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Wishes for Next Mac Pro

While I'm not doing 3D, I'd like to see 3D and special effects people well served by Apple.

The more high end graphics users in photography, video, 3D, animation, special effects are served by Apple, the better their computers will get.

Once a platform starts locking people out because it would be too much work to serve their specific needs, it would be a dent made into the platform, and more dents could follow.

But, after all, Apple is one of the richest corporations out there and there's really no reason to not give us a top class workstation that satisfies even the most demanding users.

Remember a few years back, those crappy graphics cards in the Mac Pro? Apple has come a long way, and is still improving. I'd like to see high end graphics users yodel with pleasure over the next Mac Pro ;)
 
Nostromo said:
While I'm not doing 3D, I'd like to see 3D and special effects people well served by Apple.

The more high end graphics users in photography, video, 3D, animation, special effects are served by Apple, the better their computers will get.

Once a platform starts locking people out because it would be too much work to serve their specific needs, it would be a dent made into the platform, and more dents could follow.

But, after all, Apple is one of the richest corporations out there and there's really no reason to not give us a top class workstation that satisfies even the most demanding users.

Remember a few years back, those crappy graphics cards in the Mac Pro? Apple has come a long way, and is still improving. I'd like to see high end graphics users yodel with pleasure over the next Mac Pro ;)
Click to expand...

Which crappy graphics cards? Apple always had the top or one under the top graphics cards available for the Mac Pro at time of launch. Including Quadros for many years. What you want isn't going to happen because it would be a risk for Apple to invest in such an arena, a risk for software makers, a risk for NVIDIA and AMD to pursue and a risk for the user to switch to the Mac platform. Apple don't even seem bothered about keeping the professional users they do have, let alone going after new ones.

It's a shame, but it just doesn't make sense for any one.
 
As far as I can tell the only real difference between the consumer/gaming cards, like the NVidia GeForce GTX680 and the professional graphics cards, like the Quadro and FirePro is the drivers. The hardware is based on the same chips, for obvious reasons, sometimes with hardware switches on the cards to prevent users using the drivers for the pro cards on the gaming cards.

I would imagine that the reason that some features in high end 3D applications are only supported on GPUs like the NVidia Quadro 4000 is that the software developers rely on extensive support from AMD and NVidia to get the advanced GPU features working. NVidia and AMD can absorb the cost of these software features by restricting them to cards on which they can command a premium. I suspect if Apple wanted to they could work with AMD / NVidia to develop drivers for the GTX / Radeon series cards that enabled the features required for these applications.

Another option would be to allow users to install a Quadro or FirePro alongside the standard GeForce or Radeon card and implement a way of switching between them in software in OS X. This could work in a similar way to what we already have where the MBPs switch from integrated graphics to the GPU (if present) on demand, but would probably need to be manually switched by the user, or switched using an application specific preference in a similar way to the way in which you can assign applications to a specific Space in the Dock.

3D Graphics, VFX, and Games are all growing very strongly, and are much larger than they were when the Mac Pro was introduced. It is a very obvious area where Apple can generate Mac Pro sales.

If Apple really do introduce new MPBs at WDC, which given how close we are looks possible, then maybe Mac Pros get introduced at the same time with the marketing that "this is what you buy to create high resolution content for the new retina display enabled Macs".
 
JesterJJZ said:
If I didn't NEED more power, I'm sure my MP1.1 would still be chugging along another 6 years from now. Actually, I plan on keeping it around as my second machine.
Click to expand...

Sure! It still works for me. It's is my primary machine and that's why I want Apple to keep the MP line alive. I'm in a point where I need a better machine, but I don't see the point in buying one of the "actual" when they are 2 or 3 generations behind now. They would be much better than mine, yes, I know, but if I'm going to invest 4,500 euros or so in a new machine I want the best of the current best.

Another option is to invest a little bit more in this one. Buy more memory, update the processors. If only the memory for this MP wasn't so expensive! But that would be only if Apple decides to not-update the MPs or kill the line altogether.
 
bottleneck said:
GTX680 is a gaming card, don't know if you understand it.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5699/nvidia-geforce-gtx-680-review/17

The 7970 would be the best overall choice for a MacPro. Cheaper, lots of room to overclock and a lot stronger in compute. I doubt they would offer nVidia and AMD same time.
Click to expand...

Sure enjoy the AMD that has no acceleration, hamstrung adobe half-assed OpenCL support.
CUDA is Nvidia only. Can't believe you don't understand it. You're high if you think a GTX6xx can't do anything other than video games. It can do some fast some slower. Depends on who owns the benchmark.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-680-review-benchmark,3161-16.html
They also appear to be about the same price on newegg.
Fanboi not appreciated.
 
derbothaus said:
Sure enjoy the AMD that has no acceleration, hamstrung adobe half-assed OpenCL support.
CUDA is Nvidia only. Can't believe you don't understand it. You're high if you think a GTX6xx can't do anything other than video games. It can do some fast some slower. Depends on who owns the benchmark.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-680-review-benchmark,3161-16.html
They also appear to be about the same price on newegg.
Fanboi not appreciated.
Click to expand...


http://www.geforce.com/Active/en_US/en_US/pdf/GeForce-GTX-680-Whitepaper-FINAL.pdf

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5699/nvidia-geforce-gtx-680-review/17

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5840/...gk104-based-tesla-k10-gk110-based-tesla-k20/1
 
bottleneck said:
My Point is to show that you have no clue what you talk about.

Over and Out.
Click to expand...

So 1 page of anantech showing AMD destroying Nvidia in GPGPU compute and then promo material? OK dude. It's like me showing you all the "Made for Nvidia" games eating AMD's lunch on frames like say BF3 and then saying definitively that you don't know what you are talking about. Very linear, childish, and just factually inaccurate.
 
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