NVIDIA 8800 GT (1st Generation) Graphics Upgrade Kit for Mac Pro!

[Tbarr]

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT (1st Generation) Graphics Upgrade Kit for Mac Pro.
:eek:
Just added?
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?s=topSellers&fnode=home/shop_mac/mac_accessories/displays&nplm=MB560Z/A&mco=OTkzNDY

Is it Real?
Are the bad Times over?

[Sean Dempsey]

It's a fake.

[antzona]

It's a fake.

You sure like to push people's buttons don't you? ;)

[yeroen]

At last, we can finally all move on to bitching about the poorly written driver that hobbles its use for pro apps.

Cue in the wailing and gnashing of teeth.

[TBi]

Now all we have to do is get the ROM dump from that card and flash a PC card to work in the old mac pro :D

[Krevnik]

At last, we can finally all move on to bitching about the poorly written driver that hobbles its use for pro apps.

Cue in the wailing and gnashing of teeth.

I have yet to see nVidia drivers on the Mac that didn't need a couple revisions to sort out. *sigh*

The MBP with the 8600M was ugly, especially when I was trying to use Leopard seeds for development, and the drivers were causing full-blown hangs every day before they got sorted out in the last couple builds.

[Grokgod]

so does anyone have this unit, I am hoping to buy it, hoping that it works better than my the old ATY,RadeonX1900, that doesnt work well with the new Leopard?

I need something that is going to work anyone Beta buying? :)

TIA

well just checked out barefeats

http://www.barefeats.com/harper10.html

and it looks like for Apple Pro apps, the 8800 isnt the best or faster but worse!
SInce those are the apps that I use constantly and where I am looking to up my speed, seems like a bad buy, for me.

[Krevnik]

so does anyone have this unit and will buying it work better than the old ATI ATY,RadeonX1900, that doesnt work well with the new Leopard?

I need something that is going to work anyone Beta buying? :)


I haven't had any issues with the X1900 XT in Leopard, myself... I am curious what issues you are seeing.

[hugodrax]

Thats what I do not understand, how the heck is the 8800 providing such pisspoor performance compared to the 1900XT when it comes to core image/pro apps? I guess the 8800 is for games, real work stick with the 1900XT.

Disappointing to see worse performance on a next gen chip, I guess they are more concerned with the fastest game FPS when they designed the 8800 series.

[Tallest Skil]

Was the 8800 GT upgrade for current Mac Pros (BTO, not post-purchase) $200? Because it's $150 now!

Edit: Post-purchase is only $279.

[yeroen]

so does anyone have this unit and will buying it work better than the old ATI ATY,RadeonX1900, that doesnt work well with the new Leopard?


The X1900 works fine with Leopard, but because Leopard offloads more work to the GPU, the card gets exercised more. If you haven't cleaned the dust out your X1900's intake and fan assembly or taken further steps to cool it, you may see some instability.

I never had any freeze-ups in Tiger. Immediately after I upgraded to Leopard, I would get 1 or 2 freeze-ups a day, always when doing something graphics intensive like iTunes Visualizer, DVD playback, even activating Spaces. This tendency to lock up went away once I cleaned out my X1900 and applied some Arctic Silver thermal paste to the GPU/heat-sink interface.

In fact, for pro-apps like Final Cut, Motion, or Aperture the X1900 is quite a bit better than the 8800 (see the barefeats review). If and when updated drivers are released, the gap will probably narrow, but until then unless your X1900 is near death or you do a lot of 3D gaming, there is no reason to rush out and buy an 8800.

[Krevnik]

Thats what I do not understand, how the heck is the 8800 providing such pisspoor performance compared to the 1900XT when it comes to core image/pro apps? I guess the 8800 is for games, real work stick with the 1900XT.

Disappointing to see worse performance on a next gen chip, I guess they are more concerned with the fastest game FPS when they designed the 8800 series.

Well, the issue here is VERY likely to be drivers. If you look at the history of nVidia chips on the Mac over the last few years... drivers have always left something to be desired. The 8600M had various graphical issues until Leopard came out (some Leopard builds didn't even support ColorSync on the 8600M).

I have yet to see an nVidia chip with a really decent set of drivers out of the gate on the Mac. ATI drivers are usually much better out of the gate in comparison.

[hugodrax]

If that is the case Apple should have chosen the High end ATI card. I wonder why they chose the 8800 instead of ATIs higher end line of cards.

[ThirteenXIII]

Any indications of these:

1) already having the x1900, using Bootcamp, do i have uninstall the original drivers that i loaded with my Bootcamp Install Disc? or should windows already have it installed w/ the bootcamp driver disc?

2) Will this work with Tiger? (im running 10.4.10)

3) forward/backward compatibility? (old macpro new macpro etc)


thanks!

[jonmitz]

Well, I went ahead and bought one. It should get here by monday or wednesday of next week, and I'll try to help out with any questions people have.

[Krevnik]

Any indications of these:

1) already having the x1900, using Bootcamp, do i have uninstall the original drivers that i loaded with my Bootcamp Install Disc? or should windows already have it installed w/ the bootcamp driver disc?

2) Will this work with Tiger? (im running 10.4.10)

3) forward/backward compatibility? (old macpro new macpro etc)


thanks!

1) AFAIK, there are no Bootcamp drivers for the 8800GT, the upshot is that since the 8800GT is a desktop card, nVidia does have driver downloads for it. You should be good.

2) OS X drivers for the 8800 weren't available until the Harpertown systems landed, so I wouldn't be surprised if you need Leopard to run this card. Seeing as nobody has the card in hand, we don't know for sure, and in your case I would hold off until someone can answer this correctly.

3) I wouldn't bet on this, get the version of the card for the model Mac Pro you have.

[tom.]

The boot camp setup disk (leopard disk 1) on the 2K8 Mac Pro installed both ATi and nVidia drivers on my vista64 disk. I'm assuming there will be one available, but i know for sure the 8800GT does have 32 and 64 bit support in boot camp.

Although you can download drivers directly from nVidia I'm unsure on the compatibility of those, or indeed the benefits (if any). Hopefully someone can expand on that.

[Krevnik]

The boot camp setup disk (leopard disk 1) on the 2K8 Mac Pro installed both ATi and nVidia drivers on my vista64 disk. I'm assuming there will be one available, but i know for sure the 8800GT does have 32 and 64 bit support in boot camp.

Although you can download drivers directly from nVidia I'm unsure on the compatibility of those, or indeed the benefits (if any). Hopefully someone can expand on that.

Be aware that Vista includes drivers for the entire 8xxx series when it installs. BootCamp doesn't need to install anything on top of it.

Plus, the drivers shipped with the 08 Mac Pros are different than what you find in a retail Leopard box.

[antzona]

I am very excited that Apple has come through. It makes me so much more optimistic for the future of my Mac Pro and the way Apple is going to do business. I think this speaks volumes about the way they are going to handle their desktop computers in regard to upgrades. Many people in this thread were pretty positive that Apple wouldn't come through and referenced Apple's history with video card upgrades. Many people acted like we were crazy for ever assuming Apple would give us an upgrade. "They never have before, why would they now?" Well, they did, and I think this is emblematic of the way they will operate from this day forward. I'm glad we kept this issue alive and made sure that they knew it was important to their customers.

[tom.]

Be aware that Vista includes drivers for the entire 8xxx series when it installs. BootCamp doesn't need to install anything on top of it.

Plus, the drivers shipped with the 08 Mac Pros are different than what you find in a retail Leopard box.

I understand the disk is different to that of a leopard box, however surely someone will make have made the boot camp setup form the 2K8 Mac Pro available? I'm really unsure to be honest.

The setup definitely said it was installing both ATI and nVidia drivers as i was watching it, but as you said they are included with vista, i remember from my 8800GTX PC. Are the standard vista drivers 'card specific' or are they just a make-do until you get hold of the drivers off nVidia?

[Eidorian]

For Windows you can just use the GPU manufacturer's drivers. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple provided their own updated 8800GT drivers online or on a disc in the video card's box.

Even without any proper drivers in Windows you get generic VGA to play around with in your quest to install the full fledged ones.

[OZMP]

http://store.apple.com/133-622/WebObjects/australiastore.woa/wa/RSLID?find=MB560Z/A
AUS link
ordered :D

[Grokgod]

What I am curious about and this may sound rather foolish, but with the additional slots for extra graphics cards.

Does it speed up the computer for rendering etc, if you buy another graphics card and stick it in, will the OS use it, will the apps use it.

Or are they used only if it attached to another monitor?

I would love to have an extra graphics card helping with FCP rendering, or one card for work one for the occasional game of C&C which the ATI is horrible at!

[damado]

I am very excited that Apple has come through. It makes me so much more optimistic for the future of my Mac Pro and the way Apple is going to do business. I think this speaks volumes about the way they are going to handle their desktop computers in regard to upgrades. Many people in this thread were pretty positive that Apple wouldn't come through and referenced Apple's history with video card upgrades. Many people acted like we were crazy for ever assuming Apple would give us an upgrade. "They never have before, why would they now?" Well, they did, and I think this is emblematic of the way they will operate from this day forward. I'm glad we kept this issue alive and made sure that they knew it was important to their customers.

I agree. I was angry/scared/skeptical of future purchases, but this has restored some confidence. My card was ordered yesterday, can't wait =).

[Alican]

What I am curious about and this may sound rather foolish, but with the additional slots for extra graphics cards.

Does it speed up the computer for rendering etc, if you buy another graphics card and stick it in, will the OS use it, will the apps use it.

Or are they used only if it attached to another monitor?

I would love to have an extra graphics card helping with FCP rendering, or one card for work one for the occasional game of C&C which the ATI is horrible at!

i would have thought that even if there was a way to use multiple GPUs, the cards would have to be the same make

[Krevnik]

i would have thought that even if there was a way to use multiple GPUs, the cards would have to be the same make

If each card drives different monitors, no, they don't. If they are driving one monitor in SLI, yes, they do.

OS X drivers don't support SLI anyways, so it doesn't really matter.

[toke lahti]

I'm still _really_ amazed that if you want to put your über expensive octocore to do some real work with FCS2 in the middle of 2008, you'll have to buy a GPU introduced in January 2006 which costs $650 to get half a Gig memory with GPU...

If I remember correctly Apple used to be State of the Art sometime in the history...

[pc.Pwner]

Does anyone know if the 8800gt running in the new Mac Pros has overheating/excessive noise like the X1900xt and if so to either of those problems, are the Artic Colling kits compatible with the Apple version of the 8800gt?

[Mackilroy]

I'm still _really_ amazed that if you want to put your über expensive octocore to do some real work with FCS2 in the middle of 2008, you'll have to buy a GPU introduced in January 2006 which costs $650 to get half a Gig memory with GPU...

If I remember correctly Apple used to be State of the Art sometime in the history...

Are you being sarcastic or are you just confused? ;)

[bld44]

Only $251 on the educational store.

Meh.

[dr strangetron]

Just became a beta tester! (apple says it won't leave the warehouse for almost a week.) Must be a backlog of these things already.

I'm a 10.4 Tiger holdout. I will give up Tiger when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.... Because my library is all tiger. My 1900 graf card is pulling two 30 inch screens and the heat is incredible. The Woodbridge is cooking at 170F
degrees and the 5gig memory bay is showing 167 degrees using google earth (spec is 180 max according to temp moniter program.)

The heat off the moniters is like a stove unit too. I have to sit around in my underware just to get near the thing and it still melts my eyeballs.

Since I had my first screenfreeze (two months out of warrentee) I know from others my 1900 card is probably not long for this world.

I really hope this sucker works with tiger 10.4.8
Any guesses if I screwed up?

[toke lahti]

Are you being sarcastic or are you just confused? ;)
I guess both and angry.
I have just made some fullHD graphics and 1900xt just isn't fast enough to do them in Motion, so I had to switch to AfterEffects.

[toke lahti]

i would have thought that even if there was a way to use multiple GPUs, the cards would have to be the same make
I have 1900xt & 7300gt and FCS2 or CS3 does not work well with monitors attached to both.

I'd appreciate if anybody had any experience with 2 x 1900xt?

[dr strangetron]

Toke,

I actually have two 1900s running three 30inch screens in asia. I tried to correct that in the post but failed edit. :confused:

I was going to try the fourth 30 inch screen, but like I said the heat is so incredible, and I am up against thermal limits already with the fans reving way up. I'm afraid I have cooked my 1900 card that's pulling two of the flatscreens. I talked to applecare who patched me through to a tech who agreed I'm way too hot. Of course he wants me to bring the whole thing in, but my machine is across the ocean and I'm disabled anyway so that's out.

But the 1900 are vertiable hair driers and are cooking the whole macpro imho. I'm going to move the whole affair in front of an airconditioner and pipe a hose with a fan to the front of the macpro.

Expensive and noisy, but I can't get parts in the country I'm in. This has become an expensive experiment!

[toke lahti]

I actually have two 1900s running three 30inch screens in asia.
Do you have FCS2?
Can you use Color or Motion with 3 monitors?

[twoodcc]

could i put in the 8800 with my current x1900?

[Alican]

deleted by o/p

[tribe3]

I'm confused... so much waiting for the 8800gt and now according to barefeets it's a POS? I ordered one yesterday without reading this but I'll keep my x1900 installed for the moment

[Cindori]

April 15th, 2008 --- You can now order the "legacy" version of the GeForce 8800 GT in a kit form for 2006/2007 Mac Pro owners. When you visit the Apple Store USA, click on "Displays" in the left column and look for the Geforce 8800 GT labeled "1st Generation."

Let me remind you that our testing has shown this to be a strong 3D OpenGL gaming card but a weak Pro App card (Motion, Aperture, FCP). We believe a Mac OS X compatible Radeon HD 3870 would perform better for Pro Apps. We are urging ATI/AMD to release such a card and will alert you if and when that happens.


From Barefeats.

[LOZER]

It's finally happened! I can't wait to see what else comes out next, but im glad the card is here finally.

[Krevnik]

Just became a beta tester! (apple says it won't leave the warehouse for almost a week.) Must be a backlog of these things already.


The first batch is shipping out today (1 day earlier than the 3-5 days quoted the day they became available), so the 3-5 days is probably 3 days at this point. The backlog is very likely more getting these things boxed and shipped than people buying these in droves.


Since I had my first screenfreeze (two months out of warrentee) I know from others my 1900 card is probably not long for this world.

I really hope this sucker works with tiger 10.4.8
Any guesses if I screwed up?

No idea, actually. It might work using the same driver as the 8600M GT in the MBP, but it might not. It might include Tiger drivers, it might not. Until someone gets the thing in hand, we won't know for sure.

I'll certainly post when mine arrives tomorrow though. :)

[NATO]

I'm really glad they've come out with this card as I have no faith in the X1900XT, I've had two replaced so far due to overheating/screen freezes. While Apple have been excellent in replacing the cards, I'm worried that once outside warranty I'd have to stump up £270 for a card which is likely to fail again. I'm hoping the 8800GT will be more reliable, I've rarely had problems with NVidia card designs in the past. The extra performance for gaming is of course welcomed ;)

[dr strangetron]

Toke,

No I don't have any graphics intensive stuff going on yet. Googe Earth is it. I'm A CS3 nebie. That's why the duel 1900 overheating issues are worrying me. I haven't even begun to tax the card and it appears to be faltering. I must reveal that I'm at 80 degrees office temperature already in the Philippine Islands before anything gets turned on. But still, the fragility of duel 1900 cards is disturbing. I see a failure on the horizon.

I must digress, and thank all you regulars for your in-depth knowlege of apple issues: without your expertize and vast operational experience I would surely be lost.

Thank you for helping me.

Yours truely,


dr strangetron

[OZMP]

*prepared to ship*:D

[dr strangetron]

Dear Krevnik,

Thanks for your response.

Please let us know the technical thruput you derive with your card. I ordered mine as a back up in Asia, and do not intend to install it untill one of my 1900's dies.

Cheers,

strangetron

[osxpwnsvista]

I'm not sure what forum I saw it on, but there was a discussion on a forthcoming ATI 3870 card for Mac Pro. You may want to hold out for a bit yet, especially if you're a Pro App user.

I'll see if I can dig up the original reference.

[OZMP]

Shipment Information


Shipment Date:
18/04/2008

Delivers by:
21/04/2008

i get mine monday :D

[cal6n]

Shipment Information


Shipment Date:
18/04/2008

Delivers by:
21/04/2008

i get mine monday :D

Cool. Where are you based?

Mine's still showing "shipped by 23rd"; "delivered by 25th".

[OZMP]

Cool. Where are you based?

Mine's still showing "shipped by 23rd"; "delivered by 25th".

Australia.
was showing shipping 23rd, but i got the that today, and a courier con note. :D

[cal6n]

Australia.
was showing shipping 23rd, but i got the that today, and a courier con note. :D

Well, keep us posted. It turned up about 24 hrs late on the UK store so mine could ship today, I suppose. Mind you, I've waited this long. Another week's nothing...

I'm not sure what forum I saw it on, but there was a discussion on a forthcoming ATI 3870 card for Mac Pro. You may want to hold out for a bit yet, especially if you're a Pro App user.

I'll see if I can dig up the original reference.

The only references that I've seen to this couldn't even be classed as rumours. Just wishful thinking!

[trixter]

have anyone pictures of this upgrade kit? thx

[tribe3]

Excuse the noob question: Can I install the 8800 together with the x1900 (to switch a display from one to another and do some side by side comparisons)

[trixter]

Excuse the noob question: Can I install the 8800 together with the x1900 (to switch a display from one to another and do some side by side comparisons)

no, in old mac pro is it not possible

[tom.]

Excuse the noob question: Can I install the 8800 together with the x1900 (to switch a display from one to another and do some side by side comparisons)

Im fairly sure that isn't possible, has been discussed in another thread. Have a search for it.

[Cindori]

You are wrong. It's possible, but will be slow since Pre 08's can only do 8x with 2 cards.

[pc.Pwner]

My kit is coming today, I'll try to post pics and detail the intsall, I'm not expecting anything out of the ordinary though.

[trixter]

My kit is coming today, I'll try to post pics and detail the intsall, I'm not expecting anything out of the ordinary though.

thx, you my hero of the day :)

[OZMP]

My kit is coming today, I'll try to post pics and detail the intsall, I'm not expecting anything out of the ordinary though.

:(
i have to wait til after the weekend. will get pix up if u dont.

[ZachPruckowski]

You are wrong. It's possible, but will be slow since Pre 08's can only do 8x with 2 cards.

My understanding is that the 8x speed shouldn't be noticeable for the x1900xt, but may be noticeable for the 8800. To do a x16 + x8, I think you'd have to have the x8 card be a single-slot card (because the x8 slot is slot 4, the top one). You can probably mod a x1900xt to have a single-slot cooler, but that'd be tricky.

[ThirteenXIII]

Does anyone know if the 8800gt running in the new Mac Pros has overheating/excessive noise like the X1900xt and if so to either of those problems, are the Arctic Colling kits compatible with the Apple version of the 8800gt?

yeah the arctic cooling kits are easily usable on the 8800s ive removed the stock hsf for my PC Build to use the arctic cooler i think the same accelero one for the x1900 actually.


the do make the 8800 bulkier but luckily the macpros have the doublewide slot

[davepk]

Well i just got mine and installed it. No more vacuum cleaner at startup.

System Profiler shows...

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT:

Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 512 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x0602
Revision ID: 0x00a2
ROM Revision: 3233
Displays:
DELL3007WFPHC:
Resolution: 2560 x 1600
Depth: 32-bit Color
Core Image: Hardware Accelerated
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Rotation: Supported
Display Connector:
Status: No display connected

[Eidorian]

Well i just got mine and installed it. No more vacuum cleaner at startup.

System Profiler shows...

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT:

Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 512 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x0602
Revision ID: 0x00a2
ROM Revision: 3233
Displays:
DELL3007WFPHC:
Resolution: 2560 x 1600
Depth: 32-bit Color
Core Image: Hardware Accelerated
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Rotation: Supported
Display Connector:
Status: No display connectedIs there a driver disc? Are you running Tiger or Leopard?

[davepk]

No driver disc included.

System Version: Mac OS X 10.5.2 (9C7010)

Running software update indicates "Your software is up to date."

[tobyg]

No driver disc included.

System Version: Mac OS X 10.5.2 (9C7010)

Running software update indicates "Your software is up to date."

For what it's worth, the NVIDIA page for specifications state you need leopard.



Please note:
Graphics drivers are included in Leopard OS version 10.5.2 or greater. To check your software version, click on the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your Mac Pro screen and select "About This Mac".

If your system OS X is not 10.5.2 you need to upgrade. Your system must be running OSX 10.5 (Leopard) in order to upgrade to 10.5.2.

Use the following procedure to get your system OS to 10.5.2:

a. Click on the Apple icon in the upper left corner of the screen and select Software Update...
b. Select the 10.5.2 System Update and click Install.
c. Reboot your system when the update is complete.
d. Click on the Apple icon in the upper left corner of the screen and select Software Update...
e. Select the Leopard Graphics Update and click Install.
f. Reboot your system when the update is complete.

This is from the bottom of this page: http://store.nvidia.com/DRHM/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=DisplayProductDetailsPage&SiteID=nvidia&Locale=en_US&Env=BASE&productID=104059500# - Click on "Tech Specs"

[Eidorian]

No driver disc included.

System Version: Mac OS X 10.5.2 (9C7010)

Running software update indicates "Your software is up to date."I doubt we'll see any Tiger users with this card then.

Thanks

[davepk]

So far no more random horizontal lines.

FireFox seemed especially effective at generating them but i havent seen one since the install.

[tobyg]

So far no more random horizontal lines.

FireFox seemed especially effective at generating them but i havent seen one since the install.

I used to get that with my x1900 until they replaced it once... now I just get locking up and some other artifacts

Any chance of pulling the ROM? Got a 8800 GT I'd like to flash until my local Apple store gets these cards in. (Already called, none yet) :(

[Redneck1089]

How does it work with Bootcamp? I suppose you must go and install all the Windows drivers for the card manually after installing it, right?

[JoeyNine]

How does it work with Bootcamp? I suppose you must go and install all the Windows drivers for the card manually after installing it, right?

Well, there we have a problem, I just got my 8800gt today for my 2007 MacPro and I can't get NVIDIA's drivers to work under bootcamp. I'm pretty skilled with the PC side of things so I'm pretty sure it's not a user problem. If anyone has luck let me know.

FYI: I'm using Vista Home Premium 32-bit. Downloaded drivers from NVIDIA.com. Tried again thinking I downloaded the wrong drivers. Just not happening for me.

[davepk]

I can also confirm that this version of 8800 suffers from the same Folding@Home screen freeze bug thats detailed in this thread at apple...

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1460752&tstart=0

[Redneck1089]

Damn, looks like there's some problems already. :mad:

Now I'm worried about mine.

[hamiltondaniel]

Well, there we have a problem, I just got my 8800gt today for my 2007 MacPro and I can't get NVIDIA's drivers to work under bootcamp. I'm pretty skilled with the PC side of things so I'm pretty sure it's not a user problem. If anyone has luck let me know.

FYI: I'm using Vista Home Premium 32-bit. Downloaded drivers from NVIDIA.com. Tried again thinking I downloaded the wrong drivers. Just not happening for me.

I was having the same problem, and getting pretty pissed off; lo and behold, though, there is a solution that I've discovered.

First of all, uninstall all your old ATI drivers. I think they're causing some conflicts. You can do this with any ATI installer.

Second, download the beta ForceWare 174.85 drivers from http://downloads.guru3d.com/GeForce-174.85-Beta-driver-Vista-32-bit-download-1895.html. Yes, they are beta drivers; if your computer explodes, don't blame me. However, I've been playing around with them and they work fine, and they don't give the obnoxious "Your video card is not a supported nVidia card" or whatever dialog that the standard ones do. These should hold us over until an official solution arrives.

Good luck!

[JoeyNine]

I was having the same problem, and getting pretty pissed off; lo and behold, though, there is a solution that I've discovered.

First of all, uninstall all your old ATI drivers. I think they're causing some conflicts. You can do this with any ATI installer.

Second, download the beta ForceWare 174.85 drivers from http://downloads.guru3d.com/GeForce-174.85-Beta-driver-Vista-32-bit-download-1895.html. Yes, they are beta drivers; if your computer explodes, don't blame me. However, I've been playing around with them and they work fine, and they don't give the obnoxious "Your video card is not a supported nVidia card" or whatever dialog that the standard ones do. These should hold us over until an official solution arrives.

Good luck!

Funny, I just finished installing the beta drivers. I had already uninstalled the ATi drivers. Everything works fine now. Weird that I'd need Beta drivers.

[jonmitz]

I'm having trouble getting it to install on 64 bit vista, I've tried the regular and beta 64bit drivers

edit: i've tried the 32 bit drivers too. i get the "no compatible hardware found"


ugh this sucks.

right now i get 14Mb of graphics memory.

[MacCurry]

Will this video card speed up Pro Applications like Aperture 2.0 in my 2.66GHz Dual Core Mac Pro?

[Krevnik]

Well i just got mine and installed it. No more vacuum cleaner at startup.


Thanks to laziness on the part of FedEx, my overnight shipping became 4 day shipping unless I want to drive over an hour to go pick it up.

So much for being one of the first helping others. :(

[Rainbird]

My Nvidia 8800GT was just shipped by Apple. What drivers should I use with Windows XP Pro? Could someone please post a link?

[jonmitz]

Welp, after restarting 3-4 times it decided to suddenly work.

I played stalker with everything turned up to the max at 1920x1200 and it ran smoother than the my x1900 with reduced settings

[Obocop]

Everyone seems to be talking about poor Pro App performance. I've seen the Barefeats testing and doesn't that only cover the usage of Core Image FX? As in, only the parts of the programs that use them? As far as I know, core image stuff isn't that prevalent in FCP so this card should be faster for the most part. Is this an incorrect assumption?

I'd like to hear from the early adopters on their experience with various Pro Apps.

Cheers

[pc.Pwner]

As has been said before, this card does not work in Boot Camp initially, Windows won't recognize it. All you have to do is download the latest beta drivers from Nvidia and everything will work fine. Now I'm just trying to find the limits of this card which are light years away from the x1900, I guess I have a new paperweight.

[Redneck1089]

As has been said before, this card does not work in Boot Camp initially, Windows won't recognize it. All you have to do is download the latest beta drivers from Nvidia and everything will work fine. Now I'm just trying to find the limits of this card which are light years away from the x1900, I guess I have a new paperweight.

Should you download the drivers for Windows before you install the GPU, or after? Does it matter?

[faumble]

Should you download the drivers for Windows before you install the GPU, or after? Does it matter?
shouldnt matter but just in case do it before :)

[pc.Pwner]

Should you download the drivers for Windows before you install the GPU, or after? Does it matter?

It doesn't matter. Windows'll load, it'll just be really slow graphics, you can just go on the web and download the new drivers and restart and you'll be all good.

[tribe3]

My understanding is that the 8x speed shouldn't be noticeable for the x1900xt, but may be noticeable for the 8800. To do a x16 + x8, I think you'd have to have the x8 card be a single-slot card (because the x8 slot is slot 4, the top one). You can probably mod a x1900xt to have a single-slot cooler, but that'd be tricky.

Hey Zach, what slot do you say I install my 8800?

[Cindori]

Hey Zach, what slot do you say I install my 8800?

In the first, of course. All of the rest slots won't keep up with the card.

[Grokgod]

Found this

"Divide and Conquer The Mac Pro includes software that dynamically manages the way the PCIe interface divvies up its bandwidth. So if you add new graphics cards—say, multiple GeForce 7300 GT cards to drive additional monitors—the Mac Pro will automatically sense them and allocate its PCIe bandwidth accordingly. It’ll even check with you to make sure it’s set up optimally for what you’ll be doing."

So my questions are, am I reading this properly will 2 cards dispense the workload there by increasing GPU power and allocating it to FCP etc?

and does this allocation work in the older MacPro dual cores?

Wouldn't this solve the power issue, with a increased heat problem? :)

[Cindori]

So my questions are, am I reading this properly will 2 cards dispense the workload there by increasing GPU power and allocating it to FCP etc?





Only when running more then 1 monitor.

[Krevnik]

Found this

"Divide and Conquer The Mac Pro includes software that dynamically manages the way the PCIe interface divvies up its bandwidth. So if you add new graphics cards—say, multiple GeForce 7300 GT cards to drive additional monitors—the Mac Pro will automatically sense them and allocate its PCIe bandwidth accordingly. It’ll even check with you to make sure it’s set up optimally for what you’ll be doing."

So my questions are, am I reading this properly will 2 cards dispense the workload there by increasing GPU power and allocating it to FCP etc?

and does this allocation work in the older MacPro dual cores?

Wouldn't this solve the power issue, with a increased heat problem? :)

You are mis-reading it. It is talking about bandwidth on the PCIe bus to the cards, not about workload.

PCIe can only allocate so much bandwidth across all the PCIe slots. However, it can change it while the system is running.

It is /NOT/ like SLI.

[Grokgod]

And how would I get the ability to use SLI, as if I knew what those 3 letters meant, but I can guess.

It means that I can use multiple GPU on one app?

TIA

[Tallest Skil]

You CAN'T use SLI in a Mac Pro with an 8800 GT. Not even in Windows.

[Cindori]

You cant SLI on Mac Pro.

"Scalable Link Interface (SLI) is a brand name for a multi-GPU solution developed by Nvidia for linking two or more video cards together to produce a single output. SLI is an application of parallel processing for computer graphics, meant to increase the processing power available for graphics."

[Grokgod]

I think that FCP can render to servers or other nodes such as connected computers, so why not multiple graphics cards... :(

[xraydoc]

I think that FCP can render to servers or other nodes such as connected computers, so why not multiple graphics cards... :(
Because FCP doesn't use the graphics card for its work; FCP renders using the system processors, not the GPU.

[OZMP]

installed mine today, comes with cable(PITA to put in), but slot 1 880, slot 4 7300, will the MP automatically make slot 1 16x and slot 4 1x? or is there a utility for it?

cheers

[Mackilroy]

You're looking for the Expansion Slot Utility.

[freezerburrn]

As has been said before, this card does not work in Boot Camp initially, Windows won't recognize it. All you have to do is download the latest beta drivers from Nvidia and everything will work fine. Now I'm just trying to find the limits of this card which are light years away from the x1900, I guess I have a new paperweight.

Is this the beta driver you're referring to?

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_174.74.html

My 8800GT is supposed to arrive tomorrow and I can't wait to fire it up.

[Krevnik]

Is this the beta driver you're referring to?

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_174.74.html

My 8800GT is supposed to arrive tomorrow and I can't wait to fire it up.

That one works for me in Vista 32-bit. :)

[pc.Pwner]

Is this the beta driver you're referring to?

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_174.74.html

My 8800GT is supposed to arrive tomorrow and I can't wait to fire it up.

Yes, thats the exact driver I used. Just install the card first, go to that link download it and install the driver and you'll be set.

[freezerburrn]

Well i just got mine and installed it. No more vacuum cleaner at startup.

System Profiler shows...

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT:

Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 512 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x0602
Revision ID: 0x00a2
ROM Revision: 3233
Displays:
DELL3007WFPHC:
Resolution: 2560 x 1600
Depth: 32-bit Color
Core Image: Hardware Accelerated
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Rotation: Supported
Display Connector:
Status: No display connected

Yours doesn't spin up to max RPM when you power on your Mac Pro?

Strange then, because mine does. I'd rather it not but it is in fact spinning to max RPM everytime I power it on or restart. My 1900XT with an Accelero X2 didn't do this.

[Krevnik]

Yours doesn't spin up to max RPM when you power on your Mac Pro?

Strange then, because mine does. I'd rather it not but it is in fact spinning to max RPM everytime I power it on or restart. My 1900XT with an Accelero X2 didn't do this.

It does, but compared to an unmodified 1900XT, it is a lot quieter. The 1900XT stock unit was loud.

(Of course, neither is as loud as all the case fans revving up to full during boot because you only have one CPU + Heatsink installed)

[antzona]

Yes, thats the exact driver I used. Just install the card first, go to that link download it and install the driver and you'll be set.

My new card arrives tomorrow. I already have the 174.74 driver installed. Is it really going to matter that the driver is installed before the card?

[thunderclap]

Yes I'm impatient, but I'm annoyed. I ordered the card as soon as it was announced and it STILL hasn't shipped. *sigh* I want my 8800!

[SolidShadow]

I got an email from Apple Saturday night saying that mine had shipped and the delivery time was the 21-22nd. Well it's the 22nd and I still haven't seen it. I get nervous ordering things online so I'll be rabidly tracking the package tonight. There is still time that it may show up today and I hope it does.
I'm not overly impatient but it is giving me a sense of "awww man" from time to time.

[nurfen]

Where do you guys live? I live in Sweden, and ordered the card from Apple Store yesterday. Today I gladly installed it in my Mac :)

[SolidShadow]

Where do you guys live? I live in Sweden, and ordered the card from Apple Store yesterday. Today I gladly installed it in my Mac :)

Canada.

[thunderclap]

Where do you guys live? I live in Sweden, and ordered the card from Apple Store yesterday. Today I gladly installed it in my Mac :)

US. Illinois to be exact. Chicago to be even more exact.

[Redneck1089]

I got an email from Apple Saturday night saying that mine had shipped and the delivery time was the 21-22nd. Well it's the 22nd and I still haven't seen it. I get nervous ordering things online so I'll be rabidly tracking the package tonight. There is still time that it may show up today and I hope it does.
I'm not overly impatient but it is giving me a sense of "awww man" from time to time.

I received an e-mail on Saturday too saying that mine had shipped. I paid for 2-3 day shipping. According to Purlator's tracking system mine is Ontario as of this morning. This means I likely won't see the card until the end of the week because I'm all the way in Alberta. Ugh.

[Krevnik]

I received an e-mail on Saturday too saying that mine had shipped. I paid for 2-3 day shipping. According to Purlator's tracking system mine is Ontario as of this morning. This means I likely won't see the card until the end of the week because I'm all the way in Alberta. Ugh.

If you paid for 2-3 day shipping, that is what you should be getting (2-3 business days). At that speed, they usually fly it out between major shipping centers, and then drive it out to the local center that delivers it to your address.

[SolidShadow]

Yep paid 2-3 day shipping too.
Hopefully tomorrow.
I'm in New Brunswick.

[freezerburrn]

I got my 8800GT yesterday and messed around with Half Life 2: Episode 2 and was disappointed that my frames were actually dipping down to 30FPS quite a bit during outdoor scenarios with MAX settings. I really hope this is just because of the 174.74 beta drivers from Nvidia I'm currently using.

[freezerburrn]

I got my 8800GT yesterday and messed around with Half Life 2: Episode 2 and was disappointed that my frames were actually dipping down to 30FPS quite a bit during outdoor scenarios with MAX settings. I really hope this is just because of the 174.74 beta drivers from Nvidia I'm currently using.

Am I just expecting too much out of this card?

[TheSpaz]

Am I just expecting too much out of this card?

How does it compare to the ATI X1900 or the Nvidia 7300? Is it a lot better or is it pretty much the same?

[Mackilroy]

What resolution are you running at?

[Krevnik]

Am I just expecting too much out of this card?

Weird, I ran the Portal demo at max settings on a 1920x1200 display, and had to turn /on/ vsync to keep it from tearing due to a high frame rate.

[tobyg]

Weird, I ran the Portal demo at max settings on a 1920x1200 display, and had to turn /on/ vsync to keep it from tearing due to a high frame rate.

Nothing weird about that, vsync on does just that, keeps everything in sync, doesn't let it do more fps than the refresh rate and keeps it from tearing.

[Krevnik]

Nothing weird about that, vsync on does just that, keeps everything in sync, doesn't let it do more fps than the refresh rate and keeps it from tearing.

I know what it does... I am just saying it is an odd experience for the same game engine to have one situation where the frame rate is much higher than the refresh rate, and another where it is much lower.

[dr strangetron]

The card arrived yesterday, missed shipper and finally have it in hand after paying overnight rate for it. But now I read from you power users that it requires Leper to run.

Dang. :mad:

Anybody guess if someone will develop a Tiger driver (or hack) for this thing in the future? And what's with the strange framerates that Krevnik is seeing? Is the performance O.K. for pro apps/games... or are you guys unsure yet?

Thanks!

I guess I'll have to learn Leopard now.... :eek: :confused:

[pc.Pwner]

My new card arrives tomorrow. I already have the 174.74 driver installed. Is it really going to matter that the driver is installed before the card?

I have no clue, I did it the other way around. I would have waited to install the driver after the card was installed but nothing bad is going to happen so you may just want to re-install it after the card is in.

To all the people who are asking about the performance of this card vs. the x1900, it is WAY better. For one I can now run all of my games without using smcfancontrol at all which is a huge plus. The card is really smooth and can run all games really well. I was playing around with the Crysis SP Demo with 1680x1050 resolution on HIGH settings and it was running smooth as butter.

[technocoy]

Hi Guys,

For those running it and getting poor framerates it may be something else wrong. I haven't received my 8800 for my MacPro yet, but I can tell you that running in Vista on my PC I can run unreal tournament III on my 30" Cinema display at full setting and at 2560x1600 and it's absolutely butter smooth.

Seems should be similar effect in bootcamp playing games there with the same card.

Good luck everyone, can't wait to get mine in the mail.

[Alican]

Will this video card speed up Pro Applications like Aperture 2.0 in my 2.66GHz Dual Core Mac Pro?

Not according to an earlier post from bearfeats:

"Let me remind you that our testing has shown this to be a strong 3D OpenGL gaming card but a weak Pro App card (Motion, Aperture, FCP). We believe a Mac OS X compatible Radeon HD 3870 would perform better for Pro Apps. We are urging ATI/AMD to release such a card and will alert you if and when that happens."

[downset]

my card arrived today

i have a mac pro 2.66ghz

on my 20ich (1680x1050) monitor, wow used to run at average 15fps with my 7300 that shipped with the machine

the 8800 has 55 fps on average

this is both with all settings maxed out

i kind of expected even higher fps rates, the barefeats website gets 116 fps with all settings on max, but with the 2008 macpro

i suppose they use a lower res, or the cpu is part of the bottleneck here

overal i am pretty happy, wow is smooth now all the time

i dont really notice a diff in aperture, but i had no problems with that app speedwise anyway

[stylishgeek]

Can someone post a photo of the card installed?

I don't seem to have as much clearance as I think I should between the card and the RAM cover (they are touching in my machine).

Thanks!

[Krayola]

Also waiting for my 8800.. Can't wait to replace the unreliable X1900XT with the 8800.

2008/04/22 16:59 Shipment In Transit TORONTO SORT CTR/CTR TRIE, ON

Maybe I'll get it tomorrow, maybe thurs.

[xraydoc]

Mine came yesterday. Installed it this afternoon.

I ran the OpenGL benchmark OpenMark on it and my previous graphics cards...

The 8800GT scored 21,621.
X1900XT scored 18,874.
X2600XT scored 7,936
7300GT scored 8,128 (yes, for what ever reason, the 7300GT gives a better OpenGL OpenMark score than the 2600XT, though in Unreal Tournament 2004 the 2600XT was clearly faster).

Leopard effects (dock/stacks, etc) seem much smoother than with the 2600XT. My 1900XT fried itself about 6 months ago, so I can't retest anything with it.

[Krevnik]

Anybody guess if someone will develop a Tiger driver (or hack) for this thing in the future? And what's with the strange framerates that Krevnik is seeing? Is the performance O.K. for pro apps/games... or are you guys unsure yet?


What strange framerates? My framerates are just fine. :)

I second the 55fps someone else saw in WoW, but I also hit the 120fps barefeats saw simply by turning down the multisampling to 1x instead of using 4x. For whatever reason, multisampling in WoW on OS X is a huge perf hit. It is a known issue, and has been discussed ad nauseum on the Mac WoW forums. And I run @ 1920x1200 on a 24" display.

But overall, this card has hit the sweet spot for me... C&C3 on max settings at 1920x1200 is smooth, as is Portal (which is a bit /too/ high in the fps department), Sins of the Solar Empire, Supreme Commander, WoW, and so on. The stuff I play is all smooth and looks good. :)

[antzona]

I got my card this afternoon and just installed it a couple hours ago.

I already had the 174.74 beta drivers installed, but had to install them again after putting the card in. I tried Oblivion in Bootcamp at 1920x1200 with all the other settings set to max and it ran very smooth. When I played using the 7300GT I think I had to run it at 960x600 and it was still glitchy.

I am noticing an odd thing with this card. It seems like the fan is abruptly stopping at times. It was especially evident prior to reinstalling the 174.74 drivers in Bootcamp. It has done it two or three times in OSX as well. Not sure if it is the fan stopping or starting though. It sure sounds like it is stopping very quickly, and loudly.

Another benefit of this new card is how fast in renders the 3D buildings in Google Earth. It's not like I use it very often, but I wanted to see how much the card would matter.

[freezerburrn]

Weird, I ran the Portal demo at max settings on a 1920x1200 display, and had to turn /on/ vsync to keep it from tearing due to a high frame rate.

I'm running at 1680 x 1050 on a 20inch display. Portal runs awesome, as does Team Fortress 2. The 8800GT just has a hard time giving me constant frame rates in outdoor scenarios in Half Life 2: Episode 2. Namely the scenes where you drive the car around.

Oh and every setting is MAXED out. No matter what setting I put the anti-aliasing on, the frames seem to not be affected, strangely.

[xraydoc]

Played a little UT3 Demo (Windows XP) last night - about an hours worth. 1920x1200 at high settings at everything was super smooth and looked gorgeous.

[Redneck1089]

Got mine today. Install was a bit of a pain in the ass. Broke the little plastic tab for the PCI-E slot. Damn. Not a big deal tho.

I'm using the beta drivers for Vista 32 bit. Crysis runs really smooth giving me slow to 30 fps on almost all very high settings at 1280 X 7XX (can't remember the numbers). The computer, under Windows, has frozen twice on me while playing Crysis tho. I felt the card to see hot hot it was getting and the thing felt like it was boiling.

I noticed that when I installed mine I was lacking a PCI access cover - I had an X1900 XT in before and it took up two slots. This card only takes one. I had to grab an extra PCI access cover from an old PowerMac that's not in use anymore.

[freezerburrn]

Got mine today. Install was a bit of a pain in the ass. Broke the little plastic tab for the PCI-E slot. Damn. Not a big deal tho.

I'm using the beta drivers for Vista 32 bit. Crysis runs really smooth giving me slow to 30 fps on almost all very high settings at 1280 X 7XX (can't remember the numbers). The computer, under Windows, has frozen twice on me while playing Crysis tho. I felt the card to see hot hot it was getting and the thing felt like it was boiling.

I noticed that when I installed mine I was lacking a PCI access cover - I had an X1900 XT in before and it took up two slots. This card only takes one. I had to grab an extra PCI access cover from an old PowerMac that's not in use anymore.

The same damned thing happened to me when I was installing my 8800GT. The PCI-E slot plastic tab snapped right off as I was getting my 1900XT out. I had to grab an extra PCI access cover from an old pc.

[trixter]

New Benchmarks

-- Prey

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/392/preyxk8.th.png (http://img178.imageshack.us/my.php?image=preyxk8.png)

-- Halo


http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/3946/haloyo0.th.png (http://img166.imageshack.us/my.php?image=haloyo0.png)

[Obocop]

Got mine today. Install was a bit of a pain in the ass. Broke the little plastic tab for the PCI-E slot. Damn. Not a big deal tho.

The same damned thing happened to me when I was installing my 8800GT. The PCI-E slot plastic tab snapped right off as I was getting my 1900XT out.


That's crazy....i did exactly the same thing....you can't see the little plastic tab from behind the x1900xt, so i ended up yanking the card out, breaking it off.

Can anyone tell of their experiences with Pro App performance with the 8800GT?

[trixter]

That's crazy....i did exactly the same thing....you can't see the little plastic tab from behind the x1900xt, so i ended up yanking the card out, breaking it off.

Can anyone tell of their experiences with Pro App performance with the 8800GT?

barefeats.com

[cal6n]

Got mine today. Install was a bit of a pain in the ass. Broke the little plastic tab for the PCI-E slot.

*snip*

The same damned thing happened to me when I was installing my 8800GT. The PCI-E slot plastic tab snapped right off as I was getting my 1900XT out.

*snip*

That's crazy....i did exactly the same thing....you can't see the little plastic tab from behind the x1900xt, so i ended up yanking the card out, breaking it off.

*snip*

Did anyone actually read the instructions before installing?

Either in the leaflet that came with the card or here (http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacPro_PCIeCard_DIY.pdf).

Nope, thought not.

I'm sorry, but sympathy is in short supply right now. I really don't have any to spare for anyone who'd work inside a £1,600 computer without knowing what they'd find there.

[Maury]

Does anyone else run Halo Mac on their 8800? I'm trying to find out if the visual garbage I'm seeing (relatively minor) is the card or the drivers. No one else seems to be seeing the color problems I have, so I assume that IS due to the board...

Maury

[trixter]

Quake 4! Breakthrough

-- http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/3328/bild1zq6.th.png (http://img73.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bild1zq6.png)

[macmaranzana]

I just got my new Nvidia 8800GT. Figured i would replace my stock 7300 and see great improvements in the framerate for Battlefield 2142. With my 7300 and low setting I get about 25-30 FPS. Well, either I got a bum card, or there is something else seriously wrong. I started by putting all the settings at high figuring that the card could handle it. That gave me about 5-7 FPS. Ok, maybe I overdid it. Tried the medium setting and that gave 10-15 frames when the screen is busy. I was astounded that at low settings it gives me lower FPS than the 7300 (about 20-25 at times).
Has anyone else had the same problem with BF2142?
Here is how to show the framerate if someone can try it:
Open the "config" file in ~/Library/Preferences/Battlefield 2142 Preferences, look for "ShowFPS" and set it to 1."
I don't currently have any other games to see if this is isolated to BF 2142.
The application XBench also gives me lower results with the 8800 than the 7300.
Any ideas?

Quad 2.66 MHz, 5 gig, 8800 GT, 7300

[barefeats]

I received my legacy "gen 1" GeForce 8800 GT yesterday. I ran my suite of 3D Games on the 2007 Mac Pro 8-core 3GHz test unit.

I'm getting results slightly slower than the "PCIe 2.0" GeForce 8800 GT we installed in the "early 2008" Mac Pro 8-core 3.2GHz. But that could be explained away by various varying factors (memory speed, FSB speed, core speed, and PCIe bus differences).

It is certainly faster than the our 3D game results for the Radeon X1900 XT or GeForce 7300 GT.

I'll post my full report on BareFeats.com either later today or early tomorrow.

[pprior]

I received my legacy "gen 1" GeForce 8800 GT yesterday. I ran my suite of 3D Games on the 2007 Mac Pro 8-core 3GHz test unit.

I'm getting results slightly slower than the "PCIe 2.0" GeForce 8800 GT we installed in the "early 2008" Mac Pro 8-core 3.2GHz. But that could be explained away by various varying factors (memory speed, FSB speed, core speed, and PCIe bus differences).

It is certainly faster than the our 3D game results for the Radeon X1900 XT or GeForce 7300 GT.

I'll post my full report on BareFeats.com either later today or early tomorrow.


I'm hoping you might do some wrapper game testing - specifically I saw HORRIBLE frame rates playing BF2142 and others have too - I 'upgraded" from the 1900 to the 8800 and performance went way down.

[macmaranzana]

I'm hoping you might do some wrapper game testing - specifically I saw HORRIBLE frame rates playing BF2142 and others have too - I 'upgraded" from the 1900 to the 8800 and performance went way down.

It would be great if you could do some testing with BF2142. I am getting terrible frame rates. I have written to NVIDIA tech support, and they are looking into it.

[ReallyRedCobra]

I received my legacy "gen 1" GeForce 8800 GT yesterday. I ran my suite of 3D Games on the 2007 Mac Pro 8-core 3GHz test unit.

I'm getting results slightly slower than the "PCIe 2.0" GeForce 8800 GT we installed in the "early 2008" Mac Pro 8-core 3.2GHz. But that could be explained away by various varying factors (memory speed, FSB speed, core speed, and PCIe bus differences).

It is certainly faster than the our 3D game results for the Radeon X1900 XT or GeForce 7300 GT.

I'll post my full report on BareFeats.com either later today or early tomorrow.

I was going to say the memory on the gen 1 mac pros are the bottleneck at this point. I would expect the new mac pro to be a bit better. But i doubt it'll be by much.

[trixter]

I was going to say the memory on the gen 1 mac pros are the bottleneck at this point. I would expect the new mac pro to be a bit better. But i doubt it'll be by much.

no way, with bootcamp same fps

[ReallyRedCobra]

no way, with bootcamp same fps

huh? :confused:

You do realize that both mac pros use different ram right? And yes, it will make a difference.

[trixter]

huh? :confused:

You do realize that both mac pros use different ram right? And yes, it will make a difference.

not in windows games :), for example cyrsis, same fps new mac pro vs. mac pro 2007, with 8800GT :)

check barefeats.com 37fps, my machine has same results

[TBi]

not in windows games :), for example cyrsis, same fps new mac pro vs. mac pro 2007, with 8800GT :)

check barefeats.com 37fps, my machine has same results

Well the graphics card should be the same speed. That test must be mainly GPU limited. In a situation where the GPU isn't limited then the newer system will be faster because, well, it is faster!

[barefeats]

I posted some 3D Game benchmarks (http://www.barefeats.com/harper15.html) for the legacy 8800 GT this afternoon.

It is an improvement over the Radeon X1900 XT when it comes to gaming. It blows away the GeForce 7300 GT which comes standard on the 2006/2007 Mac Pro.

[Alican]

Did anyone actually read the instructions before installing?

Either in the leaflet that came with the card or here (http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacPro_PCIeCard_DIY.pdf).

Nope, thought not.

I'm sorry, but sympathy is in short supply right now. I really don't have any to spare for anyone who'd work inside a £1,600 computer without knowing what they'd find there.

Did they ask you to come and fix it? If you're going to lecture people, you could at least point them to the correct guide.

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacPro_CTOGraphicsCard_DIY.pdf

[TheSpaz]

Did they ask you to come and fix it? If you're going to lecture people, you could at least point them to the correct guide.

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacPro_CTOGraphicsCard_DIY.pdf

BURN!!!

[iFizz]

Whether he had the correct link or not, he's right. If they had read either of the documents they would know about the tab and wouldn't have broken it.

[Cindori]

I broke mine too.

:<

[Obocop]

Whether he had the correct link or not, he's right. If they had read either of the documents they would know about the tab and wouldn't have broken it.
Very true...but in my case, I was simply cleaning my x1900xt of dust from the intake, not replacing the card and so i was not aware of those docs. I checked my Mac Pro manual before doing it but it didn't mention the tab. The point is moot anyway, the card is stable in the slot without the tab, so no one has broken any vitals. There is no need of cal6n's special sympathy tonic after all.

[cal6n]

*snip*

There is no need of cal6n's special sympathy tonic after all.

Just as well. I used it all for myself, years ago when I broke the same tab on the first AGP G4 machine I upgraded! :D

[rendimage]

I just installed my 1st gen mac 8800 and I'm troubled by a couple of things.

First I thought that I would be able to get 8800 support in windows xp. Doesn't look like it. It seems that I need to install windows vista. which quite frankly blows chunks. Am I right?

Secondly, I see a comment made earlier that windows will not support sli with a second card ( I was going to purchase a windows version of the 8800 for a lot less than the $279 and run them sli) is this true? I know that it wont work in leopard but it should still read the first card.

I already have an 8800 GTX running windows and its worked great. I just didn't want to swap out cards everytime I wanted to run leopard. maybe I should just go back to that.

[Krevnik]

I just installed my 1st gen mac 8800 and I'm troubled by a couple of things.

First I thought that I would be able to get 8800 support in windows xp. Doesn't look like it. It seems that I need to install windows vista. which quite frankly blows chunks. Am I right?

Lucky for you, you are wrong. :)

The drivers needed are in beta right now, and available on nVidia's website. http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_174.74.html

[peschybear]

I have bought a Geforce 8800 for a 1st genertion Mac Pro. Apparently the AppleCare for my Mac Pro doesn't count for the new card. Peripherals are covered by the AppleCare but an internal component not. Can someone confirm if this is true?

Thanks.

[rendimage]

beta driver works. sweet.

can anyone tell me if I buy a second pc 8800 I'll be able to run it as SLI?

I think I read somewhere that someone got it to work.

[Cindori]

No. You can not SLI in Mac Pro.

[rendimage]

Sorry I meant in windows

I know that it doesn't work in mac mode.

[TransientWolf]

I don't think the motherboard/chipset supports SLI therefore whether Windoze or Mac it won't work.

i was a bit anxious upgrading mine given some of the feedback in here and the support for the new ATI card coming soon, but I am very pleased I did. See no negative effects in OSX, the Pro Apps I have seem as snappier as ever, and the games in Mac, and especially in bootcamp, are much quicker.

And most importantly it is nearly silent - 3 hours of HL2 in bootcamp and the dodgy music was still scaring me at times whereas with the X1900 I struggled to hear what was going on over the sound of the fan blowing like a hairdryer!

If I was being very critical I think that OSX is slightly softer in image than the X1900 but I suspect that is more because I was trying to find something negative rather than it jumped out at me as something that was a concern.

[Maury]

I got my replacement card today, and it's doing the exact same things!

So that almost certainly means it's software right?

So do I return it, or hope they'll fix the problems?

[eodp3]

Lucky for you, you are wrong. :)

The drivers needed are in beta right now, and available on nVidia's website. http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_174.74.html


Anyone tried these drivers in their bootcamp yet?
Any speed improvement in, say, Cinebench? .. or anything else?

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_175.16_beta.html

[Krevnik]

Anyone tried these drivers in their bootcamp yet?
Any speed improvement in, say, Cinebench? .. or anything else?

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_175.16_beta.html

Stick with 174.74 for now... 175.16 has blue-screened a couple times on me.

[Neurorad]

I had no problems using the recently released 8800 in my 2006 Mac Pro in Bootcamp - using only the recently updated Bootcamp 2.1 drivers. I did not need to use any of the frequently mentioned beta drivers. The card appears to be recognized properly and is without problems - in Windows. In OS X I get the frequently mentioned sparkles every once in a while, but that is not the question at hand.:)

[richard.mac]

Just a quick question… i dont plan on doing this as i dont have a Mac Pro but…

can you add an 8800GT graphics card with a third party heatsink & fan like the MSI NX8800GT (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127329) to a Mac Pro? the double wide PCIe slot is perfect for this as it wouldnt block another slot and OS X on the new Mac Pro's includes drivers for the NVIDIA 8800GT. so it should work right? is all you need to do is flash it to EFI?

[Mackilroy]

It looks as if it would fit (x1900 was a two-slot card) but I don't know if you could flash it.

[richard.mac]

It looks as if it would fit (x1900 was a two-slot card) but I don't know if you could flash it.

ok thanks for the reply. anyone else know if it would work in OS X?

[jrnewhouse]

Anyone tried these drivers in their bootcamp yet?
Any speed improvement in, say, Cinebench? .. or anything else?

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_175.16_beta.html

I installed these drivers recently, and they work fine. I haven't benchmarked them, though.

[Kosh66]

I have bought a Geforce 8800 for a 1st genertion Mac Pro. Apparently the AppleCare for my Mac Pro doesn't count for the new card. Peripherals are covered by the AppleCare but an internal component not. Can someone confirm if this is true?

Thanks.

Correct. Applecare will not cover the new card. Just like if you were to add a second or third HD in your Mac Pro, the Applecare would not cover that second or third HD. BUT Applecare still covers your Mac Pro and anything that came with it when you bought it from Apple. By the way it has nothing to do whether it's an internal or external component. It has to do with what you bought from Apple originally. Ie. If you bought your Mac Pro from Apple with 4 HDs, those HDs would be covered by Applecare. Basically the new video card is regarded as a third party hardware that you added to your Mac Pro after you bought it from Apple.

But I believe the new video card has it's own warranty, doesn't it.

[TheSpaz]

I just ordered the 8800GT. Is it easy to install?

[Mackilroy]

It's very easy to install. The hardest part is plugging in the 6-pin power cable to the motherboard. Shouldn't take you more than a minute or two to install it. :)

[Mackilroy]

Sorry for the double post, but here's a few pictures for people with pre-2008 Mac Pros wondering what the 8800 GT in their system would look like.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/Mackilroy/6-pinoncard.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/Mackilroy/8800GT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/Mackilroy/6-pininmotherboard.jpg

To get the 6-pin Molex cable in the motherboard plug, it's easiest to remove the hard drive in the second bay (if you have one installed). Otherwise you've got to twist your hand around a bit trying to plug it in. ;)

[Videographer]

I was wondering if I were to get a second 8800 from a 3rd party (non-Apple) would I be able to take advantage of it in Windows using SLI? For example, using the Apple 8800GT with this card: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3606194&CatId=3668

Also when in Windows does having my 7300GT in help anything? There is a box in the Forceware CP for Multiple GPU performance support (Single display, multi-display and compatibility). Just curious. Thanks. :cool:

[Videographer]

Anyone? Stupid question perhaps?

[Krevnik]

Anyone? Stupid question perhaps?

Well, SLI requires a chipset on the motherboard, IIRC. The Mac Pro uses a vanilla Intel chipset that as far as I know doesn't support SLI.

[TBi]

Well, SLI requires a chipset on the motherboard, IIRC. The Mac Pro uses a vanilla Intel chipset that as far as I know doesn't support SLI.

There is no technical reason why SLI needs motherboard support. However it is artificially limited by nVidia so it does.

[vvebsta]

So its been a while since I got the 8800 GT upgrade kit and its been running great with no problems that I can tell. But now I want to know if there are better graphics cards out now that I can upgrade to.

I have the MacPro2,1 8-core.

[Tallest Skil]

So its been a while since I got the 8800 GT upgrade kit and its been running great with no problems that I can tell. But now I want to know if there are better graphics cards out now that I can upgrade to.

I have the MacPro2,1 8-core.

You really should have searched. I would have said "started a new thread", since the last post to this one was seven months ago, but searching would have gotten you the answer.

The Radeon 3870 Mac edition is out.

That is it. There are no other cards.

[turner1948]

I just bought a Graphic Card Upgrade Kit NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT for 1. Gen. Mac Pro (MB560Z/A).
Now I have a 1. Gen. Mac Pro (MacPro 1.1 from January 2007 with bus spedd 1.33 GHz) under MacOs 10.5.8. So it is the right Upgrade Kit. But the graphic card does not work in my Mac Pro. When the card is built in the MacPro including the power cable and the display is connected the MacPro does not start. Only the startup chime is to hear - infinitely.
Does anyone know how I can solve this problem and bring the card in working ???
Thank you

[slughead]

I just bought a Graphic Card Upgrade Kit NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT for 1. Gen. Mac Pro (MB560Z/A).
Now I have a 1. Gen. Mac Pro (MacPro 1.1 from January 2007 with bus spedd 1.33 GHz) under MacOs 10.5.8. So it is the right Upgrade Kit. But the graphic card does not work in my Mac Pro. When the card is built in the MacPro including the power cable and the display is connected the MacPro does not start. Only the startup chime is to hear - infinitely.
Does anyone know how I can solve this problem and bring the card in working ???
Thank you


There were 2 8800 cards released. One was for the old mac pro (like you have), the other was for the new one. Also make sure it's plugged in right, in the bottom slot, etc.

[turner1948]

There were 2 8800 cards released. One was for the old mac pro (like you have), the other was for the new one. Also make sure it's plugged in right, in the bottom slot, etc.

Yes I have the right Graphic Upgrade and Yes it's plugged in right.
When I start my MacPro with the old NVIDIA 7300 and are looking in the System Profiler I can see the NIVIDIA 8800 with drivers loaded.
May be the card itself is broken - but it is really new. So I will it bring back to the retailer.
Or is there any other solving of this problem ???

[SciFrog]

Where did you get it?

[turner1948]

Where did you get it?

I got it from a eBay retailer called "buyitloveit" and you can it see here:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350267009941&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:DE:1123

So when it really not works I can it send back for refund.

[turner1948]

Even the NVIDIA support couldn't bring the NVIDIA 8800 GT (1st Generation) Graphics Upgrade Kit for Mac Pro running in my MacPro 1.1.

So I decided to order an Apple Graphis Card Upgrade ATI 4870 which should official not work in a MacPro 1. Gen. But it does without any problems. Today I installed the ATI 4870, startet the MacPro 1.1. and it works. In addition I have a mini display port for the future.

So forget NVIDIA 8800 - spend more money and buy a ATI 4870 !!

Kind regards
Friedrich Guenter

[Cindori]

or get PC 4890 for half the price and more performance.

[gugucom]

So forget NVIDIA 8800 - spend more money and buy a ATI 4870 !!

+1 for the 4870

Another option for people with a knack for HW mods who love a low power card is the ATI HD 3870 Mac&PC Edition. It needs a 2 slot heat sink with proper base plate, heat pipes and vent towards the rear side. Accelero and Akasa heat sinks are great for this and cost appr. 19$. The card is absolutely quiet with that and it requires no PCIe power cable at all. The downside is you do not get open CL. The upside is you get two Dual-DVI ports for two 30" Apple Cinema displays.