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Chimp_On_Stilts posted:What's the status of external GPUs via Thunderbolt? I am one of many who would like to use an MBA as a portable machine, then crank out some Skyrims or Battlefields, etc. at home. I would love to know the answer to this. Sony had a crack but everyone seemed to have just ignored it (presumably because it was a low end GPU): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0u39Fs1GI0 I'd be prepared to throw down a grand on an a high end TB GPU for RMBP.
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Jun 23, 2012 06:53
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KingEup posted:I would love to know the answer to this. Sony had a crack but everyone seemed to have just ignored it (presumably because it was a low end GPU): x4 PCIe 2.0 could be a bottleneck at higher resolutions; hopefully the optical version will remedy that, or maybe copper can support PCIe 3.0, and they can sponge off some of the CPU's PCIe lanes.
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Jun 23, 2012 07:02
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KingEup posted:I would love to know the answer to this. Sony had a crack but everyone seemed to have just ignored it (presumably because it was a low end GPU): I think someone earlier said they got one of the Sonnet boxes so I guess those are shipping now, looks like they're $600 for the half length card slot model and $800 for the two slot (or one double width) full length model  . Not sure if the Magma box is shipping, but iirc that was going to be $1000 for three slots.I remember MSI saying they were targeting $150 for their enclosure a while back, I think they were targeting GPU use so I'm guessing they're waiting on the software side to get sorted out (or getting screwed by Intel...). I think the ViDock was going to be $400 and checking their Facebook page, it looks like they've been having trouble with Intel, or specifically just the Thunerbolt team. Another route, albeit even more bandwidth constrained, is the $150 Sonnet ExpressCard adapter along with a PCIe box that connects through that.
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Jun 23, 2012 07:14
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japtor posted:Probably more cause Sony's wasn't an actual Thunderbolt standard product, they kind of hacked it into a USB port and ended up with a proprietary Sony only thing. Sony's port was how Intel Light Peak was going to turn out until Intel changed its tune and went with copper instead of optical (since it turned out copper could support the bandwidth) and went with the mini-DisplayPort profile. Edit: Unfortunately neither Sony nor anybody else is interested in making an adapter from their proprietary port to Thunderbolt. shrughes fucked around with this message at 07:34 on Jun 23, 2012 |
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Jun 23, 2012 07:27
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shrughes posted:Sony's port was how Intel Light Peak was going to turn out until Intel changed its tune and went with copper instead of optical (since it turned out copper could support the bandwidth) and went with the mini-DisplayPort profile. You got a source for this? Would like to read.
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Jun 23, 2012 07:30
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There are tons of sources. Just Google "Intel Light Peak" for tons of articles on the early tech demonstrations that used fiber.
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Jun 23, 2012 07:33
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The original Light Peak demos used modified USB ports and optical cables. Of course Intel didn't go with it in the end...and the USB IF didn't want their port to be used with it iirc. Another reason was that optical transceiver/cable cost would've been even worse for adoption.
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Jun 23, 2012 07:34
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Thunderbolt pcie looks a little hard at the moment. For hot swapping and OSX support you need a certified enclosure and PCIe card. I just don't see that becoming commonplace. I'm using a PoE dual Ethernet adapter with the enclosure right now and there of course is no driver. It's an intel chipset. I somehow am not seeing AMD and NVidia coming out with certified drivers anytime soon if intel isn't certifying any of their own stuff. Ironically, I would only recommend getting these things if you're only going to be using windows. I'm not sure that that was what apple had in mind, but there you go.
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Jun 23, 2012 07:34
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Optical will still be an option for Thunderbolt in the future. Part of the expense of Thunderbolt cables is that the transceiver is built into the cable. But this means you can easily swap the copper cables for the optical ones when they come out (not that they'll really be any faster with the same Thunderbolt hardware). http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/03/intel-thunderbolt-optical-cabling-coming-this-year/
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Jun 23, 2012 08:01
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Course the only reason for optical cables right now will be for longer runs. Sumitomo shipped optical samples a while back I think, while their copper ones have been on sale in Japan for a little while now...including cables shorter than 2 meters!
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Jun 23, 2012 08:39
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tuna posted:In case anyone is looking for sleeves, etc. for their new rMBP, I ordered an Incipio sleeve for my rMBP the other day and it arrived lastnight. They say it's for the rMBP but I'm fairly sure they're just the normal MBP sleeves on a slightly different page. It's not as snug as it should be but feels like it'll do a perfectly reasonable job of protecting it still. In my usage I'm putting it into a rucksack with a few other things in there that might scratch it, so it works fine for me until something better comes out. Trying to decide on a case for my rMBP (which doesn't arrive for a while.)
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Jun 23, 2012 15:23
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After cancelling my MBA order (lol I'm decisive) I had a play today in the Apple store on both... ...and I'm still undecided. I played with the MBPr first and it's stunning, it really is. Going through the stock images in iPhoto was pretty incredible and if you're a photographer then you pretty much need this machine. I tried out CS5 which was blurry but useable but that'll be sorted soon, and so will most of the apps I use I imagine. The web however just didn't look nice at all. The majority of images / buttons etc looked noticeably off. IDK. I still can;t decide but after using the retina model I thought I'd cry while using the AIr. I was surprised to find I didn't actually mind the difference that much..
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Jun 23, 2012 15:28
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Anand has a in-depth review of the MBPR up. http://www.anandtech.com/show/6023/the-nextgen-macbook-pro-with-retina-display-review/1 Glare:   Improved viewing angles:  Supafast SSD compared to Apple's mediocre past offerings   Better thermals for less speed throttling  Faster Starcraft II  USB 3.0 is almost 10x faster than 2.0  TB Gigagbit is fast 
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Jun 23, 2012 16:52
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a bad poster yall posted:IDK. I still can;t decide but after using the retina model I thought I'd cry while using the AIr. I was surprised to find I didn't actually mind the difference that much.. The Air has a higher DPI than the non-retina Pros, so they are nicer to look at. What you have to judge is if you need the professional machine for what you are using it for. The quad-core, more memory, better grapics that costs an extra $1000 vs. dual core, lighter, thinner.
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Jun 23, 2012 17:10
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The part about the MBPR only doing 20 fps while drawing the desktop in the Anandtech-review and all the talk about everything being rendered badly outside of a few (surely, growing, but the internet in general will take longer) Apps has me a bit worried. I was basically sure I would buy a MBPR, but maybe I would be better off to get a MBA and wait for an optimized version in 2013? I'm sure I'm overthinking it as usually, but a 1700-2600 € investion is quite big for me. The MBPR would be the most expensive computer I've ever bought (although only if I don't count the screens on my desktop).
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Jun 23, 2012 17:20
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Any recommendations for the best bang-for-the-buck in a used Mac Mini? Not in any rush (especially since I'm guessing an update will come when ML releases) but I was thinking I'd like to eventually pick up one for around $300-$350, though I've never followed Minis that closely so I'm not as sure what to look for or avoid.
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Jun 23, 2012 17:24
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Well the $799 version of the Mini is a pretty nice bang, since it has the dedicated (albeit, 256MB) graphics card. However no bigger upgrade to the mini is possible unless you have an SSD in there. I bought the $599 version for $499 and put my own SSD, and 8 GB of RAM in it for a total cost of about $650, and this thing is the best machine for everything. This is, however, the minimum gaming or actual power-user machine.
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Jun 23, 2012 17:48
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Decius posted:The part about the MBPR only doing 20 fps while drawing the desktop in the Anandtech-review and all the talk about everything being rendered badly outside of a few (surely, growing, but the internet in general will take longer) Apps has me a bit worried. We're in the exact same position. FWIW I'm currently leaning towards the i5 13" MBA with 8GB of RAM and then probably updating next retina revision. How much am I likely to lose on the RRP if I sell next year? Is there are a rough estimate? FlashBangBob posted:The Air has a higher DPI than the non-retina Pros, so they are nicer to look at. Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Coda, browsing, watching movies and that's about it. I don't do much photo editing anymore and nothing involving video. Also pretty much anything I get is going to be a huge upgrade on the specs I have atm.
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Jun 23, 2012 17:50
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FlashBangBob posted:Well the $799 version of the Mini is a pretty nice bang, since it has the dedicated (albeit, 256MB) graphics card. However no bigger upgrade to the mini is possible unless you have an SSD in there. I bought the $599 version for $499 and put my own SSD, and 8 GB of RAM in it for a total cost of about $650, and this thing is the best machine for everything. This is, however, the minimum gaming or actual power-user machine. Yeah, I already had a full-featured desktop PC for power use situations, I just wanted a cheap OS X device so I'm not cut off from that ecosystem. After poking around a bit, it looks like the early 2009 Mac Mini may be the sweet spot, a few models are on eBay in the price range I mentioned and it will run Mountain Lion (though probably no further - here's hoping they ease off on the rapid updates!).
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Jun 23, 2012 18:44
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Decius posted:The part about the MBPR only doing 20 fps while drawing the desktop in the Anandtech-review
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Jun 23, 2012 19:02
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a bad poster yall posted:Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Coda, browsing, watching movies and that's about it. I don't do much photo editing anymore and nothing involving video. Also pretty much anything I get is going to be a huge upgrade on the specs I have atm. Remember you get 14 whole days to give it everything you got, and really decide if you want to go higher, take it back and go higher.
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Jun 23, 2012 19:23
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wintermuteCF posted:Considering a 13" MBA, only need the basic storage and processor. Can anyone give me acompelling reason to bump up the RAM to 8gb? I don't intend to do any serious gaming or virtualization, and this is definitely a secondary machine (I have a powerful desktop for those things). I was really on the fence about 8GB RAM when I was ordering my MBA too. But when I got it, I'm really glad I went with 8GB. I do virtualize though--I think that should be the deciding factor. The only time more than 4GB is used is when I virtualize. fruitpoops fucked around with this message at 19:33 on Jun 23, 2012 |
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Jun 23, 2012 19:29
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Have any of you rMBP owners tried gaming on Win7/8 Boot Camp? I'm curious what performance is like. edit: VVVVV Yes, that is a standard UK plug. A COMPUTER GUY fucked around with this message at 20:12 on Jun 23, 2012 |
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Jun 23, 2012 19:59
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Is this a UK plug?
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Jun 23, 2012 20:05
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^^^^ Sure is.
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Jun 23, 2012 20:32
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How long does it usually take for the Apple online store to process, charge, and ship for the rMBP? I ordered one on Wednesday and I'm kind of worried that it hasn't charged my account and shipped it yet.
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Jun 23, 2012 21:06
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albear posted:How long does it usually take for the Apple online store to process, charge, and ship for the rMBP? I ordered one on Wednesday and I'm kind of worried that it hasn't charged my account and shipped it yet. Why would you post something like this here before calling apple? I have never understood this mentality. Call them and give them your order number and they'll give you a definitive answer rather than you getting a bunch of goon speculation. Jesus.
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Jun 23, 2012 21:08
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Accipiter posted:Why would you post something like this here before calling apple?
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Jun 23, 2012 21:12
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Small White Dragon posted:Trying to decide on a case for my rMBP (which doesn't arrive for a while.) I'm not really the type of person that feels the need to get a super padded airbag type case for my laptop so I've only been primarily looking at sleeves. For me it was a toss up between a colcasac and a foofbag. I ended up ordering a colcasac. It has a velcro flap, a pocket on the outside that can store the wall charger, and it looks more utilitarian (at least in my opinion anyways). Now if only my MBPicard would get here already  
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Jun 23, 2012 21:26
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albear posted:How long does it usually take for the Apple online store to process, charge, and ship for the rMBP? I ordered one on Wednesday and I'm kind of worried that it hasn't charged my account and shipped it yet. Isn't it 3-4 weeks lead time right now?
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Jun 23, 2012 21:26
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I have an Adaptec 2906 SCSI card that the latest drivers were written for 10.1. The card works fine in a G4 MDD running 10.5.8 with the old rear end Adaptec drivers made for 10.1 back in 2002. Does anyone know if these drivers will still work fine in a G5?
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Jun 23, 2012 21:45
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Space Racist posted:Yeah, I already had a full-featured desktop PC for power use situations, I just wanted a cheap OS X device so I'm not cut off from that ecosystem. Don't know if this is allowed, but I'm just about to post my 2011 mini on the marketplace since my new air just showed up. 350 is right around what I was looking for. 2011 mini OSX 10.6 Superdrive 2.4 Core 2 Duo 2Gb 1067 DDr2 320Gb HD 5400 RPM
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Jun 23, 2012 22:24
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BonzoESC posted:Is this a UK plug? That is so weird.
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Jun 23, 2012 22:24
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zinc68 posted:Don't know if this is allowed, but I'm just about to post my 2011 mini on the marketplace since my new air just showed up. 350 is right around what I was looking for. Hm, that's pretty tempting, but I'm really not in a position to pick one up until next month. I'll keep an eye out in SA Mart just in case anything changes, though.
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Jun 23, 2012 22:30
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Space Racist posted:Yeah, I already had a full-featured desktop PC for power use situations, I just wanted a cheap OS X device so I'm not cut off from that ecosystem. Depending on how much you're willing to up to maybe keep an eye out for refurb/used i5s whenever the new ones come out. zinc68 posted:Don't know if this is allowed, but I'm just about to post my 2011 mini on the marketplace since my new air just showed up. 350 is right around what I was looking for.
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Jun 23, 2012 22:41
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japtor posted:Yeah that's the oldest you'll want to go (and probably the best you can get for your price range), they're decent enough. Like all Mac minis the HD is what hurts performance the most, so spend a bit on a SSD if it's chugging. Correct, bought it in 2011, my bad.
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Jun 23, 2012 22:44
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FlashBangBob posted:First, you are going to want to get an Air. An 8 GB option may make you happy if you are using Photoshop and Illustrator often, but really you're not going to need the raw processing power and graphics throughput that the rMBP is offering. Yeah I think m sorted again now. Will order thank you. Also lol at the uk plug fascination.
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Jun 23, 2012 23:19
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If you think the UK plug is weird, the full travel adapter kit will blow your mind.
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Jun 23, 2012 23:59
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I want a 13" Air with 8GB of ram but everyone here seems to think that 4gb is enough unless you're virtualizing? I've got a 2010 13" w/ 8GB+SSD and I only have Chrome and a few other things open... sitting at 7.75gb of ram used. Page out and swaps always get up there, and I can feel when stuff starts hitting the SSD. Is something wrong with my system or something?
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Jun 24, 2012 00:26
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BlackMK4 posted:I want a 13" Air with 8GB of ram but everyone here seems to think that 4gb is enough unless you're virtualizing? I've got a 2010 13" w/ 8GB+SSD and I only have Chrome and a few other things open... sitting at 7.75gb of ram used. Page out and swaps always get up there, and I can feel when stuff starts hitting the SSD. Is something wrong with my system or something? Don't forget that a lot of memory is used for caching, and if you quit an app it won't 'free' the memory until another app needs it. Your 'free' memory is really something like 'free' + inactive'. You're wasting the memory by not using it, so the more RAM you give OS X the more it will use. It's not Windows where if you give your computer 8GB it won't ever touch it. I used a 2GB Air for a while (Snow Leopard) and it really was fine - I have a 4GB Air now, and while with the same stuff loaded, this one uses a little more RAM (Lion) it's really not a limit. But if you leave your apps (especially browsers) open for a week they'll really start leaking memory. At work if I get up over 6GB (out of 8GB) I will quit Firefox and Safari and it'll knock me back down to where I should be (2GB used) for a while.
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Jun 24, 2012 00:41
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