8800gt EFI64 ROM

[millisecond]

Anyone have a version of this they can send me or that they've found posted anywhere? If you're willing to do it but don't know how, private message me and we'll see if we can figure it out.

Have a PC version of the card that I would LOVE to try out in my MP 2008...

Thanks in advance!

[thagomizer]

Do you think a PC 8800 GTS (G92 version) could be flashed with the Mac 8800 GT firmware and still allow the extra 16 shaders on the GTS to operate?

[millisecond]

Do you think a PC 8800 GTS (G92 version) could be flashed with the Mac 8800 GT firmware and still allow the extra 16 shaders on the GTS to operate?

Seriously doubt it as stuff like this tends to be hard-coded in the firmware. And actually doubt the GTS would work at all, but we won't know until we can try with a version of the EFI firmware.

[velocityg4]

Do you think a PC 8800 GTS (G92 version) could be flashed with the Mac 8800 GT firmware and still allow the extra 16 shaders on the GTS to operate?

It would only operate as an 8800 GT if it still functioned. I have tried this with an X800Pro flashed to x800XT to get the extra speed and pipelines on my venerable old gaming PC. This did work like a charm though:D.

I imagine the downgrading would work since you are putting less strain on it. Unless of course there is a significant enough difference in the chips used between the two models. Then maybe in Windows you could use an overclocking program to force the card back to GTS clock speeds albeit without the extra pipes.

[Pressure]

It would only operate as an 8800 GT if it still functioned. I have tried this with an X800Pro flashed to x800XT to get the extra speed and pipelines on my venerable old gaming PC. This did work like a charm though:D.

I imagine the downgrading would work since you are putting less strain on it. Unless of course there is a significant enough difference in the chips used between the two models. Then maybe in Windows you could use an overclocking program to force the card back to GTS clock speeds albeit without the extra pipes.

The amount of stream processors are hardwired on the chip, regardless of the ROM.

[diamond.g]

The amount of stream processors are hardwired on the chip, regardless of the ROM.

I missed the good old days of the NV40, when we could unlock disabled quads. Boy Nvidia wised up real quick to that.

[fs454]

Ugh, if I had ordered one, i would be going through the process right now to do it, but I gave in and now own a 2600 equipped MP and am on your side.


:/

[adamzx3]

Once we get a working ROM dump, will it work on my 2007 Mac Pro ? I never heard if it was confirmed that it will work.

[aLoC]

The program nvflash can be used to backup and restore Nvidia firmware:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1469

If someone with a Mac 8800 could do a backup, I have a PC 8800 and will try a restore.

Edit: sorry, I will not be able to do it after all. The program needs to be run from a DOS boot disk and my PC does not have a floppy drive. Maybe some1 else?

[Infrared]

The program nvflash can be used to backup and restore Nvidia firmware:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1469

If someone with a Mac 8800 could do a backup, I have a PC 8800 and will try a restore.

Edit: sorry, I will not be able to do it after all. The program needs to be run from a DOS boot disk and my PC does not have a floppy drive. Maybe some1 else?

I believe it's possible to make a bootable DOS cd-rom.

[waremaster]

The program nvflash can be used to backup and restore Nvidia firmware:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1469

If someone with a Mac 8800 could do a backup, I have a PC 8800 and will try a restore.

Edit: sorry, I will not be able to do it after all. The program needs to be run from a DOS boot disk and my PC does not have a floppy drive. Maybe some1 else?

Perhaps you have a USB memory stick that your pc could be configured to boot off of.

Here (http://www.thepcspy.com/read/bootable_usb_flash_drive) are some instructions and files needed to make a bootable usb mem stick.

[diamond.g]

The program nvflash can be used to backup and restore Nvidia firmware:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1469

If someone with a Mac 8800 could do a backup, I have a PC 8800 and will try a restore.

Edit: sorry, I will not be able to do it after all. The program needs to be run from a DOS boot disk and my PC does not have a floppy drive. Maybe some1 else?

Don't need to. There has been a Windows version of NVFlash included in the download for a while. There are also Windows versions of the Editor as well, but I am not sure if they can even open EFI.

[aLoC]

I couldn't get it to run from within Windows, but USB boot drive worked (thanks). Have now backed up PC rom and ready to try flashing mac rom if anyone has it.

[millisecond]

I couldn't get it to run from within Windows, but USB boot drive worked (thanks). Have now backed up PC rom and ready to try flashing mac rom if anyone has it.

I'm also ready, just waiting for some kind person to post it, private message it, email it, or send it over via carrier pigeon. ;)

TIA to anyone who does make it public.

[thagomizer]

To those who have saved/erased/backed up their PC 8800 GT cards... what size is the firmware file?

In the past, the mac versions of ATI cards had 128K flash chips, so you'd have to find a PC card that had a 128K flash, instead of a 64K flash.

[tugger]

Stopped at CompUSA yesterday. Everything is marked down 30-40%. Not much left but they had a dozen or so PC 8800GT cards for $129. I so wanted to grab one but I know nothing about the whole firmware thing. I hope you get to test this, though. What a cool thing it would be to get the PC version of the 8800GT working for roughly 1/3 the price Apple is charging for it. :eek:

[aLoC]

To those who have saved/erased/backed up their PC 8800 GT cards... what size is the firmware file?

In the past, the mac versions of ATI cards had 128K flash chips, so you'd have to find a PC card that had a 128K flash, instead of a 64K flash.

Mine is 64k (Inno3d 8800GT)

[aLoC]

If you have a Mac 8800GT and a PC, and want to try (at your own risk!), here are the steps to obtain a ROM image:

1. Find a USB key that you don't mind formatting.
2. Download this program and install it: http://i.thepcspy.com/USB_Boot.zip. It is a Hewlett Packard program that makes USB keys bootable, but doesn't only work on HP PCs. The archive password is pasta.
3. Use the program to format your USB key. Select the "Create a DOS Startup Disk" option and choose the folder "DOS System Files" from within the unzipped archive.
4. Once the disk has formatted, copy the rest of the files from "DOS System Files" to the root of the USB key. It may ask you whether to replace some files, say "no."
5. Download nvflash 5.57. Any earlier version will not work with the 8800GT. http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/819/NVFlash_5.57.html
6. Copy nvflash.exe and cwsdpmi.exe to the root of the flash drive.
7. Put the Mac 8800GT in the PC, be sure to connect the additional power.
8. Reboot your PC and boot from the flash drive. You may have to enter your BIOS settings and tell it to enable USB boot. On my Intel bios this involves pressing F2 at startup, and the option is in the Booting screen of the BIOS.
9. Once the flash drive boots up, type nvflash --save myrom.rom.

The file myrom.rom now contains a copy of the card's firmware.

[macz1]

I am really curious whether the G92 8800 GTS card will work with the 8800 GT ROM.

[knome]

or the up coming 9k series cards.

[SuperGrobi]

I read in other forum that people successfully used a PC HD2600XT card together with the stock Mac one as well as a PC 7300GT with the Mac card installed at the same time. It is assumed that during boot the EFI is read from the first (Mac) card only.
In other words, there is a chance that a PC 8800(GT only?) card could work in Mac OS if there is the original Mac 8800GT card installed in Slot1? That would be kind of cool ... although, who needs two 8800er at the same time?
Anybody with a Mac 8800er should test that ...

[thagomizer]

Looks like the firmware image on PC cards is only 55KB. It's likely (though I have no proof) that the flash chip on a PC version of the card is only 64KB.

http://www.mvktech.net/component/option,com_joomlaboard/Itemid,34/func,view/id,47618/catid,13/

If Apple uses a larger image than this, and thus requires a 128KB flash chip, it might not even fit on a PC card. But we won't know for sure until someone lifts the firmware image from a Mac version of the card.

[ntux]

Not having any pcie PCs at hand to dump the rom with nvflash, I used nibitor in winxp to dump the rom of the 8800gt of my 2008 mac pro. Oddly enough the file is only 60 KB (is the rom chip only 64kb ?). Here it is. (http://a.mondit.free.fr/mp2008/mp8800gt.rom)

But since the EFI64 stuff maybe this is only a legacy bios rom inside a efi rom, so I can't say whether there's more to the MP 8800gt than that rom.

EDIT : The nibitor won't dump more than 64kb, so the rom I dumped wasn't good. I made a new dump with nvflash and replaced the file on my site (now 128kb).

[Pressure]

Not having any pcie PCs at hand to dump the rom with nvflash, I used nibitor in winxp to dump the rom of the 8800gt of my 2008 mac pro. Oddly enough the file is only 60 KB (is the rom chip only 64kb ?). Here it is. (http://a.mondit.free.fr/mp2008/mp8800gt.rom)

But since the EFI64 stuff maybe this is only a legacy bios rom inside a efi rom, so I can't say whether there's more to the MP 8800gt than that rom.

Thanks a lot! :D

It took some time but now we can start to test it with normal PC Geforce 8800GTs.

[davem7]

I was just about to download the dump as well, you got there before me :)

Hope you guys can get these cards working under OS X.

[millisecond]

Not having any pcie PCs at hand to dump the rom with nvflash, I used nibitor in winxp to dump the rom of the 8800gt of my 2008 mac pro. Oddly enough the file is only 60 KB (is the rom chip only 64kb ?). Here it is. (http://a.mondit.free.fr/mp2008/mp8800gt.rom)

But since the EFI64 stuff maybe this is only a legacy bios rom inside a efi rom, so I can't say whether there's more to the MP 8800gt than that rom.

Wow, that's great news. That it's both the right size and you've posted it!

Thank you so much. Starting work on getting this running.

-C

[millisecond]

Wow, that's great news. That it's both the right size and you've posted it!

Thank you so much. Starting work on getting this running.

-C

Grrrr. Putting the card into the Mac Pro needs a male-male 6 pin connector for power. Guess the standard on PCs? (Or at least the one I have and was planning to use...) male-female. Don't have one of those lying around and new to this city so not even sure where to get one. My bad for not checking, just assumed since I had _a_ cable it would be OK.

Anyone else having luck with the ROM?

-C

[millisecond]

Grrrr. Putting the card into the Mac Pro needs a male-male 6 pin connector for power. Guess the standard on PCs? (Or at least the one I have and was planning to use...) male-female. Don't have one of those lying around and new to this city so not even sure where to get one. My bad for not checking, just assumed since I had _a_ cable it would be OK.

Anyone else having luck with the ROM?

-C

Or rather it's not exactly a male-female problem, it appears to be a different style of 6-pin port. Still working on it...

[diamond.g]

Or rather it's not exactly a male-female problem, it appears to be a different style of 6-pin port. Still working on it...

Okay, if the plug is different on the card then take a plug from a pc box. Disconnect the plug in the MP and basically swap the ends. The pins should just pop out of the plug itself. All you have to do is make sure you don't get power and ground confused and you should be good to go.

[millisecond]

Okay, if the plug is different on the card then take a plug from a pc box. Disconnect the plug in the MP and basically swap the ends. The pins should just pop out of the plug itself. All you have to do is make sure you don't get power and ground confused and you should be good to go.

Motherboard has a female-looking 6 pin connector that's a bit small-ish the Mac Pro doesn't ship with a connector for.

From my PC, I have a 6-pin female-male connector, the male side connects to the card, the female side doesn't fit on the mobo side of the Mac. Unless I hard-wired it directly to the mobo I don't see any way to get it to work.

Was trying to get the PC close enough that I could power the card from the PC, but have it plugged into the Mac, but that's not seeming possible. On a con-call for a few hours anyway, will see if anyone has other ideas.

-C

[slackpacker]

If I wanted, for now could I purchase a (PC Based) 8800GT and use it under the windows bootcamp side of the Mac Pro?

Would this work?

[knome]

If I wanted, for now could I purchase a (PC Based) 8800GT and use it under the windows bootcamp side of the Mac Pro?

Would this work?

That would work with any card. But under the bootcamp side only.

[pipomolo42]

Hello,

Unfortunately, Nibitor is not capable of doing a complete rom dump. And the second part (EFI) is missing, as indicated by the fact that the "last rom indicator" bit is not set.

I tried and confirmed this with both my orig 7300GT and modded 7900GS: I know that they have 128kb of rom (BIOS+EFI), but only the bios part is dumped by Nivibitor or GPU-Z ...

Please try to dump it again using nvflash tool. If you need a dos environment, you can use freedos livecd, which I used to flash my cards without problems.

[slackpacker]

That would work with any card. But under the bootcamp side only.

Excellent Thanks!

[ntux]

Hello,

Unfortunately, Nibitor is not capable of doing a complete rom dump. And the second part (EFI) is missing, as indicated by the fact that the "last rom indicator" bit is not set.

You are right. I just dumped the rom using nvflash 5.57 in freedos (in recovery mode, the other modes wouldn't boot because of cdrom drivers) and the new file size is near 128k. I replaced the old rom with the correct version (http://a.mondit.free.fr/mp2008/mp8800gt.rom) on my site.

Nvflash gave me a warning (http://a.mondit.free.fr/mp2008/IMG_0014.JPG) as it couldn't recognize the board ID. I hope that's not that important for the flash dump.

[millisecond]

You are right. I just dumped the rom using nvflash 5.57 in freedos (in recovery mode, the other modes wouldn't boot because of cdrom drivers) and the new file size is near 128k. I replaced the old rom with the correct version (http://a.mondit.free.fr/mp2008/mp8800gt.rom) on my site.

Nvflash gave me a warning (http://a.mondit.free.fr/mp2008/IMG_0014.JPG) as it couldn't recognize the board ID. I hope that's not that important for the flash dump.

OK, I flashed that onto my board and still no problem. Guessing even the PC chips have the 64k of EFI storage even if they don't use it.

Still haven't solved the power problem though... pipomolo42, what cable are using to get this to work?

-C

[pipomolo42]

Hello again,

This dump looks good, thank you very much :)

I had a quick look, and as expected, the second part of the rom is a EFI64 driver, so there's no chance it'll work on a older mac pro ...

Also, I noticed this string in the driver: "Engineering Build Feb 1 2008 18:59:39", looks like they were a bit in a hurry ;)

[aLoC]

The PCIe power connectors on the MP are smaller than normal, but there is a spare molex connector in the lower optical drive bay.

[aLoC]

It worked! I was able to flash a PC 8800GT (Inno3D brand) with ntux's firmware and now OS X happily recognizes it.

From System Profiler:
Name: NVDA,Display-B
Type: display
Driver Installed: Yes
Bus: PCI
Slot: Slot-1
Vendor ID: 0x10de
Device ID: 0x0611
Subsystem Vendor ID: 0x10de
Subsystem ID: 0x0010
ROM Revision: 3233
Revision ID: 0x00a2
Link Width: x16

Thanks ntux!

[abisai]

It worked! I was able to flash a PC 8800GT (Inno3D brand) with ntux's firmware and now OS X happily recognizes it.

From System Profiler:
Name: NVDA,Display-B
Type: display
Driver Installed: Yes
Bus: PCI
Slot: Slot-1
Vendor ID: 0x10de
Device ID: 0x0611
Subsystem Vendor ID: 0x10de
Subsystem ID: 0x0010
ROM Revision: 3233
Revision ID: 0x00a2
Link Width: x16

Thanks ntux!

Are you using the spare molex connector to power the card? If so does your cable look like this one and are you using both connectors?

http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/14-130-318-07.jpg

[sweedigel]

It worked! I was able to flash a PC 8800GT (Inno3D brand) with ntux's firmware and now OS X happily recognizes it.

From System Profiler:
Name: NVDA,Display-B
Type: display
Driver Installed: Yes
Bus: PCI
Slot: Slot-1
Vendor ID: 0x10de
Device ID: 0x0611
Subsystem Vendor ID: 0x10de
Subsystem ID: 0x0010
ROM Revision: 3233
Revision ID: 0x00a2
Link Width: x16

Thanks ntux!
:eek: you flashed a pc 8800gt with the ntux rom ?? so, the chip is 128KB ?
So great, if it really work i'm going to buy one and save 100 euros.
Hope there will be no problem with the power connector.

[Brianna]

:eek: you flashed a pc 8800gt with the ntux rom ?? so, the chip is 128KB ?
So great, if it really work i'm going to buy one and save 100 euros.
Hope there will be no problem with the power connector.

That is awesome! Someone please try an 8800 GTX! FYI I just read that 8800 Ultra is an over clocked 8800GTX. THis could lead to something good. :)

[aLoC]

Are you using the spare molex connector to power the card? If so does your cable look like this one and are you using both connectors?

http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/14-130-318-07.jpg

Yes I am using the molex connector. The power cable shown in the picture already came with my card.

I have one cable bought from computer shop that splits the molex connector in to two, and then both of those join on to the cable that came with the card. So it's like this -<>-

Cheers

[aLoC]

:eek: you flashed a pc 8800gt with the ntux rom ?? so, the chip is 128KB ?
So great, if it really work i'm going to buy one and save 100 euros.
Hope there will be no problem with the power connector.

Yes, and it is working fine. The original PC ROM that I saved off the card (for backup) was only 64k, so I didn't think the 128k Mac image would work, but it did. Maybe the Inno3d card has a 128k eprom or maybe the second 64k is not actually needed?

It does complain that the rom does not match the card, but if you use these options when flashing it works:
nvflash -4 -5 -6 mp8800gt.rom

[smgfreak]

Yes, and it is working fine. The original PC ROM that I saved off the card (for backup) was only 64k, so I didn't think the 128k Mac image would work, but it did. Maybe the Inno3d card has a 128k eprom or maybe the second 64k is not actually needed?

It does complain that the rom does not match the card, but if you use these options when flashing it works:
nvflash -4 -5 -6 mp8800gt.rom

Congratulations ! this is Great

can you Confirm that the 8800GT PC Version that you flashed works under boocamp in XP or Vista 32BIT in the NEW MP 2008 ?

do you have other 8800GT in your MAC PRO ?

could it be possible that the Flashed 8800GT works only with the Original Apple one , i mean Together ! sorry for my Questions !

which INNO 3d CARD did you Use ? a link would be great !

[aLoC]

Congratulations ! this is Great
can you Confirm that the 8800GT PC Version that you flashed works under boocamp in XP or Vista 32BIT in the NEW MP 2008 ?


I can't confirm this as haven't installed Boot Camp yet. I can confirm that the Vista 32-bit Home Premium setup dvd boots fine and properly displays graphics.

do you have other 8800GT in your MAC PRO ?
could it be possible that the Flashed 8800GT works only with the Original Apple one , i mean Together ! sorry for my Questions !


Sorry I bought the stock Mac Pro with ATI 2600XT, so can't test that.

which INNO 3d CARD did you Use ? a link would be great !

It is this one (the reference model with no overclock):
http://www.inno3d.com/products/graphic_card/gf8/8800gt.htm

[smgfreak]

I can't confirm this as haven't installed Boot Camp yet. I can confirm that the Vista 32-bit Home Premium setup dvd boots fine and properly displays graphics.



Sorry I bought the stock Mac Pro with ATI 2600XT, so can't test that.



It is this one (the reference model with no overclock):
http://www.inno3d.com/products/graphic_card/gf8/8800gt.htm

well done, i get me a 8800GT 512MB Standard, and try it myself, i can give it back anyway so i would be no trouble at all. i use the Powercable from my old MAcpro X1900XT .

but i prefer to FLASH in a NAtive PC , cause i had some trouble last week flashing the X1900XT for NEW MAC PRO .

[millisecond]

I can also confirm my 8800gt boots correctly into OSX and runs just fine. Took out the super-drive for now as I don't have a molex splitter. The performance of my shader test program is up 2-3x over the base card. Will test some games later/tomorrow.

Will boot into XP32 right now and see if that works.

-C

Here's my card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133205&Tpk=VCG88512GXPB

Output of my GPU info program:
Vendor:NVIDIA Corporation
Version:2.0 NVIDIA-1.5.20
Renderer:NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT OpenGL Engine
Shander Version:1.20
Extensions:GL_ARB_transpose_matrix GL_ARB_vertex_program GL_ARB_vertex_blend GL_ARB_window_pos GL_ARB_shader_objects GL_ARB_vertex_shader GL_ARB_shading_language_100 GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint GL_EXT_rescale_normal GL_EXT_draw_range_elements GL_EXT_fog_coord GL_EXT_gpu_program_parameters GL_EXT_geometry_shader4 GL_EXT_transform_feedback GL_APPLE_client_storage GL_APPLE_specular_vector GL_APPLE_transform_hint GL_APPLE_packed_pixels GL_APPLE_fence GL_APPLE_vertex_array_object GL_APPLE_vertex_program_evaluators GL_APPLE_element_array GL_APPLE_flush_render GL_APPLE_aux_depth_stencil GL_NV_texgen_reflection GL_NV_light_max_exponent GL_IBM_rasterpos_clip GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap GL_ARB_imaging GL_ARB_point_parameters GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp GL_ARB_multitexture GL_ARB_texture_env_add GL_ARB_texture_cube_map GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3 GL_ARB_multisample GL_ARB_texture_env_combine GL_ARB_texture_compression GL_ARB_texture_mirrored_repeat GL_ARB_shadow GL_ARB_depth_texture GL_ARB_fragment_program GL_ARB_fragment_program_shadow GL_ARB_fragment_shader GL_ARB_occlusion_query GL_ARB_point_sprite GL_ARB_texture_non_power_of_two GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object GL_ARB_pixel_buffer_object GL_ARB_draw_buffers GL_ARB_shader_texture_lod GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array GL_EXT_framebuffer_object GL_EXT_texture_rectangle GL_ARB_texture_rectangle GL_EXT_texture_env_add GL_EXT_blend_color GL_EXT_blend_minmax GL_EXT_blend_subtract GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias GL_EXT_abgr GL_EXT_bgra GL_EXT_stencil_wrap GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic GL_EXT_secondary_color GL_EXT_blend_func_separate GL_EXT_shadow_funcs GL_EXT_stencil_two_side GL_EXT_depth_bounds_test GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc GL_EXT_texture_compression_dxt1 GL_EXT_texture_sRGB GL_EXT_blend_equation_separate GL_EXT_texture_mirror_clamp GL_EXT_packed_depth_stencil GL_EXT_bindable_uniform GL_EXT_gpu_shader4 GL_APPLE_flush_buffer_range GL_APPLE_ycbcr_422 GL_APPLE_vertex_array_range GL_APPLE_texture_range GL_APPLE_float_pixels GL_ATI_texture_float GL_ARB_texture_float GL_ARB_half_float_pixel GL_APPLE_pixel_buffer GL_APPLE_object_purgeable GL_NV_point_sprite GL_NV_register_combiners GL_NV_register_combiners2 GL_NV_blend_square GL_NV_texture_shader GL_NV_texture_shader2 GL_NV_texture_shader3 GL_NV_fog_distance GL_NV_depth_clamp GL_NV_multisample_filter_hint GL_NV_fragment_program_option GL_NV_fragment_program2 GL_NV_vertex_program2_option GL_NV_vertex_program3 GL_ATI_texture_mirror_once GL_ATI_texture_env_combine3 GL_ATI_separate_stencil GL_SGIS_texture_edge_clamp GL_SGIS_texture_lod

[smgfreak]

[QUOTE=millisecond;4992808]I can also confirm my 8800gt boots correctly into OSX and runs just fine. Took out the super-drive for now as I don't have a molex splitter. The performance of my shader test program is up 2-3x over the base card. Will test some games later/tomorrow.

Will boot into XP32 right now and see if that works.

-C

Here's my card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133205&Tpk=VCG88512GXPB


Did you FLASH your Card in your MAC PRO(2008) or Native PC ?
do you have another CARD Installed in SLOT 2 ?
Does your PNY CARD runs the GPU @ 600Mhz or and the RAM @1800Mhz ?

can´t wait a 100% Confirm if this CARD works in XP 32BIT in a New MAC PRO !

[adamzx3]

can someone explain why this doesn't work on the 2007 MacPro's? is it a hardware or software limitation?

[millisecond]

Did you FLASH your Card in your MAC PRO(2008) or Native PC ?

Native PC using essentially the instructions earlier in this thread for a bootable USB and then the nvflash -4 -5 -6 mp8800gt.com also posted in the thread.

do you have another CARD Installed in SLOT 2 ?

No.

Does your PNY CARD runs the GPU @ 600Mhz or and the RAM @1800Mhz ?
How do I tell this?

The card DOES boot XP32, goes to my native 1920x1200 res, and runs Half-Life 2 beautifully. I used the downloadable drivers from NVidia and all went well, not sure about bootcamp drivers as my superdrive is unplugged atm...

-C

[smgfreak]

Native PC using essentially the instructions earlier in this thread for a bootable USB and then the nvflash -4 -5 -6 mp8800gt.com also posted in the thread.

No.

How do I tell this?

The card DOES boot XP32, goes to my native 1920x1200 res, and runs Half-Life 2 beautifully. I used the downloadable drivers from NVidia and all went well, not sure about bootcamp drivers as my superdrive is unplugged atm...

-C


download this Little Prg here
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/GPU-Z

just run it in XP and makea Screen Shot or write the Infos Down.

The MAC PRO 2008 has a Real Output power Supply ,so you dont need to connect Both of the superdrive 4PIN molex connector. just one will do fine !

[aLoC]

The card DOES boot XP32, goes to my native 1920x1200 res, and runs Half-Life 2 beautifully.

Cool, thanks for the info. I will install Windows later today.

[slackpacker]

download this Little Prg here
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/GPU-Z

just run it in XP and makea Screen Shot or write the Infos Down.

The MAC PRO 2008 has a Real Output power Supply ,so you dont need to connect Both of the superdrive 4PIN molex connector. just one will do fine !

Just one stupid question please.... Lets say I was happy with the 2600xt in my Mac Pro right now and I ordered a PC 8800GT. Could I still leave the 2600XT in the same slot its in now and Add the 8800GT to another (Which one) and just use that in Windows XP on the Bootcamp Side of things?? So I would have 2 Graphics cards in my system. When I boot into the mac until I flash the card will not be seen right? Will this work? There is really nothing on the Mac I want the 8800GT for so I would be happy with just running it under XP for Crysis.

[millisecond]

download this Little Prg here
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/GPU-Z

just run it in XP and makea Screen Shot or write the Infos Down.

The MAC PRO 2008 has a Real Output power Supply ,so you dont need to connect Both of the superdrive 4PIN molex connector. just one will do fine !

Thanks for the tip on the power supply. You can run the cable up and over and still close the case. Tight but it works, had to separate the wires to get them to lay flat over the HDD bays.

Attached is the screen of the tool you posted. Not having run this before flashing the BIOS, is this what you'd expect?

[millisecond]

Ah, they have a cool little submission link. Here are the numbers in a better format:

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/avpzu/

[SuperGrobi]

Hello everybody,

any chance to flash the card in the Mac Pro? I don't have a PC at hand :-(

[OZMP]

Has anyone tried using this card in an 06/07 MP?
If not, Is it possible to flash it with another cards EFI so as to be used?

Cheers.

[tugger]

any chance to flash the card in the Mac Pro? I don't have a PC at hand :-(
Buy one! I smell a business opportunity here.

Seriously. If this procedure results in a stable, reliable card in OS X and XP, lots of folks are gonna be so happy about saving $100+ on the card that they won't mind spending $25 or so to get it flashed.

Finally, emancipation from the Apple marketeers. :D

[aLoC]

any chance to flash the card in the Mac Pro? I don't have a PC at hand :-(

I don't think the Mac Pro can boot off a USB key. My Mac Pro will not boot off the same key I used to do the flash on the PC.

Edit: I have heard of a special Linux cd-rom you can download where you boot off it and it transfers boot control to a usb key. This may be what you need.

[millisecond]

Seriously. If this procedure results in a stable, reliable card in OS X and XP, [snip]

Been using it for an hour in XP (some games, some surfing), followed by an hour in warcraft under OSX and it has run flawlessly, will post back if I experience any troubles.

With the Mac Pro a few feet to my right, the dell laptop behind me is the loudest thing in the room by far. With the case open it was almost unbearable though. Great sound muffling on the case I guess.

-C

[pipomolo42]

Hello,

could someone who successfully flashed a PC 8800GT run nvflash --check and tell us what kind of flash chip the program reports ?

[sweedigel]

All that are very good news. I'm very tempted to pull the "send my ca$h" button now :D
But before I have to know :
- If I can flash it on the Mac Pro (don't have a pc) and under which OS (freedos?)
- What is the problem with the power connector and how to resolve it
- In the case of the card could not be flashed, if I still can use the 8800GT with the Ati 2600 and desactivate one of the cards in OSX (the nvidia) and Windows (the ati).
- If and how I can restore the old vbios if the flash procedure goes wrong

[slackpacker]

All that are very good news. I'm very tempted to pull the "send my ca$h" button now :D
But before I have to know :
- If I can flash it on the Mac Pro (don't have a pc) and under which OS (freedos?)
- What is the problem with the power connector and how to resolve it
- In the case of the card could not be flashed, if I still can use the 8800GT with the Ati 2600 and desactivate one of the cards in OSX (the nvidia) and Windows (the ati).
- If and how I can restore the old vbios if the flash procedure goes wrong

Back me up here - I have been thinking about this for a while since my card will be here (PC8800) tomm :eek:

I from multiple posts have found out the card will run under windows fine. But when booting into OS X it will not be seen. But the real prob is going to be when booting into Windows with Both my ATI 2600XT(MAC) and the 8800GT(PC) at the same time. WIndows is going to see both cards and try to install ATI drivers every time. I fear until I flash it I'm going to have to keep shutting down and pulling pulling the ATI card when booting into windows and installing the 8800 for the time being....Anyone else have any ideas?

[Pressure]

That is awesome! Someone please try an 8800 GTX! FYI I just read that 8800 Ultra is an over clocked 8800GTX. THis could lead to something good. :)

They are two different chips, so it will not work. The G80 chip as the Geforce 8800 GTX/Ultra uses is not the same as the G92 chip as the Geforce 8800 GT uses.

can someone explain why this doesn't work on the 2007 MacPro's? is it a hardware or software limitation?

The 2007 Mac Pro EFI is only 32-bit and the early 2008 Mac Pro uses 64-bit EFI.

[sweedigel]

Back me up here - I have been thinking about this for a while since my card will be here (PC8800) tomm :eek:

I from multiple posts have found out the card will run under windows fine. But when booting into OS X it will not be seen. But the real prob is going to be when booting into Windows with Both my ATI 2600XT(MAC) and the 8800GT(PC) at the same time. WIndows is going to see both cards and try to install ATI drivers every time. I fear until I flash it I'm going to have to keep shutting down and pulling pulling the ATI card when booting into windows and installing the 8800 for the time being....Anyone else have any ideas?
What I am wondering is more about the power consumption. 95% of the time i'm under mac os. I installed windows only for games. Will the 8800 GT consume about 100-150 more watts for nothing or.. hmm

[slackpacker]

What I am wondering is more about the power consumption. 95% of the time i'm under mac os. I installed windows only for games. Will the 8800 GT consume about 100-150 more watts for nothing or.. hmm

It probably will unless you unplug it. My 8800 order was put on hold with NewEgg so I canceled it.. Stupid frigin idiots at NewEgg ... They delay stuff any chance they get. So I will pick one up locally. Hope some more answers come soon.

[pipomolo42]

All that are very good news. I'm very tempted to pull the "send my ca$h" button now :D
But before I have to know :
- If I can flash it on the Mac Pro (don't have a pc) and under which OS (freedos?)
I successfully flashed my 7300GT and 7900GT on the Mac Pro using freedos, or the windows version of nvflash (but this one is a bit older, not sure it supports Geforce8)

- What is the problem with the power connector and how to resolve it
It's a Apple specific cable, you can buy it for 30$, or build your own: http://www.welovemacs.com/9227128.html (I am using one of those in a 1st gen Mac Pro)

- In the case of the card could not be flashed, if I still can use the 8800GT with the Ati 2600 and desactivate one of the cards in OSX (the nvidia) and Windows (the ati).

If the card cannot be flashed, it will just not be seen by MacOSX, but will be visible to XP/Vista (provided your monitor is plugged into it when you boot youe Mac Pro)
- If and how I can restore the old vbios if the flash procedure goes wrong
What can happen if the flash goes wrong, is that the Mac Pro does not boot, because of the Nvidia EFI driver. In this case, just plug your card in a normal PC, which will ignore the EFI part, and reflash from here.

[sweedigel]

Thnks :)

It's a Apple specific cable, you can buy it for 30$, or build your own: http://www.welovemacs.com/9227128.html (I am using one of those in a 1st gen Mac Pro)Do you know how to build my own ? :p. So, in my wait for the power cable, could the 8800 run without it ?

[pipomolo42]

Thnks :)

Do you know how to build my own ? :p. So, in my wait for the power cable, could the 8800 run without it ?

tenthousandpercent has a nice howto : http://www.tenthousandpercent.com/?section=other&article=96

[thagomizer]

Nice work millisecond and everyone else!

Amazon has that PNY card for $249, in stock, free shipping:

http://www.amazon.com/PNY-XLR8-8800GT-512MB-Graphics/dp/B000XD1JJK/


And... I've located a source for those outrageous $30 Apple power cables: for $13!!!

ATI has them on clearance, even with shipping it's cheaper than anywhere else I could find.

http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=3280778

This is probably a safer bet than trying to make your own, and these SHOULD plug directly into the Mac Pro motherboard. (I have it on order and will let you know... but I'm pretty sure this is the right cable).

[diamond.g]

Doesn't it strike anyone else as odd that you would have to plug a power connector into the motherboard versus plugging it directly into the power supply? Most PC systems will let you use four GTX's if you have the power supply for it. Maybe that is why Apple actually puts a real PCIe power rating on the site.
Why would Apple, with it's 1100W PSU, not allow you to plug 4 high end PCIe cards into it?

[slackpacker]

Well I bought a PNY 8800GT card today. Even if it does not work in the Mac Side of things I don't care. I just cant see why Apple cant supply cards to the limited few Mac Customers. Come-on a Mar 31st shipping date.... ha

[thagomizer]

Doesn't it strike anyone else as odd that you would have to plug a power connector into the motherboard versus plugging it directly into the power supply? Most PC systems will let you use four GTX's if you have the power supply for it. Maybe that is why Apple actually puts a real PCIe power rating on the site.
Why would Apple, with it's 1100W PSU, not allow you to plug 4 high end PCIe cards into it?

Newer PCs do use a motherboard connector to supply the auxiliary power for these power-hungry graphics cards. Unfortunately it's a slightly different connector than the one Apple uses. You could still use the regular CD-ROM power supply as others have done. Either way, all the power is going to come from the same power supply. It's just less of a cable mess to use the specialized connector, since it's right there next to the graphics card(s).

[SuperGrobi]

Okay, tried to flash a XFX GT8800 XXX alphadog edition (overclocked) some minutes ago. Rom from the card was about 55k ... got an error message during flashing (256 mismatch error something). The chip on the card seems to be 64k only so no way to get this card working without soldering - I am not good enough at that to give it a try. I might get the PNY card and try it with this one ... or I wait for Steve's card to make it to shipping and be on the safe side ... well, was too good to be that easy ...

[sweedigel]

:/ damn. Hope the PNY one will be ok.

[AGDenton]

I'm having the same problem (64K EEPROM) with a Gainward 8800GT... Something should still be possible, tough : separate the EFI64 ROM from the BIOS one and flash it on its own (since each ROM is ~64K). Of course, the ability to use the card in Windows would probably be lost in the process...

pipomolo, care to post a thinned ROM?

AG

[Cindori]

info on how to create a power supply:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=418279

[Pressure]

Doesn't it strike anyone else as odd that you would have to plug a power connector into the motherboard versus plugging it directly into the power supply? Most PC systems will let you use four GTX's if you have the power supply for it. Maybe that is why Apple actually puts a real PCIe power rating on the site.
Why would Apple, with it's 1100W PSU, not allow you to plug 4 high end PCIe cards into it?

Quite normal in regards to server and workstation-grade motherboards.

I see nothing out of the ordinary here.

The power components of normal entry level and enthusiast motherboards just can't cope with it. If that is what you see as normal.

[slackpacker]

:/ damn. Hope the PNY one will be ok.

I have it in my hands now, I won't have access to a PC until Friday. But I'm going to install it tonight in the MP

[digiegg]

Wow you guys are nuts!
Haha.

This thing sounds very very veryyyy interesting to test out.

I was wondering if this could be done with the older Mac Pros?
I have the last year's Mac Pro with 8cores.
Also my video card is this exact model/brand.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.aspx?CurImage=14-143-092-08.jpg&Image=14-143-092-10.jpg%2c14-143-092-02.jpg%2c14-143-092-03.jpg%2c14-143-092-04.jpg%2c14-143-092-05.jpg%2c14-143-092-06.jpg%2c14-143-092-07.jpg%2c14-143-092-08.jpg&S7ImageFlag=0&WaterMark=1&Depa=1&Description=BFG+Tech+GeForce+8800GTS+BFGR88640GTSOC2E+Video+Card
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.aspx?CurImage=14-143-092-08.jpg&Image=14-143-092-10.jpg%2c14-143-092-02.jpg%2c14-143-092-03.jpg%2c14-143-092-04.jpg%2c14-143-092-05.jpg%2c14-143-092-06.jpg%2c14-143-092-07.jpg%2c14-143-092-08.jpg&S7ImageFlag=0&WaterMark=1&Depa=1&Description=BFG+Tech+GeForce+8800GTS+BFGR88640GTSOC2E+Video+Card)

I can only use Windows at the moment but it'd be freaking awesomely great if I was able to access my Mac OS I paid for. Haha.
Do you guys think it'll work?

Also could someone that was able to get it successfully working write up a dummy's guide to doing this?
Like a step by step kinda thing for us to read and follow easily without any hiccups in the process? I'm new to all this flashing thing.
I can try the flashing in my roomate's computer I guess.
Let me know!
Thanks again guys and hoping for your replies!

[smgfreak]

I just Tried 2 STANDARD PC 8800GT 1x Sparkle 512MB ( GPU@600Mhz MEM@1800Mhz and Shader 1500Mhz )

No luck at all.

than i tried my friends PNY 8800GT 512 same Clocks as above, it did not work at all.

both Cards with ERROR Mismatch 64k ( 128k is only in APPLE OEM 8800GT)
there is no BRAND Shipping 8800GT for PC with 128k chip.


and i flashed them in a NATIVE PC , so it is 100% NO GO.

i dont understand how these guys managend to flash on 64K chip!

[aLoC]

i dont understand how these guys managend to flash on 64K chip!

Did you use the proper command line arguments to nvflash?
nvflash.exe -4 -5 -6 myrom.rom

And it has to be nvflash 5.57 at least, earlier versions will not work.

[sweedigel]

aLoC used an Inno3D branded 8800
Maybe the rom size vary with the brand..

[smgfreak]

Did you use the proper command line arguments to nvflash?
nvflash.exe -4 -5 -6 myrom.rom

And it has to be nvflash 5.57 at least, earlier versions will not work.


sure i did everything right, it is not my first time Flashing for MAC PRO.

could you dump your Rom( i mean the working one) and send it to me , or post it !

[thagomizer]

Wow you guys are nuts!
Haha.

This thing sounds very very veryyyy interesting to test out.

I was wondering if this could be done with the older Mac Pros?
I have the last year's Mac Pro with 8cores.
Also my video card is this exact model/brand.
[

The card you show is a pre-G92 version of the 8800GTS. So it has a different GPU chip. It will not work with the firmware from the latest cards (Mac or PC), sorry.

[aLoC]

could you dump your Rom( i mean the working one) and send it to me , or post it !

Sorry, since the 8800 worked in my Mac Pro I disassembled my PC and packed it away. I don't want to unpack it all and reassemble.

[thagomizer]

I just Tried 2 STANDARD PC 8800GT 1x Sparkle 512MB ( GPU@600Mhz MEM@1800Mhz and Shader 1500Mhz )

No luck at all.

than i tried my friends PNY 8800GT 512 same Clocks as above, it did not work at all.

both Cards with ERROR Mismatch 64k ( 128k is only in APPLE OEM 8800GT)
there is no BRAND Shipping 8800GT for PC with 128k chip.


and i flashed them in a NATIVE PC , so it is 100% NO GO.

i dont understand how these guys managend to flash on 64K chip!

That sucks. Sorry to hear that. Millisecond successfully flashed a PNY VCG88512GXPB, which is the same one I have on order. Is that the same model of your friend's PNY card?

[smgfreak]

That sucks. Sorry to hear that. Millisecond successfully flashed a PNY VCG88512GXPB, which is the same one I have on order. Is that the same model of your friend's PNY card?

it is 100% the Same Model N# , and it does not work ! in fact it is a 64k size eeprom see ( PMC Pm25LV512 2.7.-3.6V 64Kx8s ,page )

Type = nvflash --check you will see ! but you can send it back for refund so not harm done, only waste of time.

[mrcandy]

I have flashed an eVGA e-GeForce 8800GT p/n 512-P3-N801-AR and it works great! Even flashed it in the MP using a freeDOS boot CD.

For now it's powered from the optical bay 4pin molex, but the parts are on order to build the proper cable.

[smgfreak]

I have flashed an eVGA e-GeForce 8800GT p/n 512-P3-N801-AR and it works great! Even flashed it in the MP using a freeDOS boot CD.

For now it's powered from the optical bay 4pin molex, but the parts are on order to build the proper cable.

could you please post a Picture of the CARD with the COOLER mounted off ?it is not too much Trouble !

i wann have a look on the PCB Layout !

FRONT SIDE and BACKSIDE !

[slackpacker]

Installed the PNY 8800GT in the MP. Windows side. Everything seems to work

I had to hook up my Monitor to the Analog connection to get it to work... it was not seeing it properly any other way :mad:

But here are the results in Crysis

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=5000494#post5000494

Still have not done anything about the EFI ROM.... I don't have a PC with Express slots.

I had some extra power cables so I ran it to the second standard DVD power connector and squeezed it closed.... I think the fan is running.

[slackpacker]

I have flashed an eVGA e-GeForce 8800GT p/n 512-P3-N801-AR and it works great! Even flashed it in the MP using a freeDOS boot CD.

For now it's powered from the optical bay 4pin molex, but the parts are on order to build the proper cable.

COOOL How?

[smgfreak]

Please Help. could you run freedos , and type in NVFLASH --list

it tells what kind of EEPROM CHIP you have on the E-vga card !

[slackpacker]

[QUOTE=Originally Posted by thagomizer
That sucks. Sorry to hear that. Millisecond successfully flashed a PNY VCG88512GXPB, which is the same one I have on order. Is that the same model of your friend's PNY card?[/QUOTE]

Thats SOOO cool thats the one I have!!! Happy Happy Happy:D

[thagomizer]

I have flashed an eVGA e-GeForce 8800GT p/n 512-P3-N801-AR and it works great! Even flashed it in the MP using a freeDOS boot CD.

For now it's powered from the optical bay 4pin molex, but the parts are on order to build the proper cable.

Can you confirm -- this card has a 128K flash? Would you mind checking with nvflash --check

[smgfreak]

Thats SOOO cool thats the one I have!!! Happy Happy Happy:D

good for you , but you might check your card, it is not the right one !

[slackpacker]

good for you , but you might check your card, it is not the right one !

Uh what do I need to check?

[smgfreak]

Uh what do I need to check?

CHECK the eeprom SIZE ! if it the one above , your card stays PC !

[mrcandy]

could you please post a Picture of the CARD with the COOLER mounted off ?it is not too much Trouble !

i wann have a look on the PCB Layout !

FRONT SIDE and BACKSIDE !

Pictures as requested, not sure what you'll tell by looking at the PCB layout, but I included closeups of each chip that might be the flash... The large Samsung chip is one of eight and comprises the main 512MB of video RAM. The thermal paste seems to have eaten away the printing on most of them, the above is the best of what's left.

Seems there's a limit of 5 jpg's per post, so remaining shots will be in a subsequent post.

[slackpacker]

CHECK the eeprom SIZE ! if it the one above , your card stays PC !

Ok if I have to run FreeDOS to check this I'm having problems figuring this out. Try to show some compassion. If you know of a simple way for me to tell you TELL me.

[mrcandy]

Pictures as requested, not sure what you'll tell by looking at the PCB layout, but I included closeups of each chip that might be the flash...

Second set of pics...

[mrcandy]

Please Help. could you run freedos , and type in NVFLASH --list

it tells what kind of EEPROM CHIP you have on the E-vga card !

Did a nvflash --check and got back:

EEPROM ID (C2,10) : MX 25L1005 2.7-3.6V 1024Kx1S, page

1024Kx1 = 128Kx8, so looks like I got a 128K flash. I preserved the original flash image, and it was only ~55k. eVGA didn't need the 128K, but I'm happy:)

[speakerwizard]

did anyone see this "NEWS: Our sources confirm that Apple is working on a second version of the GeForce 8800 GT that *IS* compatible with the 2006/2007 Mac Pro. We will post the model or part number once it's available."

on the latest bare feats benchmarks page?

[slackpacker]

Did a nvflash --check and got back:

EEPROM ID (C2,10) : MX 25L1005 2.7-3.6V 1024Kx1S, page

1024Kx1 = 128Kx8, so looks like I got a 128K flash. I preserved the original flash image, and it was only ~55k. eVGA didn't need the 128K, but I'm happy:)

Mr Candy could you quickly explain how you checked your EEPROM

I have The FreeDos ISO and will burn it to cd. But I'm not sure How to get the nvflash 5.57 program on the disk or do I?

[giantsfan1975]

E-VGA 8800 GT worked perfect! I have an XFX Alpha Dog Edition that is DOA. I hope when I get a new one it works just as well. ($229 at Fry's after rebate)

nflash -4 -5 -6 mp8800gt.rom

Game on!

[aLoC]

1024Kx1

That's what I get on my Inno3D card too.

[smgfreak]

http://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=64kromot5.jpg

http://img99.imageshack.us/my.php?image=renamena3.jpg


this one , is from my other friend , it has the same 64k rom ! NO GO

i guess only the older NOV2007 =GREEN PCB works !

Great JOB mrCANDY :apple:

[mrcandy]

Ok if I have to run FreeDOS to check this I'm having problems figuring this out. Try to show some compassion. If you know of a simple way for me to tell you TELL me.

To use nvflash on the MP to flash my 8800GT I did the following:

1) Download the fdfullcd.iso from freedos.org (http://www.freedos.org/freedos/files/) - burn the ISO image to a CD.

2) While in OSX put the CD into the MP then do a restart. After your screen goes blank, press and hold the 'option' key while the MP reboots. You will get a screen that gives you options on what to boot from, you should have at least two and possibly three options. Pick the icon that looks like a CD and is likely labelled "Windows". Click the up arrow underneath the icon.

3) FreeDOS will boot and give you a splash screen with some options, choose 1 (Continue to boot FreeDOS)

4) There will be a bunch of text followed by another set of options, choose 3 (boot DOS with Himem etc.) NOTE: to select option 3, hit the number 3 key on the keyboard, do not attempt to use the arrow keys to scroll the selection up and down. No need to hit enter, immediately after entering 3 the system will continue to boot. You will see error messages regarding the CDROM drive, these can be ignored.

5) You will be left at a DOS prompt on A:, which I presume is a ram disk.

At this point you need access to the nvflash program and possibly some read/write disk area if you wish to save a copy of your existing flash image.

I have bootcamp installed and FreeDOS recognized this partition and mounted it R/W for me as drive C: - problem solved! I used OSX to move nvflash and the previously posted MP8800 image files to the root of my BOOTCAMP drive, then booted FreeDOS to save my original flash and re-flash with the mac image. Instructions provided in previous posts to this thread on how to use nvflash to check the size of your flash and perform the actual image update.

If you don't have bootcamp installed you could try two options, use the bootcamp assistant to install bootcamp to the part where it wants the Windows CD and then quit. At that point you should have a DOS formatted partition on your hard drive that FreeDOS will see and use. Proceed as above. I saw one post somewhere that said it was necessary to have the Windows installer format the bootcamp C: drive before it was useable. If this is true, then it may require that you use FreeDOS to format that partition before it can be used. Make sure you format the correct piece of disk;) When complete you can use the bootcamp assistant again to remove the DOS partition.

Second option would be to see if you could slipstream nvflash (and MP8800 image) into the FreeDOS image before burning to CD. Not sure on specific instructions on how to do this, having never needed to do it myself. This would allow you to flash a card, but not make a backup of the original image. Not recommended unless you're sure it will work. Could be used to test a card to check it's flash size in either a MP or PC.

[abisai]

Success! :D

I picked this up at lunch time today for $229 per in store AD.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0276270

Here it the EEPROM info for the card I have.

EEPROM ID (c2,10) : MX 25L1005 2.7-3.6V 1024Kx1S, page

I'm tapping power from one of the optical drives for the time being until I can make/order the proper cable.

Thanks to all that made it possible. :)

[aLoC]

To summarize for people just joining the thread, so far we have had success with Sparkle, Inno3D, PNY and some (but not all) EVGA.

[giantsfan1975]

Ok.. I flashed the card and everything was fine untill I installed drivers for it under Vista 64. Now the fan is stuck at full throttle! Drivers were Forceware 171 for Vista 64.

Thoughts?
evga 8800gt

[rhildinger]

Chalk up another successful flash, this time for the BFG 8800 GT OC, part number BFGR88512GTOCE, from BFG Tech.

The EPROM information for this board is as follows:

EEPROM ID (c2,10) : MX 25L1005 2.7-3.6V 1024Kx1S, page

(Exactly the same as what abisai reported above)

Now, I don't actually have a 2008 Mac Pro, I have the original base Mac Pro 2.66GHz quad core, so unfortunately this card still doesn't work for me in OS X (and yes, I tested it in the vain hope that maybe it might work in spite of what Apple said, but alas they were correct). My only real reason for flashing the card was so that I could see if it actually had a 128KB flash chip so that I could flash it with an EFI BIOS that does support the older Mac Pros when such a beast eventually comes out.

[smgfreak]

Chalk up another successful flash, this time for the BFG 8800 GT OC, part number BFGR88512GTOCE, from BFG Tech.

The EPROM information for this board is as follows:

EEPROM ID (c2,10) : MX 25L1005 2.7-3.6V 1024Kx1S, page

(Exactly the same as what abisai reported above)



Very NICE !well done , could you make a Foto of your BFG , Front and BACKSIDE , i am trying to get a Manual together, i need fotos of the 128K 8800 PC Cards

[giantsfan1975]

The fan issue has been fixed under Vista64 with driver 174.12.

Perfect!

[inCider]

Chalk up another successful flash, this time for the BFG 8800 GT OC, part number BFGR88512GTOCE, from BFG Tech.

The EPROM information for this board is as follows:

EEPROM ID (c2,10) : MX 25L1005 2.7-3.6V 1024Kx1S, page

(Exactly the same as what abisai reported above)


I checked the two BFGs (same part number) that I run in my windows gaming box, but they both had 64K eeproms.

I am assuming they use the 64K parts when available and substitute the 128K parts when supplies of the smaller chip are unavailable.

I will try to scare up a PNY or eVGA tomorrow for further testing.

inCider

[smgfreak]

I checked the two BFGs (same part number) that I run in my windows gaming box, but they both had 64K eeproms.

I am assuming they use the 64K parts when available and substitute the 128K parts when supplies of the smaller chip are unavailable.

I will try to scare up a PNY or eVGA tomorrow for further testing.

inCider

WHAT PCB BOARD Color ? GREEN or BLUE ?

i guess BLUE ?

[inCider]

WHAT PCB BOARD Color ? GREEN or BLUE ?

i guess BLUE ?

Yes, blue for both.

[smgfreak]

Yes, blue for both.

i tested 3x 8800GT all PCB are BLUE (SPARKLE, ZOTAC and NEW PNY, an they all had 64k not 128k.

the guys here who did Flash with 100% success , all of them had NVIDIA Reference GREEN PCB´s 2007 !

[antsh]

Though I am not using my 8800GT for a Mac Pro, I though it might be of some use to you guys to know that the XFX 8800GT Alpha Dog Edition in my PC does in fact have a 1024 chip. I just got done flashing faster clocks and a different fan setting onto it for my PC, and it reported the chip as 1x1024. The model number of my card is PVT88PYDD4.

[SuperGrobi]

As I mentioned above, XFX 8800GT XXX alpha dog PV-T88P-YHD4 is 64k ... however, I just found out that the same shop I bought this card in has an older model in stock (exactly one piece) which is exactly the part number mentioned by antsh (PV-T88P-YDD4). I will go for it and check the chip on it ... if it is 128, too, everything is fine, if not we all know that cards with same number can still use different chips and I will go and sell both cards on ebay ...

[tugger]

Second option would be to see if you could slipstream nvflash (and MP8800 image) into the FreeDOS image before burning to CD. Not sure on specific instructions on how to do this, having never needed to do it myself. This would allow you to flash a card, but not make a backup of the original image. Not recommended unless you're sure it will work. Could be used to test a card to check it's flash size in either a MP or PC.
I found a WIN program called "Ultra ISO" to do exactly that. You can open the FREEDOS.iso file, add nvflash and mp8800GT.rom to the ISO file (I placed them at the root level), then UltraISO will write the edited ISO file to a bootable CD-R. I tested the CD and it boots the Mac Pro just fine, giving you a command line as per mrcandy's description above.

http://www.ezbsystems.com/ultraiso/

mrcandy, a question: what is the file "cwsdpmi.exe" that comes with nvflash? Know what it's for?

[ntux]

Chalk up another successful flash, this time for the BFG 8800 GT OC, part number BFGR88512GTOCE, from BFG Tech.

The EPROM information for this board is as follows:

EEPROM ID (c2,10) : MX 25L1005 2.7-3.6V 1024Kx1S, page

(Exactly the same as what abisai reported above)

FWIW, it's exactly the same EEPROM information I got from the Apple 8800GT of my mac pro.

[sweedigel]

Wow awesome news this morning :D.
So, I'm going to buy a second-hand 8800GT (twintech branded) whose the pcb is green for only 190 euros (310 on the apple store). I asked the vendor to make a nvflash --check. If it return "1024Kx1" it's all good, am I right ?

[vortigern]

Thanks for the thread guys, great work.

But I've registered to relay some bad news. I have an inno3D GREEN PCB 8800GT dated 49/2007 part number i-8800GT-H5GTCDS.

When I run nvflash --check it lists

eeprom id (1f ,65) : Atmel at25512a 2.7-3.6v 64kx8s, page

So a green PCB would appear to be no guarantee.


EDIT:

Tech report has some interesting info here (http://techreport.com/articles.x/14120/4) regarding changes to the heatsink on the 8800GT. If you compare to this image here (http://techreport.com/articles.x/14120/7) . you will see some subtle changes to the reference heatsink. Mine has the newer larger fan. So maybe if you find a card with the older smaller fan you will be OK.

[smgfreak]

Thanks for the thread guys, great work.

But I've registered to relay some bad news. I have an inno3D GREEN PCB 8800GT dated 49/2007 part number i-8800GT-H5GTCDS.

When I run nvflash --check it lists

eeprom id (1f ,65) : Atmel at25512a 2.7-3.6v 64kx8s, page

So a green PCB would appear to be no guarantee.


EDIT:



NO GO with your CARD ! cause of the 64k Flash Chip !

you need to get a 2007 GREEN Nvidia Reference PCB Layout !
:(

[smgfreak]

100 % DONE !

LEADTEK PX8800GT 512MB ZL ( Zalman Edition ) and OC Edition in ONE !

GREEN PCB REV = A JAN 2008

GPU/Memory clock 650/900MHz
Shader Clock 1625 MHz
Memory data rate 1800MHz


12097 Points (XP32) 3dmark06




http://www.leadtek.com/eng/company/press_2.asp?newsid=671

[SuperGrobi]

Though I am not using my 8800GT for a Mac Pro, I though it might be of some use to you guys to know that the XFX 8800GT Alpha Dog Edition in my PC does in fact have a 1024 chip. I just got done flashing faster clocks and a different fan setting onto it for my PC, and it reported the chip as 1x1024. The model number of my card is PVT88PYDD4.

Hello antsh,
quick question to you. Can you tell me/us when did you buy the above mentioned XFX card and what is the color of it? I bought a card of the same part number just now but had no chance to test flashing it (maybe later in the evening). I am not too optimistic since the color of my card is blue. My card was manufactured 11/07.
Thanks for help!

[erteclas]

is this car ok to flsh it?


http://www.pccomponentes.com/BFG_GEFORCE_8800GT_OC_512MB_GDDR3_PCI_E.html

[smgfreak]

is this car ok to flsh it?


http://www.pccomponentes.com/BFG_GEFORCE_8800GT_OC_512MB_GDDR3_PCI_E.html


If you get the OLDER one with the Green PCP ! YES ! but Online they always put up Old Pictures and when you get it by mail , you get the NEW ONE BLUE 64k PCB !

the Best thing ist to Buy in STORE so you can Check the EEPROM yourself !

[vortigern]

If you get the OLDER one with the Green PCP ! YES ! but Online they always put up Old Pictures and when you get it by mail , you get the NEW ONE BLUE 64k PCB !

the Best thing ist to Buy in STORE so you can Check the EEPROM yourself !

smgfreak, I think you have miss read my earlier post, getting a green PCB does NOT guarantee that it will work. I have a 2007 GREEN PCB and it has a 64k ROM.

[SuperGrobi]

If you get the OLDER one with the Green PCP ! YES ! but Online they always put up Old Pictures and when you get it by mail , you get the NEW ONE BLUE 64k PCB !

the Best thing ist to Buy in STORE so you can Check the EEPROM yourself !

I am not too convinced that the whole story is as simple as: old->green->good and new->blue->bad. I guess we need more success- as well as unsuccess-stories to get a clue.
Does anybody know when the first 8800GTs with G92 were produced? I think it was in late 2007 (November?). My XFX GT8800 is November 2007 and already doesn't have the green color anymore (although it has a green board on most pics online). Might be hard to find true "old" cards in shops (yes, they mostly have old pics on the webpage though) - maybe ebay is a better source, especially since it might be easier to get details before you buy.
Please continue to post your experiences!

[smgfreak]

smgfreak, I think you have miss read my earlier post, getting a green PCB does NOT guarantee that it will work. I have a 2007 GREEN PCB and it has a 64k ROM.

GREEN NVIDIA Reference BOARD Layout 100% 128K Chip!

of course there are Green PCB´s on the market, Just Look at the Fotos from MRCANDY page 4 ..

you could make a Foto of your card and post it here.

[smgfreak]

GREEN NVIDIA Reference BOARD Layout 100% 128K Chip!

of course there are Green PCB´s on the market, Just Look at the Fotos from MRCANDY page 4 ..

you could make a Foto of your card and post it here.


i forgot !
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/10/25/8800gt-die-pixellated-huge

[vortigern]

GREEN NVIDIA Reference BOARD Layout 100% 128K Chip!

of course there are Green PCB´s on the market, Just Look at the Fotos from MRCANDY page 4 ..

you could make a Foto of your card and post it here.


In which case your answer to erteclas is wrong, you told him that if he gets a green one "yes" , whereas the answer is "Maybe"

For ref my PCB layout is identical to mrcandy's even down to the writing on the board as far as I can see, however some of the components are slightly different, obviously.

All this means is that the PCB colour was not changed at the same time as the chips.

Ironically if you look at the image in your inquirer link then mine is more similar to it than mrcandys. If you look at the largish chip labeled "1RO" on this (http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=104001&d=1203477646) image, (lower edge right hand side) and compare it to the inquirers ref board, mrcandys is different, mine is as the inquirers ref board and I think this may be the ROM chip.

So if the inqs is a ref board mrcandy's is not as they are different, or more likely there is more than one ref board, same pcb layout but with slightly different chips, one of which is the ROM.

EDIT: the inq notes that virtually all boards are made by foxconn or flextronics, so this could be the difference.Get a foxcon one 128k get aflextronics one 64k?

[SuperGrobi]

Anybody here in the forum has experience with EEPROM soldering?

I could imagine that for people with a little bit of "mechanical skills" this might be a good alternative to hunting for the right card?! This way a lot of people could use just the card they desire or already have in hand, right?
Somebody can tell the exact location of the EEPROM and knows where to get the required spare part? I would give it a try though my experience with the soldering iron is limited.
Thank you for any help!

[AGDenton]

I've RMA'd my card and got myself a BFG 8800GT OC 512... and nearly flung it against the wall when I saw it had a black PCB. But I tried to flash it anyway and, lo and behold, it has a 128K EEPROM ! So, two new datapoints :

Gainward 8800GT 1G (red PCB) -> Nope
BFG 8800GT OC 512MB (black PCB) -> OK

The BFG card's P/N is BFGR88512GTOCE.

And now, a question for pipomolo42 : it's probably possible to replace the BIOS part of the Apple card's ROM by whatever ROM the card previously had in order to conserve factory overclocks and TV I/O capabilities in BootCamp, right? Is it as simple as cat'ing the two together ? If not, would it be possible to write an utility to turn a BIOS ROM into an hybrid one?

AG

[millisecond]

I've RMA'd my card and got myself a BFG 8800GT OC 512... and nearly flung it against the wall when I saw it had a black PCB. But I tried to flash it anyway and, lo and behold, it has a 128K EEPROM ! So, two new datapoints :

Gainward 8800GT 1G (red PCB) -> Nope
BFG 8800GT OC 512MB (black PCB) -> OK

The BFG card's P/N is BFGR88512GTOCE.

Just opened it up to confirm and my PNY card does have a green PCB, but I agree with other posters that while this might be a indication of success, it is far from a guarantee and you shouldn't base a purchasing decision on solely the color of the PCB.

[AGDenton]

Just opened it up to confirm and my PNY card does have a green PCB, but I agree with other posters that while this might be a indication of success, it is far from a guarantee and you shouldn't base a purchasing decision on solely the color of the PCB.

Unfortunately, the only way to be sure without putting the card in a PC is to take the cooler off the card to have a look at the EEPROM, just besides the core (cf. post 108). The P/N number itself may be too imprecise in some cases (BFG has apparently branded different PCBs under the same P/N). So I guess looking for the right card will remain guesswork for the time being...

AG

[jjahshik32]

Ok so if you do have the 128krom version and want to flash it, do you need a pc with a pcie? Or can you use the mac pro via bootcamp???

[SuperGrobi]

Okay, I can confirm that XFX 8800GT alphadog edition part PV-T88P-YDDA has working 128k eeprom - although PCB is black!

[Brianna]

Ok so if you do have the 128krom version and want to flash it, do you need a pc with a pcie? Or can you use the mac pro via bootcamp???

I used the Nvflash tool from a FreeDOS boot CD on a Mac Pro with a boot camp directory {drive C:} where I copied my own MP_ROM.ROM, and also stored the nvflash tool at it's root directory.

In other words I didn't use a PC.

[Tallest Skil]

All right, if I've read this correctly, then some of the people in this thread have successfully flashed a few PC 8800 GT cards to be recognized in OS X.

What we now need is:

1. A list of supported (128k ROM) 8800 GT (and where to find them?)
2. A (MacRumors) Guide on how to do the flashing
3. What/where to find any additional hardware needed to run the card (I was reading about specialized molex connectors?)

[erteclas]

and, this is ok to flash it,
sorry my english, but i´m spanish


i have a octo core macpro 2008 edition with ati hd2600 and i need a 8800 but i not pay the expensive price off apple store for this card

http://www.alternate.es/html/product/details.html?artno=JAXXL1&showTechData=true

[macz1]

Anybody here in the forum has experience with EEPROM soldering?

I could imagine that for people with a little bit of "mechanical skills" this might be a good alternative to hunting for the right card?! This way a lot of people could use just the card they desire or already have in hand, right?
Somebody can tell the exact location of the EEPROM and knows where to get the required spare part? I would give it a try though my experience with the soldering iron is limited.
Thank you for any help!

I did this when I flashed a Radeon 9800 Pro for my Sawtooth. I desoldered the original EEPROM and soldered a 128K ROM chip from another, older card instead. I used a normal soldering iron, very few tin and a bit of patience, but it worked!

[smgfreak]

It makes no sense to Solder a 128k Chip on to a NEW CARD for around 220-300 $ . it is to dangerous .

i mean a 9800pro is 25-35$ no big deal if it is broken after it .

if someone has a 8800GT with 64k chip, just sell it on eBay and buy a new one. my friends are going to to that right now.

[smgfreak]

and, this is ok to flash it,
sorry my english, but i´m spanish


i have a octo core macpro 2008 edition with ati hd2600 and i need a 8800 but i not pay the expensive price off apple store for this card

http://www.alternate.es/html/product/details.html?artno=JAXXL1&showTechData=true

ola ombre ! you need 512 MB Not 256????

here buy this one it is 100%
http://www.alternate.es/html/productDetails.html?artno=JBXLL3

[antsh]

Sorry for the long response time SuperGrobi, I was busy with biochem research all day. I bought this card literally the week they came out, 10/30/07 to be exact. It has a green PCB, and since its the older model it has the smaller fan. Let me know if I could be of any more help.

[Gokhan]

hi guys


congrats on your successes however i just want to ask seen as im ordering a mac pro soon with a 8800gt mac card , whats the performance differences between the pc and mac versions of the 8800's ??

any help before i decide to lay some dough down ?

[smgfreak]

hi guys


congrats on your successes however i just want to ask seen as im ordering a mac pro soon with a 8800gt mac card , whats the performance differences between the pc and mac versions of the 8800's ??

any help before i decide to lay some dough down ?

it is simple ! if you buy a PC 8800GT wih the right PCB, you can Flash it and it is the same as Apple uses ! BUT !! if you buy a PC 8800GT lets say a OVECLOCKED Version ! you can then overclock it back under bootcamp !
so you have in MAC OS X the Standard Clock, and in bootcamp you overcklock the GPU and RAM etc, it is only useful if you play games or encode HD Movies.

[slackpacker]

To use nvflash on the MP to flash my 8800GT I did the following:

1) Download the fdfullcd.iso from freedos.org (http://www.freedos.org/freedos/files/) - burn the ISO image to a CD.

2) While in OSX put the CD into the MP then do a restart. After your screen goes blank, press and hold the 'option' key while the MP reboots. You will get a screen that gives you options on what to boot from, you should have at least two and possibly three options. Pick the icon that looks like a CD and is likely labelled "Windows". Click the up arrow underneath the icon.

3) FreeDOS will boot and give you a splash screen with some options, choose 1 (Continue to boot FreeDOS)

4) There will be a bunch of text followed by another set of options, choose 3 (boot DOS with Himem etc.) NOTE: to select option 3, hit the number 3 key on the keyboard, do not attempt to use the arrow keys to scroll the selection up and down. No need to hit enter, immediately after entering 3 the system will continue to boot. You will see error messages regarding the CDROM drive, these can be ignored.

5) You will be left at a DOS prompt on A:, which I presume is a ram disk.

At this point you need access to the nvflash program and possibly some read/write disk area if you wish to save a copy of your existing flash image.

I have bootcamp installed and FreeDOS recognized this partition and mounted it R/W for me as drive C: - problem solved! I used OSX to move nvflash and the previously posted MP8800 image files to the root of my BOOTCAMP drive, then booted FreeDOS to save my original flash and re-flash with the mac image. Instructions provided in previous posts to this thread on how to use nvflash to check the size of your flash and perform the actual image update.

If you don't have bootcamp installed you could try two options, use the bootcamp assistant to install bootcamp to the part where it wants the Windows CD and then quit. At that point you should have a DOS formatted partition on your hard drive that FreeDOS will see and use. Proceed as above. I saw one post somewhere that said it was necessary to have the Windows installer format the bootcamp C: drive before it was useable. If this is true, then it may require that you use FreeDOS to format that partition before it can be used. Make sure you format the correct piece of disk;) When complete you can use the bootcamp assistant again to remove the DOS partition.

Second option would be to see if you could slipstream nvflash (and MP8800 image) into the FreeDOS image before burning to CD. Not sure on specific instructions on how to do this, having never needed to do it myself. This would allow you to flash a card, but not make a backup of the original image. Not recommended unless you're sure it will work. Could be used to test a card to check it's flash size in either a MP or PC.

Well I injected the NVFLASH program into the ISO. But since FreeDOS cannot see the cd ... I can't load the NVFLASH EXE.

Also you can run 2 cards in the MP the ATI which the MAC see's and the 8800 which will boot into windows. Unfortunatly when booting into the Mac side of things the 8800 fan is going at Full tilt. Also my PNY card's color is Blue the laminated part... the Actual Board is green but its Blue for the most part.

I'm going to have to wait until I have access to a real pc with a boot disk.
I dont want to format my NTFS partition just to find out I have the wrong card.

[hadleydb]

I've RMA'd my card and got myself a BFG 8800GT OC 512... and nearly flung it against the wall when I saw it had a black PCB. But I tried to flash it anyway and, lo and behold, it has a 128K EEPROM ! So, two new datapoints :

Gainward 8800GT 1G (red PCB) -> Nope
BFG 8800GT OC 512MB (black PCB) -> OK

The BFG card's P/N is BFGR88512GTOCE.

And now, a question for pipomolo42 : it's probably possible to replace the BIOS part of the Apple card's ROM by whatever ROM the card previously had in order to conserve factory overclocks and TV I/O capabilities in BootCamp, right? Is it as simple as cat'ing the two together ? If not, would it be possible to write an utility to turn a BIOS ROM into an hybrid one?

AG

I bought the same exact BFG P/N number from Best Buy this afternoon and it has the 64kb, but luckily my wife had an MSI 8800GT in her PC and I stole that then through the BFG one in her machine. The MSI happened to have the 1024kbx1s. I lucked out. Now I am running both Mac OSX and Windows XP with an 8800GT. Still have to sort the cable thing out. I just used the molex cable and an extender. So far so good!! Thanks everyone!:D

[Brianna]

and, this is ok to flash it,
sorry my english, but i´m spanish


i have a octo core macpro 2008 edition with ati hd2600 and i need a 8800 but i not pay the expensive price off apple store for this card

http://www.alternate.es/html/product/details.html?artno=JAXXL1&showTechData=true

erteclas I will sell you the one I have in my Mac Pro now because I'm going to get a different 8800GT. If you want one I'll give you one that guaranteed to work, (Stock Apple 8800GT) at a good price.

I'm looking at an overlocked edition which will cost me a premium price, but I will have an extra 8800GT card that I am more than wiling to give away at a reasonable rate.

[smgfreak]

I bought the same exact BFG P/N number from Best Buy this afternoon and it has the 64kb, but luckily my wife had an MSI 8800GT in her PC and I stole that then through the BFG one in her machine. The MSI happened to have the 1024kbx1s. I lucked out. Now I am running both Mac OSX and Windows XP with an 8800GT. Still have to sort the cable thing out. I just used the molex cable and an extender. So far so good!! Thanks everyone!:D

very well , could you please make a foto of your MSI FRONT and BACK side and POST it here. MSI has RED and Green PCB layout !

[aLoC]

When the 8800GT first came out, all the companies just shipped NVidia's reference design. It seems the reference design had 128k eeprom. Then as time went by they all made their own (cheaper, overclocked, etc.) variants and some of these have 64k. So perhaps if you can find "old stock" or "second hand" you will have a better chance of getting 128k.

[mrcandy]

Well I injected the NVFLASH program into the ISO. But since FreeDOS cannot see the cd ... I can't load the NVFLASH EXE.


Bummer. Must be an issue with the CD driver that's in FreeDOS not liking the CDROM drive in the MP.

Do you have a spare SATA hard drive you could install temporarily and use for bootcamp?

Or perhaps an old CD drive that you could install into the second optical bay - boot FreeDOS from the existing drive and then see if you can access the second drive where you would have put a CD with only nvflash and the mp8800gt.rom file?

[slackpacker]

Bummer. Must be an issue with the CD driver that's in FreeDOS not liking the CDROM drive in the MP.

Do you have a spare SATA hard drive you could install temporarily and use for bootcamp?

Or perhaps an old CD drive that you could install into the second optical bay - boot FreeDOS from the existing drive and then see if you can access the second drive where you would have put a CD with only nvflash and the mp8800gt.rom file?

I think I have a sata drive that I can use .. good idea...thanks

[hadleydb]

I think I have a sata drive that I can use .. good idea...thanks

I had to do something strange with the freedos. I integrated the .rom and the nvflash onto the cd using Ultra ISO. Once I did that I booted using the CD and then chose the install Freedos to hard drive option. When I came to a screen I then pressed escape to exit the install. It gave me some more options. One was to boot by CD again and go to command prompt. I then saw a drive letter of "X:" I could then see everything and ran NVFlash. Don't know if this is what you meant or not. I just bypassed the whole safe mode not loading drivers all that.

[hadleydb]

very well , could you please make a foto of your MSI FRONT and BACK side and POST it here. MSI has RED and Green PCB layout !

I sure will. I will have to upload it a bit later. Me and the wife are streaming from this system to our Apple TV. When she goes to bed I will pull it and take some photos. I don't need to take the heatsink off the front though right? Just take pics of it intact?

Anyway here is the one I bought back in November for my Wife's *shiver* PC. http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127311

Sorry for the blur. Took them with my iPhone.

http://outcrypr.ipower.com//8800GTa.JPG

http://outcrypr.ipower.com//8800GTc.JPG

[giantsfan1975]

I am having no luck SLI'ing two EVGA 8800 GT's. I was realy hopping that we would have this feature, but I am told that the board needs to support it as well. (I have attached the SLI Bridge)

If anyone has any suggestions, please let them rip...

[mrcandy]

I ordered the parts to make a power cable yesterday afternoon, and today at noon they showed up at my door! Amazing service.

Took about 1.5 hours to put it together, photos attached. The connector for the 8800 end isn't exactly the right one and needed a quick 'adjustment' with a sharp knife.

I ordered quantities of ten to get a price break (and in case I needed a second try:)), so I have parts left over for nine more. PM if interested.

[smgfreak]

I am having no luck SLI'ing two EVGA 8800 GT's. I was realy hopping that we would have this feature, but I am told that the board needs to support it as well. (I have attached the SLI Bridge)

If anyone has any suggestions, please let them rip...


it is not the Logic Board , it is NVIDIA Blocking the Board with their driver , cause of the Intel chipset.
but there are HACK Nvidia driver ,just google and you will find a MOD Driver to get SLI in Action .

crossfire by qay is 100% supported via ATI Catalyist latest Version.

but SLI with 2 HD2600Xt sucks anyway ! would be nice to get 2 HD3870 OC in xfire.:)

[SuperGrobi]

Sorry for the long response time SuperGrobi, I was busy with biochem research all day. I bought this card literally the week they came out, 10/30/07 to be exact. It has a green PCB, and since its the older model it has the smaller fan. Let me know if I could be of any more help.

Thanks for the info. I bought the card you mentioned yesterday (11/07). The PCB was black, so I was really worried at first that I might have a different EEPROM but still I was lucky! The card is now running fine in Mac OS and Win XP. Only drawback is that it is not overclocked anymore at this time 600MHz / 1800MHz. I guess by modifying the Bios within the 128k ROM to match the original Bios it came with I should be able to get the original performance back - at least I would like to have that in XP. What kind of software did you use to modify your Bios?
Thanks again for the hint to try this card!

[SuperGrobi]

it is not the Logic Board , it is NVIDIA Blocking the Board with their driver , cause of the Intel chipset.
but there are HACK Nvidia driver ,just google and you will find a MOD Driver to get SLI in Action .

crossfire by qay is 100% supported via ATI Catalyist latest Version.

but SLI with 2 HD2600Xt sucks anyway ! would be nice to get 2 HD3870 OC in xfire.:)

Are you sure about that? All info I found so far suggested that the new Mac Pro board might not allow to use SLI anymore? Well, I have a second overclocked GT8800 lying around here (64k rom, humh) and I would love to see the two in SLI! Anybody have a link that actually describes a 2008 Mac Pro running SLI?

[giantsfan1975]

I have found very little when searching Google. I found some 83.10 drivers used several years back, but nothing that would be of use today. If someone finds modded drivers, please let me know so I can post some benchmarks.

Thanks in advance!

[antsh]

Thanks for the info. I bought the card you mentioned yesterday (11/07). The PCB was black, so I was really worried at first that I might have a different EEPROM but still I was lucky! The card is now running fine in Mac OS and Win XP. Only drawback is that it is not overclocked anymore at this time 600MHz / 1800MHz. I guess by modifying the Bios within the 128k ROM to match the original Bios it came with I should be able to get the original performance back - at least I would like to have that in XP. What kind of software did you use to modify your Bios?
Thanks again for the hint to try this card!

Overclocking is totally possible with these cards. Just FYI there is an option in the bios to raise the voltage from 1.05 to 1.1 (not necessary but it helps). After doing this mod I raised my clocks to 750/1850/1000 - core/shaders/memory. I also edited the fan profile so that the fan spins up earlier. You guys will soon realize how hot these cards can run under heavy use.

**Please test any over clock in software before flashing it to the bios**

btw I'm jealous of the black pcb......it would look much better in my computer haha :)

[erteclas]

thanks smgfreak, but

1º are you spanish?

2º this card is 100% flashed for osx?

thanks

[SuperGrobi]

Overclocking is totally possible with these cards. Just FYI there is an option in the bios to raise the voltage from 1.05 to 1.1 (not necessary but it helps). After doing this mod I raised my clocks to 750/1850/1000 - core/shaders/memory. I also edited the fan profile so that the fan spins up earlier. You guys will soon realize how hot these cards can run under heavy use.

**Please test any over clock in software before flashing it to the bios**

btw I'm jealous of the black pcb......it would look much better in my computer haha :)

Yup, board looks also very stylish in the Mac Pro - unfortunately I rarely keep the case open ;o)

Btw, I noticed that this card generates much less noise than it's successor - the new XXX card from XFX is a pain - even with closed case!

[diamond.g]

it is not the Logic Board , it is NVIDIA Blocking the Board with their driver , cause of the Intel chipset.
but there are HACK Nvidia driver ,just google and you will find a MOD Driver to get SLI in Action .

crossfire by qay is 100% supported via ATI Catalyist latest Version.

but SLI with 2 HD2600Xt sucks anyway ! would be nice to get 2 HD3870 OC in xfire.:)

Crossfire works but SLi doesn't. AFAIK no one has been able to get the GF8 series cards to work through hacked drivers. Only the GF7 series. Nvidia has closed whatever hole people were using, I guess.

[Gokhan]

thanks smg freak


so my main question now is out of the cards which have confirmed successes which one features the best performance ???

although makes me think the 8800gt from apple is only £130 to upgrade from an ati so should i just buy that ??

however even if i do i think i will pick up a pc 8800 at the right price so which one is the so called best ??

keep up the good work guys its because of people that innovations and breakthroughs occur !

[SuperGrobi]

thanks smg freak


so my main question now is out of the cards which have confirmed successes which one features the best performance ???

although makes me think the 8800gt from apple os only £130 to upgrade from a ati so should i just buy that ??

however even if i do i think i will pick up a pc 8800 at the right price so which one is the so called best ??

keep up the good work guys its because of people that innovations and breakthroughs occur !

Personally, I would buy the Mac Pro with the 8800GT upgrade instead of the stock ATI card - unless you are planning to use more than 2 displays

Flashing a PC card was a better option for me since this way I could get the Mac Pro in a shop without having to wait for it to ship. Now as the 8800GT Mac Pros are shipping I would simply order that one.

As far as you are concerned about performance, I think if you plan to flash a PC card you will anyway end up with the standard clock rates which are determined by the Mac bios ... unless you plan to edit the bios yourself before flashing. Of course you can overclock the card again in Windows but I made the experience that I am much more satisfied with a 600MHz card and thus low fan noise. At the moment I have an originally 670MHz overclocked card running in the Mac Pro at 600MHz and it is very quiet. When I tested it playing Crysis in Win XP I still reached 60C GPU temperature easily so I don't plan to do a lot of tuning to get maybe 10% more speed with the risk of damaging the card. Still the card is a rocket compared to the stock ATI :D

Just my opinion ... a real gamer will surely think different ;)

[smgfreak]

Personally, I would buy the Mac Pro with the 8800GT upgrade instead of the stock ATI card - unless you are planning to use more than 2 displays

Flashing a PC card was a better option for me since this way I could get the Mac Pro in a shop without having to wait for it to ship. Now as the 8800GT Mac Pros are shipping I would simply order that one.

As far as you are concerned about performance, I think if you plan to flash a PC card you will anyway end up with the standard clock rates which are determined by the Mac bios ... unless you plan to edit the bios yourself before flashing. Of course you can overclock the card again in Windows but I made the experience that I am much more satisfied with a 600MHz card and thus low fan noise. At the moment I have an originally 670MHz overclocked card running in the Mac Pro at 600MHz and it is very quiet. When I tested it playing Crysis in Win XP I still reached 60C GPU temperature easily so I don't plan to do a lot of tuning to get maybe 10% more speed with the risk of damaging the card. Still the card is a rocket compared to the stock ATI :D

Just my opinion ... a real gamer will surely think different ;)

i would buy the MAC PRO with Standard ATI , than i would sell the ATI card on eBAY ( hd2600 works 100% in all MAC PRO 2006 /2007 /2008, than i get me a PC 8800GT Medium Clocked like 650/1900 and flash it .

1. Get the Mac for standard Price
2. Sell ATI get some Extra Cash Back
3 buy a 8800GT OC

i managend to edit my bios with Nibitor latest build , flashed it back to Original Leadtek now i hae GPU 650 / Shader 1625 / 1900 RAM and 14346 points 3dmark06 ! it is fantastic

[Gokhan]

interesting ideas guys i may see how much the ati's are going for on ebay and hell yeah i was always going with the 8800 so dont worry about that hmmm but we shall see i may just go with apple although i will research the cost implications

thanks

smgfreak and other good thread keep it going (:

[bartdesign]

Just to give an heads up:

The eVGA 8800 GT KO Crysis edition had a 1024k rom chip! It works perfectly after flashing in my 2008 mac pro.

P/N: 512-P3-E802-AE

Happy hunting ! ;)

[smgfreak]

Just to give an heads up:

The eVGA 8800 GT KO Crysis edition had a 1024k rom chip! It works perfectly after flashing in my 2008 mac pro.

P/N: 512-P3-E802-AE

Happy hunting ! ;)


make a foto an post it ! please

[diamond.g]

When I tested it playing Crysis in Win XP I still reached 60C GPU temperature easily so I don't plan to do a lot of tuning to get maybe 10% more speed with the risk of damaging the card.

I know this is going to sound outlandish, but the Geforce cards can run pretty reliably up to about 90-100C. At that point they will throttle themselves so you don't burn the card up. With overclocking the card you are far more likely to run out of voltage, thus hitting a clock speed wall, than to overheat the card and have it burn up. Of course I think it may be possible to burn up the memory though, but from experience you will see artifacts and lockups before destroying a card.

Also always test your overclocks in software before modding the firmware, you will save yourself some grief.

[inCider]

My luck is not as good as most of you. :(

I found two cards with 128K eeproms; an eVGA 512-P3-N801-FR (thats an FR and not an AR) and a XFX PVT88PYDE4. They both flash fine with nvflash -4 -5 -6 image.rom . Thats where things start to go bad for me...

THe eVGA card boots from grey to blue but I am never presented with the login screen. You can hear the computer crunching away, so I dont think its crashed.

The XFX card will boot and let me log in 50% of the time before it 'crashes'. The screen image corrupts (similar to this post:http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=4804504&postcount=1) and the mouse will continue to move, but I can't interact with the desktop (no clicking).

Has anyone else seen this type of behavior? I have reflashed a few times and diff'd the rom from subsequent downloads, so I dont think its related to the flash of the cards. I would try a fresh install, but I get the same behavior when booting to the installer dvd.

I would appreciate any insight,
inCider

[hadleydb]

My luck is not as good as most of you. :(

I found two cards with 128K eeproms; an eVGA 512-P3-N801-FR (thats an FR and not an AR) and a XFX PVT88PYDE4. They both flash fine with nvflash -4 -5 -6 image.rom . Thats where things start to go bad for me...

THe eVGA card boots from grey to blue but I am never presented with the login screen. You can hear the computer crunching away, so I dont think its crashed.

The XFX card will boot and let me log in 50% of the time before it 'crashes'. The screen image corrupts (similar to this post:http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=4804504&postcount=1) and the mouse will continue to move, but I can't interact with the desktop (no clicking).

Has anyone else seen this type of behavior? I have reflashed a few times and diff'd the rom from subsequent downloads, so I dont think its related to the flash of the cards. I would try a fresh install, but I get the same behavior when booting to the installer dvd.

I would appreciate any insight,
inCider


I haven't noticed anything like that, but I will have more time to play with it tonight after work. Do you have 10.5.2 and the driver update installed? Strange. Anyone else seeing problems like this?

[inCider]

I haven't noticed anything like that, but I will have more time to play with it tonight after work. Do you have 10.5.2 and the driver update installed? Strange. Anyone else seeing problems like this?

Yeah, sorry for not mentioning that in my earlier post. I'm running all the latest software updates and I haven't had a peep of trouble with the stock ATI card.

[hadleydb]

Yeah, sorry for not mentioning that in my earlier post. I'm running all the latest software updates and I haven't had a peep of trouble with the stock ATI card.

That is really odd. What type of power setup do you have? If running from the Molex connector do you have both power molex cables going into the pciexpress adaptor? I only had one hooked up at first and had a problem booting. I guess it takes 3 wires from each one to make the six. I just don't know other than that. I will report back after I've played some games etc. on mine for a good hour or two.

[mrcandy]

THe eVGA card boots from grey to blue but I am never presented with the login screen. You can hear the computer crunching away, so I dont think its crashed.

Has anyone else seen this type of behavior? I have reflashed a few times and diff'd the rom from subsequent downloads, so I dont think its related to the flash of the cards. I would try a fresh install, but I get the same behavior when booting to the installer dvd.

I would appreciate any insight,
inCider

I've not seen anything like that. What slot do you have the 8800GT in? It must be in either the bottom slot or the one above bottom (1 or 2).

I ran my 8800 for about 24hours with the PCIe to molex adapter and had only one of the two molex's connected. It was daisy chained into the optical bay which also had the stock optical drive plus a hard drive installed. Ran the Crysis demo for an hour or so with no problems.

[inCider]

That is really odd. What type of power setup do you have? If running from the Molex connector do you have both power molex cables going into the pciexpress adaptor? I only had one hooked up at first and had a problem booting. I guess it takes 3 wires from each one to make the six. I just don't know other than that. I will report back after I've played some games etc. on mine for a good hour or two.

I have tried a few power options; off the optical molex leads (single and dual) and with a stand alone power supply feeding the card directly. They all exhibited the same behavior.

Since the part numbers for the cards I tried were slightly different than those of others for the same brand, I am going to try to find a third card with the exact same part number. I may also install XP under bootcamp and see if I experience similar issues under windows to help rule out a MP hardware issue.

[inCider]

I've not seen anything like that. What slot do you have the 8800GT in? It must be in either the bottom slot or the one above bottom (1 or 2).

I ran my 8800 for about 24hours with the PCIe to molex adapter and had only one of the two molex's connected. It was daisy chained into the optical bay which also had the stock optical drive plus a hard drive installed. Ran the Crysis demo for an hour or so with no problems.

All my testing thus far has been in the bottom (#1) slot. I'm hopeful that you have seen that level of stability. My cards all had recent manufacture dates and I am wondering if I need to find an older card closer to the reference spec. Any idea when your eVGA was manufactured?

[millisecond]

I have tried a few power options; off the optical molex leads (single and dual) and with a stand alone power supply feeding the card directly. They all exhibited the same behavior.

Since the part numbers for the cards I tried were slightly different than those of others for the same brand, I am going to try to find a third card with the exact same part number. I may also install XP under bootcamp and see if I experience similar issues under windows to help rule out a MP hardware issue.

It almost sounds like your ROM image was ever so slightly corrupted. Try re-downloading, and flashing it to the cards from a different boot source? (i.e. don't use the same floppy/USB ley/etc you used last time)

[hadleydb]

All my testing thus far has been in the bottom (#1) slot. I'm hopeful that you have seen that level of stability. My cards all had recent manufacture dates and I am wondering if I need to find an older card closer to the reference spec. Any idea when your eVGA was manufactured?

I have mine in slot #2 and just pulled out my ATI card once I had it in. I wonder if it has to do with the slot? I used the image posted by ntux post 23 of this thread. You have probably already tried that image though. Do you have it on CD, thumbdrive, hard drive? I did the CD image with FreeDOS and I used Ultra ISO to put the image and nvflash on the CD. But I also have a November 2007 older card.

So does anyone know if it matters to have both Molex hooked up to the PCI-E adaptor. I just saw on another thread somewhere it was required after my machine wouldn't boot up a couple of times. So I hooked both up and it booted.

None of these seem to be the problem. Let us know once you try another card. Anyone else use slot 1 or slot 2?

[mrcandy]

Any idea when your eVGA was manufactured?

Not at home right now, but I still have the box so I'll check tonight and post an update.

[slackpacker]

[quote=hadleydb;5011869] I did the CD image with FreeDOS and I used Ultra ISO to put the image and nvflash on the CD. But I also have a November 2007 older card.
quote]

How did you see the nVflash program on the CD? I cant seem to get the MPro to see the CD Drive with my FreeDOS.

I did the UltraISO trick as well but what dir did you put it in and what commands? I'm so close to getting this to work.

Thanks

[hadleydb]

[quote=hadleydb;5011869] I did the CD image with FreeDOS and I used Ultra ISO to put the image and nvflash on the CD. But I also have a November 2007 older card.
quote]

How did you see the nVflash program on the CD? I cant seem to get the MPro to see the CD Drive with my FreeDOS.

I did the UltraISO trick as well but what dir did you put it in and what commands? I'm so close to getting this to work.

Thanks

I think by using UltraISO something happens to the CD and corrupts it somehow. I did the following: Boot by CD by pressing Enter when getting to the first FreeDOS screen. Then on the next screen choose to install FreeDOS to a hard drive. Once you get to what I believe is the language screen press ESC and it will take you to another menu with options. Now select the Boot to CD and go to command prompt option. It should take you to a command prompt with the drive letter being X:\ now you should be able to do the dir command and see all your files. This worked for me on accident and helped another forum member out as well. You may not be able to find another drive to save your current rom to however. So hopefully the graphics card company has firmware roms on their sites if something goes wrong.

As far as the directory. I just put everything in the main directory on the CD. I didn't use any folders etc. Then used the: X:\Nvflash --check to see if I had the 128 or 64 k, and then proceeded once I knew I had the 1024k X 1S to do the following command: X:\Nvflash -4 -5 -6 romname.rom

Mine happened to be named mp8800gt.rom which I downloaded from post #23 in this thread. You will get warnings that the card is not compatible with the firmware, but I just kept hitting the "Y" key with my fingers crossed and everything worked.

[slackpacker]

[quote=slackpacker;5012044]

I think by using UltraISO something happens to the CD and corrupts it somehow. I did the following: Boot by CD by pressing Enter when getting to the first FreeDOS screen. Then on the next screen choose to install FreeDOS to a hard drive. Once you get to what I believe is the language screen press ESC and it will take you to another menu with options. Now select the Boot to CD and go to command prompt option. It should take you to a command prompt with the drive letter being X:\ now you should be able to do the dir command and see all your files. This worked for me on accident and helped another forum member out as well. You may not be able to find another drive to save your current rom to however. So hopefully the graphics card company has firmware roms on their sites if something goes wrong.

As far as the directory. I just put everything in the main directory on the CD. I didn't use any folders etc. Then used the: X:\Nvflash --check to see if I had the 128 or 64 k, and then proceeded once I knew I had the 1024k X 1S to do the following command: X:\Nvflash -4 -5 -6 romname.rom

Mine happened to be named mp8800gt.rom which I downloaded from post #23 in this thread. You will get warnings that the card is not compatible with the firmware, but I just kept hitting the "Y" key with my fingers crossed and everything worked.

Is the Hard Drive option a Virtual Hard drive or does FreeDOS really install to your Mac/Bootcamp Hard Drive?

[hadleydb]

[quote=hadleydb;5012163]

Is the Hard Drive option a Virtual Hard drive or does it really install to your Mac/Bootcamp Hard Drive?

I believe it would really install to a hard drive. But you need to press the ESC key once you get to a language window. So nothing actually installs to your Mac. This is just kind of a work around to get the CD drive working. So don't actually go through with the install. After pressing ESC it should take you to more options and just boot to CD with command prompt.

[arcsbite]

I hate to be "that guy"
but I would really like to do this as I bought the stock Pro with the ATI in Jan and now use my mac as a gaming machine so much I'd love the upgrade.

is there a mini-guide anywhere on how to do this?
I'm a novice, but learn quickly (I can hack Consoles, iPhones and the like but have never touched a Gfx card)

also, does anyone know which version of the card I should buy?
I'm in the UK and have looking at ebay, but there are so many 8800gt's out there and I just don't know where to start

Some Here (http://computers.search.ebay.co.uk/8800gt_Desktop-PC-Components_W0QQ_trksidZm37QQcatrefZC11QQfromZR40QQsacatZ3667)

Just looking for a little help to get me going.
...or if anyone wants to sell me a pre-flashed 8800gt for my pro...that could work too lol.

[Gokhan]

same position as you arcsbite , look at overclockers.co.uk
and tey to go with kwon cards in this thread.

hell give overclokers a call they are very helpful they might even check to see rom size ?

[slackpacker]

I hate to be "that guy"
but I would really like to do this as I bought the stock Pro with the ATI in Jan and now use my mac as a gaming machine so much I'd love the upgrade.

is there a mini-guide anywhere on how to do this?
I'm a novice, but learn quickly (I can hack Consoles, iPhones and the like but have never touched a Gfx card)

also, does anyone know which version of the card I should buy?
I'm in the UK and have looking at ebay, but there are so many 8800gt's out there and I just don't know where to start

Some Here (http://computers.search.ebay.co.uk/8800gt_Desktop-PC-Components_W0QQ_trksidZm37QQcatrefZC11QQfromZR40QQsacatZ3667)

Just looking for a little help to get me going.
...or if anyone wants to sell me a pre-flashed 8800gt for my pro...that could work too lol.


Just look back on Page 5 or 6 mrCandy did a great Job describing the process. I still have not gotten it done yet but I'm 98.9% of the way there to flashing.

[arcsbite]

Just look back on Page 5 or 6 mrCandy did a great Job describing the process. I still have not gotten it done yet but I'm 98.9% of the way there to flashing.

thanks, I'm half way through page 3, so will get there lol

[arcsbite]

same position as you arcsbite , look at overclockers.co.uk
and tey to go with kwon cards in this thread.

hell give overclokers a call they are very helpful they might even check to see rom size ?

Not a bad idea, I have no idea what I'm asking at the minute though, gonna finish reading the thread and see if things are any clearer!

[smgfreak]

My luck is not as good as most of you. :(

I found two cards with 128K eeproms; an eVGA 512-P3-N801-FR (thats an FR and not an AR) and a XFX PVT88PYDE4. They both flash fine with nvflash -4 -5 -6 image.rom . Thats where things start to go bad for me...

THe eVGA card boots from grey to blue but I am never presented with the login screen. You can hear the computer crunching away, so I dont think its crashed.

The XFX card will boot and let me log in 50% of the time before it 'crashes'. The screen image corrupts (similar to this post:http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=4804504&postcount=1) and the mouse will continue to move, but I can't interact with the desktop (no clicking).

Has anyone else seen this type of behavior? I have reflashed a few times and diff'd the rom from subsequent downloads, so I dont think its related to the flash of the cards. I would try a fresh install, but I get the same behavior when booting to the installer dvd.

I would appreciate any insight,
inCider


i can tell you my INFOs.

I had the same Problem , because i Swapped the STOCK Cooler to a ZALMAN VF900CU . the Problem was , no cooling for because the screws where not that tight.

Second

same Problem in the old Macpro 2,66 with a Flashed X1900XT Grey and blue but no mouse !

The X1900 i bought on ebay , and it was broken before ! the pixel engines where blown.

so if you have mounted a special Cooler take it off an use the Nvida one.

[thagomizer]

than i tried my friends PNY 8800GT 512 same Clocks as above, it did not work at all.

both Cards with ERROR Mismatch 64k ( 128k is only in APPLE OEM 8800GT)
there is no BRAND Shipping 8800GT for PC with 128k chip.


My PNY card just arrived, and I have the same result. :(

EEPROM ID (9D, 7B) : PMC Pm25LV512 2.7-3.6V 64Kx8S, page

Green PCB.

64K flash. I guess Millisecond got lucky with his PNY card.

[Brianna]

Do we have a list of working cards yet? I just bought a Zotac 8800GT 700MHz AMP version w/ a 2000MHz memory clock. Sounds promising. I should have it by Saturday. I just hope it has the 1024 ROM or it seems I'll be sh*t out of luck.
If it does work, and anyone wants to buy the stock 8800GT that came in my Mac pro I'll sell it at a good price. Better than the Apple upgrade. Theirs is $349.00 and it ships in 5-7 weeks. I'll let mine go for $200 + shipping which is cheap. It is still what I would consider brand new after all. Its a week and a day old today. And being that it's the stock Apple card it should work through any updates.

Although I am leaving out of town on business Sunday, so If I don't get the card by Saturday I'll be gone until next Friday. So don't PM me unless your patient because I might not have the new one by then.

[arcsbite]

Although I am leaving out of town on business Sunday, so If I don't get the card by Saturday I'll be gone until next Friday. So don't PM me unless your patient because I might not have the new one by then.

Would you be willing to ship to the UK? I'd cover all costs and chuck another $20 your way as well.

If so. please let me have first refusal on it as I could REALLY use it.
cheers

[thagomizer]

To those who successfully flashed an EVGA card, would you mind posting when you purchased your card, and from where? If it's true that newer cards are being produced with only 64k flash, we might have to buy from a place that doesn't have a lot of turnaround.

Anyone successfully flash a card that they bought recently from newegg or Amazon?

[millisecond]

My PNY card just arrived, and I have the same result. :(

EEPROM ID (9D, 7B) : PMC Pm25LV512 2.7-3.6V 64Kx8S, page

Green PCB.

64K flash. I guess Millisecond got lucky with his PNY card.

That sucks man. And this is crazy, I bought my card 11/30, so really only 2.5 months ago. They must have switched it around in just the last bit.

Would be interesting to see if some ROM hacker could create an EFI-only solution. Wouldn't work in bootcamp anymore, but for the Mac-only people I think it would work on 64k cards. Way beyond my experience in this area though.

[slackpacker]

My PNY card just arrived, and I have the same result. :(

EEPROM ID (9D, 7B) : PMC Pm25LV512 2.7-3.6V 64Kx8S, page

Green PCB.

64K flash. I guess Millisecond got lucky with his PNY card.

I second that I have the same card. 64kx8s Cheap PNY

Did you even try to flash it? Didi Millisecond Have a 64k card or a 128?

[thagomizer]

Did you even try to flash it? Didi Millisecond Have a 64k card or a 128?

No, I left it virgin, as I didn't want to risk messing up the card since I have to return it. Millisecond didn't show his nvflash --check output, but he must have the 128k since it boots both OS X and Windows, right? smgfreak also ended up with a PNY with 64k. So far PNY is batting 250.

I will probably try EVGA next, since there isn't a single bad report of EVGA flashing yet.

[digiegg]

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130071


That was my video card, I actually posted up the wrong one.

[Brianna]

I wanted an EVGA, but the two that I really wanted were sold out everywhere. I was thinking about a Gainward 8800GT Bliss 1GB Golden Sample and OC'ing that myself, but I couldn't find one of those either.

[SuperGrobi]

Here's the card that worked for me - note that mine had a black PCB!

http://www.xfxforce.com/web/product/listConfigurationDetails.jspa?series=GeForce%26trade%3B+8800&productConfigurationId=1558713

Note that it might be important that the label on the end of the box says "Warranty 11/07" and also that there is a newer version of the card (here in stores since maybe 2 or 3 weeks) which has a different cooler, part number and 64k rom!

I saw the card on ebay (with green PCB) for around 100Euro 24h before end. I tried to get it in order to flash and resell it but suddenly the seller didn't want to sell it anymore .... maybe he figured out how to make more money out of it by selling it to Mac pro people!? LOL

[sweedigel]

i'm just going to buy a second-hand 8800GT jetway :
EEPROM ID (C2,10) : MX25L1005 2.7-3.6V 1024Kx1S, page

[SuperGrobi]

i'm just going to buy a second-hand 8800GT jetway :
EEPROM ID (C2,10) : MX25L1005 2.7-3.6V 1024Kx1S, page

Yep, I think that's close to my EEPROM with the number MX12 25L1005MC
on the XFX card!

Good Luck!:cool:

[HansG]

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know, that I flashed a MSI NX8800GT-T2D512E-OC yesterday and it's working perfect.

It's got a 1024k Rom.

Now I am waiting for my order for the cable parts. I found this howto: http://www.tenthousandpercent.com/?article=96&section=other

I found a distributor for them on www.molex.com.

[AGDenton]

Would be interesting to see if some ROM hacker could create an EFI-only solution. Wouldn't work in bootcamp anymore, but for the Mac-only people I think it would work on 64k cards. Way beyond my experience in this area though.

The EFI ROM itself is, unfortunately, 68KB. pipomolo posted it over at themacelite.com, and it works alright... in a card with a 128KB EEPROM, since it's 4KB too big. So, no luck !

AG

[slackpacker]

Just for kicks for those that have a 8800 and a 2008 8 core running could you run Xbench 1.3 and post the results. Don't run the Hard Drive test with it.

http://www.xbench.com/

Thanks

[hadleydb]

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know, that I flashed a MSI NX8800GT-T2D512E-OC yesterday and it's working perfect.

It's got a 1024k Rom.

Now I am waiting for my order for the cable parts. I found this howto: http://www.tenthousandpercent.com/?article=96&section=other

I found a distributor for them on www.molex.com.

That's the exact card I have. I have a green board vs. the Red other models come with. Not sure if the Red would have 1024k or not at this point.

Oh and for those wondering. I have been running it 24 hours straight without a hitch. I played Unreal Tournament 3 on the windows side for a good two hours last night and it ran silky smooth. I ran it in Mac OSX to do some video work for a few hours too, and it ran great.

Slackpacker here is a an Xbench 1.3 score without the Hard Drive test.

Results 249.34
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.2 (9C31)
Physical RAM 2048 MB
Model MacPro3,1
Drive Type WDC WD3200AAJS-41VWA0
CPU Test 188.93
GCD Loop 320.38 16.89 Mops/sec
Floating Point Basic 159.75 3.80 Gflop/sec
vecLib FFT 132.37 4.37 Gflop/sec
Floating Point Library 236.04 41.10 Mops/sec
Thread Test 601.41
Computation 571.30 11.57 Mops/sec, 4 threads
Lock Contention 634.87 27.31 Mlocks/sec, 4 threads
Memory Test 181.74
System 216.00
Allocate 337.94 1.24 Malloc/sec
Fill 172.57 8390.66 MB/sec
Copy 194.73 4022.16 MB/sec
Stream 156.87
Copy 158.32 3270.01 MB/sec
Scale 158.70 3278.64 MB/sec
Add 155.60 3314.67 MB/sec
Triad 154.92 3314.02 MB/sec
Quartz Graphics Test 257.42
Line 214.17 14.26 Klines/sec [50% alpha]
Rectangle 267.45 79.85 Krects/sec [50% alpha]
Circle 215.04 17.53 Kcircles/sec [50% alpha]
Bezier 218.05 5.50 Kbeziers/sec [50% alpha]
Text 562.29 35.17 Kchars/sec
OpenGL Graphics Test 194.86
Spinning Squares 194.86 247.19 frames/sec
User Interface Test 386.33
Elements 386.33 1.77 Krefresh/sec

[Spybreak]

I can confirm the XFX GeForce 8800GT Alpha Dog Extreme edition works fine and has a 1024k ROM :) Mine has a black PCB and says "Warranty 01/08" so it's quite new.

Exact model is PV-T88P-YDE4.

Now, to build that pesky power cable...

[smgfreak]

Xbench 1,3 with MAC PRO Octo 2,8

HD 2600 XT
X 1900 XT
GF 8800GT

[giantsfan1975]

Does anyone have any idea if this card will work?

Palit nVidia GeForce 8800GT Super+ 1GB

[sweedigel]

I have a problem. When I boot on DOS (I tried both FreeDOS and the WindowsME image), the superdrive is not recognized. It say that the driver cannot be loaded. How did you do ? USB drives don't work too :(

[thagomizer]

I have a problem. When I boot on DOS (I tried both FreeDOS and the WindowsME image), the superdrive is not recognized. It say that the driver cannot be loaded. How did you do ? USB drives don't work too :(

I couldn't see the CD drive or USB key either.

Create a partition using BootCamp. Format it as FAT32, not NTFS. A small partition will be enough. Copy your nfvlash and your rom file to this partition.

I was able to boot from the FreeDOS CD, and run the nvflash program from this FAT partition. Just say c: to switch to this partition.

[Tallest Skil]

Create a partition using BootCamp. Format it as FAT32, not NTFS.

How... do I get OS X to write to FAT32? I have MacFUSE, which writes to NTFS, but is there something out there for FAT32?

[thagomizer]

How... do I get OS X to write to FAT32? I have MacFUSE, which writes to NTFS, but is there something out there for FAT32?

OS X can write to FAT32 no problem. Just create a small (even 5GB) partition with Boot Camp Assistant. Then quit that and run Disk Utility. Your 5GB partition should show up. Select it, and format it as FAT32 using Disk Utility. Then mount it, if it isn't mounted already. Quit Disk Utility. The partition will be on your desktop, and you can copy NVFLASH.EXE and your ROM file to it.

[Tallest Skil]

OS X can write to FAT32 no problem.

I... did not know that. Thanks. I'd have spent hours trolling Google looking for "OS X FAT32 write utility"...:p

[smgfreak]

Does anyone have any idea if this card will work?

Palit nVidia GeForce 8800GT Super+ 1GB

even if the 128k Rom ist Present, you just can´t use 1024MB Based 8800GT cards with the FLASH.

only 512MB possible.

for 1024MB Cards you have to write a complete New BIOS for the card.

[Tallest Skil]

for 1024MB Cards you have to write a complete New BIOS for the card.

Why? Can't you just edit all instances of 512MB in the ROM to 1024MB? :D

[thagomizer]

I've been keeping a summary and thought it might be useful for everyone else:

millisecond: PNY VCG88512GXPB green pcb 128k
aLoC: Inno3d 64k
aLoC: Inno3d reference model (no overclock) 128k
smgfreak: PNY VCG88512GXPB 64k
SuperGrobi: XFX 8800GT alphadog XXX PV-T88P-YHD4 64k
AGDenton: Gainward 8800GT 1G red pcb 64k
smgfreak: Sparkle 512MB 600MHz 64k
smgfreak: PNY VCG88512GXPB 64k
mrcandy: EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR 128k
giantsfan1975: E-VGA 8800 GT 128k
smgfreak: Sparkle 8800GT FEB 2008 REV 1.2 64k
abisai: E-VGA e-GeForce 8800 GT Superclocked 128k
smgfreak: ZOTAC with blue pcb 64k
rhildinger: BFG BFGR88512GTOCE 128k
antsh: XFX PVT88PYDD4 alphadog 128k
vortigern: Inno3d i-8800GT-H5GTCDS green pcb 64k
smgfreak: LEADTEK PX8800GT 512MB ZL (A JAN 2008) 128k
AGDenton: BFG BFGR88512GTOCE 128k
SuperGrobi: XFX alphadog PV-T88P-YDDA black pcb 128k
hadleydb: BFG BFGR88512GTOCE 64k
hadleydb: MSI NX8800GT-T2D512E-OC Nov. green pcb 128k
bartdesign: eVGA 8800 GT KO 512-P3-E802-AE 128k
inCider: eVGA 512-P3-N801-FR (image problems) 128k
inCider: XFX PVT88PYDE4 (image problems) 128k
thagomizer: PNY VCG88512GXPB 64k
slackpacker: PNY VCG88512GXPB 64k
HansG: MSI NX8800GT-T2D512E-OC 128k
Spybreak: XFX alphadog PV-T88P-YDE4 black 01/08 128k

Looks like EVGA is the only vendor that hasn't shown up with 64k yet. Am I correct?

[Brianna]

I've been keeping a summary and thought it might be useful for everyone else:

millisecond: PNY VCG88512GXPB green pcb 128k
aLoC: Inno3d 64k
aLoC: Inno3d reference model (no overclock) 128k
smgfreak: PNY VCG88512GXPB 64k
SuperGrobi: XFX 8800GT alphadog XXX PV-T88P-YHD4 64k
AGDenton: Gainward 8800GT 1G red pcb 64k
smgfreak: Sparkle 512MB 600MHz 64k
smgfreak: PNY VCG88512GXPB 64k
mrcandy: EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR 128k
giantsfan1975: E-VGA 8800 GT 128k
smgfreak: Sparkle 8800GT FEB 2008 REV 1.2 64k
abisai: E-VGA e-GeForce 8800 GT Superclocked 128k
smgfreak: ZOTAC with blue pcb 64k
rhildinger: BFG BFGR88512GTOCE 128k
antsh: XFX PVT88PYDD4 alphadog 128k
vortigern: Inno3d i-8800GT-H5GTCDS green pcb 64k
smgfreak: LEADTEK PX8800GT 512MB ZL (A JAN 2008) 128k
AGDenton: BFG BFGR88512GTOCE 128k
SuperGrobi: XFX alphadog PV-T88P-YDDA black pcb 128k
hadleydb: BFG BFGR88512GTOCE 64k
hadleydb: MSI NX8800GT-T2D512E-OC Nov. green pcb 128k
bartdesign: eVGA 8800 GT KO 512-P3-E802-AE 128k
inCider: eVGA 512-P3-N801-FR (image problems) 128k
inCider: XFX PVT88PYDE4 (image problems) 128k
thagomizer: PNY VCG88512GXPB 64k
slackpacker: PNY VCG88512GXPB 64k
HansG: MSI NX8800GT-T2D512E-OC 128k
Spybreak: XFX alphadog PV-T88P-YDE4 black 01/08 128k

Looks like EVGA is the only vendor that hasn't shown up with 64k yet. Am I correct?

128K isn't necessarily the key here.

ZOTAC GeForce 8800GT AMP Edition

EEPROM ID (9D, 7C) PMC Pm25LV010 2.7-3.6V 128Kx8S


It looks like it wants to start right, but I got 3 messages when I used nvflash -4 -5 -6 MP8800.ROM command.

It asked me 3 questions, and because I saw the 128K and I'm a stupid girl I chose Y to all 3 and did not write them down. I think I should have chosen Y, N, N, maybe because I am getting some serious artifacs, and a freeze at startup. After I see the Apple. Right after the pinwheel starts is when it happens.

[diamond.g]

128K isn't necessarily the key here.

ZOTAC GeForce 8800GT AMP Edition

EEPROM ID (9D, 7C) PMC Pm25LV010 2.7-3.6V 128Kx8S


It looks like it wants to start right, but I got 3 messages when I used nvflash -4 -5 -6 MP8800.ROM command.

It asked me 3 questions, and because I saw the 128K and I'm a stupid girl I chose Y to all 3 and did not write them down. I think I should have chosen Y, N, N, maybe because I am getting some serious artifacs, and a freeze at startup. After I see the Apple. Right after the pinwheel starts is when it happens.
May be a silly question, but did you try reflashing?

[Brianna]

Yes.

[mrcandy]

128K isn't necessarily the key here.

ZOTAC GeForce 8800GT AMP Edition

EEPROM ID (9D, 7C) PMC Pm25LV010 2.7-3.6V 128Kx8S


It looks like it wants to start right, but I got 3 messages when I used nvflash -4 -5 -6 MP8800.ROM command.

It asked me 3 questions, and because I saw the 128K and I'm a stupid girl I chose Y to all 3 and did not write them down. I think I should have chosen Y, N, N, maybe because I am getting some serious artifacs, and a freeze at startup. After I see the Apple. Right after the pinwheel starts is when it happens.

Another silly question - you do have the extra power cable hooked up? To the motherboard or via one or two molex connectors? Mine worked with only one molex, but if you haven't tried already give two a go.

The only other thing I see is the organization of your ROM. I believe every one of the working ROMs has been 1024Kx1, whereas yours is 128Kx8.

[hadleydb]

128K isn't necessarily the key here.

ZOTAC GeForce 8800GT AMP Edition

EEPROM ID (9D, 7C) PMC Pm25LV010 2.7-3.6V 128Kx8S


It looks like it wants to start right, but I got 3 messages when I used nvflash -4 -5 -6 MP8800.ROM command.

It asked me 3 questions, and because I saw the 128K and I'm a stupid girl I chose Y to all 3 and did not write them down. I think I should have chosen Y, N, N, maybe because I am getting some serious artifacs, and a freeze at startup. After I see the Apple. Right after the pinwheel starts is when it happens.

Strange. How many people are actually getting a 128Kx8S and its working? Vs. 1024Kx1S? Or is that the same thing? I'm kinda technically challenged in this area. What is the difference between the two?

Also I have hooked up both Molex connectors to the extra CD power molex cable with a splitter and mine is running like a dream. So I have two molex going into two molex on the PCI-E adaptor.

[diamond.g]

Yes.

Now this is going to sound crazy, but the artifacts could be from the clocks being higher than the card is able to handle. It could be GPU or memory that is clocked too high.

[slackpacker]

Thanks Hadley and Smg for the Xbench Posts.

Very interesting about the ATI Cards.. Looks like the OS X Drivers from Nvidia need work.

Thanks

[Brianna]

Another silly question - you do have the extra power cable hooked up? To the motherboard or via one or two molex connectors? Mine worked with only one molex, but if you haven't tried already give two a go.

The only other thing I see is the organization of your ROM. I believe every one of the working ROMs has been 1024Kx1, whereas yours is 128Kx8.


I took the Mac 8800GT out when I did mine. I used the full conection that came with the Mac GT.

128x8 = 1024x1

The card is OC'd but I had it running in windows before I did the ROM swap. I just think I didn't need to update everything (the 3 Y's I chopse) in that ROM swap. I did the Apple ROM over it again the second time, and it only asked me one question that time. The first one about the display. So I realy need to re-install the original ROM and start using a process of elimination like Y, N, N, - Y, N, Y - Y, Y, N - and so on. I think it will work in the end though.

[Brianna]

One Thing I forgot to mention is that Apples Nvidia drivers from the boot Camp install disk are better than the Nvidia ones, or the ZOTAC Nvidia ones. Using all three with ZOTAC's card, and All three with the Apple 8800GT in windows you see a huge performance differance. You grab a window like a browser window and move it in a circle with the apple driver it moves like an OS X window. But with the other drivers there is this cascading window thing where the video is trying to catch up with your actions. It's really annoying.

[hadleydb]

Thanks Hadley and Smg for the Xbench Posts.

Very interesting about the ATI Cards.. Looks like the OS X Drivers from Nvidia need work.

Thanks

You're welcome. I'm impressed Smg was able to compare the three. I sold my X1900 with my 2007 Mac Pro 2.66. I still have the 2600XT lying around in case of an applecare issue. Don't know what they would think of a goofy PC graphic setup if you took it in. Sounds like a gamble with whatever card anyone purchases. Luckily my Wife had an older 8800GT or I would be out of luck.

[mrcandy]

I took the Mac 8800GT out when I did mine. I used the full conection that came with the Mac GT.

OK, that eliminates power.

128x8 = 1024x1

I know they are both 1Mbit in total size, but there are differences. Looking at the manufacturer's data sheets it would appear to mostly be in write protection, block or sector size, and some instructions. Given the card works as well as it does, it would seen that the erasing/programming is in general working.

The card is OC'd but I had it running in windows before I did the ROM swap. I just think I didn't need to update everything (the 3 Y's I chopse) in that ROM swap. I did the Apple ROM over it again the second time, and it only asked me one question that time. The first one about the display. So I realy need to re-install the original ROM and start using a process of elimination like Y, N, N, - Y, N, Y - Y, Y, N - and so on. I think it will work in the end though.

I suspect if you answer N to any question nvflash quits. Would still be a good idea to flash back to original ROM and test again in Windows to be sure card is still fully functional.

Any chance the image you downloaded is corrupted?

What method are you using to run nvflash and access the boot rom image?

[Brianna]

Any chance the image you downloaded is corrupted?

What method are you using to run nvflash and access the boot rom image?

No it's not corrupted. It's the image from my own 8800GT. No downloading involved. I used the FreeDOS Boot CD to do it all.

[diamond.g]

No it's not corrupted. It's the image from my own 8800GT. No downloading involved. I used the FreeDOS Boot CD to do it all.

Are you able to tell if the clocks have changed? I swear your symptoms sound just like a bad overclock.

[Brianna]

I suspect if you answer N to any question nvflash quits.

What it did was say "do you want to replace xxx driver with the one you have" more or less, If you press Y it does it, and then moves to the next question, and you get the same situation, and it does it again. Maybe I didn't need to replace everything. Just the one that said something about display.

[mrcandy]

No it's not corrupted. It's the image from my own 8800GT. No downloading involved. I used the FreeDOS Boot CD to do it all.

So your MP originally came with an Apple 8800GT?

Does that mean you were using the PC 8800GT for video output at the same time you did the flash update? Or did you have your monitor hooked to the Apple 8800GT - but in that case how does nvflash know which card to update?

Do you have any way of re-trying the flash on the PC 8800 with no monitor attached to it when you boot FreeDOS and run nvflash.

I suspect most people attempting this, and myself for sure, have the 2600XT as the video output device at the time the 8800GT was flashed.

[Brianna]

No I had one card in at a time.

[mrcandy]

No I had one card in at a time.

If I understand correctly that means you had your monitor attached to the same card that you were flashing. I'm not sure that flashing an active card is considered valid. Do you have any way of trying to re-flash while the card has nothing connected to either DVI port (including during boot of FreeDOS)?

This would require a second video card, which you have, but it's another 8800GT and I don't know how nvflash would decide which one to use. If you have access to an ATI card that would be better. You could try with both 8800GT's installed and see what nvflash does with something like a --check command. Does it report both, ask which one, default to slot 1. From there decide if to try the flash command - I believe it always asks for at least one confirmation so you should get the chance to back out if necessary.

[Brianna]

If I understand correctly that means you had your monitor attached to the same card that you were flashing. I'm not sure that flashing an active card is considered valid. Do you have any way of trying to re-flash while the card has nothing connected to either DVI port (including during boot of FreeDOS)?

This would require a second video card, which you have, but it's another 8800GT and I don't know how nvflash would decide which one to use. If you have access to an ATI card that would be better. You could try with both 8800GT's installed and see what nvflash does with something like a --check command. Does it report both, ask which one, default to slot 1. From there decide if to try the flash command - I believe it always asks for at least one confirmation so you should get the chance to back out if necessary.

I wont be able to do any of that until next week. But no I don't have an ATI card.
I don't have a second 6 plug connector for the card ether. Just the split one.
And how would I connect up the second card?

[mrcandy]

I wont be able to do any of that until next week. But no I don't have an ATI card.
I don't have a second 6 plug connector for the card ether. Just the split one.
And how would I connect up the second card?

1) Put the Apple 8800GT in slot #2 and use the power cable provided by Apple.

2) Put the PC 8800GT in slot #1. It should have come with a power cable that splits into two 4 pin molex connectors. Slide the optical drive bay about half way out and you should see a spare molex connector for the second optical drive. Connect one of the video card power cable molex to that spare connector and push the optical bay back in place. You will need to thread the cable through one of the slots in the optical bay in order to get it to slide back. You may need an extension for the 4pin molex cable to make it long enough to reach the video card. You cannot move the video card to slot 3 or 4 to shorten the distance since they are only 4x slots. I'm suggesting slot 1 for the PC card since it's possible nvflash may have a preference for that slot, otherwise putting the cards in the reverse order should work as well.

3) Connect your monitor to the Apple 8800GT and leave both DVI ports on the PC card empty. Boot FreeDOS and try nvflash per previous post.

Good luck!

[sweedigel]

I couldn't see the CD drive or USB key either.

Create a partition using BootCamp. Format it as FAT32, not NTFS. A small partition will be enough. Copy your nfvlash and your rom file to this partition.

I was able to boot from the FreeDOS CD, and run the nvflash program from this FAT partition. Just say c: to switch to this partition.Thanks, it work :).

Last thing, what's the image you all used ? This one (http://a.mondit.free.fr/mp2008/) ?

[Brianna]

1)
2) Put the PC 8800GT in slot #1. It should have come with a power cable that splits into two 4 pin molex connectors. Slide the optical drive bay about half way out and you should see a spare molex connector for the second optical drive. Connect one of the video card power cable molex to that spare connector and push the optical bay back in place. You will need to thread the cable through one of the slots in the optical bay in order to get it to slide back. You may need an extension for the 4pin molex cable to make it long enough to reach the video card. You cannot move the video card to slot 3 or 4 to shorten the distance since they are only 4x slots. I'm suggesting slot 1 for the PC card since it's possible nvflash may have a preference for that slot, otherwise putting the cards in the reverse order should work as well.
Good luck!

You don't need to give it full power? Thats why I didn't do it the first time. I pulled the DVD drive out and checked for two extra 4 pin molex connectors, but only found the one.

[smgfreak]

128K isn't necessarily the key here.

ZOTAC GeForce 8800GT AMP Edition

EEPROM ID (9D, 7C) PMC Pm25LV010 2.7-3.6V 128Kx8S


It looks like it wants to start right, but I got 3 messages when I used nvflash -4 -5 -6 MP8800.ROM command.

It asked me 3 questions, and because I saw the 128K and I'm a stupid girl I chose Y to all 3 and did not write them down. I think I should have chosen Y, N, N, maybe because I am getting some serious artifacs, and a freeze at startup. After I see the Apple. Right after the pinwheel starts is when it happens.


I have Bad News on ZOTAC ( they suck ) my friend just got his ZOTAC bought on eBAY, he came over with his card, and we did the Flash , looks like the the ROM size is 128k BUT it is from ( PMC -SIERRA ) not from MX , the card did Flash Correctly , but has Issues with PIXEL Engine, shaders and Artifacts on Bootup GREY SCREEN !

boy , my Friend was Pissed again ,first the PNY and now the ZOTAC, i think the Original MAC ROM we have is Designed for use with the ( MX 128k ROM CHIP not the PMC one )

the ZOTAC was Cheap anyway 157 , but i told him get a LEADTEK or EVGA.

[aLoC]

Looks like EVGA is the only vendor that hasn't shown up with 64k yet. Am I correct?

Inno3D has also been all 128k, but that's from a sample size of 1 :)

[Brianna]

I have Bad News on ZOTAC ( they suck ) my friend just got his ZOTAC bought on eBAY, he came over with his card, and we did the Flash , looks like the the ROM size is 128k BUT it is from ( PMC -SIERRA ) not from MX , the card did Flash Correctly , but has Issues with PIXEL Engine, shaders and Artifacts on Bootup GREY SCREEN !

boy , my Friend was Pissed again ,first the PNY and now the ZOTAC, i think the Original MAC ROM we have is Designed for use with the ( MX 128k ROM CHIP not the PMC one )

the ZOTAC was Cheap anyway 157 , but i told him get a LEADTEK or EVGA.

The user reviews on that card (the one I got) were great. PC users loved it. It was a good price for a dependable 100MHz over OC'd 8800GT.

I think your right about the EEPROM ID thing. It has to say MX, and be 128k. PMC isn't working out.

I did want an EVGA originally, but I said earlier the 4 EVGA's I wanted were all sold out. I couldn't get them anywhere.

[Whitesnake]

I have the Mac Pro Model 1.1 2ghz.

What sort of options do I have for a custom flashed card? I'm quite interested in the ZOTAC GeForce 8800GT AMP Edition.

Would I need to flash the card with a EFI32 image?

[diamond.g]

If I understand correctly that means you had your monitor attached to the same card that you were flashing. I'm not sure that flashing an active card is considered valid. Do you have any way of trying to re-flash while the card has nothing connected to either DVI port (including during boot of FreeDOS)?

This would require a second video card, which you have, but it's another 8800GT and I don't know how nvflash would decide which one to use. If you have access to an ATI card that would be better. You could try with both 8800GT's installed and see what nvflash does with something like a --check command. Does it report both, ask which one, default to slot 1. From there decide if to try the flash command - I believe it always asks for at least one confirmation so you should get the chance to back out if necessary.
You only need one card in. It isn't recommended to have 2 Nvidia cards in on flashing. It will confuse the program and you may flash the wrong card.

I dunno why you are seeing artifacts. Usually that means one of two things. Either the cores/memory were clocked to high, or the firmware activated a broken quad and deactivated a good quad. I am not sure if the second one really is the case as I was told Nvidia cuts the dies so you can't activate messed up quads.

[Brianna]

boy , my Friend was Pissed again ,first the PNY and now the ZOTAC, i think the Original MAC ROM we have is Designed for use with the ( MX 128k ROM CHIP not the PMC one )
.

Hey can you get your friend to send me his ROM? What card was it that he flashed exactly?