Fermi support in OS X

looking at this thread it seems it's not working properly, yet. also requires a patched bootloader

but yeah, this basically means that fermi is coming for mac pro

Cindori said:

but yeah, this basically means that fermi is coming for mac pro

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Yuck. Cards that consume more power, have a high cost, and are slower than Ati's offerings. Why Apple?!

Some times it's the other way around where Nvidia trounces ATI but in the last year or two Nvidia has been getting its butt handed to them.

Fermi support has shown up on hackintoshes, too.

Apple didn't write the drivers, Nvidia apparently did.

I have a 5870 that has been sitting in a box for nearly a year, WAITING for those "right around the corner" drivers. Since EVERY ATI card so far has worked on ALL Mac Pros, I was sure I was going to flash the first 5870. (once ROM and drivers were out)

I'm already on Craigslist, looking for a deal on a Fermi.


Grrrrr

Anyone tried Fermi patch on real Mac Pro (not hackintosh) ?

Spacedust said:

Anyone tried Fermi patch on real Mac Pro (not hackintosh) ?

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I read through the hackintosh thread and I'm pretty sure one was real Mac Pro who posted.

In any case, I'm picking up a GTX480 in 5 hours....so we will know soon enough.

(Provided my CL "hookup" doesn't flake)

The video card update is long overdue.
Nvidia = better open cl performance / cuda
Disappointed if it's the gtx470.
Anyways, time to replace the gtx285 and the tesla c1060.

From what I've read, Fermi based boards are quite hot and consume a lot of power. Let's see if apple does use them and doesn't underclock them the way they do with other GPUs that tend to run hot and/or consume a lot of juice.

maflynn said:

From what I've read, Fermi based boards are quite hot and consume a lot of power. Let's see if apple does use them and doesn't underclock them the way they do with other GPUs that tend to run hot and/or consume a lot of juice.

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Well it runs as hot as the hd4870.

Major Reeves said:

Well it runs as hot as the hd4870.

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Wrong by a long shot.

Source for both power consumption and temperature: http://www.techspot.com/review/263-nvidia-geforce-gtx-480/page13.html

Fermi:

Major Reeves said:

Well it runs as hot as the hd4870.

Click to expand...

hexagonheat said:

Wrong by a long shot.

Source for both power consumption and temperature: http://www.techspot.com/review/263-nvidia-geforce-gtx-480/page13.html

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Agreed, nvidia has some work ahead of them if they're going to lower the powerconsumption and keep it cool.

I added a GTX260 to my corei7 and it required two 6pin power connectors and at least a 500w PSU. My point is that nvidia needs to learn a lesson or two from ATI.

With that said, I'm happy with my GTX260 - heat pump and all

hexagonheat said:

Wrong by a long shot.

Source for both power consumption and temperature: http://www.techspot.com/review/263-nvidia-geforce-gtx-480/page13.html

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Because 6 ºC / 7 ºC is indeed a huge difference, even more without knowing how "scientifically" the tests were conducted. Noticed the sarcasm?
As for the hd4870, it easily reaches 90 ºC on osX, that is without OC or manual fan control, at the room temperature of 25 ºC.

jav6454 said:

Fermi:

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Shouldn't that guy be holding a macbook pro?
Lol 99 ºC on the 17 inches model from early 2009 (c2duo at 2.93 ghz, 4gb ram, wd scorpio black) doesn't seem right with just some matlab and custom written open cl/ cuda apps. Even more when it says "pro" on the label, so much for an "efficient" cooling right?

Major Reeves said:

Because 6 ºC / 7 ºC is indeed a huge difference, even more without knowing how "scientifically" the tests were conducted. Noticed the sarcasm?
As for the hd4870, it easily reaches 90 ºC on osX, that is without OC or manual fan control, at the room temperature of 25 ºC.

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Approximate 40% increase in power consumption and 28% increase in temperature from 4870 to Fermi is significant yes.

You are free to read the test setup and methodology provided on the site. It is fully documented.

As for reaching 90 degrees Celsius in OS X I don't see any source to back up your claim. And if it is true we can be sure that a similar Fermi card would run hotter.

why the continuing nonsense about heat & Fermi?

Who gives a damn ?

Your Xeon CPU gets mighty hot too, why not raise a fuss about that?

It is just childish & pathetic the way the ATI Fan Bois have to raise this issue everytime the word "fermi" shows up in a forum.

Accept the fact that 5870 is no longer King and move on !!!

I have both a 5870 and a GTX480, ready for the truth?

The GTX480 is faster !!!

The 5870 is cooler but slower !!!

Can we let it die now? Please?

If not, mommy might make you go sit in the corner without supper. (or your iPod !!!)

The Rominator said:

why the continuing nonsense about heat & Fermi?

Who gives a damn ?

Your Xeon CPU gets mighty hot too, why not raise a fuss about that?

It is just childish & pathetic the way the ATI Fan Bois have to raise this issue everytime the word "fermi" shows up in a forum.

Accept the fact that 5870 is no longer King and move on !!!

I have both a 5870 and a GTX480, ready for the truth?

The GTX480 is faster !!!

The 5870 is cooler but slower !!!

Can we let it die now? Please?

If not, mommy might make you go sit in the corner without supper. (or your iPod !!!)

Click to expand...

For you:

Heat is an important design consideration when you are looking at building a computer and heat restrictions. It also can cause a large difference in the noise that the fan introduces. No one wants to have a sonic jet sitting on their desk. It can also change the size and dimensions of the fan and design enclosure.

I am NOT an ati fanboy if that is what you are suggesting. I used to own an x1900xt until heat problems caused me to buy into Nvidia. On my Linux machine I only use Nvidia gpus right now as well because of their driver support for the platform is superior to ATIs offerings. Right now though with the heat issue, the shoe is on the other foot. If Apple can provide decent enough cooling solutions then I don't see a problem. I've just been burned in the past by heating issues and it's not fun at all.

The Rominator said:

why the continuing nonsense about heat & Fermi?

Who gives a damn ?

Your Xeon CPU gets mighty hot too, why not raise a fuss about that?

It is just childish & pathetic the way the ATI Fan Bois have to raise this issue everytime the word "fermi" shows up in a forum.

Accept the fact that 5870 is no longer King and move on !!!

I have both a 5870 and a GTX480, ready for the truth?

The GTX480 is faster !!!

The 5870 is cooler but slower !!!

Can we let it die now? Please?

If not, mommy might make you go sit in the corner without supper. (or your iPod !!!)

Click to expand...

hexagonheat said:

Heat is an important design consideration when you are looking at building a computer and heat restrictions. It also can cause a large difference in the noise that the fan introduces. No one wants to have a sonic jet sitting on their desk. It can also change the size and dimensions of the fan and design enclosure.

I am NOT an ati fanboy if that is what you are suggesting. I used to own an x1900xt until heat problems caused me to buy into Nvidia. On my Linux machine I only use Nvidia gpus right now as well because of their driver support for the platform is superior to ATIs offerings. Right now though with the heat issue, the shoe is on the other foot. If Apple can provide decent enough cooling solutions then I don't see a problem. I've just been burned in the past by heating issues and it's not fun at all.

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If you're complaining about noise on a workstation, you're simply not in the market for one.

And as a pointed out on a previous post, if you want to rant about heating/cooling issues maybe you should think macbook pro. The fermi parts do run hot, but so does every other video card on the market.

hexagonheat said:

Yuck. Cards that consume more power, have a high cost, and are slower than Ati's offerings. Why Apple?!

Some times it's the other way around where Nvidia trounces ATI but in the last year or two Nvidia has been getting its butt handed to them.

Click to expand...

Show me where a GF 480 gets its butt handed to it by a single GPU ATI card.

brentsg said:

Show me where a GF 480 gets its butt handed to it by a single GPU ATI card.

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You aksed for it. Mind you the language. This was on another forum where nVidia v ATI threads run rampant.

Also, take into account nVidia had 6 months extra to prepare Fermi (yet failed) so it would be natural for Fermi to be tad more faster, but the small performance increase coupled with high power consumption and heat production is not worth it. I hope Apple dumps nVidia's sorry ass.

I am not ATI fanboy, I own a GTX 285 and a GeForce 8800. Good cards, but this generation of nVidia offerings are VERY poor. ATI simply squashed nVidia.

brentsg said:

Show me where a GF 480 gets its butt handed to it by a single GPU ATI card.

Click to expand...

jav6454 said:

You aksed for it. Mind you the language. This was on another forum where nVidia v ATI threads run rampant.

Also, take into account nVidia had 6 months extra to prepare Fermi (yet failed) so it would be natural for Fermi to be tad more faster, but the small performance increase coupled with high power consumption and heat production is not worth it. I hope Apple dumps nVidia's sorry ass.

I am not ATI fanboy, I own a GTX 285 and a GeForce 8800. Good cards, but this generation of nVidia offerings are VERY poor. ATI simply squashed nVidia.

Click to expand...

Lol OWNED. The 5870 is also about $100 cheaper right now than the Fermi and has been out for a while. ATI has also had several months now to work on their next gen products.

I don't care what runs cooler. What is cheaper or what is better.

I care for the card to work in my machine. Something fermi can right now.

I know the pretty color graphs are fun to look at, too bad you couldn't READ the text.

It says Fermi "will hit etailers shelves on April 6th" so in other words, that test is from BEFORE it came out and BEFORE the real drivers appeared.

So...sort of like today, with us getting results based on pre-release drivers. Where it can't beat a 3870.

So let me put my XFX 5870 in my Mac and see how it does.

Oh, look. Black screen.

Huh.

So take your theoretical babbling to the PC forums where you can argue ATI vs Nvidia, My Mobo is bigger than Your Mobo, MY PSU is better than your PSU ALL DAY LONG and it will seem like people care.

This is a Mac forum, check the top of the page if you don't believe me.

And since only Fermi is now running in Mac OS and the 5870 is just a nice dream for someday in the future, WHY DEBATE THEIR MERITS HERE AT ALL?

Or maybe go find a forum where you can debate other theoretical, "what if" sort of nonsense. I know, how about a thorough discussion of "How McCain would have dealt with oil spill if he were Prez" or "What if Amelia Airheart had used a GPS unit" or any of a million other nonsensical topics that also don't have any bearing on reality. Or maybe a nice ATI Fanboi site where you can create (or just copy) some more fun COLOR pix of fires and Fermi cards? Doesn't that sound fun?

Pardon me, I need to go now and continue trying to help Netkas find a way to improve Fermi support in OSX. You should go find a nice ranting site to post on. Maybe try trolling an Nvidia site? Now THAT could be fun !!!

Or maybe just go ride your trike around the dining room table a few more times, until Mamah tells you to go outside again.