I was just looking at the press launch for that new Mac Pro and I got thinking to myself.. Why hasn't this been done sooner in a PC? It seems so logical and easy to plonk a mini ITX board on 1 side with the cpu then mount 2 mid range gpus on the other 2 sides with some pci-x based ssd. Shove it all in a case and put a fan on it. Why hasn't this been tried before? I can't stand macs but really - this design just makes sense. If you don't know what this design is: see this: http://www.apple.com/mac-pro/
sure, "That" system costs alot. But if the design was somewhat ratified as some kind of standard... in the same way that ITX and Micro ATX is... then they could be just as cost effective. It just seems to make alot of sense to have all the hot parts share a heat sink rather than have lots of heatsinks pushing air in different directions.
I used to be anti apple even though I'd never owned one. Now I'm a bit more grown up. It's all down to choices and what someone prefers. Some people like something different. It's quite an appealing shape. I wonder if I can use it as a thermos flask for tea and coffee too? So it's AMD GPU based with xeon processor.
The system is duel CPU duel Gpu the board alone is $500+ if rumours are accurate. That cost alone would put most builders off buying it. The case its in would be another insane cost amount. Most the mac pros are sold not alot more than it would cost to build.( Even for apple the profit per machine is sub $300 after the parts costs where broken down) Workstation pcs which is what it is are always super expensive. 2 tesla gpus is more than most of us have spent on hardware in the last 10 years. Maybe in 5 years time if duel CPUs take off you may see a mainstream board for the market but can not see it happening.
I really only meant just using the design idea for a PC. Not using their components. I.e. just a re-designed mini-ITX board with some adjustments made to the positioning and orientation of the PCI-e ports so that 2 mid range GPUs could be mounted in that orientation. It couldn't be that hard (or costly) to do that.
Rollo, it isn't dual CPU, but single. Apple have seemingly gotten access to Intel's new CPUs (which has happened before), and will be using a twelve core Xeon as the top end model. I assume they'll also have a range of CPUs available, from quads upwards. Apple have only shown what appears to be the fully-loaded model. There will be be a much cheaper machine with a quad core CPU, a single GPU board (likely to be a lower spec than the W800) and less RAM as the entry model.
I would imagine it hasn't been tried as ITX boards don't have two PCIE slots. So you'd only be able to use one GPU.
That's what I was thinking.. However, the ATX and even the BTX standard allowed for systems to be built that can be stacked with in the 19in rack environment. The "thermal core" profile actually requires a whole load of new standards to be used, which in turns means nobody wants to invest in such a change, when water cooling is far easier. Apple is in a unique position where it can design and build anything as they control the whole product environment, from design of hardware to software.
Well if like to see one of the big PC manufacturers give it a go. It would be a great design. If only theyn wouldn't get sued for doing it. Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4
What it would require then would be a casing that's akin to a cylinder. Think cooling rods. The base would have the boards and the GPUs, and if we were lucky the CPU and GPU would be socketable or even better replaceable. I'm thinking an extension of the MXM standard. The problem would be standardizing the process and making a reasonably large heatsink that can be centralized. The ports would be a nonexistent problem, the real problem is a form factor issue. I can't wait for rod formed PCs.
It's an elegant design (well, it looks a bit like a dustbin, but a beautiful Ive designed dustbin ). Someone really needs to make the case transparent. But as mentioned above, Apple are in a pretty unique position of having full control over all aspects of design and manufacture of the product. Such a design is built on breaking standards, and the desktop PC market is largely built on standards.
One bug bare for me with the Mac pro design, is the push towards only having PCI-E flash storage. They've missed the point when it comes to the target market. AV editors need buckets of storage, a few run dedicated storage servers, but for the most daisy chaining external HDD's off the back of this thing is just ugly and the amount of wall warts needed makes me sick inside. Apple has innovated and failed at the same time, one internal 3.5in bay would at least have the possibility of a 4tb storage increase. I wonder if the thermal core can hollow like a jet engine under seriously heavy load. Talking particle physic rendering and CGI rendering used in applications like 3DS max, etc
If they attach the thermal core to a proper W/C radiator? It would be whisper quiet. Alternatively, they could always make insulated refridgerator units for these thermal core PCs. All you'd need is just a room that seperates the moisture and stick the rod into a cooling bin.
Apple's intention for these people is to sell them the Promise Thunderbolt RAID arrays, with 4-6 bays that run nice and fast, over a single cable, rather than piles of external USB3 drives. It's a reasonable solution, just expensive.
Ah, the typical apple business model, "wait, you want what you already had but in our latest generation device... hmmmm give us $2K and we'll see"
