Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The New Nvidia 6800 Ultra DDL Graphics Card

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the what-does-it-mean-man dept.

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."

16 of 217 comments (clear)

  1. That was “interesting” by sebi · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Reading that "interview" I can almost see the lawyer going over every answer and neutering it before it went out. Either that or Mr Desai is the most boring and lifeless fellow in the history of electronics.

    --
    Hank! White!
    1. Re:That was “interesting” by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Mr Desai is the most boring and lifeless fellow in the history of electronics.

      And that's saying a lot.

  2. Man that card is HUGE! by Gentoo+Fan · · Score: 4, Funny

    Also, I liked this:

    * 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 much faster than previous generation products from ATI. We will let the benchmarks speak for themselves.

    Translated: We'll release some actual numbers when we sell more of these mini-space heaters.

  3. It's costs... by _PimpDaddy7_ · · Score: 4, Funny

    more than some PCs. Amazing!

    From the site:
    "The combination of a GeForce 6800 Ultra with a dual processor Power Mac G5 driving two 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Displays is the definitive tool for the creative professional."

    Yes because I need 2 30" screens to watch Carrie Ann Moss on one screen and Natalie Portman on the other :)

    1. Re:It's costs... by Quobobo · · Score: 4, Informative

      Argh. No, it's not. There's 2 (two) dual-link DVI ports, each of which can drive 1 (one) 30 inch monitor. Take a look at the pictures from WWDC where they had a G5 driving two of those monitors.

  4. you can't replace me by nighty5 · · Score: 4, Funny

    It won't replace my S3 - 1 meg

    Never..

    Never......

    Never !!!!

    1. Re:you can't replace me by skinfitz · · Score: 4, Funny

      I was going to write a long reply but then you wouldn't be able to read it all as it wouldn't fit on your screen.

  5. Interview in a nutshell by hcdejong · · Score: 4, Funny

    For n=1 to 12 Q: Blah[n] A: 42! Next n

  6. Article Summary: by Erwos · · Score: 4, Funny

    The 6800 DDL is just a 6800 that supports the new ADC. Apple releases the drivers, don't bitch at us if you don't like the drivers. No, we're not going to tell you about our contract with Apple. The X800 sucks.

    Much faster to read, no PR speak to deal with.

    -Erwos

    --
    Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
  7. usually good, but ... by for_usenet · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm a heavy mac user, and I read this site pretty much on a daily basis, as the guy responsible for the site puts up a LOT of decent Mac hardware and software info on there. But this has got to be one of the most UNinformative, useless things he's posted. I know there's a desire for info about this card - but shouldn't we wait till some more detailed specs are released, or till someone has some actual silicon so benchmarks can be run ?

    Yet another example of "no news" being news ... As many other people have said, "Nothing to see here. Move along !!"

  8. Tom's Hardware by pajamacore · · Score: 4, Informative

    There was actually a really great, informative article about the 6800 on Tom's Hardware a few weeks ago.

    "NVIDIA has seemingly pulled out all stops in an attempt to deliver cutting edge graphics with its GeForce 6800 Ultra. After gamers for too long have had to be content with mere incremental improvements to graphics performance, NVIDIA new card delivers a performance jump not seen for a long time. The device is also solidly engineered as well as insanely fast."

  9. A note from the author by saddino · · Score: 4, Funny
    My answers were designed specifically to provide little information, so there is no need for criticism. The site provided questions and I supply them with answers, if more details are requested, then I would support it. Compared to previous generation interviews, I redesigned my answers from the ground up and I think my word count was outstanding. Yes, Apple provides the answers sometimes. We supply them with talking points and let our quotes speak for themselves. The guys at ATI do a good job of squeezing out interesting information during their interviews, but our answers have a lot more headroom. Other differences include:
    • I support my pants with suspenders and they do not.
    • I speak marketing-speak fluently, and they don't.
    • I am the first one to make my points using bullets.

    I answer questions with no add-ins of emotion. There is no technical reason why I would answer otherwise.

    Sincerely,
    Ujesh Desai
  10. Re:Mac user's number 1 hardware question by Synesthesiatic · · Score: 4, Informative
    A Mac-specific ROM is required for full Open Firmware support. Apparently a card will work without an OF ROM but won't be plug and play. That's pretty important for a Macintosh.

    Since Sun uses OF as well, I wonder if the same card could be used for Macs and Sun workstations.

  11. If you meant... by daveschroeder · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ..."the new ACD", as in "the new 30" Apple Cinema Display", ok.

    But if you actually meant ADC, or "Apple Display Connector", that is no longer used. With the new line of displays, Apple has (thankfully) gone back to standard DVI for the displays and for their future OEM video cards.

  12. Seems to be a lot of confusion over dual-link DVI by shawnce · · Score: 4, Informative

    The 30" monitors from Apple have a resolution that cannot be fed by a single-link DVI connection. So they use dual-link DVI. Both single-link and dual-link are part of the DVI 1.0 standard, nothing Apple specific about them.

    The difference between single-link and dual-link is how many of the pins in the connector is used for transmitting data, in a nut shell 12 pins for the former and 24 pins for the later.

    Apple is using DVI-D (digital only) DVI connectors with a dual-link pin out for the 30" display. So one dual-link DVI-D connection is capable of driving one 30" display. The 6800 adapter used for these displays provides two dual-link DVI-D outputs, so one adapter can drive two 30" displays.

    As a reference...

    DVI connector type summary
    DVI 1.0 specification (PDF)

  13. Re:Worthless read by Exitthree · · Score: 4, Insightful

    While Apple does tend to make products that are often incompatible with older products, there is no way to make the 30" display compatible with older hardware since it requires a new port which isn't available on older products. And don't say, "Well, Apple should have stuck with the old port," because vanilla DVI doesn't support the resolution of the 30" display.