Frequently Asked Questions About NVIDIA PC (non-EFI) Graphics Cards

[MacVidCards]

Did you do that terminal command?

You pm'd me via Ebay but better if answers go public

[nadeama]

When I first tried the GTX 660 in my Mac Pro with OS 10.8.2, I constantly got a kernel panic during bootup. It only worked after I first installed the Nvidia web drivers.

Should any installation of 10.8.2 work, or might there be some reason why the Apple drivers would not have been installed on my system? Do I need to download and install the 10.8.2 combo update? I'd like to try the card with Apple drivers to see if it fixes the display sleep problem.

[beto2k7]

Originally Posted by MacVidCards

Did you do that terminal command?

You pm'd me via Ebay but better if answers go public

Attached a screenshot of command results.

[ohmkumi]

sorry!! 2008 macpro 3,1
1. Can use eVGA GTX570 ?
2. no more power supply.
3. Can Run Windows. (want to play Battle Field3)

Thank for Answer.

[jhero]

15) is not entirely correct - GTX 670 on a MP 3,1 and even with new nvidia drivers, still no pcie2. Tried slot 1 and 2

[El Awesome]

Originally Posted by ohmkumi

sorry!! 2008 macpro 3,1
1. Can use eVGA GTX570 ?
2. no more power supply.
3. Can Run Windows. (want to play Battle Field3)

Thank for Answer.

1) Yes, I have a EVGA GTX 570 2.5GB flashed from MVC, but a stock PC one works also.
2) The 570 fits perfect without external power supply.
3) I play BF3 on Ultra with 1920x1200 solution - works great!

[Asgorath]

Originally Posted by beto2k7

So I put my old apple GT 120 inside:

1. GT 120 + apple drivers = display sleep works
2. GT 120 + nvidia drivers = display sleep works.
3. GTX 570 + apple drivers = display sleep works, slow graphics performance
4. GTX 570 + nvidia drivers = display sleep broken, better graphics performance.

Currently I'm using a display port to miniDisplay Port to connect my 24 Apple Cinema Display. So two options, either the adapter or the card itself. Will be contacting MacVidCars asap to get this solved out.

There's nothing MVC can do to fix this, assuming it's some kind of new driver bug. All you can do is wait and hope it gets fixed by NVIDIA. In the mean time, just turn your monitor on/off manually perhaps?

[beto2k7]

Originally Posted by Asgorath

There's nothing MVC can do to fix this, assuming it's some kind of new driver bug. All you can do is wait and hope it gets fixed by NVIDIA. In the mean time, just turn your monitor on/off manually perhaps?

No power button on an Apple Cinema Display.

[El Awesome]

Originally Posted by beto2k7

No power button on an Apple Cinema Display.

Disconnect or plug the power cable out...

[omegat3]

Originally Posted by nadeama

When I first tried the GTX 660 in my Mac Pro with OS 10.8.2, I constantly got a kernel panic during bootup. It only worked after I first installed the Nvidia web drivers.

Should any installation of 10.8.2 work, or might there be some reason why the Apple drivers would not have been installed on my system? Do I need to download and install the 10.8.2 combo update? I'd like to try the card with Apple drivers to see if it fixes the display sleep problem.

I had a similar experience with the EVGA GTX 660 2GB... kernel panics during bootup, but then worked once I installed the latest NVIDIA drivers from the web. Ran it for the full day in Bootcamp (Win7), but then when I booted back into OSX 10.8.2 I was getting Kernel Panics again about 30 minutes after boot-up, which would shut down the machine (Mac Pro 3,1 dual quad 2.8). Tried re-seating the card and re-installing the drivers. Finally gave up and am returning it, with the intention of trying a 660ti when one goes on sale. Is your machine stable outside of the display sleep issue? I had tried a GTX 560 earlier, but that card wouldn't properly wake from sleep properly.

[beto2k7]

Originally Posted by El Awesome

Disconnect or plug the power cable out...

yeah that's kind of annoying...I mean for a $550 card.

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Originally Posted by omegat3

I had a similar experience with the EVGA GTX 660 2GB... kernel panics during bootup, but then worked once I installed the latest NVIDIA drivers from the web. Ran it for the full day in Bootcamp (Win7), but then when I booted back into OSX 10.8.2 I was getting Kernel Panics again about 30 minutes after boot-up, which would shut down the machine (Mac Pro 3,1 dual quad 2.8). Tried re-seating the card and re-installing the drivers. Finally gave up and am returning it, with the intention of trying a 660ti when one goes on sale. Is your machine stable outside of the display sleep issue? I had tried a GTX 560 earlier, but that card wouldn't properly wake from sleep properly.

other than the display sleep issue my machine is rock solid

[Vermootin]

Figured I would register here just to add that I'm running a 2009 4,1 Mac Pro with an EVGA 670 FTW 2Gig card that has worked with 10.8 all the way to 10.8.2.

Run Steam on the Mac side as well as CS6 and everything seems to work fine (aside from being limited to 2 screens).

Run Steam on the Windows 7 side and enjoy the "nView" 3 screen gaming on 3 Samsung 2343bwx screens at the odd 6144x1156 res. If there is other information I need to provide let me know.

[Asgorath]

Originally Posted by beto2k7

yeah that's kind of annoying...I mean for a $550 card.

... that is not officially supported. Right? I get that it's annoying, but you should probably just be glad that the card works as well as it does. Hopefully it'll be fixed in a subsequent release.

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Originally Posted by Vermootin

Run Steam on the Mac side as well as CS6 and everything seems to work fine (aside from being limited to 2 screens).

Try the latest driver from NVIDIA for 10.8.2, I hear it removes the 2 screen limitation.

[Vermootin]

Originally Posted by Asgorath

Try the latest driver from NVIDIA for 10.8.2, I hear it removes the 2 screen limitation.

If it does I have not been able to unlock it. I'm currently running 10.8.2 and my unless there is something separate to activate by optional download or terminal command, the machine only sees the 2 DVI screens. The 3rd display port connection only comes up on the Windows side.

When you speak of getting the "latest drivers" I just assumed that you were talking about the ones that come packaged inside the Apple software updates.

or...

Are going for the FreeBSD Beta drivers directly off nVidia's site like here?

http://www.geforce.com/drivers/beta-legacy

[mac666er]

Originally Posted by Vermootin

When you speak of getting the "latest drivers" I just assumed that you were talking about the ones that come packaged inside the Apple software updates.

or...

Are going for the FreeBSD Beta drivers directly off nVidia's site like here?

http://www.geforce.com/drivers/beta-legacy

Neither, dude, you actually get the drivers from here:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/macosx-...02-driver.html

You should always start the search for the drivers from here:

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

Enjoy, more than one person has 3 screens running already under 10.8.2 with a single 6** card...

[Vermootin]

Originally Posted by mac666er

Neither, dude, you actually get the drivers from here:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/macosx-...02-driver.html

You should always start the search for the drivers from here:

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

Enjoy, more than one person has 3 screens running already under 10.8.2 with a single 6** card...

This calls for alcohol. brb

[chaosbunny]

So for a gtx670 I need 10.8 right?

I would prefer to keep 10.7.5 for now but this would maybe make me upgrade.

[initialsBB]

Originally Posted by beto2k7

other than the display sleep issue my machine is rock solid

Same problem here, but I usually use manual sleep. What I have a hard time understanding though is why nVidia drivers would invoke com.apple.powermanagement.externalmediamounted? I tried unplugging everything except ethernet and USB mouse, but it still came up with the pmset -g assertions command. Only thing left on my machine would be a SATA3 card on which my boot SSD is plugged to because that shows up on the desktop with an icon that looks like an external drive...

Edit: Actually, something is strange and I'm guessing it's down to the nVidia drivers. Yesterday on my Mac Pro the mouse froze and a second later the screens went into sleep, but not the computer. It was impossible to wake the screens again, no response from mouse or keyboard but the Mac Pro power light wasn't blinking and fans were running normally. I thought it was a random event of some kind but it just did the exact same thing again 2 minutes ago. This was both times during normal browsing and email. Yesterday afternoon I spent a few hours color grading and rendering/transcoding and it never happened.

[ohmkumi]

Originally Posted by El Awesome

1) Yes, I have a EVGA GTX 570 2.5GB flashed from MVC, but a stock PC one works also.
2) The 570 fits perfect without external power supply.
3) I play BF3 on Ultra with 1920x1200 solution - works great!

Thank for Answer.
If Don't Use GTX570 From MVC . Can Use other GTX570 and Nvidia Driver? (http://www.nvidia.com/object/macosx-...x7qlfkk7wplnsn)

[El Awesome]

Originally Posted by ohmkumi

Thank for Answer.
If Don't Use GTX570 From MVC . Can Use other GTX570 and Nvidia Driver? (http://www.nvidia.com/object/macosx-...x7qlfkk7wplnsn)

Yes, of course. The only difference will be that the card runs PCIe 1.0 speed.

[Asgorath]

Originally Posted by chaosbunny

So for a gtx670 I need 10.8 right?

I would prefer to keep 10.7.5 for now but this would maybe make me upgrade.

Did you even read the first post of this thread? It's a FAQ thread for a reason, this has been answered many times and is covered in detail in the first post.

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OP updated with direct links for all driver versions that make PC cards work. I'll go through and update the rest later today, including my understanding of the OpenCL situation.

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Originally Posted by El Awesome

Yes, of course. The only difference will be that the card runs PCIe 1.0 speed.

Read question 16 in the FAQ, please.

[chaosbunny]

Originally Posted by Asgorath

Did you even read the first post of this thread? It's a FAQ thread for a reason, this has been answered many times and is covered in detail in the first post.

I'm sorry, I have read it, but english isn't my native language so I wanted to get this straight for myself. Thanks anyway.

[Asgorath]

Originally Posted by chaosbunny

I'm sorry, I have read it, but english isn't my native language so I wanted to get this straight for myself. Thanks anyway.

My reply was probably a bit harsh, sorry about that. I just skimmed through the FAQ and realized that this might not actually be spelled out in enough detail. I will update the post later today, thanks!

Basically, my recommendation usually boils down to:

- Use a Kepler card.
- Use Mountain Lion.

[chaosbunny]

Originally Posted by Asgorath

My reply was probably a bit harsh, sorry about that. I just skimmed through the FAQ and realized that this might not actually be spelled out in enough detail. I will update the post later today, thanks!

Basically, my recommendation usually boils down to:

- Use a Kepler card.
- Use Mountain Lion.

No problem, you are doing a great job. Thanks for spending all this time!

I am sorry since my question probably was stupid, but I thought better safe than sorry before spending € 400,-.

[nadeama]

Okay, I've ran some tests regarding the display sleep issue. I won't go into the boring details, but the main result is this: display sleep works with the GTX 660 when I plug in my 27" LED Cinema Display, however it is broken when I plug in my 24" Cinema Display instead. So it seems to be some sort of compatibility issue between the 24" Cinema Display and either the GTX 660 itself or (probably more likely) the Nvidia products.

Is it even worth trying to report this to Nvidia since this is not a supported card on the Mac Pro?

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Originally Posted by omegat3

I had a similar experience with the EVGA GTX 660 2GB... kernel panics during bootup, but then worked once I installed the latest NVIDIA drivers from the web. Ran it for the full day in Bootcamp (Win7), but then when I booted back into OSX 10.8.2 I was getting Kernel Panics again about 30 minutes after boot-up, which would shut down the machine (Mac Pro 3,1 dual quad 2.8). Tried re-seating the card and re-installing the drivers. Finally gave up and am returning it, with the intention of trying a 660ti when one goes on sale. Is your machine stable outside of the display sleep issue? I had tried a GTX 560 earlier, but that card wouldn't properly wake from sleep properly.

I've only had the GTX 660 for a couple of days now, but apart from the display sleep issue everything seems to be running fine so far.