SLI for Mac Pro under windows

[Cindori]

Anyone wanna give it a try?

http://xdevs.com/e107_plugins/conten...php?content.30

[macest]

2 x GTX 480 in SLI sounds mighty tempting

[The Rominator]

oh god, now the children will come and paste their photoshopped "Fermi on Fire" pix in earnest again.

I may try this soon, but probably with 8800GTs.

My Windows install is currently set up for ATI cards (only place to enjoy the 5870 ) so I hate to switch it over to Nvidia. All that driver removing/reinstalling, could take hours...gotta love windows !!!

[jav6454]

Originally Posted by Cindori

Anyone wanna give it a try?

http://xdevs.com/e107_plugins/conten...php?content.30

I thought SLI was hardware dependent and that's why Mac Pros couldn't have it, even at Windows level.

Originally Posted by macest

2 x GTX 480 in SLI sounds mighty tempting

No it doesn't. Sounds like a jet engine is running, feels like a giant heat furnance is pushing 2000W of dissipated heat and you can see the lights dimming through out the neighborhood.

Originally Posted by The Rominator

oh god, now the children will come and paste their photoshopped "Fermi on Fire" pix in earnest again.

I may try this soon, but probably with 8800GTs.

My Windows install is currently set up for ATI cards (only place to enjoy the 5870 ) so I hate to switch it over to Nvidia. All that driver removing/reinstalling, could take hours...gotta love windows !!!

I wasn't going to say it but you... well forced me to. New pics fresh of /g/.

[The Rominator]

....yawn.....

when does school start again in the fall?

The yellow buses are a nuisance but i'm looking forward to some quiet.

[Cindori]

Originally Posted by jav6454

I thought SLI was hardware dependent and that's why Mac Pros couldn't have it, even at Windows level.

no its not, neither is xfire

[Roman23]

IS HARDWARE DEPENDENT.. Mac pro doesn't support it.. I stand firm on this one.. so, yes.. its not supported and never will be because Apple doesn't see the need for it on the mac pro.. want a gaming machine. go with a PC!

Originally Posted by jav6454

I thought SLI was hardware dependent and that's why Mac Pros couldn't have it, even at Windows level.



No it doesn't. Sounds like a jet engine is running, feels like a giant heat furnance is pushing 2000W of dissipated heat and you can see the lights dimming through out the neighborhood.




I wasn't going to say it but you... well forced me to. New pics fresh of /g/.

[Roman23]

Again, pure PC.. no mac at all and I would be hard pressed to get no answer from them as they are using PC's to get SLI working.. the mac pro simply doesn't have the imbedded hardware to make use of this.. Windows will only support crossfire with unlocked pc flashed cards.. Apple's OEM cards like the Radeon 4870 HD have crossfire disabled and I take it with the 285 its the same thing..

Apple doesn't want us to have this.. Windows, does allow this as you already know.. See? I used the multi-quote this time.

Originally Posted by jav6454

I thought SLI was hardware dependent and that's why Mac Pros couldn't have it, even at Windows level.



No it doesn't. Sounds like a jet engine is running, feels like a giant heat furnance is pushing 2000W of dissipated heat and you can see the lights dimming through out the neighborhood.




I wasn't going to say it but you... well forced me to. New pics fresh of /g/.

Originally Posted by Cindori

Anyone wanna give it a try?

http://xdevs.com/e107_plugins/conten...php?content.30

[jav6454]

Originally Posted by The Rominator

....yawn.....

when does school start again in the fall?

The yellow buses are a nuisance but i'm looking forward to some quiet.

Yeah, fall, but guess, what I'll still be here.

[Roman23]

You do sound kind of young though.. I was wondering..

Originally Posted by The Rominator

....yawn.....

when does school start again in the fall?

The yellow buses are a nuisance but i'm looking forward to some quiet.

[Mackilroy]

Originally Posted by Roman23

You do sound kind of young though.. I was wondering..

Rominator is an adult male.

I wouldn't mind trying SLI, but I don't use my Mac Pro anymore.

[The Rominator]

Originally Posted by Mackilroy

Rominator is an adult male.

Curious how you know that.

I may very well be some young punk.

I never explained my Avatar.

[Velin]

Gonna throw my two cents in:

SLI sucked on PCs. Problems galore with SLI machines. Heat and power consumption problems were ridiculous with SLI rigs. Don't get me started on the clipping and interleaving issues that plagued SLI rigs trying to run pro apps and games, since the two cards couldn't properly sync (this happened a LOT).

We had to return so many SLI rigs due to failure. We swore off SLI in our offices, and instead upgraded single video cards to the latest release when necessary. (Didn't help when Nvidia released those garbage 76XX+ through the 79XX model series video cards that failed at an unbelievably hight rate a few years back, but there was no good alternative because ATI was sucking bad too.)

Then we got smart, ditched Vista, and moved to Macs. Never looked back.

[Hellhammer]

Originally Posted by Roman23

IS HARDWARE DEPENDENT.. Mac pro doesn't support it.. I stand firm on this one.. so, yes.. its not supported and never will be because Apple doesn't see the need for it on the mac pro.. want a gaming machine. go with a PC!

How do you know? Have you tried this? SLI is not hardware dependent but NVIDIA limited the software for only their chipsets. Now it looks like that it can be hacked to work in any motherboard. OS X does not support this but Windows does and thus we need someone to be our guinea pig to test this. I wouldn't be surprised if it worked as Mac Pro is just a computer among others.

[Cindori]

SLI is most certainly not hardware dependant as it was done back in 2006 with two Nvidia 7600's in Mac Pro under windows.

As the link states this could enable SLI for any motherboard, even AMD boards.

I did not mean for anyone to go this route of performance perspective, more like showing that it could be done

[Pressure]

Originally Posted by Cindori

SLI is most certainly not hardware dependant as it was done back in 2006 with two Nvidia 7600's in Mac Pro under windows.

As the link states this could enable SLI for any motherboard, even AMD boards.

I did not mean for anyone to go this route of performance perspective, more like showing that it could be done

Good luck cracking the authentication process in the drivers to enable SLI in Windows on a Mac Pro.

[cooljoe349]

Originally Posted by jav6454

I thought SLI was hardware dependent and that's why Mac Pros couldn't have it, even at Windows level.



No it doesn't. Sounds like a jet engine is running, feels like a giant heat furnance is pushing 2000W of dissipated heat and you can see the lights dimming through out the neighborhood.




I wasn't going to say it but you... well forced me to. New pics fresh of /g/.

I gotta admit the graphics card taking off like a rocket ship made me lol.

[nanofrog]

Originally Posted by Pressure

Good luck cracking the authentication process in the drivers to enable SLI in Windows on a Mac Pro.

Don't forget the firmware is EFI, using BIOS emulation in order to boot Windows or Linux. This will add a further level of difficulty in cracking SLI authentication on the MP.

[EGOvoruhk]

Originally Posted by Pressure

Good luck cracking the authentication process in the drivers to enable SLI in Windows on a Mac Pro.

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=60844

[Roman23]

Not windows.. I am sure it can be hacked in windows.. but the mac pro doesn't support the imbedded hardware to do this.. but you all think it will work.. I am game on it as I am a gamer myself..

So, how would I enable SLI should I decide to get the 285 or pc flashed 460 nvidia?

Also, I am not spending any money on extra power supplies or what not.. just want it plug and play.

Originally Posted by The Rominator

....yawn.....

when does school start again in the fall?

The yellow buses are a nuisance but i'm looking forward to some quiet.

Originally Posted by Hellhammer

How do you know? Have you tried this? SLI is not hardware dependent but NVIDIA limited the software for only their chipsets. Now it looks like that it can be hacked to work in any motherboard. OS X does not support this but Windows does and thus we need someone to be our guinea pig to test this. I wouldn't be surprised if it worked as Mac Pro is just a computer among others.

SLI for all intent and purposes is useless on a mac pro as the bios or EFI doesn't support it.. and probably never will.. as for the 2006 mac pro? I am shocked that the same procedure can't be duplicated on the 2009.

Originally Posted by nanofrog

Don't forget the firmware is EFI, using BIOS emulation in order to boot Windows or Linux. This will add a further level of difficulty in cracking SLI authentication on the MP.

[Hellhammer]

Originally Posted by Roman23

Not windows.. I am sure it can be hacked in windows.. but the mac pro doesn't support the imbedded hardware to do this.. but you all think it will work.. I am game on it as I am a gamer myself..

So, how would I enable SLI should I decide to get the 285 or pc flashed 460 nvidia?

Also, I am not spending any money on extra power supplies or what not.. just want it plug and play.

You would need two of those cards. Read the article in the first post. You're better off with dual ATIs because CrossFire requires no hacking and is proven to work in Mac Pro

[Cindori]

Originally Posted by Pressure

Good luck cracking the authentication process in the drivers to enable SLI in Windows on a Mac Pro.

it's already been done, read first post...

[Roman23]

I think this discussion is not worth it.. nano says it won't.. and many websites say it won't.. so I am going to believe those over anyone else.. sorry, but SLI won't work.

Plus, that is a PURE PC WEBSITE you listed.. and they HATE macs... so, until a true mac website shows it working, at this point it doesn't work.

Originally Posted by Cindori

it's already been done, read first post...

[Hellhammer]

Originally Posted by Roman23

I think this discussion is not worth it.. nano says it won't.. and many websites say it won't.. so I am going to believe those over anyone else.. sorry, but SLI won't work.

Plus, that is a PURE PC WEBSITE you listed.. and they HATE macs... so, until a true mac website shows it working, at this point it doesn't work.

Nano didn't say it won't work and he doesn't know everything. He just said the EFI might be a problem. Until someone actually tries it, we don't know. Macs aren't that different from PCs, they share the same hardware. it won't work under OS X, that we know but it may work under Windows. Lets just wait for some facts before killing the idea

[nanofrog]

Originally Posted by Hellhammer

Nano didn't say it won't work and he doesn't know everything. He just said the EFI might be a problem. Until someone actually tries it, we don't know. Macs aren't that different from PCs, they share the same hardware. it won't work under OS X, that we know but it may work under Windows. Lets just wait for some facts before killing the idea

Exactly. BIOS and Windows have lots of resources available to assist such hacking. MP's, and particularly EFI firmware, have fewer resources (far fewer for EFI compared to BIOS).

But if someone with the necessary skills puts in the time, it may actually happen for an MP under Windows or even Linux.

I just wouldn't bet on it is all...