Fastest Mac GPUs with full EFI boot screens, etc, GTX570 & GTX580

[MacVidCards]

OSX supports 2 display channels on Nvidia cards.

This has been the case since the GeForce 4 series.

2 independent channels that can either show 2 different images at 2 different resolutions, or the same image mirrored.

It is really that simple, nothing more or less.

No matter how many ports may be on the card, there are only 2 channels.

580 is 10% faster at CUDA/OpenCl and up to 20% faster when it's memory bandwidth can come into play.

But since the 2nd guy to buy a 580 sent it back because he was not clever enough to understand power requirements, I really can't recommend them in Mac Pros.

The attached image is how he had it hooked up, it didn't work. Too many splitters/adapters etc leads to a sad day for everyone. Card came back, he swore it was DOA but when connected in my Mac Pro with a dedicated external 450W PSU, it was fine.

Despite warning about power issue in block red letters, his plan was to split a single 6 pin (good for 75W) into a 6 pin and 8 pin (able to pull 225 Watts) Wonder why it didn't work? The image is from an entry level Cyclone where the available power was needed by other cards. Just because you can find/buy adapters that will technically "connect the dots" it does NOT mean that there will be enough juice to go around.

So unless you enjoy long, tedious mods or wires running all over or have an expansion chassis with sufficient available power, just go with the sure thing.

GTX570 with 2.5 GB. Has 1 @ Displayport and 1 @ DVI Dual Link.

 

[macuser453787]

OSX supports 2 display channels on Nvidia cards.

This has been the case since the GeForce 4 series.

2 independent channels that can either show 2 different images at 2 different resolutions, or the same image mirrored.

It is really that simple, nothing more or less.

No matter how many ports may be on the card, there are only 2 channels.

580 is 10% faster at CUDA/OpenCl and up to 20% faster when it's memory bandwidth can come into play.

But since the 2nd guy to buy a 580 sent it back because he was not clever enough to understand power requirements, I really can't recommend them in Mac Pros.

The attached image is how he had it hooked up, it didn't work. Too many splitters/adapters etc leads to a sad day for everyone. Card came back, he swore it was DOA but when connected in my Mac Pro with a dedicated external 450W PSU, it was fine.

Despite warning about power issue in block red letters, his plan was to split a single 6 pin (good for 75W) into a 6 pin and 8 pin (able to pull 225 Watts) Wonder why it didn't work? The image is from an entry level Cyclone where the available power was needed by other cards. Just because you can find/buy adapters that will technically "connect the dots" it does NOT mean that there will be enough juice to go around.

So unless you enjoy long, tedious mods or wires running all over or have an expansion chassis with sufficient available power, just go with the sure thing.

GTX570 with 2.5 GB. Has 1 @ Displayport and 1 @ DVI Dual Link.

Thanks for your reply and for all your help and patience.

Understood about the only 2 channels thing as you have talked about that elsewhere (in this and/or other posts). I just wanted to make sure that I *could extend the desktop* to be able to drag the Preview window away from all the palettes to a dedicated screen for a full size view.

What software tells the card which mode to use for the monitors? a standalone application? a system pref install? does it come with the card? or does it have to be downloaded like the drivers? or is the monitor mode control done natively in 10.7.x and therefore 3rd party software isn't needed?

Whoa, that's a lot of wires! Listen, I know I don't have the level of software/hardware mod experience in these areas that a lot of members here have, *but* I do have experience doing mods on my Mac, and I do learn quickly. And, doing things right and very precisely on the front end matters greatly to me, so I approach mods from that standpoint to eliminate (or at least minimize) any troubleshooting on the back end. My plan (if I went this route) was to use the PSU that you already recommended (IIRC) to another member:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...na&AID=10521304&PID=4169666&SID=1je03jhzycu4q

and dedicate it to the 580 via the proper cables. Does that sound about right?

I like the idea of a 10-20% performance gain. So my question to you (and please just assume that I would hook up the 580 correctly for the purposes of answering this question) is this:

In your opinion, as a professional in the field, is the extra ~$300 worth the 10-20% performance gain, or not?

Please know that I'm not questioning your original recommendation of the 570 - that's not what this is about. Like so many others here, I respect and value your expertise and what you do, and believe you provide a highly integral service to this community! It's just that, like so many others on this site, I like to explore the options and thoroughly search them out. So after you recommended the 570, I got to thinking about it and wondered if the performance gain of the 580 was worth the extra cost.

I'm looking at all of this from the standpoint of future-proofing in the event that Apple does not release a new MP and I end up buying the current 2010 MP. I want to maximize longevity with my MP setup in that scenario, and therefore am researching the options and making decisions now so that when it's time to buy, if it's going to be the current 2010 MP, I'll be ready.

 

[lastmile]

Does an Atlona Dual-link DVI to mini displayport adapter enable you to see the boot screens on a 27" Cinema Display?

 

[macuser453787]

Does an Atlona Dual-link DVI to mini displayport adapter enable you to see the boot screens on a 27" Cinema Display?

My guess is that seeing the boot screens has to do with EFI boot functionality on the card itself, which in turn has to do with the EFI ROM mod that MVC does, in tandem with the right combination of OS & drivers, while the adapters are only for connectivity between the card and the monitor (and therefore probably have nothing to do with boot screens as such) - but I certainly defer to MVC and others who have a definitive answer here as there are a lot of different scenarios.

 

[MacVidCards]

Does an Atlona Dual-link DVI to mini displayport adapter enable you to see the boot screens on a 27" Cinema Display?

This is an excellent question and the answer is "usually"

It is definitely an extra layer that the EFI has to "see" through. If there are 2 DVI ports and one has a DVI display and the other has the ATloona connected to an Apple LED, the DVI display will always light first. The Atloona doesn't require drivers but it is an extra set of "stuff" in the way.

This is why the 570s with DP are so nice, no adapter needed except for the DP to MDP pass through. You hit power, it goes "bong" and your 27" LED fires up 1 second later. It is super nice and makes the whole experience feel very "Mac" like.

You install 10.7.4 update, you install the Nvidia 10.7.4 & CUDA drivers from their site and install the card. No other hacks are needed for 3D, OpenGl and CUDA. CS6 requires adding card name to a simple text file, but this applies to many cards as well.

The Apple LEDs are supported natively on the DP cards.

If you need OpenCl you have to change 2 bytes in a driver bundle. But the 570 is faster than 5870 and the 580 is in another league entirely.

Multiple display support is just like it has been since GeForce 4. All the questions about extra software....not sure what you are getting at. It just works like every other Dual Display Mac card has for last 6 or 8 years.

 

[icyderguru]

Does an Atlona Dual-link DVI to mini displayport adapter enable you to see the boot screens on a 27" Cinema Display?

Yes

 

[macuser453787]

This is an excellent question and the answer is "usually"

It is definitely an extra layer that the EFI has to "see" through. If there are 2 DVI ports and one has a DVI display and the other has the ATloona connected to an Apple LED, the DVI display will always light first. The Atloona doesn't require drivers but it is an extra set of "stuff" in the way.

This is why the 570s with DP are so nice, no adapter needed except for the DP to MDP pass through. You hit power, it goes "bong" and your 27" LED fires up 1 second later. It is super nice and makes the whole experience feel very "Mac" like.

My apologies to lastmile and MVC for any unintentional misinformation.

You install 10.7.4 update, you install the Nvidia 10.7.4 & CUDA drivers from their site and install the card. No other hacks are needed for 3D, OpenGl and CUDA. CS6 requires adding card name to a simple text file, but this applies to many cards as well.

The Apple LEDs are supported natively on the DP cards.

If you need OpenCl you have to change 2 bytes in a driver bundle. But the 570 is faster than 5870 and the 580 is in another league entirely.

Multiple display support is just like it has been since GeForce 4. All the questions about extra software....not sure what you are getting at. It just works like every other Dual Display Mac card has for last 6 or 8 years.

MVC, this part of your post seems to be addressed to me, so I will reply.

Let me be plain: I have been using the same Mac since 2004 in various levels of upgrade: The Power Mac G4 Digital Audio. It's an 11+ year old machine with many upgrades done to it, none of which have to do with using multiple displays. So when you say:

"Multiple display support is just like it has been since GeForce 4...It just works like every other Dual Display Mac card has for last 6 or 8 years."

I don't have a frame of reference to know what you mean by that. Hence all of my questions, because I want to get the MP for video production and retire the machine I've been using all of this time.

What I was asking: I'm assuming that the OS (or one of the aforementioned nVidia installs?) has a way of allowing the user to tell the monitors to either behave in tandem in order to extend the desktop, or to act as mirrors of one another. So my question was, what software mechanism controls the switching back and forth between those two modes? If there's no extra install necessary to do that and it's something in the OS itself, then great!

Let me ask one of my previously posted questions another way: If it were your machine, would you go with the 570 or the 580? I'm sincerely asking for your opinion.

 

[MacVidCards]

The GeForce 2 your G4 came with could only mirror, the GeForce 3 that came after could only mirror.

But every Mac card since has supported 2 or more displays. It is super simple and built into the OS. You have already done more thinking about than is necessary.

Go buy your new Mac, if you have been happy with a G4, you will be amazed at Mac Pro and 5770. (It can run 3 displays)

If after you get settled in you want an Nvidia card, come talk to me.

But it is quite likely that you will be happy with 5770 for your needs.

And by the time you get the machine, get your software up and running and get settled in, there may be a whole new round of cards out. So there is no need to finalize the tires before you buy the car.

Now bust out a Credit Card and get yourself that Mac !!!

 

[macuser453787]

And by the time you get the machine, get your software up and running and get settled in, there may be a whole new round of cards out. So there is no need to finalize the tires before you buy the car.

Indeed! This always was about examining the options. And of course new cards and/or a new MP would be game-changers.

Had a feeling I was over-thinking the other thing. Thanks so much for all your help!

 

[unfrostedpoptar]

Just a shame we have to resort to all these gorilla methods for

Think you meant 'guerrilla'. Sorry for the correction, but any break from lamenting Apple's (non) support of Mac Pros is good

 

[macuser453787]

Go buy your new Mac, if you have been happy with a G4, you will be amazed at Mac Pro and 5770.

As an aside, I'll say I have really enjoyed using the G4 over the years. It's been a great computer to use. However, in light of not being able to bridge the Intel-only software gap (which in turn relates to old, slower processor technology), and other related factors like wanting to use a high-powered NLE setup, well, I want to get current.

Had I been able to upgrade sooner, I would have simply because there's nothing left I can do to the G4 that's really worth the investment in the long run, for NLE or otherwise (except maybe an SSD for the boot drive). That is, unless one considers "just because" to be worth it, e.g., "Let's see if I can get a SATA CD/DVD RW drive to run on it!" - which, BTW, is doable but too expensive and not worth the minimal (if any) performance increase.

 

[dannyzx]

PowerSupply to use

OSX supports 2 display channels on Nvidia cards.

This has been the case since the GeForce 4 series.

2 independent channels that can either show 2 different images at 2 different resolutions, or the same image mirrored.

It is really that simple, nothing more or less.

No matter how many ports may be on the card, there are only 2 channels.

580 is 10% faster at CUDA/OpenCl and up to 20% faster when it's memory bandwidth can come into play.

But since the 2nd guy to buy a 580 sent it back because he was not clever enough to understand power requirements, I really can't recommend them in Mac Pros.

The attached image is how he had it hooked up, it didn't work. Too many splitters/adapters etc leads to a sad day for everyone. Card came back, he swore it was DOA but when connected in my Mac Pro with a dedicated external 450W PSU, it was fine.

Despite warning about power issue in block red letters, his plan was to split a single 6 pin (good for 75W) into a 6 pin and 8 pin (able to pull 225 Watts) Wonder why it didn't work? The image is from an entry level Cyclone where the available power was needed by other cards. Just because you can find/buy adapters that will technically "connect the dots" it does NOT mean that there will be enough juice to go around.

So unless you enjoy long, tedious mods or wires running all over or have an expansion chassis with sufficient available power, just go with the sure thing.

GTX570 with 2.5 GB. Has 1 @ Displayport and 1 @ DVI Dual Link.

Would a secondary PSU like this work just fine?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104054

If not what PSU would you recommend or perhaps what expander chassis would you recommend?

I really dont mind the cables, i can make it look nice, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to make it look nice. What is your opinion on PSUs or expander chassis?

 

[BlueWaterVA]

Open CL Dummie

Finally figured it out.

 

[skippyfx]

This has been a fascinating conversation. I have just a couple NOOB questions:

Has anyone confirmed the MacVidCard's GTX 570 using CUDA in After Effects CS6?

Can you use BOTH the standard GT120 and modded GTX 570 without extra power?

 

[MacVidCards]

This has been a fascinating conversation. I have just a couple NOOB questions:

Has anyone confirmed the MacVidCard's GTX 570 using CUDA in After Effects CS6?

Can you use BOTH the standard GT120 and modded GTX 570 without extra power?

Pretty sure that someone wrote about using it in Premiere Pro to good result. If it works there, it makes sense it works in other Adobe apps using same engine.

People are loving this card, last 4 feedbacks were glowing reviews of this specific card:

"NVIDIA GTX 570 Card worked perfectly in my Mac Pro 3,1. Great product"

"Card works just as described! FAST!"

"Incredibly fast shipping, item works exactly as described. Great seller! A+++"

"AMAZING SELLER!Ordered GTX570 on Thursday-Received Saturday!Reg Ship.Thank you!"

"very good , very fast , I'm happy"

Being able to see boot screens on an Apple LED is icing on the cake.

Big THANK YOU to Nvidia for caring enough to write perfect drivers and making them available, even if Apple "isn't ready" for such a fast card. Nvidia has done a superb design job on these cards, and written solid, fast drivers.

Someone there likes us.

 

[BlueWaterVA]

This has been a fascinating conversation. I have just a couple NOOB questions:

Has anyone confirmed the MacVidCard's GTX 570 using CUDA in After Effects CS6?

Can you use BOTH the standard GT120 and modded GTX 570 without extra power?

I've been editing all day with Premiere Pro CS6, many effects using CUDA, the EVGA GTX 570 (2.5+ MB video ram) is outstanding. No renders at all with 38 min project on Mac Pro 5,1 with single 2.66 GHz 6 core xeon and 12 GB of Ram.

Should work fine with AE CS6.

When I get caught up, I want to send it to MacVidCards for EFI upgrade.

 

[skippyfx]

I've been editing all day with Premiere Pro CS6, many effects using CUDA, the EVGA GTX 570 (2.5+ MB video ram) is outstanding. No renders at all with 38 min project on Mac Pro 5,1 with single 2.66 GHz 6 core xeon and 12 GB of Ram.

Should work fine with AE CS6.

When I get caught up, I want to send it to MacVidCards for EFI upgrade.

Thanks for the info BlueWater, I just ordered one

Are you using it in tandem with a GT 120? No extra power?

 

[BlueWaterVA]

Thanks for the info BlueWater, I just ordered one

Are you using it in tandem with a GT 120? No extra power?

I did have GT 120 with it at first. But I've since removed the 120 just because I don't feel I need it. It does work without additional power.

 

[AKDigital]

I am running a MacVidCards modded GTX 570 - 2.5GB DP card in tandem with a GT120 on a 5,1 Mac Pro with 3.33GHz hex and 32 GB RAM. Running three 27" displays at 2560x1440.

I've been editing 8 hours per day for the past 7 days in Premiere CS6 and AE CS6. So far not even one second of rendering. Even with timelines over 1 hour with mixed frame rates and codecs I haven't had a single dropped frame.

After easily installing the drivers and adding the GTX 570 to Adobe's supported cards list I was good to go.

So worth every penny I paid.

 

[skippyfx]

just installed the card and it's working great except that only 1 of the DVI ports are working.

any ideas?

 

[MacVidCards]

I'm sorry if the description wasn't clear enough.

Basically OSX only allows for 2 working ports on an Nvidia card.

When Nvidia released the Quadro 4800 and Quadro 4000 they dealt with this issue by leaving the ports off in the first place. (if you compare images of Mac ones and PC ones you will note that both of the Mac cards are missing a DIsplayPort)

I had to choose which 2 ports to enable for OSX.

The working ports are the lower DVI and the DisplayPort.

I choose these since they allow the greatest variety of options.

I am now including a DisplayPort to MiniDisplayPort adapter in most packages. This allows use of Apple LED displays as main or boot display.

By using a passive DP to DVI adapter you will be able to use a 2nd DVI display up to 24". (1920x1200)

If you require 2 @ 30" DVI displays you will either need a DP to Dual Link DVI adapter or you can send the card back and I will write a ROM that enables the 2 DVI ports while disabling the DisplayPort.

 

[skippyfx]

I'm sorry if the description wasn't clear enough.

Basically OSX only allows for 2 working ports on an Nvidia card.

When Nvidia released the Quadro 4800 and Quadro 4000 they dealt with this issue by leaving the ports off in the first place. (if you compare images of Mac ones and PC ones you will note that both of the Mac cards are missing a DIsplayPort)

I had to choose which 2 ports to enable for OSX.

The working ports are the lower DVI and the DisplayPort.

I choose these since they allow the greatest variety of options.

I am now including a DisplayPort to MiniDisplayPort adapter in most packages. This allows use of Apple LED displays as main or boot display.

By using a passive DP to DVI adapter you will be able to use a 2nd DVI display up to 24". (1920x1200)

If you require 2 @ 30" DVI displays you will either need a DP to Dual Link DVI adapter or you can send the card back and I will write a ROM that enables the 2 DVI ports while disabling the DisplayPort.

Gotcha, thanks for the quick response!

I got it working - had to use the display port > mini port to mini port > DVI but it works.

It's doing magic in After Effects CS6 as well.

Cheers.

 

[lastmile]

Any speculation on the graphics cards that will be offered in the new Mac Pro (assuming its released as expected)? Could we see Apple versions of the Nvidia 5xx series of cards?

 

[MacVidCards]

Gotcha, thanks for the quick response!

I got it working - had to use the display port > mini port to mini port > DVI but it works.

It's doing magic in After Effects CS6 as well.

Cheers.

Yes, everyone is claiming some stunning results with this card and CS6.

Lots of CUDA cores coupled with lots of RAM is a good combo.

As far as 6,1 GPU options....if it is Nvidia I imagine it would be 670/680 since 5xx cards are nearly all EOL. But then again, we typically get cards just as they go EOL for PCs.

My guess is that it will be ATI 7xxx cards, but until we get a leak or a peek, hard to guess.

There are hints of drivers for both choices, but neither set of drivers is complete in any released version of the OS.

 

[phiphika]

Dual Booting

I have the 570 card from nvidia. It has not been flashed and is functioning correctly. My question is: Can I still boot into Bootcamp to access Windows since it has not been flashed for the classic mac bootup screen?

Thanks.