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Asgorath

macrumors 68000
Mar 30, 2012
1,573
479
Thanks - wasn't sure if those were necessarily still current, or if Mac drivers effect that at all.

Those benchmarks should give you a basic idea of the relative strengths of the two GPUs. Obviously not all the games shown in those reviews have Mac ports, but for high resolution gaming it should give you a rough ballpark of what to expect.
 

G4DP

macrumors 65816
Mar 28, 2007
1,451
3
Got to give a thanks to MVC, what he has said about the GTX5xx is spot on.

I ordered a cheap 520 to check things out and it works perfectly. Just as he has said. Install the nVidia drivers linked. Plug in the card and turn on the machine. Works like a charm.

Now to start saving and get a high end 6XX.

Thanks, MVC and everyone else who has posted information to help get things going on the GPU front.

Edit I: The only conflict I found is when I had the old 2600 in, would load but then crash. So will keep the old card in case of an emergency. So far everything with the nVidia card seems smother and a lot faster. Having found anything that does not work as yet.

Edit II: Finally got CUDA running as well. After much hair pulling and swearing. Anyone unfamiliar with terminal, search the nVidia forums. Do not just follow the guide.
 
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powervideo

macrumors newbie
Jul 27, 2010
20
0
If I'm reading the specs right, the GTX 6XX series have similar power requirements to the GTX 570. I thought about then decided not to get a GTX 580 with all the extra power requirements.
 

Asgorath

macrumors 68000
Mar 30, 2012
1,573
479
That's basically correct, yes. The GTX 680 has 2 6-pin power connectors, which is exactly what the Mac Pro can support. The GTX 580 has a 6-pin and an 8-pin, which is more than what the Mac Pro can technically support. All signs point to the GTX 680 being an ideal card for the Mac Pro, once the drivers mature a bit.
 

freeflywing

macrumors newbie
Aug 14, 2008
25
0
That's basically correct, yes. The GTX 680 has 2 6-pin power connectors, which is exactly what the Mac Pro can support. The GTX 580 has a 6-pin and an 8-pin, which is more than what the Mac Pro can technically support. All signs point to the GTX 680 being an ideal card for the Mac Pro, once the drivers mature a bit.

the problem is, if you is an adobe user, sorry, premier and after effects will not support 6 series. the best card you can get except quadro is the gtx 580.
 

pprior

macrumors 65816
Aug 1, 2007
1,448
9
the problem is, if you is an adobe user, sorry, premier and after effects will not support 6 series. the best card you can get except quadro is the gtx 580.

Is that expected to change? I want to upgrade my video card, but Adobe apps are the primary reason I want to (after effects, premiere and PS/LR). I don't want to buy a 5xx series card when the 6xx are much faster and apparently better power wise, I'm stuck in limbo here but since the "new" mac pros suck so bad I'm trying to keep the one I have going for now.
 

zzzachi

macrumors regular
Jun 16, 2012
231
111
@ macvids +
@ everyone who knows....

is it possible to have a gainward gtx 580 3gb (2.5 slots) next to the 5870 (2 slots) in a 2010 mac pro?

the gtx would be supplied by an external psu, but i m asking myself now if there is enough space to run these cards next to each other. if i see the pictures of the mac pro insides i m not sure this works spacewise.

i guess you'd put it directly above the 5870, but does this cripple the airflow for this card or is that standard?
any input here of someone more experienced than me?

http://blog.macsales.com/6611-taking-a-peek-inside-the-2010-mac-pro mac pro insides
http://vr-zone.com/articles/vr-zone...orce-gtx-580-phantom-3072mb-review/10933.html gainward gtx 580 3gb phantom
http://www.tweakpc.de/hardware/tests/grafikkarten/gainward_geforce_gtx_570_phantom/s03.php phantom airflow

i'd be very thankful for an advice
 
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jasonvp

macrumors 6502a
Jun 29, 2007
604
0
Northern VA
Is that expected to change? I want to upgrade my video card, but Adobe apps are the primary reason I want to (after effects, premiere and PS/LR).

Adobe is fairly slow at officially supporting new nVidia cards, and even worse on the Mac since there aren't any official new nVidia cards available for the Mac Pro.

But, assuming the card supports CUDA APIs (and all nVidia cards do,) then all you have to do is add the name of the card to the right text file, and Premiere will see it.

Been there, done that.

jas
 

osin

macrumors 6502
Jun 8, 2008
309
10
New Jersey
Edit II: Finally got CUDA running as well. After much hair pulling and swearing. Anyone unfamiliar with terminal, search the nVidia forums. Do not just follow the guide.

I thought that installing nVidia drivers enables CUDA. What is the "trick" you are referring to? I would appreciate link as well :)
 

freeflywing

macrumors newbie
Aug 14, 2008
25
0
yes, after the installation, you will have 1 x4 slot left.
all you need is an external power supply for them.
make sure you put them into the 1 & 2 slot.
1 & 2 are PCI-E x16, 3 & 4 are PCI-E x4.


@ macvids +
@ everyone who knows....

is it possible to have a gainward gtx 580 3gb (2.5 slots) next to the 5870 (2 slots) in a 2010 mac pro?

the gtx would be supplied by an external psu, but i m asking myself now if there is enough space to run these cards next to each other. if i see the pictures of the mac pro insides i m not sure this works spacewise.

i guess you'd put it directly above the 5870, but does this cripple the airflow for this card or is that standard?
any input here of someone more experienced than me?

http://blog.macsales.com/6611-taking-a-peek-inside-the-2010-mac-pro mac pro insides
http://vr-zone.com/articles/vr-zone...orce-gtx-580-phantom-3072mb-review/10933.html gainward gtx 580 3gb phantom
http://www.tweakpc.de/hardware/tests/grafikkarten/gainward_geforce_gtx_570_phantom/s03.php phantom airflow

i'd be very thankful for an advice
 

G4DP

macrumors 65816
Mar 28, 2007
1,451
3
I thought that installing nVidia drivers enables CUDA. What is the "trick" you are referring to? I would appreciate link as well :)

Osin, i'll PM you the changes to the guide you have to make.
 

skippyfx

macrumors newbie
Jul 10, 2011
27
0
S.F. Bay Area
For the time being, I would not recommend updating to the new CUDA drivers. They have disabled the use of the GPU in AE CS6 using a flashed GTX 570 card by MacVidCards.

Error:
error.png


Driver:
cuda_driver.png


It worked fine in the previous version.
 

AKDigital

macrumors newbie
May 8, 2012
15
0
Chicago, IL
For the time being, I would not recommend updating to the new CUDA drivers. They have disabled the use of the GPU in AE CS6 using a flashed GTX 570 card by MacVidCards.

I noticed this at first as well, but after I restarted my system After Effects seems to recognize my GPU fine. Can anyone else confirm support in After Effects with the latest CUDA drivers?

Is there any way to test if After Effects is in Fact taking advantage of my 570 effectively?
 

MacVidCards

Suspended
Original poster
Nov 17, 2008
6,096
1,056
Hollywood, CA
10.7.5 Beta using rMBP drivers has silly OpenCl bug

In initial testing it seems that OpenCl fix is not needed for cards with under 2.5 GB of VRAM.

I can confirm that a GTX570 running 10.7.5 Beta has working OpenCl but the same card with 2.5 GB does NOT.

Same with GTX580, 1.5 GB card shows full OpenCl support, the 3.0 GB card ZIPPO.

Perhaps another unsigned integer bug, or someone being lazy in the testing lab or a deliberate effort to keep better cards from eclipsing the released ones.

Let's hope the final 10.7.5 release corrects this.
 

powervideo

macrumors newbie
Jul 27, 2010
20
0
My macvidcards GTX 570 keeps dropping the primary MiniDisplayPort monitor so I only get the secondary DVI monitor. This happens when nothing is touched on the Mac Pro. I turn it off at night and then when it is powered up in the morning, one one monitor is active. I've switched cables, monitors, etc with no luck. It can work for several days then this happens again. Anyone else seeing this?
 

powervideo

macrumors newbie
Jul 27, 2010
20
0
I think I may have the answer. The monitor connected via DVI didn't have a dual-link DVI cable. This got both monitors going again. I'll see how it goes over the next couple of days.

My macvidcards GTX 570 keeps dropping the primary MiniDisplayPort monitor so I only get the secondary DVI monitor. This happens when nothing is touched on the Mac Pro. I turn it off at night and then when it is powered up in the morning, one one monitor is active. I've switched cables, monitors, etc with no luck. It can work for several days then this happens again. Anyone else seeing this?
 

ranXeron

macrumors newbie
Jul 5, 2012
6
0
Vienna
mod kit possible?

@ MacVidCards

To buy your cards here in europe is pretty expensive because around 20% tax has to be added plus 45 Euros shipping costs...

Since I already own a "EVGA GeForce GTX 570 HD Superclocked" I´d like to ask if you could imagine to only sell the necessary parts for modding the card in form of a kit containing :

moded EEprom
PCIe power cables
driver cd


I assume the kit would sell for less than 100$, so no import tax has to be paid and also the shipping costs are significantly lower.....
 

Cindori

macrumors 68040
Jan 17, 2008
3,527
378
Sweden
@ MacVidCards

To buy your cards here in europe is pretty expensive because around 20% tax has to be added plus 45 Euros shipping costs...

Since I already own a "EVGA GeForce GTX 570 HD Superclocked" I´d like to ask if you could imagine to only sell the necessary parts for modding the card in form of a kit containing :

moded EEprom
PCIe power cables
driver cd


I assume the kit would sell for less than 100$, so no import tax has to be paid and also the shipping costs are significantly lower.....

Most of this stuff is available free of charge.

Mac 570 rom can be found here
Drivers are available at Nvidias website.
Cables are available at ebay for like $5, shipping from china.
Instructions are available @ netkas.org forums.
 
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ranXeron

macrumors newbie
Jul 5, 2012
6
0
Vienna
Most of this stuff is available free of charge.

Mac 570 rom can be found here
Drivers are available at Nvidias website.
Cables are available at ebay for like $5, shipping from china.
Instructions are available @ netkas.org forums.


For shure - but I´d be willing to pay for a one hand solution which saves me hours of research, troubles etc...

Btw. your link to the mac 570 rom seems to be dead.
 

MacVidCards

Suspended
Original poster
Nov 17, 2008
6,096
1,056
Hollywood, CA
For shure - but I´d be willing to pay for a one hand solution which saves me hours of research, troubles etc...

Btw. your link to the mac 570 rom seems to be dead.

Hopefully Cindori isn't handing out ROMs he has no right to or no hand in writing

What's next, torrent links for CS6?
 

Vapor matt

macrumors regular
Aug 8, 2010
190
0
UK
Uhm, didn't want to promote copyright infringements. I was just asking for a kit including a modified eprom for the ones with soldering capabilities.


There is no copyright for a edited rom file, they used to be shared amongst enthusiasts who wanted to beat the domination of Apple saying what video card anyone could use in there mac, but these days its all about money! $$$$$$$$$


at least on the PC side people swap rom's for over clocking cards ect, as the Mac side seems more cloak and dagger ha ha
 

ranXeron

macrumors newbie
Jul 5, 2012
6
0
Vienna
Why not just run the card as-is? Do you really need to flash it?

Would be nice to enable all features of the card but as I lack the ability to program eproms myself, the "kit" solution could be a nice and cheaper way. Better than than importing the cards with a hefty price surge due to taxes and shipping costs....
 
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