'Titan' - full support for PC nvidia cards in OSX!

[jdwl]

A .kext that emulates / replaces EFI for bios based nvidia cards.

http://omni.starchaser.org/

quote "For some time np_ and I have suspected that this EFI business is all a smoke-screen and really serves no real purpose except as yet another way to prevent running OS X on PCs, through use of proprietary hardware.

You can't blame Apple for doing that, they need to protect their product and market share, but at the same time they have severely limited their users on what can be plugged into the computers.

Pre-compiled binary
This is my version of the solution, called Titan, distributed as a binary only. Please note that this was only tested in OS X 10.4.8. Put the kext in your /System/Library/Extensions/ folder, correct the premissions (chown/chmod), remove the cached and packed extensions and reboot. If all goes well your computer will still be in one piece after the system boots back up."

[aiongiant]

sweet!
if i read correctly this will let us use normal pc vid card like the nvidia 7950 GX2 under OS X??

so no longer need to switch vid cables and such?

if so this is awesome!!!
wonder if this will work for the new nvidia 8800 coming out in a week or so? =)

[jdwl]

exactly - and has been tested by various people - works perfect.

[aiongiant]

curious on speed difference? since it is emulating? is it closer than if it was in windows? or if it was fully supported by osx?

[jdwl]

only the efi is 'emulated' - and only to allow the driver to start. Once the driver is initialised the card runs at full speed (very very fast from the prelim xbenches I have seen).

Also - it appears the apple drivers support many many nvidia cards, success reports are coming in with 6600, 6800, various 7000's.

Download, follow the install instructions and enjoy!

[MacRumorUser]

So a pci express 6800 GT should in theory work ?

[dmw007]

Wow, that is pretty amazing! :eek: :D


Imagine being able to use almost any PC video card in a PCI-E based Mac! :cool:

[slughead]

Also - it appears the apple drivers support many many nvidia cards, success reports are coming in with 6600, 6800, various 7000's.

Where did you read that?

The Website you linked to says that there's a lot of falsehoods about his software being thrown around.

I'd like an official list of supported hardware.

[jer2eydevil88]

I thought this was so cool I had to post it on Digg (http://digg.com/apple/New_hack_to_use_any_PCI_EX_NVidia_card_in_Intel_Mac_Pro_s), thanks for all the hard work now when I get my Mac Pro I can use an affordable GFX card in it.

[maxp]

Very exciting news.
If this works it will open up mac pros as machines feasable to gamers and those wishing to upgrade outside of Apples own video card constraints.

[Spanky Deluxe]

This is excellent news! While I don't think I'll be switching from my 7300GT SLI set up for a while I'll probably want to switch when the second generation DX10 cards come out. Maybe an 8900 or whatever it'll be called by which point the drivers in OS X and any methods of getting PC graphics cards working in OS X will have matured a bit more. :)

[MacRumorUser]

This is excellent news! While I don't think I'll be switching from my 7300GT SLI set up for a while I'll probably want to switch when the second generation DX10 cards come out. Maybe an 8900 or whatever it'll be called by which point the drivers in OS X and any methods of getting PC graphics cards working in OS X will have matured a bit more. :)

What SLI setup. No mac supports SLI

[Spanky Deluxe]

What SLI setup. No mac supports SLI

Mine does in Windows. :) 2x7300GTs Overclocked in SLI = just under 5k in 3DMark'06.

[MacRumorUser]

Mine does in Windows. :) 2x7300GTs Overclocked in SLI = just under 5k in 3DMark'06.


Really? is that a mac pro? so it supports SLI in windows ?

That would make the card performance alright in games (until DX10 comes out) at the moment then yes ?

If that's true I may have to reconsider sending back the X1900 upgrade kit coming and hold off till a true DX 10 card comes along...

[Spanky Deluxe]

Really? is that a mac pro? so it supports SLI in windows ?

That would make the card performance alright in games (until DX10 comes out) at the moment then yes ?

If that's true I may have to reconsider sending back the X1900 upgrade kit coming and hold off till a true DX 10 card comes along...

You have to download some modified drivers available from here (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1744187&postcount=302).

I can't remember quite what I run the clocks at but its pretty stable. I play HL2, Doom 3, the Sims 2, all at 2560x1600 with satisfactory performance using low AA settings. To be honest playing at 2560x1600 I played for a while in Doom 3 with various settings of AA but didn't notice any worse quality without AA - 2560x1600 is such a high resolution.
If you'd like me to run some benchmarks in 3DMark'03, '05, '06, HL2, Doom 3, Quake 4, Farcry, WoW or the Sims 2 (all in Windows) at any settings you want then PM me the details of the setting you'd like me to try, the resolutions and how to actually run the benchmarks and I'll give them a run.

[Deerhunter04]

So a pci express 6800 GT should in theory work ?

I tried a 6800 (not sure if it was GT or not) in my Mac Pro and the computer wouldn't even post. All it did was loop the startup sound over and over. I wonder if the 6xxx series are too old to work on the Mac Pro. I've seen a lot of people have success with the 7xxx series of video cards.

[MacRumorUser]

I can't remember quite what I run the clocks at but its pretty stable. I play HL2, Doom 3, the Sims 2, all at 2560x1600 with satisfactory performance using low AA settings.

No need, your running at much higher res than I would run mine 1680x1050 max so I'm sure things like HalfLife 2 will be great..

€137 for another 7300GT compared to €377 for a X1900.... You saved me €240 ;) :D I can save that for when a true DX 10 card comes out :)


---

I just hope apple wont have a problem RMA'ing the X1900 Upgrade kit when it arrives.

[Spanky Deluxe]

No need, your running at much higher res than I would run mine 1680x1050 max so I'm sure things like HalfLife 2 will be great..

€137 for another 7300GT compared to €377 for a X1900.... You saved me €240 ;) :D I can save that for when a true DX 10 card comes out :)

Keep an eye on the marketplace for 7300GTs. Several people got the X1900 upgrade and so are trying to get rid of their 7300s. I picked up my second one for $100 shipped from the US to the UK so that's about €80. :-)

I didn't feel like a X1900 XT card was a step up enough from my old SLI 6800GT set up to warrant the money so figured I'd go with the 7300s instead and save the money for a future DX10 card. Plus I'm a bit of an nVidia fanboy! :p

[jdwl]

Where did you read that?

The Website you linked to says that there's a lot of falsehoods about his software being thrown around.

I'd like an official list of supported hardware.

on insanelymac - from guys who already have it running. (also note omni's own screenshot - which is from a 6800).

[coolbits]

I tried a 6800 (not sure if it was GT or not) in my Mac Pro and the computer wouldn't even post. All it did was loop the startup sound over and over. I wonder if the 6xxx series are too old to work on the Mac Pro. I've seen a lot of people have success with the 7xxx series of video cards.
Did you connect the power cable to the card? :)

[Deerhunter04]

Did you connect the power cable to the card? :)

The card does not have a power connector. It's a Winfast PX6800TDH.

[teitoku]

Does the Titan hack work on PPC macs?

[MacRumorUser]

Does the Titan hack work on PPC macs?


NO. It only works when booted into Windows. You cant boot windows on your PPC mac.

[grabberslasher]

NO. It only works when booted into Windows. You cant boot windows on your PPC mac.

No the Titan hack is not for Windows, it's for Mac OS X - to allow Mac OS X to be able to run any pc nvidia card (that goes for hacked OS X on beige boxes too).

(But you're correct in saying it's only for Intel Macs)

[MacRumorUser]

No the Titan hack is not for Windows, it's for Mac OS X - to allow Mac OS X to be able to run any pc nvidia card (that goes for hacked OS X on beige boxes too).

(But you're correct in saying it's only for Intel Macs)


Doh! :rolleyes: I got myself lost halfway through when Spanky & Myself were talking about the SLI drivers for Windows :o :D

Typical Kerryman :p

[Sesshi]

Schweet! I've given a mate some bits for his hackintosh-to-be. He was concerned about the video adaptor, so hopefully the 7900GT should run great on his machine.

[Karpfish]

if i were getting a mac pro now(hey, the holidays r coming up, but im not gettgin one,lol) i would get an eVGA 7900GT(currently 205 from newegg, cheaper by the end of the year) which should do you just as well as the x1900(well, it only has 256mb VRAM) for 200 bucks less and just use this hack.

[Latisha]

NEWS FLASH:

Nvidia 8800GTX got announced recently. Looks like it'll be launching within two weeks and has pretty kickass performance:

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=4812

[Spartacus]

Schweet! I've given a mate some bits for his hackintosh-to-be. He was concerned about the video adaptor, so hopefully the 7900GT should run great on his machine.

Well, now that we're all guilty of getting excited at the expense of Steve Jobs, I can safely say you people should just do as this guy did and build a Hackintosh. Why? Well, for $280 (USD) you could buy two 7600GTs and run them SLI under Windows. This, in my opinion, is the best bang for the Video Card buck, and you even get to run OSX for the other 99% of the stuff you want to do with a computer. I even think the stand-alone Tiger disks one can buy from Apple can be modded to run on a custom built, Newegg-ordered PC. And before I get flamed this would be as legal as all this video card EFI hacking business meant to work-around the restrictions of a Mac Pro :eek:

Someone had to say it.

[Jiddick ExRex]

Well, now that we're all guilty of getting excited at the expense of Steve Jobs, I can safely say you people should just do as this guy did and build a Hackintosh. Why? Well, for $280 (USD) you could buy two 7600GTs and run them SLI under Windows. This, in my opinion, is the best bang for the Video Card buck, and you even get to run OSX for the other 99% of the stuff you want to do with a computer. I even think the stand-alone Tiger disks one can buy from Apple can be modded to run on a custom built, Newegg-ordered PC. And before I get flamed this would be as legal as all this video card EFI hacking business meant to work-around the restrictions of a Mac Pro :eek:

Someone had to say it.

I haven't read the EULA or ToS or whatever it is called when you buy a Tiger OS disc. I just assume that you cannot compare the two (installing Tiger on a pc, and installing the binary kext to run another Nvidia video card no your own mac), since you buy a piece of software meant to run only on an Apple computer. When you buy a videocard and put it in the Apple computer and emulates the EFI, it's different methinks, but only if it's not mentioned in the EULA.

[super_kev]

Mine does in Windows. :) 2x7300GTs Overclocked in SLI = just under 5k in 3DMark'06.

Why wouldn't SLI work in OS X then? I'm assuming this is on a Mac Pro? I'm sure we can figure out a way to enable SLI sometime in the future. :cool:

[Chone]

Why wouldn't SLI work in OS X then? I'm assuming this is on a Mac Pro? I'm sure we can figure out a way to enable SLI sometime in the future. :cool:

Drivers... nvidia doesn't support SLI in their OSX drivers well because... there is absolutely no reason to.

[aneks]

So can anyone actually confirm that they have done this ?

if so I am off to buy a 7950gx2 right about now !

[Neonguy]

Does this work on PC side too with Bootcamp? I wouldn't think it would though. I really want to use NVidia card instead. But there isn't one that work for Mac and PC equivalent to the ATI X1900 XT.

[Jiddick ExRex]

Does this work on PC side too with Bootcamp? I wouldn't think it would though. I really want to use NVidia card instead. But there isn't one that work for Mac and PC equivalent to the ATI X1900 XT.

Seriuosly dude, is it really so hard to read through all the posts and actually comprehend what the discussion is about???? You NEED to learn to phrase your questions so we know what the meaning is. If I understand your question correctly, you are asking if using Titan on an NVIDIA card also works in Bootcamp, right?
If it is, I will cut it out in wood for you:

The Titan binary .kext file is a file that enables most NVIDIA cards to work in OS X.
EVERY Graphics Card theoretically works in Bootcamp, thus this is a method to enable support for most NVIDIA cards for BOTH operating systems.

[trakian]

hello,

I tested Titan with a 7950GX2 ASUS on a MACPRO the first problem is the fact that a graphics board PC does not have the cable 12V to connect to the motherboard of the MACPRO(i think is only shipped with ATI or Nvidia made in APPLE).

I thus used the cable provided with the 7950GX2 which I connected to the second superdrive catch molex.

MACPRO start after the DONG and i have nothing, only black screen (Hardrive don't start)

Somebody does it know starts or that can come? thank you.

(sorry for my bad english)

[MacRumorUser]

hello,

I tested Titan with a 7950GX2 ASUS on a MACPRO the first problem is the fact that a graphics board PC does not have the cable 12V to connect to the motherboard of the MACPRO(i think is only shipped with ATI or Nvidia made in APPLE).

I thus used the cable provided with the 7950GX2 which I connected to the second superdrive catch molex.

MACPRO start after the DONG and i have nothing, only black screen (Hardrive don't start)

Somebody does it know starts or that can come? thank you.

(sorry for my bad english)

It's a power thing alright. Your drawing too much power through those molex connectors and it's not letting you. Someone here had a similar problem when putting in a pc X1900 Xt card into their mac rather than the mac one...

[trakian]

Thanks, but where i can find 12V câble for motherboard MACPRO?:cool:

[MacRumorUser]

Thanks, but where i can find 12V câble for motherboard MACPRO?:cool:

Not sure. I think it was slughead who maybe able to answer you, you could PM him :)

[trakian]

Ok , i'm french not easy ;-)

[mjgunn]

A bit expensive, but heres the cable you need to connect to the motherboard

http://www.welovemacs.com/9227128.html

[trakian]

thx mjgunn

Outch 30$ !

[capran]

No the Titan hack is not for Windows, it's for Mac OS X - to allow Mac OS X to be able to run any pc nvidia card (that goes for hacked OS X on beige boxes too).

(But you're correct in saying it's only for Intel Macs)

:confused: Will this mean I can get my AGP 6800GT to work on my Hackintosh? Or is just for PCI-E 7xxx series? :confused:

I can't afford a new Mac yet, but I'm planning on saving up for one. I really like the 24" iMac with 7600GT, but on the other hand the Pro with Radeon 1900GT is tempting too (and approx. the same price with edu discount.) Only thing is the iMac can be bumped to 2 GB while it looks like Apple took away the 2GB option on the Mac Pro. :mad:

But in the meantime, if I can get my Pentium-D box running OS X with full graphics support, hell yeah. I'd even be willing to buy a mid-range 7600GT PCI-E card if this really works.

[MacRumorUser]

thx mjgunn

Outch 30$ !

$30 for that.. :eek:

[Allotriophagy]

Now I wonder...could this or something similar be used to make laptop upgrade cards work in the 24" iMac...

[trakian]

40$ with shipping taxe....to 2 @ 28 days

very expensive cable

[capran]

Now I wonder...could this or something similar be used to make laptop upgrade cards work in the 24" iMac...

That's something else I'd love to know. Still can't decide on iMac or Pro. (FB-DIMMS are friggin' expensive! But MXM cards aren't for sale anywhere except eBay.)

[Allotriophagy]

That's something else I'd love to know. Still can't decide on iMac or Pro. (FB-DIMMS are friggin' expensive! But MXM cards aren't for sale anywhere except eBay.)

Have a look at this site - http://www.mxm-upgrade.com/

They have some MXM cards for sale but very little info on the iMac, as they seem to focus mainly on PC laptops. Apparently, MXM cards come in a variety of types...

[capran]

Yes, I've seen that MXM site before. We still have to wait and see what will work in the iMac.

You know, I love the form factor of the iMac, and it's technical specs are nearly dead on with what I want (faster Mac than my Mini, able to run WinXP and 3D games), except for a few sticking points. The MXM is one of them, the future upgrade path of the CPU is another, and the front side bus as well.

But the Pro is workstation class. I have no need for dual Xeons or FB-DIMMs. I do want the 16x PCI-E graphics slot though.

I just wish Apple would wake up and realize there are Mac geek gamers like me, and release something mid-way between the Mini and the Pro. :mad:

But, back on topic, if Titan works as reported, I may be able to make-do with my my PC for a while.

[aneks]

I just wish Apple would wake up and realize there are Mac geek gamers like me, and release something mid-way between the Mini and the Pro.

i suppose it's the iMac with the 7600gt !?

the 8800's came out today so I guess there is gonna be someone crazy enough to try one of these with titan ?! If so then make sure to post immediately !

[capran]

i suppose it's the iMac with the 7600gt !?


Well, not quite. It's certainly a drool-worthy machine, but what I meant was a headless box like the Mini and the Pro, but bigger and more expandable than the Mini but not quite as workstation/serverish as the Pro, and more importantly, PRICED midway as well.

A fully decked-out Mini is around $900ish, while the custom configured "low-end" Mac Pro is around $2000. So that's a machine priced around $1400-1500 that has a single 16X PCI-E slot filled with a decent gaming card, uses the Conroe Core 2 Duo CPU, DDR2-667 memory, and a desktop size Superdrive and hard disk.

You know, the machine every Mac gamer wants.

I like the 24", I like that the CPU is socketed, I like that it has a 3.5" drive, and I like that you can order the 7600GT with it. What I don't like is the price, all the iMacs should drop by about $300 - $400. And it uses an MXM module, which aren't common place. So who knows if there's ever going to be an aftermarket upgrade?

This Titan thing certainly sounds promising. But it is a hack, and if Apple wanted us to be able to use standard aftermarket parts, they wouldn't have put the blocks in place. Which means, if Steve decides he doesn't like Titan and it's like, he can wave his magic wand and suddenly with the next update, POOF, it doesn't work anymore. (The hackers will find away around that, and then you have a little arms race.)

[aiongiant]

i suppose it's the iMac with the 7600gt !?

the 8800's came out today so I guess there is gonna be someone crazy enough to try one of these with titan ?! If so then make sure to post immediately !

planning to buy the 8800 and will give the titan a go
althought havn't found a place yet that sells them

[trakian]

no PCI express cable 12V for MACPRO in Europe i have no choice :mad:

[evp]

As I got my broken x1900xt replaced I asked if I could keep the cable from the broken one and they gave it to me. Now I have one spare incase I feel like buying a nVidia card and selling the x1900. Yippee!

[MaxPower]

Has anyone with a Mac Pro gotten this to work? I've tried the Titan.kext and the various Natit.kexts over at insanelymac with my 7600GS with no success.

It boots up and then halts when its loading the NVDANV40Hal.kext.

See here: http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=32536&st=40