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green86

macrumors 6502a
Sep 27, 2007
535
270
North Carolina
I was initially intrigued but have quickly soured on the notion of buying and flashing a PC GPU. For professionals that need rock solid reliability the kludge-fudge workarounds seems like a fast-track to nowhere. I have no time for hackintosh or endlessly tweaking kexts, etc. I don't doubt there are those with the time and aptitude and desire to endlessly geek their GPU. Not me.

Just in the past week we've seen reports go from
Euphoria! 8 existing GPUs suddenly being compatible
to
Modesty: 4 Lesser additional GPUs being compatible
to
?


We've gone from compatible "except" DVD player and Geekbench to...
Lacking compatibility with a fleet of apps.

Every third poster talks about noise or compatibility problems.

I'd love to buy and run a 6870 (or far better) but Apple has a way of punishing people who don't play by their rules. My plan? I'll keep my Mac Pro according to standard spec...and start building a Windows behemoth where I'm not fighting Big Brother Jobs with every move I make.

Perhaps in their infinite goodness Apple will give me two or three additional low end GPUs to choose from when Lion is released. Bu I might as well face facts: Apple has become the oppressive bully they so eagerly vilified in the 1984 commercials.

I wouldn't say its a fleet of applications. Its DVD, Geekbench, and Games.

If your serious about gaming you have Windows under Bootcamp.

If your not serious about gaming, then why would you need a new generation card anyway?

I use the Mac OS for anything productive, and the 6870 has been great for that.

I've been using Windows for games, and 6870 has been great for that for as well.

Most likely, the Netkas Geek-a-GPU approach wasn't meant for you anyway. :rolleyes:
 

gpzjock

macrumors 6502a
May 4, 2009
798
33
Judging by the ease and compliance 6870 cards have in Lion I would readily imagine that will be Apple's next offering as a GFX card update.

Crying about Apple's walled garden approach to their proprietary Hardware and Software business is a little silly as the main reason it exists is to give them the most control over that market. It's what they want, so you buy in or ship out.
Unlike M$, who still have a monopoly share of the OS market in the business sector and would have the US Anti Trust Laws on their case, if they were draconian to customers in the future.
Apple's little league status means they can keep it how they want. Unfair to some but its their swimming pool, you can piss in it if you like but they will ask you to leave. :p

If you don't accept their standard operating procedure you would be better off in the Wild West of Windows or writing your own open source code in the LINUX community.

I'm only glad that we all have the option to choose all 3 and possibly all on 1 machine, it can even be a Mac. :eek:
 
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IceMacMac

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 6, 2010
394
18
If your not serious about gaming, then why would you need a new generation card anyway?
It's called content creation. I almost never play games...though I've helped produce a couple.


Most likely, the Netkas Geek-a-GPU approach wasn't meant for you anyway. :rolleyes:
The Geek-a-GPU would be all about guys like me, given Apple's propensities. I'm a power content creator with 3 large displays, who uses pro 3D apps on mission-critical projects every single day...and who also needs two other slots for SATA Raid and a specialty capture card.

What I want is out there but Apple's dawdling in drivers and support.
-Support for 4 monitors
-Major CUDA power
-2 GB or more of VRAM

I'd be happy to buy 2 upper-mid level cards...but Apple's PCI options make that impossible (noting my requirement for 2 free slots after GPUs)
 
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ActionableMango

macrumors G3
Sep 21, 2010
9,612
6,907
I am ignorant about such things, but couldn't you put an Apple Quadro in slot 1 and an Apple GT120 in slot 2?

You'd get 4 outputs, CUDA, and 2 slots free?

Granted, the price of the Quadros is not funny at all.
 
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green86

macrumors 6502a
Sep 27, 2007
535
270
North Carolina
It's called content creation. I almost never play games...though I've helped produce a couple.

Oh right my bad. So you create content with DVD Player, Geekbench, and Games? That's what I thought. I use Aperture on a regular basis, and it's been working very nicely with the unmodified 6870 in my system. So if you are actually making content, you can use this card... and it's not a "fleet of apps" that doesnt work.
 
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IceMacMac

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 6, 2010
394
18
I am ignorant about such things, but couldn't you put an Apple Quadro in slot 1 and an Apple GT120 in slot 2?

You'd get 4 outputs, CUDA, and 2 slots free?

Granted, the price of the Quadros is not funny at all.


The whole situation is ridiculous. I've thought about it 100 ways and there simply aren't any good combo solutions right now. No good options at any price for what I want to do.

I currently have a 4870 and a GT120...so I'm covered in my ability to run 4 monitors. But performance is horrendous and what is killing me in particular? No matter how I configure my cards...all my 3d apps default to using the underpowered GT120 for OpenGL rendering. There is no way in the system prefs or app prefs to change and no one (Apple, the vendors, forums like this) has any answers.

So my 20009 Mac Pro is an ABJECT dog in navigating and manipulating OpenGL viewports.

Probably the best possible option would be to run two 5770's...but those are very feeble cards for serous 3d work...and lack any tangible OpenCL or Cuda benefits.


--I'd happily buy the 4000 but performance reports and bug reports have been obscene.
--I'd buy a 5870 but it takes up two slots if I try to pair it with my 4870...and if I used it with my GT120 I'd likely still have same problem with OpenGL defaulting to the weaker card.
--And the cards that I really need? None of them are available on the Mac at all.

Everything about GPUs on the MacPro is a serious clustermuck.
 
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Transporteur

macrumors 68030
Nov 30, 2008
2,729
3
UK
Everything about GPUs on the MacPro is a serious clustermuck.

Copy that!

That's why I'd suggest that Apple completely dumps the production of their own GPUs. Just give the users a bunch of drivers for standard cards (including workstation cards) and be done with it. Developing drivers only would probably be much cheaper than making new cards anyway.
 

IceMacMac

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 6, 2010
394
18
Oh right my bad. So you create content with DVD Player, Geekbench, and Games? That's what I thought. I use Aperture on a regular basis, and it's been working very nicely with the unmodified 6870 in my system. So if you are actually making content, you can use this card... and it's not a "fleet of apps" that doesnt work.

You overtly implied that the only reason to use high-end GPUs was for games. You were wrong about that.

Though I use apps like Photoshop and Aperture they are not nearly as system intensive as programs like After Effects, C4D, Vue and Modo. These latter programs--particularly the 3d programs are where GPU power is poignantly required.

As someone familiar with Mac use for 20 years I've learned this: System bugs are like cockroaches: when you see a few manifested, it's almost universally the case that there are many more that you haven't seen (yet). You can't run a business with dependable computers where new bugs are discovered daily and where every new upgrade to the system or a required peripheral can completely halt you in your tracks.
 

IceMacMac

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 6, 2010
394
18
Why have a mac then.

Increasingly that's what a lot of creative professionals are wondering. I love my new MBPro and iPad and will always love Apple's consumer products... but I'm beginning to plan my purchase of a big Windows beast for real 3d work.

I'll still keep my MacPro 2009 and I'd like to have at least one good mid-range GPU to keep it going as a serviceable machine (which it barely is at present, given the nature of my work)
 
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