Mac Pro Graphics Card Arbitrage through Apple Care

[yeroen]

So who was it here on these forums that got their X1900 exchanged for a Quadro FX, free of charge through Apple Care?

I have an X1900 (upgrade kit) in my MP and a 7300GT (stock) that's been sitting in a box ever since being swapped out. With the 7300GT I had graphics corruption (random green pixels) possibly due to overheating, and with the X1900 there's been serious dust accumulation as of late that I can only partially purge (when I first got the X1900, the fans never ramped up even when playing 3D games, now it's much more wheezy when I run intensive apps).

I want to exchange both of these cards while they're still under apple warranty, but when is the question. I want to maximize my chances not just for an exchange but a full, free upgrade: i.e. execute a graphics card arbitrage. The latest iMacs all have ATI graphics, and I strongly suspect that the ATI HD 2900XT (nee R600) is destined for the next Mac Pro update, pending driver work. This was rumored earlier but nothing came of it and it was forgotten. I have no idea what the baseline 7300 GT replacement will be.

Has anyone received a free upgrade in this manner in the past? (besides the aforementioned X1900 -> Quadro swapper)

 

[Pressure]

There is, pardon my language, no way in hell the Radeon HD 2900 XT will ever be offered for the Mac Pro! Especially considering it have been replaced by the Radeon HD 3870 that practically offers the same performance while consuming 100 Watt less and offers more features for half the price to boot.

Sorry, have no idea if you get the chance to exchange both your graphic card for the much more expensive Quadro card though.

 

[suneohair]

Not gonna happen. Not to mention it is rather shady.

 

[contoursvt]

Buy a can of compressed air and clean the card. If you cant do that, then I dont know what to tell ya.

 

[yeroen]

I did the compressed air thing, but it did little to blow the dust out of the intake. I'd tried taking it so I could disassemble the fan assembly, but the card wouldn't budge. I was afraid of breaking the fragile plastic PCIe slot it was mounted to and gave up. I remember how much of a pain it was to get in in the first place, hooking it up to the power supply is extremely awkward since your fingers get in the way of your sight.

I wanted to get the Accelero S1 as a quieter dust free solution but according to the report here http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/Graphics/AcceleroS1_on_MacX1900XT/ArcticCooling_AcceleroS1.html once installed the card becomes virtually impossible to remove again since the S1 heatsink completely blocks the little plastic tab you have to depress on the PCIe slot.

 

[contoursvt]

Cant you just leave the card in the computer and use a can of compressed air to blow from the front of the card in and also from the back? Compressed air cans have a 6-8" long nozzle so it should be entirely possible.

If you blow in the direction of the arrows, you'd be blowing much of the dust free.

I did the compressed air thing, but it did little to blow the dust out of the intake. I'd tried taking it so I could disassemble the fan assembly, but the card wouldn't budge. I was afraid of breaking the fragile plastic PCIe slot it was mounted to and gave up. I remember how much of a pain it was to get in in the first place, hooking it up to the power supply is extremely awkward since your fingers get in the way of your sight.

I wanted to get the Accelero S1 as a quieter dust free solution but according to the report here http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/Graphics/AcceleroS1_on_MacX1900XT/ArcticCooling_AcceleroS1.html once installed the card becomes virtually impossible to remove again since the S1 heatsink completely blocks the little plastic tab you have to depress on the PCIe slot.

 

[yeroen]

I blew from the rear, it made the fans whir nicely but the end effect was just to move the dust around the fan assembly w/o ejecting any. Because of the way of the Mac Pro case is designed, to get the X1900 clean you have to remove it from the PCIe slot. You can't blow air through the intake vent while it's mounted because to do that you have to angle the can away from the upright position, and when you do that you're no longer blowing air but propellant onto the electronics. An air-bulb (the kind used for dusting off your digital camera's ccd) doesn't provide enough pressure to dislodge some of the crud from the intake.

I'm just going to have to fight with it to get it out again.

 

[Blogger]

That's strange, I had no problems doing this.

 

[Wild-Bill]

...they'll screw it up....

There is, pardon my language, no way in hell the Radeon HD 2900 XT will ever be offered for the Mac Pro! Especially considering it have been replaced by the Radeon HD 3870 that practically offers the same performance while consuming 100 Watt less and offers more features for half the price to boot.

Never say never, Pressure. Because it (HD 2900xt) is an EOL'd card and because the 3870 offers comparable performance and because it (3870) costs half the price is precisely why I believe there's an excellent chance we will see the 2900xt in the new Mac Pro.

I am very wary of getting my hopes up in the graphics department because, as time has shown again and again and again, Apple is very likely to screw it up, and leave us with whatever elderly poor performers they decide to stiff us with for about a year and a half.... with no change.

If they release the update with old video cards I'm keeping my money and placing an ad in Soldier of Fortune. The details of the ad I will keep to myself, but it involves the Mac Pro design team and very very bad things.


If you folks agree with me, please do click the link in my sig and tell the Mac Pro team to 1) get off their ass 2) get it RIGHT and 3) Give us some GOOD cards, like the 8800GT !!!
I think they need another dose of feedback to break up their daily routine of solitaire and websurfing.

 

[yeroen]

Just watch the X1900XT be slotted for the new Mac Pro as the baseline card.