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nVIDIA GeForce GT 120 in MP 1,1 ??

T

TableSyrup

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 29, 2012
312
1
Does the Apple nVIDIA GeForce 120 work in a MP1,1 ???

I need something for FCPX and came across a 120 pretty cheap, which is compatible with FCPX (obviously not ideal), but not sure if it's compatible with the 1,1

(On a tight budget at the moment.... just lookin for a temporary solution)

Will it work OTB with SL and Lion ??
 
A

Asgorath

macrumors 68000
Mar 30, 2012
1,573
479
Pretty sure the GT 120 is a 64-bit EFI only, and the Mac Pro 1,1 is 32-bit EFI only which means it won't work. There was a version of the 8800 GT with a 32-bit EFI, but those are probably long gone at this point.
 
M

MacVidCards

Suspended
Nov 17, 2008
6,096
1,056
Hollywood, CA
Asgorath said:
Pretty sure the GT 120 is a 64-bit EFI only, and the Mac Pro 1,1 is 32-bit EFI only which means it won't work. There was a version of the 8800 GT with a 32-bit EFI, but those are probably long gone at this point.
Click to expand...

True in most cases, we however do offer an EFI32 GT120 for 1st Gen Mac Pros.

Please keep in mind that even with 1GB of VRAM this is not a POWERFUL card.

Our version has Dual DVI and can run up to 2 @ 30" DVI displays.

Full boot screens, etc. Works in Windows too.
 
A

Asgorath

macrumors 68000
Mar 30, 2012
1,573
479
Yeah, it was a low-end card even when it first came out. Certainly not what I'd recommend today. You could probably get a GTX 560 for around $200 these days.

Edit: NewEgg has them for $160-170.
 
Last edited:
CaptainChunk

CaptainChunk

macrumors 68020
Apr 16, 2008
2,142
6
Phoenix, AZ
About the only two good reasons to run a GT 120 at all are:

1. Cheap, low-power card (no auxiliary power required) to run additional displays.

2. Dedicated GUI card for a DaVinci Resolve system (which would run in conjunction with a more powerful CUDA card for GPU processing).


But if you're on a tight budget, MacVidCards' EFI-32 GT 120 works - just don't expect much on the performance end of things. An ATI/AMD 5770 would be a significantly better all-around choice without getting too crazy money-wise.
 
T

TableSyrup

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 29, 2012
312
1
Thanks guys.

I want a 5870, but that's not gonna happen right now.

I'd take a 5770, but can't swing the $229 at the moment either as sad as that is

I need the EFI Boot screen, and don't know how to flash cards.

Been a rough year since the tornado wiped me out.... and the new insulation, furnace, hot water heater, appliances, as well as car troubles, have got me spread thin.

Got a lot of money out invoiced, but until something else pays in enough to get past my backlog of bills, I'm kinda tight.

I was just gonna grab it if it would work since it was so cheap..... obviously a horrible card, and very bad for FCPX, but hey, I've got some video work to get done at home, so I need to lose this 7300

I'm not a video guy, I'm in audio. This will be the first time I've ever dove in to video, but I'm sure I'll do well with it.

I also wanna be careful not to sink too much money into a 1,1 - but I suppose a good card could always follow to a newer machine at a later date....

I'll just keep my eyes peeled for a 8800, 4870, or 5770
Or when some dang money comes through, I'll just hit B&H for a new 5770

Thanx
 
A

Asgorath

macrumors 68000
Mar 30, 2012
1,573
479
TableSyrup said:
I need the EFI Boot screen, and don't know how to flash cards.
Click to expand...

Why do you need the boot screen exactly? I've been running a stock PC GTX 560 Ti and GTX 580 in my two Mac Pros without boot screens for nearly six months now, with no issues at all. You can easily switch to Boot Camp and back by using System Preferences or the Control Panel, for example.
 
T

TableSyrup

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 29, 2012
312
1
I need the EFI screen for installs, Which, I sometimes frequently do for proprietary software uses... long story....
and for selecting boot drives at startup.

I know I can boot, select other boot drive, and restart, but that is pretty lame and irritating with as often as I need to swap back and forth in a production environment.

Granted, this will only be happening for about 6 months or a year, once certain software solutions become available at a later date, and/or I decide to move on to other solutions or approaches

Video, and Audio are being done on the same machine, Audio on two separate installs depending on what is being done, video on the third, so 3 drives/installs in it for specific reasons.

Kind of a pain, but as it is, 3 manufacturers/developers stuff is giving me issues so I have to do it this way in order to keep things fluid and tidy.

Is what it is.

Big thanks to Avid, Waves, and BIAS (R.I.P.)

Love em, but they need to get their ISH together quick....
Hoping that ML may provide a friendly solution for me - and that I can find a solid replacement for BIAS Peak that doesn't inhibit our workflow.

----------

As stupid as this issue with the video card is for me, I am waiting on tons of payments, and can't justify droppin the $229 out of pocket for the 5770 right now... I'm that tight.... yeah....

ridiculous

hahhahaaa.... it's funny, when you have major label and network stuff going on, but you're STRAPPED ! ! !
I see the irony in it ;)

Anyone wanna trade me a 5770 or 5870 or whatever.... for!?!?!?!? hahahaaaaa
I've got 2 FCPX sessions sitting here I can't do anything with and get paid on until I have a compatible card ;)

Used Mac video cards seem to be scarce, and priced the same as new. insane
Gonna be nice to be past this crappy time period I'm in.
 
GermanyChris

GermanyChris

macrumors 601
Jul 3, 2011
4,185
5
Here
TableSyrup said:
I need the EFI screen for installs, Which, I sometimes frequently do for proprietary software uses... long story....
and for selecting boot drives at startup.

I know I can boot, select other boot drive, and restart, but that is pretty lame and irritating with as often as I need to swap back and forth in a production environment.

Granted, this will only be happening for about 6 months or a year, once certain software solutions become available at a later date, and/or I decide to move on to other solutions or approaches

Video, and Audio are being done on the same machine, Audio on two separate installs depending on what is being done, video on the third, so 3 drives/installs in it for specific reasons.

Kind of a pain, but as it is, 3 manufacturers/developers stuff is giving me issues so I have to do it this way in order to keep things fluid and tidy.

Is what it is.

Big thanks to Avid, Waves, and BIAS (R.I.P.)

Love em, but they need to get their ISH together quick....
Hoping that ML may provide a friendly solution for me - and that I can find a solid replacement for BIAS Peak that doesn't inhibit our workflow.

----------

As stupid as this issue with the video card is for me, I am waiting on tons of payments, and can't justify droppin the $229 out of pocket for the 5770 right now... I'm that tight.... yeah....

ridiculous
Click to expand...

If ML is Mountain Lion it's not going to run on your system anyway..It might be best to start working into the clunky workflow unless this is your last video job.
 
T

TableSyrup

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 29, 2012
312
1
Mountain Lion IS running on 1,1's

There's info on this all over HERE and all over Netkas and the net.
BTW: Huge thanx to those sharing their info on this

I WILL be installing ML once it is released, and I will be sitting on that for quite some time, without updates, until there is a huge software benefit in doing so

With thousands invested in Avid hardware and software, and Waves software, I am aiming for a single install of ML for everything.

Granted, Lion would suffice for now, but by running ML, I will have a little more longevity in other software update-ability.

I have to run SL, BIAS Peak, Waves 8, PT8 for one install - to have PEAK working correctly
I have to run Lion, Waves 9, PT10 - to have Waves 9 and PT10 working correctly
I have a separate install of Lion for FCPX and Waves 9, just cause I haven't tested with it on the same drive as a PT install, (Actually, haven't used it yet at all) and as a rule of thumb, I keep my audio machines dedicated to avoid issues (Like, this needs this, but having this will mess up that, and so on - you know)

Ultimately, I will replace Peak with something else, capable of running the same platform as everything else, and hopefully working properly on just one OS install -

Beyond that, I will still need my other OS drive - which is used for beta testing and demo'ing some proprietary audio production software I am not at liberty to discuss - NDA - but the testing requires that I test updates as updates, and also as fresh installs - and I always run a fresh OS install for the fresh software install - so this is quite frequent -

anyway

I need the EFI Screens ;)
 
A

Asgorath

macrumors 68000
Mar 30, 2012
1,573
479
TableSyrup said:
I need the EFI Screens ;)
Click to expand...

You really don't. I regularly switch between 3-4 installations of Mac OS, and occasionally Windows, and using System Preferences to select to boot partition is really not that hard. In six months of using a stock PC card, I've yet to find myself in the position of missing the EFI boot screen.
 
T

TableSyrup

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 29, 2012
312
1
Doesn't this pose an issue doing a fresh OS install to a freshly formatted disk ??
I'm trying to understand how I would do this .... ??????

For instance, boot whatever OS - other than the one I'm gonna zap and re install - use disk utility to format the disk I'm gonna install on - use prefs to select that drive to boot? Would it even let me? Being it's not a OS anymore?

Or would I start the installer from another OS and target the install disk that way?
I guess I never tried that before..... does that work???
My OS installer is on a Flash Drive - particular one being re installed frequently is Lion

And I don't wanna operate EFI blind and overwrite the wrong disk, but I also don't wanna open it and remove all other drives every time, cause then I have to pull the machine out of it's enclosure (Whisper box) every time I need to do this...
Steps -
1, move console (HUGE, 9 feet long, heavy)
2, disconnect some stuff
3, slide whisper box forward
4, disconnect more stuff
5, slide MP forward out of box a ways to get cables disconnected
6, slide her out, remove all other OS drives, install, then reverse steps

no way.....

Also, @Asgorath, don't I have to be running Lion for the PC cards to work????
This would mess me up for my SL install

These are the cards qualified by apple for FCPX - So I want to stick with these

NVIDIA
GeForce 320M
GeForce GT 330M
GeForce 9400M
GeForce 9600M GT
GeForce 8600M GT 256MB
GeForce 8600M GT 512MB
GeForce GT 120
GeForce GT 130
GeForce GTX 285
GeForce 8800 GT
GeForce 8800 GS
Quadro FX 4800
Quadro FX5600
ATI
Radeon HD 4670
Radeon HD 4850
Radeon HD 4870
Radeon HD 5670
Radeon HD 5750
Radeon HD 5770
Radeon HD 5870
AMD
Radeon HD 6750M
Radeon HD 6630M
Radeon HD 6770M
Radeon HD 6970M
 
Last edited:
GermanyChris

GermanyChris

macrumors 601
Jul 3, 2011
4,185
5
Here
TableSyrup said:
Mountain Lion IS running on 1,1's

There's info on this all over HERE and all over Netkas and the net.
BTW: Huge thanx to those sharing their info on this

I WILL be installing ML once it is released, and I will be sitting on that for quite some time, without updates, until there is a huge software benefit in doing so

With thousands invested in Avid hardware and software, and Waves software, I am aiming for a single install of ML for everything.

Granted, Lion would suffice for now, but by running ML, I will have a little more longevity in other software update-ability.

I have to run SL, BIAS Peak, Waves 8, PT8 for one install - to have PEAK working correctly
I have to run Lion, Waves 9, PT10 - to have Waves 9 and PT10 working correctly
I have a separate install of Lion for FCPX and Waves 9, just cause I haven't tested with it on the same drive as a PT install, (Actually, haven't used it yet at all) and as a rule of thumb, I keep my audio machines dedicated to avoid issues (Like, this needs this, but having this will mess up that, and so on - you know)

Ultimately, I will replace Peak with something else, capable of running the same platform as everything else, and hopefully working properly on just one OS install -

Beyond that, I will still need my other OS drive - which is used for beta testing and demo'ing some proprietary audio production software I am not at liberty to discuss - NDA - but the testing requires that I test updates as updates, and also as fresh installs - and I always run a fresh OS install for the fresh software install - so this is quite frequent -

anyway

I need the EFI Screens ;)
Click to expand...

DP 1 ran on 1,1's

If you want to run it past DP 1 you need one of the hackintosh bootloaders. At that point you might as well have a hack. Its your 32bit EFI which is also limiting your cards.
 
A

Asgorath

macrumors 68000
Mar 30, 2012
1,573
479
TableSyrup said:
Also, @Asgorath, don't I have to be running Lion for the PC cards to work????
This would mess me up for my SL install
Click to expand...

Ahh yes, you are correct.

Note that the list you provided is just all the official Apple GPUs, so obviously non-Apple (i.e. stock PC) cards won't be on it.
 
S

shanmoon

macrumors newbie
Nov 9, 2012
1
0
Asgorath said:
You really don't. I regularly switch between 3-4 installations of Mac OS, and occasionally Windows, and using System Preferences to select to boot partition is really not that hard. In six months of using a stock PC card, I've yet to find myself in the position of missing the EFI boot screen.
Click to expand...

I know you mean well, but I get so frustrated with people thinking they know a person's need better than that person does.

I also have a workflow which requires frequent reboots. I had swapped to a GTX 680...loved the performance gain, but the lack of EFI was a huge frustration for me. I work in a very fast paced environment, and am not a naturally patient person anyway. I found it so frustrating I put my 5770 back in my box until I purchased a helper card for use with the 680, and now I have my boot screen back.

Maybe no EFI works for you. Maybe you were in a slower paced environment (or not) or maybe you are a more patient person than me (or not). Either way, I need my EFI boot screen. Other people need their EFI boot screen. Some people can stand not to have it. Some can't. To say otherwise is arrogant and condescending.
 
A

Asgorath

macrumors 68000
Mar 30, 2012
1,573
479
shanmoon said:
Either way, I need my EFI boot screen. Other people need their EFI boot screen. Some people can stand not to have it. Some can't. To say otherwise is arrogant and condescending.
Click to expand...

What are you using the boot screen for, exactly? My point was that if all you're using it for it to select which OS to use, there are really simple ways to achieve the same result. Many people seem afraid of taking the no-EFI plunge because of the OS switching issue, and my point is that it's really, really not that big of a deal. If you want to let yourself get frustrated by what is a trivially avoided problem, more power to you.

I've been using a non-EFI card for nearly a year now, switching back and forth between Windows and Mac OS X regularly. I've needed to swap in an EFI card exactly two times (once to restore from backup when I screwed something up, once to update my boot volume to an SSD).

In any case, I stand by what I said -- you really don't need a boot screen to use your Mac Pro. Maybe you prefer one, and if so, great. The fundamental point is that it's entirely possible to use a Mac Pro with a non-EFI card, since doing so allows you to update to a much more modern GPU with all the associated benefits.
 
macstatic

macstatic

macrumors 68010
Oct 21, 2005
2,000
162
Norway
Asgorath said:
In any case, I stand by what I said -- you really don't need a boot screen to use your Mac Pro.
Click to expand...

I don't have a Mac Pro (am planning to buy one soon though), but have found Applejack very useful for repairing disk related issues on the startup disk without needing the OSX installation DVD. I assume this would be troublesome on a Mac Pro without seeing anything on the screen.
 
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