Bought a Mac Pro GPU, received an Asus... what the &%$?

[xcodeSyn]

Originally Posted by MacProFreak

It's the fan on the actual GPU. I downloaded GLView but when I click on "test" under the "Tests" section, nothing happens.

Then your another option is to install the GPU in slot 2 or return it.

[lucasfer899]

Originally Posted by MacProFreak

Hmmm... weird. This is the product link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Early-20.../270884064729?

WOAH, major overprice, this guy is making a killing! You can pick up GTX 285s for £60-90 where I've dug!

Originally Posted by cal6n

This kind of thing gives flashed cards a bad name. This is the right way to sell a non-standard Mac Pro compatible card.

(disclaimer: yes, it's my listing, but I'm only posting it as an example)

A very honest ebay listing at that.

[MacProFreak]

Originally Posted by xcodeSyn

Then your another option is to install the GPU in slot 2 or return it.

I just did that, same noisy fan speed. It's not at maximum speed, but it's noisy, exact same speed as slot 1. What is a 'normal' rpm range for the gpu fan, and what software do I install to check this?

[Tibbar]

I would take a look at the eBay seller "macvidcards". I believe his storefront is for the alias "Rominator" who is active on netkas.org. Rominator personally modified my own GTX 470, and it works great on my MacPro4,1.

[bsbeamer]

at least buy from someone who's up front and honest. search ebay for "macvidcards" and buy there. also on this forum too, if you need to message him.

[MacProFreak]

Ok guys, I thank you all for the replies, but please no need to repeat what has been said already. The fact is I have this board now, it works but I'm not happy with the fan noise it makes.

In any case, I have just received a W3690 and will work on installing it soon. I will also soon receive 2 SSDs and apricorn x2 adapters, and I will start from scratch and do a clean Snow Leopard install. I will return to this thread after all is done to report on how things went.

Again thanks a bunch to all that replied, it has been very helpful!

[xcodeSyn]

Originally Posted by MacProFreak

I just did that, same noisy fan speed. It's not at maximum speed, but it's noisy, exact same speed as slot 1. What is a 'normal' rpm range for the gpu fan, and what software do I install to check this?

Use smcFanControl to monitor your MP internal fan speeds including PCI fan. If it is the GPU fan speed then its default speed is probably too high for your taste. The GPU fan speed is controlled in the BIOS and normally can be adjusted using a Windows program such as this one or any other NVIDIA overclock utility. The problem is that you have to do this fan adjustment in Windows, make changes as explained in the second from the last post here and save a copy of this ROM and reflash it if you want to keep the same settings in OS X. Probably something you don't want to do unless it is driving you crazy.

[Derpage]

Originally Posted by ActionableMango

Seller describes an ASUS nVidia GeForce GTX 285 card as Apple Mac Pro nVidia GeForce GTX 285.

Seller also says it's new when it is really an open-box modified card, missing the box. The box of course would inconveniently reveal that the card is an inexpensive generic card. I'm sure the warranty is void too.

This thing is misrepresented on multiple levels. IMHO it's no accident.

Asus cards aren't inexpensive in the grand scheme of things. However, it is pretty cheap in comparison to the gouging you get from buying a cert'd mac card.

[ClassObject]

Originally Posted by Tesselator

Yeah, it probably works even tho it's misrepresented.



---


Ranting and whistle blowing are two distinctly different things. You should change your screen-name to "DefenderOfCrooks" maybe... No?




---
DanielCoffey,
One would think so... But that's not how it works out in practice.


.

Ok I'll do that to appease your rant

[MacProFreak]

New issue:

With this reflashed Asus Matrix, when I boot from a retail Snow Leopard 10.6.3 DVD, it gets stuck on the apple white screen with gray apple logo. No spinning wheel. What to do? Re-install the Radeon 5770 that came with it, install and then switch back to Asus?

[MacVidCards]

I don't think it's time for Tar & Feathers just yet.

I have had a few email chats with those guys, they are a family who sold stuff for PCs and Macs and they just found that there was more markup in Macs.

They used to be called "Powerbox_Technology" but finally realized that the name wasn't helping them.

They typically try to play by Ebay rules and stay out of trouble. The simple fact is, if it weren't for card flashers, there would be 4 or 5 Nvidia cards for Macs, 4 of them out of production. The GTX285s that EVGA sold had very distinctive labeling. To flash a GTX285 requires some work. You need to remove 14 screws, remove & replace an EEPROM SOIC-8 chip, then flash & test card. (First one was done on this very forum by us)

It's involved and time consuming. MOST GTX285s of 1 GB variety will work 100% fine with standard Mac ROM. It is POSSIBLE that the Asus card has a different fan or controller then EVGA and so fan is misbehaving. When I run into an issue like that I am forced to write a custom rom for the card.

The fact is, if nobody had ever flashed GTX285s for Mac, the few actual legit EVGA ones would be selling for $700 or so. When you put an ad together it is difficult to mention the flashed part if your competition is being especially slimy and leaving it out. Most people don't notice if the card performs identically. They don't use better components on Mac versions. (just larger ROM chips)

I just checked and the standard Mac GTX285 fan setting is 40% base running around 750 RPM. You can check this using "Zeus 2.8". Go to Nvidia section and hit the "Overclock" tab. You will need to enter your admin password but that is to load the kext that allows this function. I discovered the app that makes this work and encouraged the developer to include it in Zeus. Sadly he sold his Mac Pro years ago and never bothered to get the app working well. But it will show you fan speed in OSX on a GTX285. (doesn't work for later cards)

If you find that the fan speed is much greater than this, you may need to ask those guys to replace the card with an EVGA one or a reference one. They aren't going to be rude or make a fuss, they'll send you a replacement as soon as you return that one. (ship with tracking, get signature if over $250)

As a buyer on Ebay you have the power to be satisfied. You can inquire with them if they have an EVGA or reference based card. I have had trouble with Asus cards in the past but I think it is because Asus tries to IMPROVE on reference design and Apple's ROMs are written for reference cards from Nvidia. So Asus uses different parts from norm and if the flasher isn't skilled at writing custom roms for their cards (and almost nobody actually is) you end up with little issues like this.

[MacProFreak]

Thanks for the above post. According to Zeus 2.8 the GPU fan speed is 1095rpm when doing nothing.

When I first turn the computer on, the fan speed goes to max, sounds like a vacuum cleaner. Right after the 'apple boot chord' sound, the speed goes down, but still noisy, as it sits at 1095rpm. Not to mention it hangs if I boot from my retail 10.6.3 DVD. What a mess.

[Tesselator]

Originally Posted by MacProFreak

New issue:

With this reflashed Asus Matrix, when I boot from a retail Snow Leopard 10.6.3 DVD, it gets stuck on the apple white screen with gray apple logo. No spinning wheel. What to do? Re-install the Radeon 5770 that came with it, install and then switch back to Asus?

Sound right...

Originally Posted by ClassObject

Ok I'll do that to appease your rant

looking forward to seeing that!

[GermanyChris]

The add says.

"Compatible Apple Part Number(s): TW387ZM/A"

This is the indicator that it is not Apple Part Number(s): TW387ZM/A therefore it is flashed.

I'm really not seeing the big deal here, it's a 285 it works so there ya go. For $250 you could have bought an Apple card. For 250 you could have bought a GTX 570 and not had a boot screen of for the same price you could have bought something from macvidcards supported a forum member and had unofficial tech support.

You did none of those things so now you are where you are.

[nigelbb]

Originally Posted by MacVidCards

The fact is, if nobody had ever flashed GTX285s for Mac, the few actual legit EVGA ones would be selling for $700 or so.

Damn you sir! I have two genuine Apple EVGA GTX285s that I swapped out from our Mac Pros for unflashed GTX570s & I would love to be able to sell them for $1400

[lucasfer899]

Send it back, for the money you paid, you could've bought an apple 5870.

[MacVidCards]

The card I mentioned the 750rpm fan speed was a flashed EVGA.

I would guess that Asus has a different fan or different controller.

Point them to this thread and tell them you want a card as quiet as original EVGA. I guarantee that they have some EVGA's sitting in back room, etc, that they could sub out.

Originally Posted by nigelbb

Damn you sir! I have two genuine Apple EVGA GTX285s that I swapped out from our Mac Pros for unflashed GTX570s & I would love to be able to sell them for $1400

Yes, but if Nvidia hadn't written those 570 drivers and we hadn't created EFI GTX570's, the top Mac card would still be Q4000 for $1,200. Think about that for a minute. And be glad those 285's aren't going for $700, or you never would have retired them.

[cal6n]

Originally Posted by MacProFreak

...

What to do? Re-install the Radeon 5770 that came with it, install and then switch back to Asus?

A Radeon 5770 won't boot from a 10.6.3 DVD. Minimum requirement is 10.6.4, I'm afraid.

[xcodeSyn]

Originally Posted by MacProFreak

New issue:

With this reflashed Asus Matrix, when I boot from a retail Snow Leopard 10.6.3 DVD, it gets stuck on the apple white screen with gray apple logo. No spinning wheel. What to do? Re-install the Radeon 5770 that came with it, install and then switch back to Asus?

The GTX 285 is supposed to be compatible with OS X 10.5.7 and later according to this link, looks like one more reason to send it back. BTW why did you decide to get a GTX 285 in the first place other than two DVI ports? If you don't need CUDA, you could have gotten another Radeon 5770 which costs much less and upgrade to Mountain Lion.

[Badagri]

Originally Posted by bsbeamer

at least buy from someone who's up front and honest. search ebay for "macvidcards" and buy there. also on this forum too, if you need to message him.

Shame it's in dollars, therefore import fees. :/

Originally Posted by MacProFreak

When I first turn the computer on, the fan speed goes to max, sounds like a vacuum cleaner. Right after the 'apple boot chord' sound, the speed goes down

Thats quite normal. It does this on a Windows box. Even my Apple NVIDIA 8800 GT does this at boot before the bong then instantly settles down.

[MacProFreak]

Originally Posted by xcodeSyn

The GTX 285 is supposed to be compatible with OS X 10.5.7 and later according to this link, looks like one more reason to send it back. BTW why did you decide to get a GTX 285 in the first place other than two DVI ports? If you don't need CUDA, you could have gotten another Radeon 5770 which costs much less and upgrade to Mountain Lion.

Yes, it's because I need two dual-link DVI ports, and that's one of the few cards I found that was supposed to work out of the box. Never expected to receive a PC card, but that's old news.

The 'new' news is that I think the problem of not being able to boot the install DVD 10.6.3 comes from the W3690 I just dropped in, because this problem persists after I put the original radeon back in. That same DVD did boot fine with the original processor.

I will return this Asus Matrix, I'm done with it. Now the issue becomes how will I boot and install my Snow Leopard DVD using the 6-core chip.

[cyber16]

The sellers auction clearly "stated"
Compatible Apple Part Number(s): TW387ZM/A

Never did they claim it to be a genuine apple part
my 0.02

[Tesselator]

Originally Posted by cyber16

The sellers auction clearly "stated"
Compatible Apple Part Number(s): TW387ZM/A

Never did they claim it to be a genuine apple part
my 0.02

WTF cares... he claimed it was new and didn't disclose that he modified it. Then charged outrageous Apple like prices for it.

The little f...er is a cook - period.

Originally Posted by MacProFreak
When I first turn the computer on, the fan speed goes to max, sounds like a vacuum cleaner. Right after the 'apple boot chord' sound, the speed goes down
Thats quite normal. It does this on a Windows box. Even my Apple NVIDIA 8800 GT does this at boot before the bong then instantly settles down.

Originally Posted by Badagri

Thats quite normal. It does this on a Windows box. Even my Apple NVIDIA 8800 GT does this at boot before the bong then instantly settles down.

AFAIK Apple doesn't engage in prescribing cooling/fan-speed profiles for display cards. The Card manufactures care for that independently with their on-card controllers and profiles. I think most cards initially power up with their fans at full throttle and then read the relevant temperature sensors and adjust accordingly to that. I think most cards at that point go silent. If they don't - and they're still cranking the fans as to be audibly "noisy" at all - then my guess would be that there's something wrong with it.

[MacProFreak]

Originally Posted by cyber16

The sellers auction clearly "stated"
Compatible Apple Part Number(s): TW387ZM/A

Never did they claim it to be a genuine apple part
my 0.02

Yes, but the listing is insidious in many other ways:

1) No picture of the actual card being sold
2) No mention of it being re-flashed
3) Picture used is not representative of the item that is described

How does a person at a consumer level (non-geek) will not be fooled by a listing that OMITS information? Anyways, all this is beyond the point right now because this Asus Matrix is too noisy for me, so back to where it came from it will go.

If you are reading this as a consumer that has not much experience in hardware details, I hope this thread serves as a good warning, just be careful with unclear, unethical sellers out there. Like I've mentioned before, if I was the seller, I would have explicitly mentioned everything about the item. It's a matter of ethics and honesty. This seller not only lost me as a customer, he'll probably won't get too many others that will be fortunate enough to learn with my experience by reading through this thread.

[GermanyChris]

Originally Posted by MacProFreak

Yes, but the listing is insidious in many other ways:

1) No picture of the actual card being sold
2) No mention of it being re-flashed
3) Picture used is not representative of the item that is described

How does a person at a consumer level (non-geek) will not be fooled by a listing that OMITS information? Anyways, all this is beyond the point right now because this Asus Matrix is too noisy for me, so back to where it came from it will go.

If you are reading this as a consumer that has not much experience in hardware details, I hope this thread serves as a good warning, just be careful with unclear, unethical sellers out there. Like I've mentioned before, if I was the seller, I would have explicitly mentioned everything about the item. It's a matter of ethics and honesty. This seller not only lost me as a customer, he'll probably won't get too many others that will be fortunate enough to learn with my experience by reading through this thread.

Man consumers go to the Apple store and pick a 5770 or a 5870, they pay their 250/450 and walk away knowing they have a supported warrantied card. Some go to ebay to try and save a buck and others still come to forums ad read a big or go over to netkas and read some more. You got it, it works and it's what it says it is.