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New NV 8800 HD card in Mac Pro Question

E

emunity

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 2, 2008
7
0
Is this card the same card I could buy at Best buy for example? I think its outregeous the upgrade price when I coudl buy it brand new. I am assuming its PCI Express Version 2.0?


Is there a MAC and PC seperate card or are they the same and if they are I can upgrade it myself later correct?

Is it simple to upgrade it? I know its easy to put in the memory and hard drives!!
 
The card at Best Buy is not the same card that is on Apple's website. They have different ROMs, and you'd only be able to use it under Windows.

It's very simple to install a new video card, but you've got to have a card with the right firmware in order for it to work.
 
Correct, you'd have to get your hands on the Mac firmware, place the card in a PC and flash the ROM to get it to be Mac compatible. It's a big-time hassle and generally not worth the savings.
 
krye said:
Correct, you'd have to get your hands on the Mac firmware, place the card in a PC and flash the ROM to get it to be Mac compatible. It's a big-time hassle and generally not worth the savings.
Click to expand...

Um... get ROM, get NvFlash 5.57, burn a FreeDOS disk, make 5GB partition in Boot Camp, boot from FreeDOS disk, open NvFlash, burn ROM to card.

Yeah, total hassle... :rolleyes: Completely not worth the 100+ dollars saved.
 
Thanks for the replies. What about this 8800 GTS card poeple are flashing? I am assuming you can pick one up anywhere and flash the rom as posted here.

But I don't think the 8800 GTS is a HD card like the ATI stock card in the Mac Pro or is it?
 
Where are you getting the HD monicker? The new GTS is a slightly better card than the new 8800 GT. 10% better performance on average, but no one seems to have gotten it working in Windows in a Mac Pro yet, as you have to flash it with the Mac 8800 GT ROM. Your call.
 
Tallest Skil said:
Um... get ROM, get NvFlash 5.57, burn a FreeDOS disk, make 5GB partition in Boot Camp, boot from FreeDOS disk, open NvFlash, burn ROM to card.

Yeah, total hassle... :rolleyes: Completely not worth the 100+ dollars saved.
Click to expand...

You've actually done that at least once, eh? On that MP that you don't actually have, right?

I don't know why people insist on speaking beyond their personal experience.
 
@bobsbarricades
MikeL said:
You've actually done that at least once, eh? On that MP that you don't actually have, right?
I don't know why people insist on speaking beyond their personal experience.
Click to expand...
Grumpy old men aside, there's an entire thread here by mutiple MacRumors users who've successfully flashed PC 8800GT cards. The flashing process is a complete no-brainer. But, for the uninitiated like myself, it required some reading and asking questions because there are a lot steps involved in getting set-up to do the flash.

People have had the most success with cards from eVGA. When buying in a big box store it's almost impossible to find out if the card's rom is big enough to hold the Mac Pro flash data (124 KB). Some cards only have 64K rom chips, but the flash requires 128K. So, be sure to look in the thread for the specific part numbers of cards that have worked with the flashing process.

I'm writing a manual for the flashing process which I hope to finish up this weekend.
 
MikeL said:
You've actually done that at least once, eh? On that MP that you don't actually have, right?

I don't know why people insist on speaking beyond their personal experience.
Click to expand...

Okay. "8800GT EFI64 ROM" has people who've done it. I speak through their experience, which could very well become mine. Of course, at this rate, I'm thinking about just waiting for Nehalem.

9800 GT FTW. :D
 
Tallest Skil said:
Okay. "8800GT EFI64 ROM" has people who've done it. I speak through their experience, which could very well become mine. Of course, at this rate, I'm thinking about just waiting for Nehalem.

9800 GT FTW. :D
Click to expand...

Maybe it's just me, but there's a huge difference between pointing someone to information and speaking with the "yeah, total hassle..." tone as though you actually have experience with it. Having spent a long time in the IT industry, people who speak beyond their experience bug me. They lead to problems that knowledgeable, experienced people end up having to fix.

It's about credibility. Do you want to be a poser?

I think it's great that you're sometime maybe someday going to get a Mac Pro and sometime maybe someday going to flash a graphics card. Rock on.
 
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