Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Opinions on what the next MP GPU will be?
- Thread starter GPUFreak
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Best guess - Over priced and under whelming.
At least people can run GTX 6** Series aftermarket - too bad we cannot just buy a Mac Pro without a GPU.
At least people can run GTX 6** Series aftermarket - too bad we cannot just buy a Mac Pro without a GPU.
To bad ppl can't use 7xxx cards, they are more suited to a MP environment than the 6xx series
You can use them with an additional PSU. Now lets not get into a fanboy rant about your beloved 7XXX cards. Which one do you actually think will come with the new Pro?
I'll start, the new Mac Pro will come with a 7XXX card, I guarantee it - It will likely be a 7950.
----------
Curious, why would kepler be a mistake?
It will be two things (going by Apple's history)
1. Overpriced
2. Obsolete or near-obsolete
They really need to get with the times on this.
Even now, they are charging $449 for a TWO generation's old RADEON 5870. That is LAUGHABLE. Whoever had the audacity to charge that much for that OLD video card really does need to be taken out back and shot.
In fact, the entire "Mac Pro team" should be fired for allowing the line to languish for so long.
1. Overpriced
2. Obsolete or near-obsolete
They really need to get with the times on this.
Even now, they are charging $449 for a TWO generation's old RADEON 5870. That is LAUGHABLE. Whoever had the audacity to charge that much for that OLD video card really does need to be taken out back and shot.
In fact, the entire "Mac Pro team" should be fired for allowing the line to languish for so long.
I own a 660 in my gaming machine (I own Mac and PC) so I'm not a fanboy, it's just that GCN > Kepler for workstation and pro apps
----------
Not as strong as fermi or GCN in the type of apps a MP user likely needs/uses
I'd explain the whole reason but as I'm on my iPhone, it'd be a little hard
I think base will be either 7770 or 7850, then the upgrade will be two parts, first a 7950 then 7970GE.
Do you think they will offer a dual card option? I say if it starts with 7770 they should, but a 7850 will drive 2/3 displays pretty easily if its not being used for gaming on them
Do you think they will offer a dual card option? I say if it starts with 7770 they should, but a 7850 will drive 2/3 displays pretty easily if its not being used for gaming on them
Apple is certainly letting the MP GPUs languish for far too long and selling them for far too much.
However, at the time of release in the 2010 Mac Pro, the 5870 was far from obsolete. And we are talking about the next release, not what the next release will be like after 2.5 years.
I don't think in mid-to-late 2010 anyone would call the 5870 underwhelming or obsolete.
There may have been a (good) reason for it...
I think even today the 5870 is not that bad - only the price that Apple sells it for is laughable...
I think it depends upon which partner they stick with.
They may offer the AMD 7870 as the entry and the 7970 as upgrade or the nVidia 670 entry and 680 upgrade.
Unless they delay the MP so long there is another generation of cards out... in which case we will *still* get offered the 7XXX / 6XX range
They may offer the AMD 7870 as the entry and the 7970 as upgrade or the nVidia 670 entry and 680 upgrade.
Unless they delay the MP so long there is another generation of cards out... in which case we will *still* get offered the 7XXX / 6XX range
That's an interesting thought.
Sandy and Ivy bridge both have integrated Intel HD video. That's sufficient for anyone running MP headless or who only run CPU intensive software and don't care about GPU other than basic output.
And it saves money for the GPU-centric users to pick whatever card we like.
Not quite:
SB and IB i Series does include grapics on chip - however the MP's use the Xeon (Sometimes called SB-E, or IB-E) part which trades the GPU for more cores and the addition of QPI so that they can run more than one CPU on the same board.
SB and IB i Series does include grapics on chip - however the MP's use the Xeon (Sometimes called SB-E, or IB-E) part which trades the GPU for more cores and the addition of QPI so that they can run more than one CPU on the same board.
This might be a reality on the next machine. To properly get TB working there might need to be an integrated GPU apart from any optional GPU cards.
It would be nice - But hard to believe with Apples history of control; If Apple says hey these Pro users do not need GPU cards anymore its on the MB = no room for GPU cards anymore?
That hardly gets you a Mac Pro with no GPU. Just no GPU PCI-e card (all PCI-e slots open). But yes that should be sold more inexpensively than one with the nominal "entry" (really mid range) level GPU card in it.
I don't think that would be the default configuration though. I think two GPUs would be standard config and this could be a BTO option. ( It probably would be the default config for the "server" version though. It is a question if they'll let it be a mainstream BTO option).
One question with an embedded GPU (required by TB ) would be though whether matching the other embedded GPUs (MBP 15" and iMac ) would force a clean sweep of vendors for the default configs ? Or would Apple be willing to go something like a 7xxx card and 8xxxM embedded GPU for the Mac Pro even though that doesn't maximize part reuse for the embedded GPU ?
I'm sure someone will complain if they had one from each vendor .... since that would negate one vendor being selected over another.
----------
Actually they don't. The microarchiturecture is independent of package die integration specifications. Xeon E5 class SB and IB don't have any HD video.
If Thunderbolt is a high priority though that may drive an embedded GPU onto the motherboard. There is no material system difference in that context. [ Whether the CPU and GPU are all in one single package is immaterial to the system design. ]
Folks could pick whatever second (or third ... ) GPU they wanted, but they'd still be taking at least one driven by Apple's system specifications.
In the single CPU package set up variant of the Mac Pro, the system probably would loose a x16 slot to at best being a x8 slot (or worst disappear ). There is still an open x16 slot so folks can choose the card that want that fits the power allocation.
Last edited:
Thats a really good point about the "Server model" Simply no need for a gpu in that build.