Pro Video Card Support in Panther? G5's Delivered?

[MacRumors]

MacBidouille claims that Apple will be supporting some professional video cards in Panther. The list includes NVidia's Quadro 2, Quadro 4 and ATI's Fire GL 8700, GL 8800, GL2, and GL4.

Of additional note, they claim that certain Select and Premier developers have started receiving PowerMac G5 orders. Being so far ahead of the general population, it's unclear how accurate this report is. No independent confirmation available.

 

[arn]

before someone says it...

this article is implying that certain developers are getting _production_ machines. NOT prototypes.

It seems unlikely.

arn

 

[hvfsl]

I don't think it is unlikely, lots of companies do this. When 3G telecomms was launched in the UK, the company providing it let 'friends' of the company use the service first. Apple will have serval hundred PMac G5s ready to go, they will probably not start shipping them to the public until they have a few thousand.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Wow - the thought of having one of those video cards in the G5 really makes sense and I'm hoping they do it.....also glad I haven't ordered one yet. I had planned on waiting till the machines were in the stores, but now if this rumor plays out, I might wait until I can get one of those cards.....hopefully I won't have to wait till rev2..... It will make such a huge difference with 3D.

D

 

[the future]

Maybe I'm just hallucinating, but I could swear that Steve Jobs explicitly said in the WWDC keynote that the G5 will indeed support pro video cards.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Originally posted by the future
Maybe I'm just hallucinating, but I could swear that Steve Jobs explicitly said in the WWDC keynote that the G5 will indeed support pro video cards.

Ah, missed that.

But when is the current release date for Panther now? It would really suck getting a G5 and then dropping the bucks for a pro card a couple months later.

And I wonder what cards Apple will offer at their store and how much they'll charge.....some of these cards can be a bit pricey.

D

 

[arn]

Originally posted by hvfsl
I don't think it is unlikely, lots of companies do this. When 3G telecomms was launched in the UK, the company providing it let 'friends' of the company use the service first. Apple will have serval hundred PMac G5s ready to go, they will probably not start shipping them to the public until they have a few thousand.

If they actually had a few hundred _production_ machines right now... you think it would take them 7 weeks to get to a few thousand? (to start shipping to the general public)

Cause shipping dates are Sept 2nd for the G5 PowerMacs to the public.

I'd imagine they want to start shipping to the public as soon as possible... as the longer they wait, the more time people have to reconsider, or buy something else.

arn

 

[pgwalsh]

Originally posted by Mr. Anderson
Wow - the thought of having one of those video cards in the G5 really makes sense and I'm hoping they do it.....also glad I haven't ordered one yet. I had planned on waiting till the machines were in the stores, but now if this rumor plays out, I might wait until I can get one of those cards.....hopefully I won't have to wait till rev2..... It will make such a huge difference with 3D.

D

Ok... Maybe you can explain why these cards are so great... As I'm not a professional, but would love the knowledge nonetheless.

 

[Kid Red]

Originally posted by arn
If they actually had a few hundred _production_ machines right now... you think it would take them 7 weeks to get to a few thousand? (to start shipping to the general public)

Cause shipping dates are Sept 2nd for the G5 PowerMacs to the public.
arn

Still says August at the Apple store.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Go to the nVidia site and look at the quadroFX - its amazing, you can't see those specs on their other cards - faster, more polygons, etc. and dual dvi for dual monitors (no dviator needed )

These are the cards to use if you're doing high end CAD and 3D work, period.

It will be nice to see them in a mac, and especially my mac

D

 

[pgwalsh]

Originally posted by Mr. Anderson

It will be nice to see them in a mac, and especially my mac

D

Bastard!

 

[jettredmont]

Originally posted by the future
Maybe I'm just hallucinating, but I could swear that Steve Jobs explicitly said in the WWDC keynote that the G5 will indeed support pro video cards.

He said that it would have an "AGP 8x Pro" slot, with power connections available. Not sure if this specifically means the "pro" cards here, but that's what I had taken it to mean (not in the market for pro cards, so excuse my ignorance ). I had then been a little confused to see no pro-card options on the machines, though.

 

[iJed]

Originally posted by arn
If they actually had a few hundred _production_ machines right now... you think it would take them 7 weeks to get to a few thousand? (to start shipping to the general public)

Cause shipping dates are Sept 2nd for the G5 PowerMacs to the public.

I'd imagine they want to start shipping to the public as soon as possible... as the longer they wait, the more time people have to reconsider, or buy something else.

arn

Maybe it is possible they want to ship the first batch to their "valued" customers such as developers and graphics companies before manufacturing ramps up and then shipping to the general public. However this is really just wishful thinking and you are most likely correct.

 

[arn]

Originally posted by iJed
Maybe it is possible they want to ship the first batch to their "valued" customers such as developers and graphics companies before manufacturing ramps up and then shipping to the general public. However this is really just wishful thinking and you are most likely correct.

Well, I think we'll find out soon enough. I think if people are getting machines - we'll be seeing pictures and benchmarks very quickly.

arn

 

[Shrike_Priest]

Where is everybody getting the september release date?

It seems weird cause I've been hearing about it for weeks, yet Applestore still says August. Has this been totally confirmed?

 

[chetwilliams]

Originally posted by Shrike_Priest
Where is everybody getting the september release date?

The Apple Store says August but if you place an order and check the status it will say shipping "On or before 9/2/03"

 

[Freg3000]

Originally posted by Shrike_Priest
Where is everybody getting the september release date?

It seems weird cause I've been hearing about it for weeks, yet Applestore still says August. Has this been totally confirmed?

I think people that have officially placed orders have had their estimated ship dates pushed back to September 2nd. However, the Apple Store still lists the ship date in August.

 

[Postal]

Shrike_Priest:

People who've ordered are getting "on or before 9/2" as their general shipping dates. That means that, at least for the initial rush of orders, they may ship as late as early September. That doesn't preclude an August ship date for most of the systems though.

And as for the whole pro graphics card question: the G5 has an AGP 8X Pro slot for a video card. That does mean that the slot is capable of running professional-level cards, but Jobs didn't specifically say that they were in the making. Professional-level cards often share the same fundamental 3D hardware as their normal equivalents, but tend to have heavy optimizations towards the functions used in rendering apps (Maya, Renderman, etc.). You can use them for things like games, but they won't perform as well there.

 

[Shrike_Priest]

thanks, Postal. that cleared things up a bit.

And if that's the case, I don't think it's at all unbelievable that Apple has already sent out finished G5 PowerMac's to certain developers.

 

[vulturecentral]

According to what I hear from Apple, they already do support high-end gfx cards.

The difference between a Quadro and a GeForce is all down to the driver. Since Apple writes its own drivers, it enables the functions Nvidia's code locks out of the GeForce but opens up in the Quadro.

So by running a top-of-the-range GeForce, you get all the features you'd get out of a Quadro for much less cost.

So Apple says, anyway. Its pitch is that when Maya says the Mac is certified, that's all you need to know. Maya doesn't need to certify individual gfx cards, because by certifying the Mac it has all the bases covered.

I'd be interesting to do some tests and see if it works.

 

[Frobozz]

Originally posted by the future
Maybe I'm just hallucinating, but I could swear that Steve Jobs explicitly said in the WWDC keynote that the G5 will indeed support pro video cards.

I agree. I think he said that. People's interpretations of that statement seem to vary, but I think Apple realizes that, to get the high end 3D market, they need high end 3D cards. Everything else is, essentially, for the OS and for games.

Don't get me wrong, the new 9800 Pro in my dual 1 Ghz Quicksilver will be a nice addition.... but I may be in the market for a FireGL card for 3D modeling.

 

[ddtlm]

To add to what Postal said about "heavy optimizations towards the functions used in rendering apps" ... to be clear, those have historically been software optimizations. ATI and nVidia essentially repackage normal gaming cards with different drivers and call them professional cards.

Mr. Anderson:

Go to the nVidia site and look at the quadroFX - its amazing, you can't see those specs on their other cards - faster, more polygons, etc. and dual dvi for dual monitors (no dviator needed)

Eh? Perhaps I didn't look close enough, but I didn't find those specs on their site. Anyway, dual DVI is commonplace on Mac cards since ADC to DVI adaptors are simple and cheap.

 

[deadduck]

Originally posted by arn
before someone says it...

this article is implying that certain developers are getting _production_ machines. NOT prototypes.

It seems unlikely.

arn

Maybe not, on the Macbiduille site there is a pic of an iSight sitting on a G5 case ? supposedly at a French Mac dealer

 

[Vlade]

So are those quadro cards BETTER or WORSE for gaming, and they are BETTER at modeling/cad right? How much do they cost?

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Originally posted by Vlade
So are those quadro cards BETTER or WORSE for gaming, and they are BETTER at modeling/cad right? How much do they cost?

Info can be found here


Price at CDW here

Not cheap - but better for CAD/3D apps. Not the best for gaming.

D