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8800 for 06 Mac Pro?

Tower-Union

Tower-Union

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 6, 2009
450
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So I'm looking to upgrade my video card for my 1,1 '06 Mac Pro, I do some light gaming (TF2, L4D, etc) but my bigger interest is Folding@home. So for this reason I'm thinking 8800GT would be a great card to move up to (I don't want to drop the cash for a 285GTX).

The only problem is I'm not sure how to find one that will work in a Mac Pro 06. I know Apple store had one model for older Mac Pro's and one for newer ones. Is it possible to flash a PC model 8800GT into an old Mac Pro? I'm comfortable flashing cards and such, but I just want to make sure it can be done. Also, I'll need to find a BIOS for it. Can anyone help me out?
 
search the forum a little bit. you can google search the forum using this. there's lots of info on it. yes, there is an apple version of hte 8800 for the 2006 mac pro. it is discontinued so you'll have to find it on ebay or something. and yes the card can be flashed. search and ye shall find.
 
Sorry, I didn't mean to come in here being a douche and asking without doing my homework, I've actually spent quite a bit of time researching the 4870 flash, the 4890 injectors and even searching for the 8800GT, but I haven't found a way to tell if it will work for an 06. I don't want to buy a PC version and then flash it into working with an 08 Mac Pro and have wasted my time/money. . .

Oh and eBay only has one guy selling the official Apple version, for $250. . . not really an option.
 
so you don't want to spend $250. OK. There's a guy on here named "Rominator". I would suggest PMing him and asking if he'll tell you which cards are most flashable and which ROM to use. He's very knowledgeable and only a little cranky.
 
and read this thread. It details much of the useful info on flashing that card for your mac pro. In order to make sure the card is compatible, you're going to want to stay away from anything that mentions "64-bit EFI". The 2006 mac pros run a 32-bit EFI, and all the graphics cards for our machines also need 32-bit EFI. That's how you can tell the difference between what will work in the 2006 machine versus what works in the 2008 machine, as the 2008 machines run 64-bit EFI.
 
vacationing in NorCal

Bought SL at the Stockton Street Apple Store in San Fran...place is CRAZY busy

ayway...EVGA 8800GTs seem to have best chance of having a 128K EEPROM chip on them.

Rea the older EFI32 8800GT threads, info still accurate for most part
 
Thanks for the info guys, very much appreciated. I'm looking for an 8800GT as it will suit my gaming needs just fine, but kick a 4870's butt in Folding@home.
 
FYI I found a dude on eBay selling 8800s that he would flash to suite your needs (ie. for me, he flashed it to work with 2006 model) for $99 shipped. This was 1.5-2 months ago. I'd flashed my X1900XT myself previously, but this seemed like a reasonable, hassle-free solution. Worked fine.
 
That is insane prices (currently around the $250 mark for everything on eBay). Do you still have contact info for him?
 
Haha, yeah at $100 a piece I'd consider buying 2 and folding my heart out :D
 
Sorry guys I've tried to find his contact details. I checked on this before for someone else. It's scrolled off my eBay transaction history and I can't get logged into Paypal for some reason to check. Are there no PC cards available to flash?
 
There are cards available, the trouble is trying to figure out if its going to work for an 06 Mac Pro vs. 08. There are a few cards identified in the topics linked above that are known to work, but I have had zero luck in trying to find a retailer who still carries those models of card (even eBay).
 
Most used 8800GT could work, issue is whether they have a 128K chip, same old song & dance.

many, but not all of the new 9800GTs can run the 8800gt roms.

if i got some help with EFI Nvidia sewing, we could add MANY if not ALL of the G92 cards...with their wonderful OpenCL support.
 
Well that's interesting to know. . . I'll do some research into which ones work, but if you wouldn't mind posting back with the answer that'd be great too :D

What kind of help do you need with Nvidia sewing? Maybe I can give you a hand?
 
If you read the threads Bozz linked to, many people had luck with EVGA card.

They are fairly plentiful on Ebay...for instance:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160358677918

You need to be sure to get a card that looks just like that.

It is quite possible that PNY and BFG cards work as well, but most people have had luck with the EVGA...they quite frequently have 128K chips on them.

If anyone follows my advice and gets stuck with a 64K chip, I will refit and flash with a 128K chip for you, for cost of return shipping and $1 for EEPROM.

You will also need the power cable, look at open of BIG 4870 thread for info.

SOME 9800GTs are still using same board as 8800GT and can be flashed as well. But anything that deviates from reference 8800GT board will work only with ROM work. If we could adapt the Pipolomo42 scripts to "sew" Nvidia ROMs, it is likely that ALL G92 based cards could be gotten to work. I can do the device id and softstraps to work, but the actual EFI sewing part I have not made work. Read Pipolomo42's posts in the "Race to Dump 4870" thread...he knew what he was doing.
 
Thanks Rominator, much appreciated. My understanding is you'd need the extra power cable because both cards must be in the computer when you flash? One to drive the display and one to flash it?
 
Ugh...

This is one of my (losing) battles.

I try to explain that since you are flashing in DOS or Windows...the PC card you are flashing will work A-OK all by itself for this.

In fact, you are far less likely to bugger-up the flash if you only have one card in.

There is a post today from a guy who erased the flash on his 2600...I guarantee he did this by flashing a 4870 while his 2600 was in.
 
Lmao, wow that sucks. Ok so I should be able to use the power cord from my existing X1900XT to power the 8800GT then yes?
 
So I read through this entire thread,

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/471227/

And it seems the eVGA 512-P3-N801-AR works really well with the ROM they have posted, however all I can find (that will ship to Canada) is 512-P3-N802-DX, I assume the previous ROM won't work on this card, and I'll have to "modify my own". I've heard a lot of people talk about this sort of thing, but I'm totally unaware of how to do that. . . Or, if I use the ROM listed in that thread for the AR is there a chance that it will work? If it doesn't can I still restore the backup I'll be making before flashing?
 
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