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The New Nvidia 6800 Ultra DDL Graphics Card
Dr. q00p writes "Since Apple doesn't offer much information on the new Nvidia 6800 Ultra DDL graphics card (and NVIDIA even less) which is required to drive the new 30-inch Cinema HD Display the readers of Slashdot might be interested to read a reply from Ujesh Desai, Nvidia's General Manager of Desktop GPUs, to a series of questions from Accelerate Your Mac."
Apple Computer, Inc. (AAPL), beset by angry creditors and faced with severe G5 production problems, is on the verge of bankruptcy and total collapse. Apple continues to nosedive into oblivion, as confirmed by industry watchers, investors, and, most painfully, by customers themselves.
As a recent study by Bank of America Securities puts it, Apple ekes out its existence by peddling new hardware to its existing customers; once those customers are satisfied, Apple will run out of steam . If these disastrous financial forecasts aren't enough, one need only look to Netcraft for confirmation that Apple's market share among Web servers is slowly dwindling down to zero. The market share of Mac OS X is now eclipsed even by that of FreeBSD, another OS that is deeply imperiled.
But the abysmal server presence of OS X is the least of Apple's worries. Apple's most recent quarterly report indicates a death spiral of cash loss. Indeed, Apple has hemorrhaged some $276 million in the last quarter, while racking up a dizzying $2.4 billion in debt. Revenue from sales of the iPod, the portable music player that is barely keeping Apple afloat in this shipwreck of fiscal woe, declined dramatically, threatening to shrink further an already miniscule lifeline.
Likewise, sales of the eMac, iMac and Power Macintosh G5 lines continue to skid. Apple is unable to secure G5 processors in sufficient nubmers to supply its customers with Power Macintosh G5 and iMac computers, as Steve Jobs himself recently admitted. The staggering decline in sales numbers confirms it: there is no doubt that one-time Apple customers, dismayed with the floundering ineptitude of their favorite company, have begun turning away in droves, seeking cheaper, faster hardware from manufacturers such as Dell.
Apple teeters on the precipice of doom, one step away from plummeting to its ultimate nadir of bankruptcy, chaos, and implosion. Wise investors will quickly dump AAPL stock and abandon the doomed company, now less than one year away from complete disintegration.
It's time to move to a new platform: Apple is dead.
then stick to standard vga cables... those go to high enough resolutions... have the monitor with both inputts... itll know the price up, what? all of 0.1%?
I am very sucseptible to "let's have another drink"
Stop with the suicide bombing and I might be able to spare a smidgen of sympathy for your cause.
How 'bout elections in Palestine instead of having the same old corrupt people run the place?
Until your leaders stop advocating suicide bombing and terrorism, I'm going to stick with supporting Israel, thanks.
D
It's spelled 'Mac', not 'MAC', you cock-dipped negro.
Heres the Q&A copied and pasted from the interview (too many ads on that page for my liking) and notice how the interviewer seems to think that somehow Apple Hardware and PC Hardware are different? Uh HELLO the Linksys NIC I use in my PC is the same one that is in my G5! Also I love how the guy asks twice about "nvidia making 3D drivers for the card or allowing 3rd parties to do it" - it's the same answer twice in a row - APPLE WRITES THERE OWN SOFTWARE DRIVERS YOU FUCKING MORON. From the questions asked it seems like this apple fanatic was hoping that their card would 1) Be unique to only apple 2) Be faster than the PC counter part 3) Nvidia would make 3D drivers specifically for their Apple versions.
* How does the NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL card for the Mac differ from the PC version (i.e. Does the PC version have dual link DVI?)
The GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL card was designed specifically for the Mac to provide two dual-link outputs to support Apple's displays.
* Does the Apple version of the GeForce 6800 Ultra GPU run at the same core/memory clock as the PC version?
The Apple cards run at 400/550, just like the GeForce 6800 Ultra GPU on the PC.
(Note: Some vendor's 6800 cards are clocked higher than the standard/reference design.)
* The GeForce 6800 Ultra for the PC has two Molex power connectors - does the Mac version source all the power from the G5's AGP pro slot? (or does it have a aux power connector?)
There is an on-board power connector on the graphics card and the motherboard to provide power, so there is no need for an external power connector from the power supply.
(although the only Mac 6800 photos I've seen are tiny, it appears there's a stub connector on the card that (I suspect) uses the ADC (28V or 24V usually) DC power connector on the motherboard that's normally used for ADC display power to provide additional power (regulated down) for the 6800 card. That eliminates the need for Aux. (Molex) P.S. connector(s) like the PC/standard 6800 card versions have.)
* Does the GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL have a low-noise fan?
Yes, the GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL runs very quiet.
* Will there ever be a control panel with 3D/GL/FSAA controls for the NVIDIA cards on the Mac platform? (ATI's retail Radeon cards (and OEM models with the 3rd party patch) have a '3D/GL overrides' feature - which is seen as a big plus by many end users.)
Apple provides all the drivers for NVIDIA-based add-in cards. We supply them with the source code and they provide the final driver.
* Regarding the previous question - if there's no chance of an Apple supplied NVIDIA card control panel (for advanced features/FSAA, etc.) - if a 3rd party wanted to do this, can NVIDIA provide some assistance?
Apple is our customer, so if this is something that they requested, then we would support it.
* There's been talk of previous NVIDIA cards taking a bigger than expected performance hit from using some types of shaders (on the Mac) - is this a concern with the GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL?
GeForce 6 Series GPUs have the most advanced shading engines on the market. Compared to previous generation parts, the vertex and pixel shader engines on GeForce 6 Series GPUs have been completely redesigned from the ground-up. Pixel Shader performance is 4 to 8 times faster. Vertex shader performance is twice as fast. Performance numbers have been outstanding.
* Will there updated/new drivers for the GeForce 6800 Ultra?
Yes. Apple provides all the drivers for NVIDIA-based add-in cards. We supply them with the source code and they provide the final driver. Apple will control the release schedules for drivers that provide even more performance, features and image quality enhancements.
* Do you have any idea how performance compares on the Mac between the GeForce 6800 Ultra and the ATI 9800 Pro/XT card?
GeForce 6800 Ultra represents the largest leap forward in graphics performance in our company's history. As expected, they are
Ave Molech Setting