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lssmit02

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 25, 2004
400
38
On the order page for the G5, there is a reference to the fact that the NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT DDL will be available for purchase in November as a CTO option. Any info on this card?
 
Interesting! maybe a typo? i have a 6800GT. its been great and is the samecard as a 6800UT. Many PC reviews are saying in the PC world this is the best buy in high end cards at the moment. can be ran at the same performance as the 6800UT cost less etc. this is good for mac users if true.
 
It's no typo, when you customize your g5, it clearly states that in early november the 6800 gt ddl will be available too, and it will take up a pci-slot as well.

Hope it costs significantly less than the ultra, or i'll wait for the ati x800
 
I found nothing about November, but instead this what I put as an attachment...
Interesting. It has a typo. Not "GeForce" but "GForce".

This one says though, that you can choose "GT or Ultra DDL". So probably the GT won't be DDL, so it'll be cheaper. Hope so.
 
You have to click on Learn More.

The NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT DDL graphics card will be available for order in early November.
 
solvs said:
You have to click on Learn More.

The NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT DDL graphics card will be available for order in early November.

Ah, I see. So maybe this card will be priced 80-100$ lower than the current 6800Ultra? BFG's 6800 series: Ultra 499$, GT 399$.
 
G4-power said:
Ah, I see. So maybe this card will be priced 80-100$ lower than the current 6800Ultra? BFG's 6800 series: Ultra 499$, GT 399$.
They say Mac OS X is a supported OS on heir (BFG) product page for the 6800 Ultra/GT. I assume these are retail nVidia drivers? Can I just buy the BFG 6800GT and install OS X drivers from the CD that comes with it? Everything I've read on the 'net has been PC systems.

If anyone has any info, I'd appreciate it.
 
you will need a mac version to fit the G5 is my guess and it would be a waste of time on a G4 machine. So the answer for the most part is no unless someone can answer this better.
 
Dont Hurt Me said:
you will need a mac version to fit the G5 is my guess and it would be a waste of time on a G4 machine. So the answer for the most part is no unless someone can answer this better.
I have a G5 2.5DP, but I ordered it with the stock 9600XT, which I have discovered is down-clocked well below the retail version of this card. When I eventually replace it, I want to go with a non-Apple OEM product.

I have a feeling the BFG 6800GT would work in the G5 with the nVidia FreeBSD drivers, but I'd like to get confirmation of that.
 
daveL said:
I have a G5 2.5DP, but I ordered it with the stock 9600XT, which I have discovered is down-clocked well below the retail version of this card. When I eventually replace it, I want to go with a non-Apple OEM product.

I have a feeling the BFG 6800GT would work in the G5 with the nVidia FreeBSD drivers, but I'd like to get confirmation of that.
Nevermind. The nVidia FreeBSD drivers are x86, not PPC.
 
BFG 6800 GT Should Work in Mac!

So, I sent an email to BFG support, which is supposed to be excellent, BTW. I just received a reply from them saying that, although they don't support Macs, the card should work with the OS X nVidia drivers.

The BFG cards, which are all overclocked, come with a lifetime warranty. The GT, unlike the Apple version, does *not* block the adjacent PCI slot. It also has additional cooling via custom heat pipes, so it should be OK in the G5 case.
 
It will not work. It would probably fit in the slot, but will not able to boot due to the Apple ROM chip. You could try it, if you could flash it with an Apple ROM it might work. But no Mac support means you are on your own. Good luck if you want to try it.
 
daveL said:
So, I sent an email to BFG support, which is supposed to be excellent, BTW. I just received a reply from them saying that, although they don't support Macs, the card should work with the OS X nVidia drivers.

The BFG cards, which are all overclocked, come with a lifetime warranty. The GT, unlike the Apple version, does *not* block the adjacent PCI slot. It also has additional cooling via custom heat pipes, so it should be OK in the G5 case.
very interesting isnt it, isnt that agp slot in your G5 different then a Pc agp card???I dont think its software but a physical hardware difference dude. In the G5 isnt the power routed on the card rather then wires coming off it?
 
Dont Hurt Me said:
very interesting isnt it, isnt that agp slot in your G5 different then a Pc agp card???I dont think its software but a physical hardware difference dude. In the G5 isnt the power routed on the card rather then wires coming off it?
I really have no idea. I guess I'm nieve enough to think the AGP and PCI interfaces are standard across the industry. It never occurred to me that the AGP slot in a Mac was different than in a PC. I guess you could jury rig the power, but that's getting a bit gludgy for me. Oh well.
 
daveL said:
I really have no idea. I guess I'm nieve enough to think the AGP and PCI interfaces are standard across the industry. It never occurred to me that the AGP slot in a Mac was different than in a PC. I guess you could jury rig the power, but that's getting a bit gludgy for me. Oh well.

The AGP slots in Macs differ in one way compared to PC AGP slots, but the difference doesn't matter if you're about to stick a PC card in a Mac. The difference is only a little addition for the power, and OEM Apple cards and "Made for Mac" cards can use the little power slot because they have an extended connector, or a "tab". Now that I look at a board shot of a OEM Mac 9800 Pro, I see that the connector is a bit bigger than the PC version. After all, any PC cards should work in Macs physically, but the EPROM has to be flashed (Mac retail cards are usually the same as PC cards, but with the different EPROM) You have to route additional power from your power supply, too, in G5's you do that with a Y-cable from the optical drive.

As someone said about their 9600XT, yes, OEM Mac cards are underclocked. With ATIccelerator, you can clock them a bit more, but take into account that cooling is different in the cards too, so don't fry your card.

I think thats all. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
 
G4-power said:
As someone said about their 9600XT, yes, OEM Mac cards are underclocked. With ATIccelerator, you can clock them a bit more, but take into account that cooling is different in the cards too, so don't fry your card.

I think thats all. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Basically that way with all the cards, add an overclockers fan/heatsink if you plan on overclocking.

Remember some of these cards may still overheat in stock form, in some people's homes, if they are running dual monitors for GPU intensive tasks.
 
daveL said:
So, I sent an email to BFG support, which is supposed to be excellent, BTW. I just received a reply from them saying that, although they don't support Macs, the card should work with the OS X nVidia drivers.

The BFG cards, which are all overclocked, come with a lifetime warranty. The GT, unlike the Apple version, does *not* block the adjacent PCI slot. It also has additional cooling via custom heat pipes, so it should be OK in the G5 case.

If you do try it, tell me how it goes...

I am very interested in upgrading to a 6800GT, but macintosh video cards are WAY overpriced, it's really price gouging... :mad:
 
The Mac and PC PCI and AGP slots are the same. The only difference in the Mac's AGP slot is the additional power as said above. This additional power is for the ADC monitors. But since Apple ditched ADC in favor of DVI, the extra power part of the AGP slot in Apple's computers will probably be phased out shortly.

So a PC graphics card will "work" when put into the slot. It'll power up and everything, but the problem is the ROM, so it couldn't communicate with Open Firmware (BIOS for Apple's computers, essentially). What to do? If you can locate the Apple ROM for that specific card, somehow flash it, then that card will work just dandy. The problem is, flashing a card can sometimes fail, and that'll leave the card totally and irreversibly useless.
 
Raven VII said:
The Mac and PC PCI and AGP slots are the same. The only difference in the Mac's AGP slot is the additional power as said above. This additional power is for the ADC monitors. But since Apple ditched ADC in favor of DVI, the extra power part of the AGP slot in Apple's computers will probably be phased out shortly.

That's what I thought too. I have pics from ATi's website of the 9800 Pro boards, PS and Mac OEM version, and it seems that the Mac version has a bit more more than the power tab. See for yourself, I'll post the pics here.

The power tab may also give power - not only to the ADC port - but the card itself too. PC cards and Mac retail cards (same cards usually, differently flashed EPROM's only) use the molex power connector, and you have to route power to them from the power supply.
 
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