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Richard Richard · Jan 11, 2008, 02:07 PM

so what exactly was the point of me and others buying a supposedly EXPANDABLE mac ????

if we can't actually expand it ?

i'll buy another mac mini / imac next time , last time i EVER buy a friggin mac tower !

MacosNerd · Jan 11, 2008, 02:18 PM

More Ram then any other Mac
More hard drive bays
More expansion slots
More ports

while I'm not making excuses for apple, you still cannot deny that the MacPro is quite expandable. Its just unfortunate that they've seemingly shut the door on existing MP owners who may want this new video card.

Drakino · Jan 11, 2008, 02:32 PM

It would be nice if another PC vendor would adopt EFI in force to really just get rid of this issue. If Dell or HP started shipping EFI64 systems tomorrow with PCIe graphics card slots, and used Vista SP1's EFI boot loader, the video card makers would be forced to either ignore an even larger market for their cards, or add EFI32 and EFI64 support to their ROMs as standard.

Intel and AMD really just need to put their foot down and say enough of this legacy crap, start shipping the new firmware for mainboards that has existed for over 8 years now. And pressure the other mainboard vendors to do the same as standard. With the compatibility module to boot older OSs working fine, there is no excuse not to at this point.

Richard Richard · Jan 11, 2008, 03:46 PM

tbh the main reason i'm angry over this , is the last time i bought a tower was in 1994

i splashed out on a quadra 840av - after that it was a LOOOOONG succession of imacs and laptops

the problem is , like now , that when the time came to upgrade , the slots were out of date and i was ****ed ( although then it was at least a new generation - nubus to pci ) now it's just taking the pi$$

my advice : basically , if you're buying a mac for the long haul - don't bother

buy the cheapest that does the job and scrap it after 2-3 years , sad but true

Macadvo · Jan 11, 2008, 04:29 PM

You never know, they may work yet. /me keeps his fingers crossed that his 8800GT when it arrives "just works"

Now I must get ready and go to work (I hate nights)

shinji · Jan 11, 2008, 04:32 PM

They're so dumb at the Apple store...I called the two local ones again and the first one said "ATI 2600...and that's...a hard drive?" and the second one said "Now you want to put this in Macbook Pro?"

But neither one had it in stock anyway, so I just ordered it online. Should have it by Mon-Tues, I'll post here whether it works or not.

mduell · Jan 11, 2008, 06:15 PM

A new EFI64 firmware for the Mac Pro (to be compatible with the 8800GT) may come with limitations like "you can't boot Tiger anymore" if Tiger only supports EFI32.

Macadvo · Jan 11, 2008, 08:58 PM

I'd gladly give up Tiger compatibility

Eug · Jan 14, 2008, 01:04 AM

Macworld benches

The 24" iMac holds its own - beats the quad 2.8 in Adobe CS3.

Arty50 · Jan 14, 2008, 02:11 AM

They largely chalk that up to drive speeds.

Simon · 04:11 AM

Originally Posted by Arty50

They largely chalk that up to drive speeds.

Yeah. Their CS3 benchmark is testing the HDD performance. The 2.6GHz MBP didn't have a chance against the 2.8GHz iMac. It's the HDD. Put in a decent HDD (or several in RAID0 configuration) into the MP and it will smoke every iMac hands down.

himself · Jan 14, 2008, 05:40 AM

Originally Posted by mduell

A new EFI64 firmware for the Mac Pro (to be compatible with the 8800GT) may come with limitations like "you can't boot Tiger anymore" if Tiger only supports EFI32.

There's no reason why a firmware update specifically for the pre-2008 Mac Pros couldn't support both the 8800GT and Tiger.

Richard Richard · Jan 14, 2008, 05:50 AM

everyone's suggesting emailing steve jobs - forget that

email john c dvorak - i bet he'd LOVE to post about this !!!

plus it will get a LOT more publicity than we ever could at macnn..

SierraDragon · Jan 15, 2008, 12:33 PM

Originally Posted by Leonard

but then why did Apple put the Geforce 8800GT up for sale as a separate upgrade kit? That part makes no sense, IF it doesn't work in the old Mac Pros.

No, it is very important and makes total sense. The upgrade kit is for folks who buy 2008 MPs but want to upgrade after vthe original purchase. It caused a huge problem for G5 buyers (primarily Aperture users) who could not retrofit graphics card upgrades because the only way advanced graphics were available was with an original order, CTO. This time Apple has that part right.

The fact is that graphics card manufacturers do not necessarily make their new cards fit old computers. At least this time there are retrofit cards available for the new boxes.

-Allen Wicks

mduell · Jan 15, 2008, 07:28 PM

Originally Posted by himself

There's no reason why a firmware update specifically for the pre-2008 Mac Pros couldn't support both the 8800GT and Tiger.

There is a reason why it couldn't: It could be EFI64 and Tiger can not support EFI64.
That's why I said "may."

Cadaver · Jan 16, 2008, 03:20 PM

Just FYI - I had ordered a Radeon 2600 card for my original Mac Pro. Got a call from Apple yesterday stating the card isn't compatible with the original Mac Pro - only for the new versions. I told them to send the card anyway, since I've seen several reports that it does actually work. So I guess I'll find out on Monday or so for sure.

SierraDragon · Jan 16, 2008, 03:55 PM

Originally Posted by Cadaver

Just FYI - I had ordered a Radeon 2600 card for my original Mac Pro. Got a call from Apple yesterday stating the card isn't compatible with the original Mac Pro - only for the new versions. I told them to send the card anyway, since I've seen several reports that it does actually work. So I guess I'll find out on Monday or so for sure.

I intend to pursue card compatibilities with Apple reps at Expo tomorrow. The question of "best available" reasonably priced card for 2006 MPs is important.

-Allen Wicks

Leonard · Jan 18, 2008, 12:07 PM

Originally Posted by SierraDragon

I intend to pursue card compatibilities with Apple reps at Expo tomorrow. The question of "best available" reasonably priced card for 2006 MPs is important.

-Allen Wicks

So how did your quest on pursuing card compatibilities with Apple reps go? Any luck talking with someone at Apple? Did you get a chance to talk to someone from Apple?

glideslope · Jan 18, 2008, 12:42 PM

Originally Posted by himself

There's no reason why a firmware update specifically for the pre-2008 Mac Pros couldn't support both the 8800GT and Tiger.

Of course there is. Apple's Market Strategy.

goMac · Jan 18, 2008, 12:47 PM

And the first Mac Pro with a GeForce 8800 has been spotted at MacWorld...

Engadget

himself · Jan 21, 2008, 03:52 AM

Originally Posted by mduell

There is a reason why it couldn't: It could be EFI64 and Tiger can not support EFI64.
That's why I said "may."

It is possible that Tiger in it's current state can't support EFI64, but even in that case it wouldn't be unheard of for a patch allowing EFI64 support to be delivered along the firmware update -- and I guess it would be necessary in that case.

Of course, this is all assuming Apple delivers a compatibility update at all.

Leonard · Jan 21, 2008, 12:48 PM

It's moot point now, the problem's been solved (as mentioned in the other thread). Or will be solved... it's not just yet, but it's being worked on.

AppleInsider | NVIDIA readying GeForce 8800 GT upgrade for earlier Mac Pros

SierraDragon · Jan 21, 2008, 04:57 PM

Like you said, it is now moot. A good solution hopefully, since I may end up repurposing a 2006 MP and needing the retrofit card.

-Allen Wicks

cube-dude · Jan 22, 2008, 11:03 PM

Ordered. Finally. 2 x 2.8 Quad.

My waiting blues for the revision are now the waiting blues for delivery.

eggman · Jan 23, 2008, 03:47 AM

Originally Posted by cube-dude

Ordered. Finally. 2 x 2.8 Quad.

My waiting blues for the revision are now the waiting blues for delivery.

Me too. 2 x 3.0, ordered the day the machines were announced - but I ordered the nVidia card, so I'm looking at President's Day weekend.

And just to mock me, I took delivery of my memory from OWC today - 2x2GB of memory that's just shelved until its host organism arrives... in, oh, 3 weeks or so.

Goddard11 · Jan 23, 2008, 05:46 PM

Still waiting for my MP to deliver. I ordered it about an hour after it went on sale, so I've been waiting a while. Ordered OWC RAM yesterday (2x4GB 800Mhz RAM)
It still says "will ship by Feb. 13th"

I ordered the 8 core 3.2Ghz 2GB RAM, 8800GT

goMac · Jan 23, 2008, 06:04 PM

Originally Posted by cube-dude

My waiting blues for the revision are now the waiting blues for delivery.

This is why I'm waiting to order until they come into decent supply (Mac Pros with 8800's).

From what I've heard, it's not actually a hardware supply issue, it's a driver issue. So once that driver is finished I expect that the floodgates will open and there will be plenty of 8800's for everybody.