NVIDIA 8800GT for Older Mac Pros Now Available

[farmboy]

A question of style.

You might want to tuck in that period, grammar man.

Since the period was not part of the quoted words, it is both exact and reasonable to put the punctuation outside the quote marks. The tradition to do otherwise is more a function of style, not grammar. Remember that English and grammar are very much living things; what was the norm is now the exception, and vice versa. Punctuation inside the marks doesn't add any clarity to the communication.

Let's not get too silly, or I'll have you provide the logic (not the rules) for choosing between who and whom, and other grammatical weirdness. We owe a lot of grammatical "rules" to 16th century ministers who arbitrarily decided that certain idiosyncrasies should become standardized.

 

[Trip.Tucker]

Congrats to those with older Mac Pros. I have this card in my Dell and it rocks !

Dell != Macintosh and its not the exact same card.

 

[Tallest Skil]

Also, the 8800 GT upgrade for current Mac Pros is now $150.

The post-purchase upgrade is $279; same as for the 2006 Mac Pros.

 

[BenRoethig]

100 more vs the pc card..nice

More like $50

Sadly the 8800GT isn't flagship anymore meet the

It never was the flagship. The aim of the 8800GT was to offer a higher end card that was more affordable and didn't take up two PCI-E slots.

 

[JimNoble]

You really just proved my point for me. Why such the big deal about the prices reflecting the US Dollar cost. If it's always been that way then why the problem?

So it's fine for Apple to pocket an extra $80 when they sell one of these in the UK because they've always overcharged for stuff over here. Riiiiiiight...

Also, when the value of the dollar was very high and they still maintained the 1:1 ratio that would actually be a very good exchange rate for non-US people.

Given that the highest value the dollar has held in the last 20 years or so is about $1.4:£1, then no, 1:1 has never been a very good exchange rate.

Jim

 

[Ozric]

This is a great card for video games, but this report tells a different story when using pro apps like Final Cut or Motion.

http://www.barefeats.com/harper10.html

 

[Siron]

Wow, lets see what it costs in the UK.

I'll reserve judgement until then, but I might just get one.

Hi there Cromulent.
Get the 8800GT as it's a good card for gaming (if that's what you need it for) I know you'll like it. I can play Crysis with all settings on HIGH at 1600x1200.
Alan

PS
I had to smile a little (albeit in a sad way) when I saw your profile picture given the fact that all guns are now banned in the UK (I am an expatriate BTW). Thank goodness for the NRA here in the US protecting our Second Amendment rights.

 

[flopticalcube]

EFI is Apple's copyright that allows ONLY Apple or companies Apple chooses to license for the production of Mac video cards.

EFI is an Intel initiative that Apple adopted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensible_Firmware_Interface

The EFI specification was originally developed by Intel, and is now managed by the Unified EFI Forum and is officially known as Unified EFI (UEFI).

 

[tyr2]

This is a great card for video games, but this report tells a different story when using pro apps like Final Cut or Motion.

http://www.barefeats.com/harper10.html

Yeah that doesn't look too sharp. The games benchmarks are temptingly good however http://www.barefeats.com/harper8.html

Another thing tempting me to upgrade is that I'd hope it would work well in Solaris. The ATI 1900XT absolutely stinks, whereas NVIDIA make decent Solaris drivers.

Anyone know if the 8800GT is nice and quiet? I put an accelero X2 on my ATI card as I couldn't stand the noise.

 

[Infrared]

It's only about money and monopoly, although you could argue that Apple's controlled business model guarantees none of the compatibility issues of PCs. That is sort of debatable though. EFI is Apple's copyright that allows ONLY Apple or companies Apple chooses to license for the production of Mac video cards. Technically, many off the shelf PC video cards will work in Mac Pros within Windows or with minimal system updates but Apple deliberately chooses for off the shelf video cards to not work with Mac OS X. Whether EFI offers any advantages to PC BIOS, I doubt, but somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see any advantages other than deliberate incompatibility.

It's because of BIOS that PCs boot in VGA mode,
a ridiculous state of affairs in 2008.

BIOS is antiquated and inflexible. Even Microsoft
would like to move away from BIOS, but the inertia
of OEMs has made that difficult.

The PC crowd love their museum technology. If XP
would run on Babbage's difference engine, they'd
be over here bragging about it.

 

[Frixo Cool]

Better late than never I guess... I am buying this card right now, I really need it. Finally a decent card for a 8-Core 3.0 Mac Pro 2007. I hope they'll deliver them in 3-5 days time as they claim.

 

[winterspan]

Just found this barefeats benchmark, looks like ATI cards are far better at rendering core image effects used in pro apps, even the r2600xt is better than the 8800. Looks like I'll stick to the 1900 for now, at least until the drivers fix the poor core performance for the 8800.

http://www.barefeats.com/harper10.html

Like you said, it really depends on the application(s) you use. The ATI 1900 happens to be faster for rendering core image-based transformations which are used in a lot of Apple "Pro" apps. However, the 8800GT will perform much faster than the ATI 1900 in OpenGL rendering in 3D apps and DirectX/OpenGL Games.
Also, the 8800GT is compatible with DirectX10 in Windows and Nvidia's GPGPU-based CUDA programming sdk.

Any one know if Nvidia's Gelato (GPU-based rendering) works on the Mac? 3dsmax/Maya ?

 

[MacsAttack]

Out of curiosity... which is the best card for the Adobe CS3 suite?

I've been waiting for the 8800GT... but it really the best card available?

Most of the CS3 suite does not make heavy use of the video card. Things run just as well on the intreated graphics of a MacBook or mini as it does in a top of the line Mac Pro. It is the processor, memory, and disks that count.

I guess for video work and the integrated 3D features of Photoshop a better card will make a bit of a difference. Don't know about Light room, but Apple's Aperture does make use of a better video card. For the Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Flash Acrobat), the stock 7300 that the first generation Mac Pro has is more than adequate.

The 8800 is only necessary for some niche applications (Aperture and some 3D apps is about it) or for games (why have you got a mac Pro though - better off buying a games console if games is what you are after). Best reason I can see for replacing the graphics card in a Mac Pro with an 8800 is if you have 7300 but you want to drive two 30 inch displays (the 7300 only has one duel-link DIV port).

 

[HyperZboy]

EFI is an Intel initiative that Apple adopted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensible_Firmware_Interface

Yes, but the ROM info or BIOS, or the info within EFI is copyrighted by Apple and used in a way that precludes off the shelf products from working in Macs.
That was my poorly stated point.

 

[diamond.g]

Dell != Macintosh and its not the exact same card.

Unless Apple is OC'ing the 8800GT or Dell is underclocking it there is no difference between the two G92's same chip. Same capabilities.

It never was the flagship. The aim of the 8800GT was to offer a higher end card that was more affordable and didn't take up two PCI-E slots.

For as long as you couldn't buy a new GTX/Ultra it was the flagship. The GTX and Ultra (8800) were EOL'ed when the GT came out. It only made sense as the G92's performance was nearly the same as the G80's for a cheaper price (well under 1900x1200 and non bandwidth limited scenarios).

It's because of BIOS that PCs boot in VGA mode,
a ridiculous state of affairs in 2008.

BIOS is antiquated and inflexible. Even Microsoft
would like to move away from BIOS, but the inertia
of OEMs has made that difficult.

The PC crowd love their museum technology. If XP
would run on Babbage's difference engine, they'd
be over here bragging about it.

The only part of the PC crowd that care about the BIOS is the overclocking crew. EFI isn't as versatile in that respect. BIOS is good for something, afterall the Mac folks that flashed their 8800's couldn't do it in the OS X side, they had to do it in the BIOS side.

 

[Salavat23]

100 more vs the pc card..nice

Even more.

8800GTs for the PC can be found on specials for as little as $140.

That makes almost a $150 difference between the Mac Pro card and the PC card.

 

[Macintosh Sauce]

Very cool! I will have to get this at the end of the month, if I can afford it in our budget.

I have a quad core Mac Pro (3.00 GHz). This computer is incredibly fast and will do me well for a number of years. I have expanded it with 3 more HDs and 16 GB RAM - sweet IMHO.

When I start teaching next year, I may consider getting a new Mac Pro and pass this one onto my wife (she'd be quite happy to get it).

I wish Apple would let us use BFG Technologies cards in the Mac Pro.

 

[Tallest Skil]

Even more.

8800GTs for the PC can be found on specials for as little as $140.

That makes almost a $150 difference between the Mac Pro card and the PC card.

Where are you finding a 512MB 8800 GT for $140?

 

[cuestakid]

well i now know what i want for my birthday

and i also know what i will get getting with some of the money i get this summer (more ram, copy of XP, CRYSIS!)

 

[Trip.Tucker]

Unless Apple is OC'ing the 8800GT or Dell is underclocking it there is no difference between the two G92's same chip. Same capabilities.

The gpu core is only half the card. Do you want to consider the other components or just make an uneducated statement that they are the same card.

 

[Salavat23]

Where are you finding a 512MB 8800 GT for $140?

On sales you can find them for $140.

It was recently $129 at Microcenter.

Otherwise, they are usually for ~$160.

 

[diamond.g]

The gpu core is only half the card. Do you want to consider the other components or just make an uneducated statement that they are the same card.

Apple and Dell most likely utilize boards that follow Nvidia's reference design. Generally speaking that reference design includes the minimum GPU and Memory speeds required for the card. Only the manufacturers that overclock the cards differ in design (usually). So yes I can say the cards are probably the same short of ROM differences.

Why wouldn't they be (pretty much) the same?

 

[BenRoethig]

On sales you can find them for $140.

It was recently $129 at Microcenter.

Otherwise, they are usually for ~$160.

I want to find one of these Microcenters. Even online I have a hard time find one under $230.

 

[Tallest Skil]

Doesn't look like $160 to me...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130319

Where do you find these deals? To borrow a phrase, "Hook a brother up!"

 

[diamond.g]

Doesn't look like $160 to me...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130319

Where do you find these deals? To borrow a phrase, "Hook a brother up!"

I want to find one of these Microcenters. Even online I have a hard time find one under $230.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130318
Not sure how you didn't see that one. Just a note, the 8800GT Tallest linked is a SuperClocked version. None of the factory overclocked cards are going for under $200. The one I linked is 164 after mail in rebate 194 before.

Edit: there is one factory OC'ed card for 199. It is also 160 something after rebate. It is BFG and the OC is only 25MHZ on Core.