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Need help with ATI RADEON X1900 XT 512m Installation

S

souzafeb

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Hello everyone🙂 , i'm a new Mac user ,but i'm used to pcs , here's the problem, i just bought a Mac Pro with a Nvidia video card and i wanted to upgrade to a Ati x1900 xt , and as almost all of us i read thousands of forums about the ati video card and i got a good feed back about it, so i bought it and installed , but when i boot the mac it does show anything , the screen doesn't even turn on, so if anyone have or had the same problem please give me some help, i'm about to get crazy 😡... my video card is not the crossfire version, and yes i have the power adapter on it.
Thanks a lot guys!!!:apple:
 
souzafeb said:
Hello everyone🙂 , i'm a new Mac user ,but i'm used to pcs , here's the problem, i just bought a Mac Pro with a Nvidia video card and i wanted to upgrade to a Ati x1900 xt , and as almost all of us i read thousands of forums about the ati video card and i got a good feed back about it, so i bought it and installed , but when i boot the mac it does show anything , the screen doesn't even turn on, so if anyone have or had the same problem please give me some help, i'm about to get crazy 😡... my video card is not the crossfire version, and yes i have the power adapter on it.
Thanks a lot guys!!!:apple:
Click to expand...

Is it the Apple Upgrade card that comes in an Apple branded white box?
 
no, i bought it on ebay and i didn't get any box of it, but in the video card itself it doesn't show anything, but i believe its an apple approved.

Here's some pics:

f_1011345m_dff07b8.jpg

f_1011346m_093e564.jpg


thanks again!!!:apple:
 
Did the seller indicate if it was compatible with the Mac Pro? If it's a PC card, then you'd have to flash the BIOS to get it to work.
 
they didn't specify if it was for Mac os Pcs, is there some other way to find out about it? i saw some pics from other forums and it looks just like mine, so it might be a really small detail that define the difference. and is there any "side effect" by flashing the BIOS? any incompatibility after its done?

Thanks.:apple:
 
souzafeb said:
they didn't specify if it was for Mac os Pcs, is there some other way to find out about it? i saw some pics from other forums and it looks just like mine, so it might be a really small detail that define the difference. and is there any "side effect" by flashing the BIOS? any incompatibility after its done?

Thanks.:apple:
Click to expand...

Well, if it doesn't say its for Mac, then its a PC only card. Mac cards command a premium price.

A possible side effect of flashing the BIOS is complete card death. No warranty either.
 
souzafeb said:
no, i bought it on ebay and i didn't get any box of it, but in the video card itself it doesn't show anything, but i believe its an apple approved.

Here's some pics:

f_1011345m_dff07b8.jpg

f_1011346m_093e564.jpg


thanks again!!!:apple:
Click to expand...

That's indeed a PC Ati X1900. The Apple one has a longer chassis that slides into a slot in the fan housing.

Read well before flashing it and decide if it's worth the savings. I'm not saying it's not worth it... but I finally forked out the $400 for a Mac edition with one year warranty for my 2.66.

Good luck
 

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tribe3 said:
That's indeed a PC Ati X1900. The Apple one has a longer chassis that slides into a slot in the fan housing.

Read well before flashing it and decide if it's worth the savings. I'm not saying it's not worth it... but I finally forked out the $400 for a Mac edition with one year warranty for my 2.66.

Good luck
Click to expand...

uhhh... the card has already been purchased... why wouldn't it be worth the savings?
 
product26 said:
uhhh... the card has already been purchased... why wouldn't it be worth the savings?
Click to expand...

Because it depends how much he paid for it. If it's $150 and the card actually is not fried than it is worth the savings, but I've seen ppl buy a used or new PC card for 280 or 300 and in that case I would ebay it again and just go ahead with the overpriced Apple one if only for the warranty and to avoid the hassle of flashing it. Oh, and for the eventual resell value of the Mac Pro. If you are spending 2.5K and up on a Pro machine it doesn't make a lot of sense to cheap out 100 bucks on a reflashed and used GPU... I'm sure that card has 2000 hours of WoW under it's hat.
 
Thanks a lot guys for the info, i might sell the video card instead of flashing it and buy one for Mac, it was about $230 , so thats why its a lot cheaper than that one in the apple's site.

Thanks again!!!:apple: 🙂
 
souzafeb said:
Thanks a lot guys for the info, i might sell the video card instead of flashing it and buy one for Mac, it was about $230 , so thats why its a lot cheaper than that one in the apple's site.

Thanks again!!!:apple: 🙂
Click to expand...

Someone flashed that very same card and had perfect results.

In fact, I think the one Apple uses is just one of those cards flashed !

Make sure it has dual DVI and NOT a crossfire cable, that'll foul things up.
 
FYI flashing the card technically voids the warranty, but if you just call up ATI and say "Hey my card is broke. Won't boot." they'll take it back and send you a new one (actually it's usually a refurb).

Anyway. It's a bit of a hassle, but better then burning up a few hundred dollars. I see no need for guilt either as they company just flashes the bios and uses it as a replacement for someone elses burnout.
 
GUYS A REALLY BAD THING HAPPENED!!!!😕 😱 😡

i tried to flash the video card and it started to make weird noises 😱
at this time the entire mac case began to shake 😕
and all of the sudden FLAMES!!! OMG😱
i pulled the power cord out but the mac kept on ,it was like some kind of "Demon possessed MacPro".lol...just kidding😀 😛 , the flashing worked just fine , yea yea i took my chances , actually i had to, and i just wanna Thank you all.

thanks again!!!:apple: 🙂
 
By flashing the PC version I assume you will benefit from the higher clock speed of the PC version? As the Mac one is detuned. Yeah, my tech knowledge on cards is loose as hell...but I do know the Mac version of the card is 'detuned' or some other appropriate word. Maybe somebody else can shed some light on this. Maybe the difference is negligible.
 
Counter said:
By flashing the PC version I assume you will benefit from the higher clock speed of the PC version? As the Mac one is detuned. Yeah, my tech knowledge on cards is loose as hell...but I do know the Mac version of the card is 'detuned' or some other appropriate word. Maybe somebody else can shed some light on this. Maybe the difference is negligible.
Click to expand...

It's underclocked. In other words, it's made intentionally slower or crippled compared to PC versions.

I would assume this happens in the cards bios and so by flashing to the mac bios you cripple your PC card as well. However, it can most likely be bypassed using 3rd party overclocking tools like ATI Excellerator (though I don't own a x1900xt so don't know for sure)
 
Counter said:
By flashing the PC version I assume you will benefit from the higher clock speed of the PC version? As the Mac one is detuned. Yeah, my tech knowledge on cards is loose as hell...but I do know the Mac version of the card is 'detuned' or some other appropriate word. Maybe somebody else can shed some light on this. Maybe the difference is negligible.
Click to expand...

Can someone explain to me why the mac version would need to be detuned so to speak? Why does ATI do this?
 
WizardHunt said:
Can someone explain to me why the mac version would need to be detuned so to speak? Why does ATI do this?
Click to expand...

On the portables -- powerBooks and MacBooks Pro -- I can understand it due to temperature problems; packing so many powerful bits in such a small package requires compromises. But on a Mac Pro?...😕 It has 4 fans capable of making the machine hover. So my answer to your question is : I don't know😀
 
SDAVE said:
They want to keep the computer quiet...that's why.
Click to expand...

The X1900 XT is notorious for having heat problems. Look on the gaming boards around the internet. That's the reason they're so hard to find these days--people buy the X1950 instead. Many think the X1950 was created simply as a 'working alternative' to the X1900.

And, before anyone asks, no: you can't flash an X1950 to work with mac.

I have the PC version so mine isn't 'detuned'. You can change your clock using a program called ATITraytools in Windows XP. I'm not sure if the settings 'stick' through a restart but I'm fairly sure they do. You can also change the fan speed of the card using that program, but those settings certainly don't stick.

The X1900 I have starts showing serious distortions at 65C, which it reaches very quickly when stressed. Using the aforementioned ATItraytools and SMCFanControl, I can keep it under control.

Here's an article I wrote on the issue:
http://www.tenthousandpercent.com/?article=98&section=other

EDIT: I should add that I'm about 95% sure the clock on my card was at full 'PC' speed even after I flashed it.
Apple has clocked down the Mac X1900 XT to 600MHz core clock & 650MHz memory clock (from 625MHz core clock & 725MHz memory clock on the PC version). ATI Tray Tools allows you to adjust this as well, but do so at your own risk.
Click to expand...
 
Couldn't you do that with ATIccellerator II? But then it only works in OS X, at least you can check what the speeds are with that app.
 
WizardHunt said:
Can someone explain to me why the mac version would need to be detuned so to speak? Why does ATI do this?
Click to expand...

I read that ATI stated it was purely because of demand. I can't find where I read this now but it was only last week, if I find it I'll add it to this thread. They sell far more cards for PC's so they get the cutting edge speed wise. Not sure if I see the logic myself. This was on a very respectable site but I'm damned if I can find it. I will have a look.
 
Counter said:
I read that ATI stated it was purely because of demand. I can't find where I read this now but it was only last week, if I find it I'll add it to this thread. They sell far more cards for PC's so they get the cutting edge speed wise. Not sure if I see the logic myself. This was on a very respectable site but I'm damned if I can find it. I will have a look.
Click to expand...

Maybe they have to do testing to ensure the cards can run at the higher speeds without overheating, discarding those that cannot (or flashing them for mac). Conversely, they may have found this lower speed is guaranteed on this chipset and so has no need for certification.

Thus, for mac cards they reduce overhead by setting the cards at lower, and more robust clock.

That's just a guess, another would be that ATI hates Mac users or Apple hates gamers.
 
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