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Upgrading old Mac Pro to 8800 GT graphics?
- Thread starter Fezzy
- Start date
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Well, it's just a suffix. My screen-grab was from the original confirmation web page. If I go to my order status I see the same as you...
...apart from the price!
...apart from the price!
£202.10!!! - And its cheeper than the version i've seen on the UK store thats shown at £220. Was it bought through the education store?
Apple Store: £220
Apple education store: £202.10
Apple higher education national agreement store: £196.23
Apple education store: £202.10
Apple higher education national agreement store: £196.23
Oh to be a student again......!
There's always a masters or D.Phil...
(I'm 47 years old)
If an off the shelf 8800 doesn't work, I can make it work. Update the thread when one of you chaps has a BTO Mac Pro or the upgrade card in hand and I'll provide you with a tool and instructions for getting a ROM dump.
After that I'll do some testing and creative hex editing and get the ROM working on a off the shelf card.
After that I'll do some testing and creative hex editing and get the ROM working on a off the shelf card.
Cheers timb,
I thought that, even if Apple don't "allow" backwards compatibility, the ROM chip ought to be sufficiently large to allow for some creative EFI/BIOS editing, avoiding the issues that arise when flashing PC cards. I'm not good enough of a hacker to actually do the work, though. I'll keep a link to this thread and report back on delivery, hopefully in a couple of weeks.
I thought that, even if Apple don't "allow" backwards compatibility, the ROM chip ought to be sufficiently large to allow for some creative EFI/BIOS editing, avoiding the issues that arise when flashing PC cards. I'm not good enough of a hacker to actually do the work, though. I'll keep a link to this thread and report back on delivery, hopefully in a couple of weeks.
I'm IN! Keep me posted! I have a older Mac pro and can't afford to shell out for the new one, just yet ;-)
Interestingly enough the slot is a PCIe v2 slot but it only supports 16x. Doesn't this defeat the purpose of PCIe v2?
No. Each v2 lane is twice as fast (in Mbps) as a v1 lane. So 16x v2 is as fast as 32x v1. There's no viable reason to have a 32x v2, unless you're somehow running like a dozen cards in SLI. My (limited) understanding is that we're only now passing the limits of 8x v1 with the 8x00 series cards, much less maxing out a 16x v1 slot.
timb - I love you so much right now.
8800GT Now Available at Apple Store US
Guys
Here is the link - available in 5-7 weeks!!!! for $349
I've ordered one, although I'm confused why they are ready to ship in the UK and we're on a 5-7 week wait
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?s=topSellers&fnode=home/shop_mac/mac_accessories/storage&nplm=MB137Z/A&mco=CB3ECC1C
I can't find any official documentation that says this won't work in my 2007 MP (2x 3GHz)
Guys
Here is the link - available in 5-7 weeks!!!! for $349
I've ordered one, although I'm confused why they are ready to ship in the UK and we're on a 5-7 week wait
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?s=topSellers&fnode=home/shop_mac/mac_accessories/storage&nplm=MB137Z/A&mco=CB3ECC1C
I can't find any official documentation that says this won't work in my 2007 MP (2x 3GHz)
Can I ask a silly question -- what types of applications does the 8800GT benefit, vs. the default ATI card that is on sale with the new Pros?
I don't play games. If I get a MacPro it would be used primarily for Home Theater purposes (HD video, using EyeTV, etc.), maybe some light video editing. (Other stuff as well of course, but I'm quite sure Xcode doesn't care about the video card).
I presume that neither the ATI, nor the 8800GT support HDCP, which would matter for future Blu-ray playback compatibility?
I don't play games. If I get a MacPro it would be used primarily for Home Theater purposes (HD video, using EyeTV, etc.), maybe some light video editing. (Other stuff as well of course, but I'm quite sure Xcode doesn't care about the video card).
I presume that neither the ATI, nor the 8800GT support HDCP, which would matter for future Blu-ray playback compatibility?
You reap the benefits in heavier programs,like Shake and Motion. You allso get benfits,albeit smaller,in programs like Lightroom and Aperture.
Normal vid edit (iMovie,FCP) dont benefit from faster cards.
The problem with Apple and HDCP is that apples ACDs are not HDCP compilant so you would have to resort to third party displays.
And apple atm doesnt support BR that much yet either...
Guys
Here is the link - available in 5-7 weeks!!!! for $349
I've ordered one, although I'm confused why they are ready to ship in the UK and we're on a 5-7 week wait
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?s=topSellers&fnode=home/shop_mac/mac_accessories/storage&nplm=MB137Z/A&mco=CB3ECC1C
Great news! ... and yes, available in 5-7 weeks is really crazy .. must be a typo ... (fingers crossed).
The card looks VERY similar to the KFA2 GeForce 8800 GT (without the HDTV though ...). See some images here : http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3441351&CatId=1826
That's not entirely correct.
It means each lane has access to double the amount of bandwidth. Not that there suddenly is 32x lanes. That would result in a ridicously long card
2.5GT/s to 5GT/s for each lane, resulting in nearly 16GB/s bandwidth, up from 8GB/s with a PCI-Express v1.x 16x slot.
