The new Mac Pro is here!

The new Mac Pro is finally available for order.. shipping (hopefully very early) January.

Thought this thing was going to be far more expensive when configured with the D700s and 1TB storage, but Apple's pricing has really come down lately.

Chris, now would be a great time for that native mac client.. please? :)

Edit: Wow.. from when I ordered mine 3h ago, the shipping date has slipped to February. Crazy.

Just received my Mac Pro.. here's some info for anyone interested.





With all of the graphics settings on max at 2560x1600:
Frame time is 5/6 ms with occational spikes to 7 ms (timed with FPS dip to 143).
FPS is a steady 167/200 oscillation (nothing between) with occasional dips to 143.
..whether I'm standing in Sarn or the Imperial Gardens WP.
Will be turning VSync on because those numbers are silly.

I expect these numbers would change when I actually start using skills and partying up, but this is a massive upgrade from my Retina MBP, which stutters with practically no FPS in IG with lower settings.

Game loads in about a dozen seconds from desktop.
Load screen from Sarn Encampment the first loaded IG instance is about 2.5s.

Can't speak for the D300/D500, but the D700s do in fact have CrossfireX support enabled in Win 8.1 by default. But not for programs without a profile - I checked the box to force it for unprofiled games prior to loading PoE. (There has been some debate online on whether or not this would even be possible, but I got the CrossfireX overlay in PoE as confirmation.)

And the system is whisper quiet under load and takes up practically no space.

So very impressed so far. :D

$6,458 inc. AppleCare and taxes.

Im sorry, but thats a huge joke, i could build 2 WAY OP for anything rigs that last for the next 4 years for that, or most likely even less


I'm sure the apple logo on the case looks nice though

That is very impressive indeed, congrats on your new Mac. I do want one, too, but unfortunately the one-off RED Mac Pro was sold already ;)

I understand that for playing PoE Windows is the way to go but I think it would be rather interesting to see what a really powerful computer can do with the Wine wrapper julus has kindly worked on here http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/48708.

"

ImRight wrote:

$6,458 inc. AppleCare and taxes.

Im sorry, but thats a huge joke, i could build 2 WAY OP for anything rigs that last for the next 4 years for that, or most likely even less


I'm sure the apple logo on the case looks nice though

I would like to see that system if you feel like assembling it "on paper". Promise I'll keep an open mind. Impress me.

NCIX should provide you with a good source of parts and current pricing. I've built many systems from their parts over the years.. they're pretty competitive.

Good luck. ;)

(I should note, keep prices in Canadian dollars for a fair comparison.)

"

krifFinn wrote:

I understand that for playing PoE Windows is the way to go but I think it would be rather interesting to see what a really powerful computer can do with the Wine wrapper julus has kindly worked on here http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/48708.

I've seen the unofficial wrapper threads, but I feel that there is enough potential for bugs without adding another layer of complexity. And all the power would do is give an expected FPS boost with all the same glitches.

Plus, if the wrapper or some aspect of running PoE outside of Windows somehow triggers GGG's anti-cheating code (current or future) despite not cheating.. well, that would suck. A lot. And I'm sure it would create an uncomfortable situation for both parties.

Besides.. I would much rather see GGG work towards a native Mac client using OpenGL. Probably by first getting their Windows client to work with OpenGL and then porting to Mac. Chris expressed interest in this some time ago, but indicated it wouldn't be prior to release.. I hope, now that we're post-release, that interest is still present. Not an easy task, by any means, but doable and ultimately liberating (for GGG and players). Perhaps with their integrating with Steam this is a little closer to reality already.

Anyway, I won't be using a wrapper for PoE.. sorry.

Got an idea guys:

Let's take a GNU Operating System, restrict the hell out of it, underpay kids in china to mass produce a computer using aluminium casing (because, I plan on taking my laptop to space) and then charge a shitload for it. We'd make a killing.

Then, let's release the SmartPhone 23, the same as the SmartPhone 22 but with this one you need to buy a 30 dollar proprietary USB (The U in USB stands for universal, ironic...) so that your phone can actually charge.

Hopefully, corporate executives and administrative assistants, the two people who probably know the least about computers will buy it - only for their IT departments to have to support the shiny crap...oh wait...no if there's a problem you have to take it to the Genius Bar so some 19 year old ITT Tech student can explain to you that you know nothing about computers because he's a "Genius".

Fortunately enough, Jobs is dead - and if history repeats itself, Apple's stocks will begin to fall just like it did last time because the company can't run without him. No coming back this time though - although...I'm not sure which is worse - trying to get NeXT Computers started or sitting 6-feet under.

The real victim in this whole story is still Wozniak though.

For those interested in actual benchmarks, here's a 3DMark Result of my Mac Pro configuration.

When I saw the name of the thread I knew it would be an insanely over-priced reproduction of the current "AppleDevice#2". But 10% lighter and 10% more better, with 10% less battery life.

I was not disappointed. Then I saw $6500. And THEN I realized it wasn't even a Laptop and my jaw dropped.

Apple is an absolute miracle of marketing. I'm sure they could sell an iPhone2 tomorrow and tell people it's a "Classic" and every iPhone5 owner would line up at 1am to get it.

They have a legion of followers, and facts don't matter to those followers.
It's like arguing religion when you try to point out what apple really is.

But it seems like you have the money to spend, so good for you. There are people that buy watches coated in Diamonds. I prefer my watch to be practical.

Different Strokes.

"

Durentis wrote:

snipped.

It's quite possible I'm a little biased regarding Apple.

What with the billions of dollars every year in tax evasion that Apple gets away with for U.S. and European citizens, all while I'm still paying 28% of everything I earn so Steve Jobs could collect billions of dollars.

The patent trolling of suing other companies, the audacity really, based on Apple thinking that they invented anything (this is funny, considering that all Apple has ever done is rehash other's works and ideas. iPhone, iPad, iPod, OSX - all rehashed work of others).

The lack of transparency for support in the technology sector - allowing IT departments and tech professionals to support the products they buy.

While many, many companies out there do this same sort of thing, Apple has repeatedly ignored human rights violations with concerns of their suppliers in China. Additionally, I could find no mention of the MacBook Pro not being assembled by Foxconn in China...even Apple's own forums/users state this. I would understand if a company did not know about such violations from their suppliers, but Apple does know - and just laughs it off and takes it to the bank.

Then again, you're either using Windows 8.1 on your overpriced MacBook or having to emulate the software to get it to run - both of which seems like taking one step forward and two steps back.

I digress though, if Apple products are your thing then whatever.

____

Also, I haven't built a computer in about 4 years, mainly because this one still runs everything at max. But your RAM seems a bit off in that diagnostic. 889Mhz seems extremely low last I could remember for DDR3 Ram. The 16GB is great and all, but that RAM seems slow as shit, considering you could drop 16GB of G.SKill RAM @ 2400Mhz for around 160 bucks.

____

Funny story btw:

A few weeks ago me and my girlfriend were picking up a couple of 14-15 year old girls that my girlfriend used to babysit who has remained good friends with the family - so they could see and play with our kids. They live about an hour away from me, so I had my Windows Nokia Lumia propped up in my center console using GPS directions to get to-and-from their house. When they noticed the phone, they asked if they could play around with it and I obliged.

They started talking about their phones, one stating that this was the third iPhone she had to get replaced in the past year, the last one being a manufacturers default on the Home button that made the Home button stick and not work. She continued with even after taking the phone to the genius bar, having the techs at the genius bar state that there was a manufacturers default on it - that they wouldn't replace it for free - pretty shitty.

When I mentioned that I have had my Nokia for a year, without a case - dropping it on concrete - it surviving my 2 year old daughter using it as a plate for her play kitchen, etc without as much as getting a scratch on it - all with a working Carl Zeiss(that's right bitches!) camera lense - they seemed a bit surprised. But stated that they wouldn't be using anything but the iPhone because kids at school wouldn't think they were cool and would think that they were poor for using anything but an iPhone(their words, not mine).

I've come to find that this pretty much resonates as far as the mentality goes for Apple users.

____

The only real argument that I've ever heard with Apple products, specifically their OS and computer hardware is for those that are in fields such as computer graphics or other types of artistic professions. I have, however, never understood why they're so much better for such - considering all the computer graphics and photo editing software runs perfectly fine on a Windows machine as well.

"

Durentis wrote:

"

ImRight wrote:

$6,458 inc. AppleCare and taxes.

Im sorry, but thats a huge joke, i could build 2 WAY OP for anything rigs that last for the next 4 years for that, or most likely even less


I'm sure the apple logo on the case looks nice though

I would like to see that system if you feel like assembling it "on paper". Promise I'll keep an open mind. Impress me.

NCIX should provide you with a good source of parts and current pricing. I've built many systems from their parts over the years.. they're pretty competitive.

Good luck. ;)

(I should note, keep prices in Canadian dollars for a fair comparison.)

i dont really want to spend hours looking in to all the individual parts atm as im not making one but here is a link to something easily as powerful for very close to half the cost

http://pc.ncix.com/ncixpc_new/ncixpc.cfm?uuid=AC9031B5-C2B3-4B19-8329D45A6BB8B959-5581018