Upgrade to NVIDIA GeForce 260 GTX OC ?

[mdsbrain]

I just picked up one of the previous gen 2.8Ghz Mac Pros and was wondering if the video card from my pc can go in? I have a NVIDIA GeForce 260 GTX OC laying around looking for use. It certainly is one of the longest cards on the market and requires close to 300watts to operate.

I'm sure the card in my new Mac is adequate for my needs but it's just hard to see it go to waste. I already have a 15" MBP and making the full switch to Mac with this new Mac Pro.

Thank you

 

[Cindori]

PC cards only work in Windows on Mac Pro.

Apple cards work in OSX and Windows on Mac Pro.






.

 

[mdsbrain]

PC cards only work in Windows on Mac Pro.

Apple cards work in OSX and Windows on Mac Pro.






.

Bummer. Thanks for the quick reply.

 

[Tallest Skil]

There ARE GTX kexts in 10.5.7, I thought.

Or maybe it was Snow Leopard...

Don't buy one and try it out, but research this a little more. It could be possible.

 

[evildede]

It works only in windows as I have one installed for gaming. I think I read somewhere of someone flashing his to work on mac though but cannot confirm it.

 

[velocityg4]

There ARE GTX kexts in 10.5.7, I thought.

Or maybe it was Snow Leopard...

Don't buy one and try it out, but research this a little more. It could be possible.

I was curious about this and have checked insanelymac. Thinking the GT 1X0 support would be GTS/X 2X0 support it does not. So far Snow Leopard is listed as the earliest. 10.5.7 or 10.5.6 with kexts from 10.5.7 will now unsurprisingly support most 4000 series cards, though I am sure the X2's are likely still a hassle.

As to the OP I would wait until the ROM for the 4870 has been dumped so that you could install a 4870 as that is the best option available. Though I thought I read that there are other methods, hacks, to get PC cards to work in Mac Pros. But that is probably heresay.

 

[10THzMac]

I have been fiddling in turns with both a Zotac 260 and a Palit 285 on an 08 Mac Pro. Both cards coexist with an 8800GT. Under Windows bootcamp they are fine as NVIDIA CUDA cards, though I have not tried them that much as display adaptors. Under OS X 10.5.6 they coexist peacefully with the 8800 and show up as generic cards, but with no significant functionality.

The other threads on flashing PC 8800 cards do not give me much hope that existing PC 200-series cards can necessarily be flashed to work. For example, I saved the ROM from the Palit 285 and discovered it is only 64k. The Apple 8800 ROM is twice the size. 200 series with bigger ROMs or some other means of taking the extra (EFI64) code would be needed. I suppose it could be the case that there is more space on the chip.

If someone has dumped a ROM from any brand of 260/275/280/285/295 and found a larger ROM file, or knows the ROM has more space, that would be a start - some clever pasting and editing might just enable. I'd like to know if anyone has done this. My experience of copying in kexts from elsewhere has not been good so far...

 

[peskaa]

I have been fiddling in turns with both a Zotac 260 and a Palit 285 on an 08 Mac Pro. Both cards coexist with an 8800GT. Under Windows bootcamp they are fine as NVIDIA CUDA cards, though I have not tried them that much as display adaptors. Under OS X 10.5.6 they coexist peacefully with the 8800 and show up as generic cards, but with no significant functionality.

What power setup did you go for on these? Plus, do you know if you can run one of these cards alone to boot into Windows? (ie: take out the 8800GT and put a GTX 260 in, then boot into Windows).

 

[evildede]

I have the 8800GT and GTX 260 installed in my early 2008 Mac Pro. When I'm in Mac OS I use the 8800GT, and when I switch to Windows, I close the computer, take away the power from the 8800GT and put it on the GTX 260 as it requires 2 connectors, and boot up in Windows. I've set it so that the computer boots up by default in windows so that I do not have any problems selecting which partition when booting up the computer with the GTX 260 as it doesn't display anything until I reach windows.

 

[10THzMac]

What power setup did you go for on these? Plus, do you know if you can run one of these cards alone to boot into Windows? (ie: take out the 8800GT and put a GTX 260 in, then boot into Windows).

For now I have an extra cheap external ATX PSU powering the GTX'2 two 6-pin connectors and my case is open. The 260+8800 need three 6pin and the motherboard has two easily accessible outputs. I know some posters have routed power from the optical bay to make up the missing supply. I prefer an external PSU, at least while I experiment, as I might try a 295 (which needs even more juice) and can switch off the GTX if I were to get a problem. I use the 200 series card for CUDA co-processing only and not to talk to a display, so while I ran a display off it once (using the Windows control panel to set it) I usually have the 8800 as the display driver under both OS.

Update: now all internal - feed the third PCI connector from the spare molex in the optical bay - seems to work with just one attached. Bit of a pain threading cable to 8800. Logic board now powers GTX 285.