“The centerpiece of ATI’s next-generation graphics card line may make its first appearance as part of an upgrade to Apple Inc.’s Mac Pro line of professional desktop computers, according to an online report,” Prince McLean reports for AppleInsider.
“Revealed in a photo published by the The Inquirer on Monday, a version of the card — codenamed R600XTX — was initially pegged as an OEM model for large system manufacturers. However, a subsequent report from the publication claims the specialized card was designed specifically for one customer: Apple,” McLean reports.
“While there appear to be several versions of the ATI card that will slowly make their way to market… the model destine for Apple is expected to debut first and introduce CrossFire support to the Mac,” McLean reports. “CrossFire technology, which requires a compliant motherboard with a pair of PCI Express (PCIe) graphics cards, essentially allows users or system manufacturers to pair graphics cards within a single system to improve graphics performance.”
“Apple, which has held a brawny update to its Mac Pro workstations within its labs since last fall, has reportedly deferred on a release until a time closer to a roll-out of Adobe’s Intel-native Creative Suite 3.0 software bundle,” McLean reports. “The 8-core Xeon-based powerhouse would be the only system within the Mac maker’s arsenal capable of adopting the new ATI card.”
More info, links, and photo of the card here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Stoo” for the heads up.]
Apple’s 12-inch version consumes 270W compared to the retail 9.5-inch version consuming 240W.
What is the extra power needed for? Is the Apple version going to be clocked higher than regular retail models?
Speeds of ATi X2x00 range now posted:
X2800XTX is 750MHz core clock and the GDDR 4 memory is clocked at 2200MHz.
The Inquirer also has an article about the entire range here: http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37638
But it’s the Apple ATi X2800XTX that will interest Mac fans. Bring on the new MacPros!
The new Mac Pro with Leopard and the next-gen ATI card is going to be a beast!
Ok, maybe a pair of these beasts with 8 cores might make an acceptable gaming rig!
Insane…. I wish that I could say I’m looking forward to the 8-core system with this graphics card… but I’m not. I actually hope it doesn’t come out, ever! Because I won’t be able to afford it! And if I can’t have it, no one else should be able to!
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Nah, go ahead all you deep pocketed friends. Enjoy. Just don’t forget to think of me with my little MacBook…
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IAM SICK TO WAIT BY THE MAC PRO NEW!
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Would this offer any advantage if booting into Windows? If so, would this make the Mac Pro the absolute best gaming rig around?
I’m not a gamer, so I have no idea…just asking.
Never mind, I guess. Somehow missed MacMental’s post.
games are barebly optimized for quadcore units, let alone ochos.
get over it, until the programmers start using the juice, it just doesn’t matter. now the vid card is nice but in terms of the cpu processing.
mike dunleavy forever!@
Great googly moogly! I’m getting that with my upcoming Octo Mac Pro!
On the contrary, Apple should seriously consider nVidia because a lot of high end software like Alias, Maya and RTT work better with nVidia cards. ATI is only for low to mid-range stuffs.
‘sorry idiots’ is half right true games are barely optimised for quad core, they are getting there but will be well supported later in 2007.
Doom engine (i.e. Doom3, Quake4, Prey, Quake Wars) runs multi-core, but not really optimzed for more than two. It will probably support true multi-core for release of Quake Wars.
Source engine (i.e. Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike, etc.) has a new version due out with ‘Episode 2’ that is true multi-core support. It’s been developed to enable HL2 to run on Xbox 360 and PS3 and has been backported to PC architecture, excellent article about it on Ars Technica.
Other engines (e.g. Crytek) are rumored to be working on multi-threaded support for multi-core CPUs.
Best for number crunchers though is the new Excel 2007 support for multi-core, with dual-core already halved the time my models take to calc; want octo-core simply to save me hours per day.
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I’m getting that with my upcoming Octo Mac Pro!
I want two of them in Crossfire mode in my octo-core Mac Pro!
If Crossfire rumours are true, it means Apple must’ve developed the OpenGL drivers for Apple OSX to support this … smells like a Leopard feature to me.
OK, but WHEN will this thing come out? I’ve been dieing to get a Mac Pro but wanted to wait until the second gen came out…they’ve been talking about it since October! WHEN WHEN WHEN
AtlantaX,
When Adobe ships CS 3…
This is going to end all those MS PC shills that say Mac’s aren’t good for gaming.
Mac graphics are going to leave all the other PC graphics in the dust.
Can we say gaming!
This is going to shut all their mouths!
Go Apple!!!
Aw geez, not the gaming crowd. Get a game console, and leave the computers to the adults for christ’s sake.
Aw geez, not the gaming crowd. Get a PC and help leave Mac market share hovering below 3% for christ’s sake.
Finally, a computer that’s fast enough for my boss read email! But it wouldn’t be truly useful for him without one of those 50″ displays.
Prince McLean. I’m envious of you american folx, you have way cooler names than most of the world.
“Mac graphics are going to leave all the other PC graphics in the dust.
“
Umm no. What’s Mac graphics? The same next generation ATI (which is now AMD BTW, no longer referred to as ATI) graphics will be just as available on a PC. And, the superior graphics cards right now are from Nvidia, with a 8900GTX refresh right around when the R600 (or XTX 2800) launches.
And let’s not forget, these are only rumors (which I highly doubt is true). Apple would have to drop the Intel chipset in favor of AMD for this to come to fruition. Intel does not make the crossfire chipset, AMD does. You think Intel will let that go unnoticed?
Well talk about a lack of reading comprehension. It seems MDN needs to actually read the links they post. I wondered why the “first on Apple” claim seemed a little fishy. Well, it’s because of this passage:
While there appear to be several versions of the ATI card that will slowly make their way to market — including a 9-inch retail variant and slightly down-clocked dual-chip offering — the model destine for Apple is expected to debut first and introduce CrossFire support to the Mac.”
The first card to debut is the high end R600 (next month), and then the lower models will filter in (which was common knowledge for some time now). That doesn’t mean the first product will be for Apple, it means the first product to be released destined for Apple is the higher end R600.
The entire article itself is a barrel full of rumors anyway, which doesn’t lend to much substance or credibility. Yet it’s quite funny MDN couldn’t even grasp the basic concept of the rumor before blindly posting a flawed headline.