation-quality drivers for it, and charge workstation prices.
you're forgetting the part where the same drivers have always been used for consumer and pro cards on os x. Nothing here is different from what nvidia and ATI have ALWAYS done on os x. You're getting workstation support at consumer prices and you're MAD????
uhhh...there has never been what I would consider a workstation-quality graphics driver written for OSX.
Anyway, not mad, but its funny reading about people crapping their pants over the "OMG $7K worth of FirePro for $700" when it is clearly not the case.
If you put a Ferrari badge on a Honda and charge Honda prices, does that make it a great value? Because it should be selling for $300K?
Ha guys what more do you want?
They are not sitting there idle, but got onto the problem right away! Nice!
You know, you're right.
Up until just recently Apple was still selling 5870s for $450, which was a complete and total rip off.
But rename that little vixen the "Fire Pro V8800" and suddenly it's WORTH that much money.
See for yourself.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195094