ATI R600 GPU's arrived

[Hrvoje Simic]

Top line model HD 2900 XT:

512 DDR3
512 bit memory interface
724 Mhz core clock
106 GB/sec memory bandwith
HDMI & 5.1 audio onboard
Crossfire scalability
HD decode acceleration for H.264/AVC, VC-1, DivX and Mpeg 2
$400

more fun stuff here (http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonhd2900/specs.html)

[Simon Blackledge]

needs to work in macs :(

[Jason Murphy]

Speaking of which, does anyone here know if someone out there has hacked together drivers to allow for use of non-standard video cards in Mac Pro machines? Seems like it would be a very difficult task, but it also seems like there's always that one person out there who tries to do something along those lines.

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Beyond drivers, the non-standard video cards also need different firmware than their standard PC configurations. Sometimes it's more than just a firmware patch too -- as it needs full EFI support. Apple pretty well controls most of the driver development for supported and licensed video cards, so it's a difficult trick to pull off something like this. Now it's possible to buy a PNY FX4500 card and do a firmware patch to make it Mac Pro or Power Mac compatible... nVidia still uses their same unified driver core, so it shouldn't be a big deal to use a 7800GTX card with a firmware patch as opposed to the standard supported 7800GT. ...PCI-E G5 Power Mac only for those cards though.

I'm rambling, but this isn't something that's easy to do. OTOH, Apple is pretty open to OEMs providing video cards and submitting drivers for quality control review and testing. The real problem is the market share and demand for such things. ATI tested the waters with the aftermarket X1900GT card for the G5 Power Mac late last year. ...It hasn't sold well at all, but I think they missed the mark with this product. They targeted a platform that had already reached EOL with a card that is less powerful than their current X1900XT offered in the Mac Pro. If they would have offered the XT version for $250~$275, I bet they would have sold a lot more of them. The other issue is just Mac users in general... Most are oblivious to such upgrades. Most don't have the need for such graphics cards... The Mac is not a very strong 3D platform in terms of market share, and it's almost non-existent in the gaming world. Two areas where I (IMNSHO) think Apple really needs to make a stronger push.

[Jason Murphy]

Beyond drivers, the non-standard video cards also need different firmware than their standard PC configurations. Sometimes it's more than just a firmware patch too -- as it needs full EFI support.

Figured as much. Thanks for the info.

I agree with you on Apple's 3D performance, gaming, etc. They've been behind that curve for a long time now. Granted, a good many Mac users don't care about those upgrades. However, I (and I'm sure there's a good number of others like me out there) used to build my own PCs before switching over to Macs to work in FCP, and I've been consistently frustrated by the fact that the high-end video cards one can plug into a Mac workstation are well over a year old and overpriced. Such is life, though, I guess. :calm:

[Hrvoje Simic]

I've been consistently frustrated by the fact that the high-end video cards one can plug into a Mac workstation are well over a year old and overpriced. Such is life, though, I guess. :calm:

Things change.