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Gaming Video Card for new Mac Pro

A

AnotherPCGamer

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 10, 2008
8
0
I want to switch my last Windows box(my gaming rig) to a Mac Pro, however running visualhub and aperature on my mac mini is killing me so i'd like to buy a new mac pro with the 8800gt card, move aperature and visualhub over to the new MP, and add another faster video card in another pcie slot for a bootcamp windowsxp/vista gaming partition.

Can I put a second video card into the Mac for the Windows bootcamp partition?
I'd end up having the stock 8800gt card in one slot and put my 8800gtx in another slot and upgrading it when the next big card hits the streets.

is this Possible? Issues?
 
the 8800GT should give you some pretty solid performance on anything out there at the moment, sure its not a 8800 gtx SLI but I reckon if you look at some of the benchmarks for Call of Duty 4 on the 8800 GT you should be pretty happy with the results.

Don't bother getting a second card the one 8800 should be enough.
 
Im really looking to find out if what i want to do is possible to make sure the MP will work for me. Whether or not an 8800gt is good enough at this point in time is irrelevant. My current 8800gtx is not good enough,for me, and that is better than an 8800gt but that is my personal taste.

Im sure I could live with an 8800gt for a while but when the new 9900gtx uber ultra card comes out ill want that because ultimately I want to run dx10 games in vista and right now even an 8800gtx is way too slow for 1920x1200 dx10 gaming in vista.

  • I know there might be some power issues...too many watts on the pcie bus and using the extra plugs may not be possible.
  • Running two cards could be an issue
  • drivers may be an issue
  • EFi / BIOS may be an issue
 
EFI/Bios is the biggest issue. That said, there are people with various 8800s running in the older Mac Pros right now. It is possible to get most cards working under Windows only although there may be some issues with video not being displayed until the drivers load.

I don't think it will be too much of an issue but other people who are running non-Apple provided cards could confirm this.
 
AnotherPCGamer said:
right now even an 8800gtx is way too slow for 1920x1200 dx10 gaming in vista.
Click to expand...

If the 8800 GTX is too slow there is no way you will be happy with the Mac Pro.
I doubt you will get anything faster than the 8800 GT to run in the Mac Pro.
 
Games above 1600x1200 are pretty much 99% video card. So the MacPro performance will be based on ALL video card. Generally speaking, anyone with a mac pro probably has a huge monitor. Therefore, the mac pro "should" perform on par with any PC out there with a matching video card.

My FX60 performs exactly the same as my e6700 overclocked to 3.7ghz with the same video card installed. The MacPro shouldnt be any different.

The 9800GTX for a mac pro would be awesome though.. hope they make that jump when it comes out!
 
bbplayer5 said:
Games above 1600x1200 are pretty much 99% video card. So the MacPro performance will be based on ALL video card. Generally speaking, anyone with a mac pro probably has a huge monitor. Therefore, the mac pro "should" perform on par with any PC out there with a matching video card.

My FX60 performs exactly the same as my e6700 overclocked to 3.7ghz with the same video card installed. The MacPro shouldnt be any different.

The 9800GTX for a mac pro would be awesome though.. hope they make that jump when it comes out!
Click to expand...

Believe me....they wont....My guess is de 9 series for the New Mac Pro that comes out in 2009 and is only compatible with the Rev C of the Mac Pro and Mac Pro users once again get screwed.

I bet you that at least 50% of this will turn out to be the truth dat Apple doesn't care about high end videocards and also not about their pro users.

yes frustrated Mac user on this end of the keyboard
 
AnotherPCGamer said:
I want to switch my last Windows box(my gaming rig) to a Mac Pro, however running visualhub and aperature on my mac mini is killing me so i'd like to buy a new mac pro with the 8800gt card, move aperature and visualhub over to the new MP, and add another faster video card in another pcie slot for a bootcamp windowsxp/vista gaming partition.

Can I put a second video card into the Mac for the Windows bootcamp partition?
I'd end up having the stock 8800gt card in one slot and put my 8800gtx in another slot and upgrading it when the next big card hits the streets.

is this Possible? Issues?
Click to expand...

I have no idea if it's possible or not but I do remember a thread like this about a month or two back - maybe you'll find some more useful info there.
 
I think still, your only worry is power. Because you'll be gaming by bootcamping it to Vista anyway - and windows recognizes any market video card in the system.

For anyone with a new MacPro and a 8800GTX lying around or a similar battery drain card, can you provide some test results on whether this kind of setup is possible?
 
I was playing Jedi Academy last night with the 2600XT on full settings, and it was running flawlessly. It was amazing. Yes, its an older game, but from what I was use to before, it just runs amazing on the 2600XT. I am extremely happy with it. I will try a newer game over the weekend with it.
 
AnotherPCGamer said:
I want to switch my last Windows box(my gaming rig) to a Mac Pro, however running visualhub and aperature on my mac mini is killing me so i'd like to buy a new mac pro with the 8800gt card, move aperature and visualhub over to the new MP, and add another faster video card in another pcie slot for a bootcamp windowsxp/vista gaming partition.

Can I put a second video card into the Mac for the Windows bootcamp partition?
I'd end up having the stock 8800gt card in one slot and put my 8800gtx in another slot and upgrading it when the next big card hits the streets.

is this Possible? Issues?
Click to expand...
You would be better off getting two 8800GT's (SLI in Windows, faster than one GTX). Have one GT and one GTX will net you one card that can be ran for 3d work (in Windows) at any given time. OS X won't even see the GTX. Honestly your best bet is to keep your Windows rig and pick up another GTX. SLI should net you better FPS in 1920x1200 with DX10. Shoot if you are really hardcore you could go for Tri-SLI.
 
darthraige said:
I was playing Jedi Academy last night with the 2600XT on full settings, and it was running flawlessly. It was amazing. Yes, its an older game, but from what I was use to before, it just runs amazing on the 2600XT. I am extremely happy with it. I will try a newer game over the weekend with it.
Click to expand...

Uh.. Apples and oranges. Yes, JA is old. In fact, it's running on the very-antiquated (but still venerable) Quake3 engine that isn't very taxing on today's systems. So your increase in performance really shouldn't surprise you in the least.

Install a newer Battlefield-series game and crank the resolution and detail up to 11. Then report back.

jas
 
diamond.g said:
You would be better off getting two 8800GT's (SLI in Windows, faster than one GTX).
Click to expand...

That assumes the game(s) he's playing are SLi-capable. SLi isn't the panacea people think it is. Most games today can't take advantage of it, and it does little more than waste a PCI slot (or two) and increase the machine's heat.

Also, the motherboard in question has to be SLi ready. And the Mac Pro MoBos are not, as far as I know.

jas
 
jasonvp said:
That assumes the game(s) he's playing are SLi-capable. SLi isn't the panacea people think it is. Most games today can't take advantage of it, and it does little more than waste a PCI slot (or two) and increase the machine's heat.

Also, the motherboard in question has to be SLi ready. And the Mac Pro MoBos are not, as far as I know.

jas
Click to expand...

Any DX10 game the OP plays would most likely support SLi. That is why I mentioned it. If the OP only plays games like WoW, then yeah SLi is useless. But it sounds like the OP is looking for more performance in games like Crysis.
 
jasonvp said:
That assumes the game(s) he's playing are SLi-capable. SLi isn't the panacea people think it is. Most games today can't take advantage of it, and it does little more than waste a PCI slot (or two) and increase the machine's heat.

Also, the motherboard in question has to be SLi ready. And the Mac Pro MoBos are not, as far as I know.

jas
Click to expand...

Indeed, Intel does currently not own a license for NVIDIAs SLI technology but they do have an Crossfire/X license. So if they had included the Radeon HD 3870 as they meant to do, you could have done Crossfire.
 
jasonvp said:
Uh.. Apples and oranges. Yes, JA is old. In fact, it's running on the very-antiquated (but still venerable) Quake3 engine that isn't very taxing on today's systems. So your increase in performance really shouldn't surprise you in the least.

Install a newer Battlefield-series game and crank the resolution and detail up to 11. Then report back.

jas
Click to expand...

Battlefield 2142 will be going on this beast. I'll report back this weekend. lol
 
Pressure said:
Indeed, Intel does currently not own a license for NVIDIAs SLI technology but they do have an Crossfire/X license. So if they had included the Radeon HD 3870 as they meant to do, you could have done Crossfire.
Click to expand...
Skulltrail is SLi compatible. Sadly No one makes a board with it yet.

jasonvp said:
That's simply not the case these days. Unfortunate, too.

jas
Click to expand...
Well here is a list of games that support SLi. If the game the OP is looking for a boost in performance is not there, then they would just have to settle for the performance from the GTX. They could try their hand at overclocking the GTX if they so desire, but I haven't read anything too promising on that front. At above 1920x1200 the GTX/Ultra is still the fastest single card solution available.
 
diamond.g said:
Skulltrail is SLi compatible. Sadly No one makes a board with it yet.

Well here is a list of games that support SLi. If the game the OP is looking for a boost in performance is not there, then they would just have to settle for the performance from the GTX. They could try their hand at overclocking the GTX if they so desire, but I haven't read anything too promising on that front. At above 1920x1200 the GTX/Ultra is still the fastest single card solution available.
Click to expand...

It's only compatible because it uses actual NVIDIA hardware on the motherboard. Awful expensive and I can't seem to understand what it would bring to the likes of the Mac Pro? Better gaming performance? (Trying to withhold hideous laughter...).
 
The point here folks is if your switching to a mac - to boot up the PC side of things and doing real hardcore gaming, then no matter what.... the mac is not the choice you should make.
 
Pressure said:
It's only compatible because it uses actual NVIDIA hardware on the motherboard. Awful expensive and I can't seem to understand what it would bring to the likes of the Mac Pro? Better gaming performance? (Trying to withhold hideous laughter...).
Click to expand...

All my rambings were based on the OP keeping a separate Windows machine. I know that Skulltrail has NV hardware on it. It is still an Intel board though. Sadly as a gaming machine the MP is okay. And that is fine since it really isn't a gaming box. But for the newer games (like Crysis) you are better off building your own rig and running Windows.

MacRumorUser said:
The point here folks is if your switching to a mac - to boot up the PC side of things and doing real hardcore gaming, then no matter what.... the mac is not the choice you should make.
Click to expand...
Correct.
 
No Pro for me

Sorry guys. I was really considering switching sides from PC to MAC. I love the MAC OS!!!!!!

I had thought the new Pro would also have the capability of accepting the high end graphics cards. Evidently not. So,,,,, maybe I'll reconsider in a year or two. We'll see what's in the cards then.

I'll still visit the forum to see what develops and I wish all of you out there the very best enjoyment with your new Pro's!!!!!!
 
diamond.g said:
But for the newer games (like Crysis) you are better off building your own rig and running Windows.
Click to expand...

This has been the case for a very long time, and will likely continue to be the case for a long time to come. Simply put: if you want a kick-ass gaming rig - build it yourself and install Windblows (XP). Don't buy a Mac.

Buy a Mac for photo/video/3d modeling/etc type work. Not games. It seems (to me) to be a foolish waste of money to buy a very-powerful Mac Pro, and then hobble it with Windows.

I can hear it now. "Waaah. I don't want 2 systems. I only want one! And I want to be able to run the latest K-rad K00l D000000DZ! game on it as well as Maya! At the same time!" Sorry. The world doesn't work that way right now.

jas
 
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