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9800gx2 works in OSX
- Thread starter Cindori
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The card that has "a price tag on it equivalent to a macbook," is in an entirely different league. It is not meant to be a super top end gaming card, it is meant for a very specific market. Those who need it have no issue spending that amount on the card. So in your assessment of offerings, you shouldn't even be using this card as some sort of unreachable top end gaming card, because it isn't meant to be that.
Your complaint seems to be that there is no top end gaming card. Fair enough. But with this latest update, I think they got the message when it comes to not offering an upgrade path for previous owners.
And as far as a partnering with a company to make cards. At what cost and for what gain? It is not in their interests to do it. Offering cards that cater to most people fits their business model. Having five or more card options gets to be a bit much. As long as they offer an upgrade path, I don't see an issue with their current practice.
The EFI emulator you speak of is so that OS X can boot on a BIOS system. BIOS boots PC_EFI, which turns around and boots OS X.
On a real Mac system, you can't emulate the EFI firmware on the video card with PC_EFI, since it will never get a chance to load at the right time. Nvinject is commonly used /with/ PC_EFI, but it doesn't use it. Nvinject just matches up video cards with a different ID and force the Apple drivers to load.
EDIT: As a side note, I would like to point out the VGA vs EFI firmware on a video card only really gets used early on during boot. Once the OS loads drivers for the card, the firmware isn't even used. The reasons why a PC video card don't work is two-fold: 1) the boot-time firmware is different (VGA instead of UGA), 2) the OS X drivers don't recognize the card.
Once again you may be missing my point. I understand the simplicity model that apple has and it has worked for them so far. All I'm saying is that they seem to have either an under or an over, no mid ground. For example... you can either purchase an imac which is pretty much not upgradeable or get a mac pro. The imac leaves much to be desired when it comes to upgradeability. User replaced or upgradeable parts are...uh... the ram and the mac pro which is considered a professional workstation has the boost in upgradeability and power but for a much more hefty price tag. I guess all I'm asking for is a mid ground. Couldn't there be a middle video card offering just like couldn't there be a mac mini pro or mac pro home edition or something to that effect?
So what for is it ment to be then??? Gaming is the only thing the 9800GX2 is made for.
Speaking of Nvidia Cards... has anyone tried running Vista with the 8800gt or similar card? Unfortunately I have to because of one stupid 3d cad NURBS modeling software that only runs on Windows. Anyway, anyone having trouble with there video? Mind seems to stretch to the right.
I find it fascinating that not one single screenshot of system profiler has yet to be posted.
Oh wait it has to be true, because my friend told me so
Oh wait it has to be true, because my friend told me so
I honestly don't see the problem.
Most people do not upgrade. Even the ones buying a Mac Pro, except ram and harddrives.
The reason people will not give up upgradability is because it gives comfort and a sense of a future path. It's a Mac, it doesn't heh.
Look here:
http://www.s155158671.websitehome.co.uk/nvidia9800gtxwww.html
nVidia 9800 GTX does work in a Hackintosh. So, 9800 GX2 in theory should work also.
However, whether it really works in a Mac Pro, that's another question.
If one has a 8800 GTX in MacPro, it is likely that a 2nd PC version card 8800 GTX or 9800 GX (rebranded 8800 GT) will work in a second slot as the efi loaded for the Mac card while the OSX driver will then support both. This is true for the ATI 1900 but seems no one tries the nVidia ones.
However, for 9800GX, as some has mentioned, that may require changing the id of the OSX driver to recognize it.
These are just my postulation.
http://www.s155158671.websitehome.co.uk/nvidia9800gtxwww.html
nVidia 9800 GTX does work in a Hackintosh. So, 9800 GX2 in theory should work also.
However, whether it really works in a Mac Pro, that's another question.
If one has a 8800 GTX in MacPro, it is likely that a 2nd PC version card 8800 GTX or 9800 GX (rebranded 8800 GT) will work in a second slot as the efi loaded for the Mac card while the OSX driver will then support both. This is true for the ATI 1900 but seems no one tries the nVidia ones.
However, for 9800GX, as some has mentioned, that may require changing the id of the OSX driver to recognize it.
These are just my postulation.
See here is the thing... in the real world everyone who buys a mac pro buys it for its incredible speed and upgradeability. Who in the right mind would think that a mac pro should just be left at it's built to order specs and then trashed when something like the video card becomes obsolete. That would be dumb. An example that this is not the case is when the early 2008 Mac Pros came out there were a lot of people who were angry because the 8800GT wasn't compatible with the older computers.
Just saying... there is tons of people who are still running G5 towers because of the upgradeability.
I guess end game I will have to wait for a new mac pro to come out with a better consumer/gamer video card and then complain on forums for 3 months before it gets released for the "older" mac pro
You seem to miss my point entirely.
The only thing you can upgrade is, usually when it comes to Apple, the same things you can change when you Build To Order.
What new upgrade options have the G5 Power Macs gotten? Besides the obvious option to upgrade the harddrives.
the apple towers are upgradable in many ways. for example upgraded ram, video cards, hard drives, monitors and even processor upgrades. the imac is only user upgradeable in the ram. Also everything is soldered in you can't even upgrade the processor without killing yourself.
With this said how could you say that you can only upgrade the hard drive on computers like the mac pro and the power pc towers? For example when the early 2008 mac pros came out with the 8800GT video cards the owners of the previous mac pros with the x1900 i believe were jumping to get there hands on this update and of course Nvidia and apple answered everyones requests.
By now it is pretty obvious you have never worked on one of these.
With this said how could you say that you can only upgrade the hard drive on computers like the mac pro and the power pc towers? For example when the early 2008 mac pros came out with the 8800GT video cards the owners of the previous mac pros with the x1900 i believe were jumping to get there hands on this update and of course Nvidia and apple answered everyones requests.
By now it is pretty obvious you have never worked on one of these.
Power Mac G5s didn't have upgradable CPUs at all and nobody complained
You say all who buy Mac Pros/Power Macs do so because they plan to upgrade stuff besides RAM/HD (which is upgradable on all Macs, just to a lesser extent) is plain wrong. Even those who planned to upgrade very often dont.
My dad had dual 1.8 GHz G5 with stock GPU. Why did he buy it? To put 6.5 GB RAM into it and 2 huge HDs. He later sold it because the video card was too weak for Motion. Instead of upgrading the GPU (which is PITA in non-US countries) he bought a newer dual core 2.3 GHz and again put a ton of RAM there and 2 big HDs. I forgot to mention that he needed 2 displays so tower was his only option anyway.
My friend in Germany bought a single 1.8 GHz G5 instead of iMac G5 thinking he would upgrade the graphics card. Guess what? He didn't. Later he sold it and bought a MacBook Pro which was way faster than his G5 could ever be with upgrades.
Morale of the story is that getting a new computer is more cost-efficient than upgrading old hardware. It seems that you're living in 2001 when upgrading was still a viable option. I am 100% sure you'll never upgrade the quad-core CPU in your Mac Pro, simply because you'll need at least 2 Xeon CPUs with compatible sockets and retail Xeons of this class are very expensive, expensive to the point which makes getting a new computer more cost-efficient. Not to mention the sockets change so fast nowadays that you won't gain any significant boost from upgrading anyway.
After a six week wait for the Early 2008 8800 GT and a three month wait for an 8800 GT that works with older Mac Pros. Oh, and after nVidia gave up and forced Apple to write the driver for the old one.
Power Mac G5s didn't have upgradable CPUs at all and nobody complained
You say all who buy Mac Pros/Power Macs do so because they plan to upgrade stuff besides RAM/HD (which is upgradable on all Macs, just to a lesser extent) is plain wrong.
I'm guessing this is why companies/consumers were jumping at the opportunities to install processor overdrives into their G4 computers towers. Also, I still don't see how shoveling out at least $2400 for a computer and a year later saying that it isn't cost effective to simply replace the video card and give the computer a refresh. Over PCs Apple computers have a very long shelf life (Look on ebay... their are tons for G4/G5 towers and laptops) Anyway, if you look at economics vs the "gotta have the best of the best" thoughts I don't see how you can do the math and still get the numbers your getting. Lets see... I bought a Mac Pro last month for, lets say, $2500. In 8 months to a year a new 1GB video card comes out. Hmmmmmm on one hand I could buy a whole new computer get a slight jump in processor speed and the 1GB video card for another $2500 or simply buy the video card, even at apple's inflated prices, for around $450. $2500? $450? You do the math.
Who in the right mind would put out all the extra money? Then again I guess if you are one of those rich guys you can afford to have the new and slightly improved.
Well, there isn't any excuse for not provided supply in demand. I can agree with you there. Of the latter part of your message could have the complete other way. Everyone with older Mac Pros could still be running the x1900 (I believe its called)
9800gx2 Does Work In Leopard!
Guys, I managed to make my 9800GX2 work with all resolutions and QE/CI enabled (Even the System Profiler shows my GPUs as "GeForce 9800 GX2).
I am probably the first one to completely overcome the QE/CI hurdle and getting the correct description of the card without relying on gfx strings method.
You can find the instructions on getting your 9800gx2 work on my post at insanelymac forums.
For those who believe its not possible, I have posted my profiler and registry dumps on the same post with screenshots.
If you need any help, pls post there and I might be of assistance.
Please note that my fix may not work with Intel-based motherboards. I have a nForce 790i Ultra SLI and it works great on Leopard.
Guys, I managed to make my 9800GX2 work with all resolutions and QE/CI enabled (Even the System Profiler shows my GPUs as "GeForce 9800 GX2).
I am probably the first one to completely overcome the QE/CI hurdle and getting the correct description of the card without relying on gfx strings method.
You can find the instructions on getting your 9800gx2 work on my post at insanelymac forums.
For those who believe its not possible, I have posted my profiler and registry dumps on the same post with screenshots.
If you need any help, pls post there and I might be of assistance.
Please note that my fix may not work with Intel-based motherboards. I have a nForce 790i Ultra SLI and it works great on Leopard.
PMG5s AGP did get several graphics card upgrade / addition options. The PCIe models only got one third party option that I remember, it's the X1900 to bring it up to the first Mac Pro.
Guys, I managed to make my 9800GX2 work with all resolutions and QE/CI enabled (Even the System Profiler shows my GPUs as "GeForce 9800 GX2).
I am probably the first one to completely overcome the QE/CI hurdle and getting the correct description of the card without relying on gfx strings method.
You can find the instructions on getting your 9800gx2 work on my post at insanelymac forums.
For those who believe its not possible, I have posted my profiler and registry dumps on the same post with screenshots.
If you need any help, pls post there and I might be of assistance.
Please note that my fix may not work with Intel-based motherboards. I have a nForce 790i Ultra SLI and it works great on Leopard.
A hackintosh not a real Mac then.
Isn't that "support" mainly in the fact that nVidia just does a software lockout for non-nVidia chipsets?
Joinig the party late but . . .
I have a Vista 64 system that I run 2 X EVGA 8800 GTS SSC cards in SLi without a problem (Unless you count the HEAT the box puts off when the cards are under load). Perhaps a display issue?
Speaking of Nvidia Cards... has anyone tried running Vista with the 8800gt or similar card? Unfortunately I have to because of one stupid 3d cad NURBS modeling software that only runs on Windows. Anyway, anyone having trouble with there video? Mind seems to stretch to the right.
I have a Vista 64 system that I run 2 X EVGA 8800 GTS SSC cards in SLi without a problem (Unless you count the HEAT the box puts off when the cards are under load). Perhaps a display issue?
I have the 8800GT (stock Mac card) that runs just fine under Vista 64.
And on the subject of upgradeability I am a recent convert from PCs (as I'm sure a lot of people are now doing judging by Apples market share increases). The reason I purchased a MP was to
- Get the Mac experience (I was fed up with Windows).
- Still be able to play games on a Windows platform (I realized that gaming on a Mac was not well supported).
Okay I'm sure people will say that if I wanted to play the latest games with the latest video card I should have stuck with a PC because a MP is not a gaming machine but a professional workstation. If you take that view then you will not get many Mac converts (and perhaps some of you will be happy with that).
I am glad I switched - even with the (what seems like) yearly video card upgrades.
Guys, I managed to make my 9800GX2 work with all resolutions and QE/CI enabled (Even the System Profiler shows my GPUs as "GeForce 9800 GX2).
I am probably the first one to completely overcome the QE/CI hurdle and getting the correct description of the card without relying on gfx strings method.
You can find the instructions on getting your 9800gx2 work on my post at insanelymac forums.
For those who believe its not possible, I have posted my profiler and registry dumps on the same post with screenshots.
If you need any help, pls post there and I might be of assistance.
Please note that my fix may not work with Intel-based motherboards. I have a nForce 790i Ultra SLI and it works great on Leopard.
The difference between your hackintosh and a real mac...
