They put an advice via email to all their 8800 customers.
They still can buy the 8800 but apple wash their hands in this topic
Could they be doing this just because they can't meet demand for 2008 MP? And it happening at the expense of the <2007 MP
They put an advice via email to all their 8800 customers.
They still can buy the 8800 but apple wash their hands in this topic
They put an advice via email to all their 8800 customers.
They still can buy the 8800 but apple wash their hands in this topic
So you're still going to risk it even though they say it won't work?
Certainly I am. There's no real risk involved. I'm confident that I can get it working with some help from teh internets! Whether I can get it to work in OS X remains to be seen. Apple have to be made to realise that the Intel transition cuts 2 ways. I used to be tied to OS X as much by my hardware as by my choice but I can now switch to windows (XP: I may be annoyed, but I'm not stupid!) or linux any time Apple aren't delivering the goods! My Mac Pro already triple-boots.
Last night, as an experiment, I formatted one of my four hard drives as FAT32 and moved my iTunes library over. I can now use iTunes (OS X), iTunes (XP), WinAmp (XP, including milkdrop) and Rythmbox (Ubuntu 64bit) to play my tunes. If I can't get my 8800GT working in OS X, then I can see more files being moved to this "multi-boot readable" section of my system and OS X becoming less relevant to me by the day.
Some may see this as "cutting my nose off to spite my face" but it isn't. At the end of the day, I can do what I do (Theoretical Chemistry/Physics based Nano-science) on any operating system. I will not allow the choice of that system to cripple my hardware.
I've added a PCI card fan, swapped the video card cooler and for the most part it works fine. The remaining issue is with Windows and high end games. Try Bioshock under Windows and see if you don't shutdown or get artifacts after 5 or 10 minutes. There is no BootCamp motherboard fan driver for Windows. Really, that's what the 8800GT does for the older Mac Pro users. It doubles the performance for games and uses the same amount of power. So I can adjust the game settings to prevent the Mac from shutting down. I realize that you probably can't put 2 in an older MacPro because of the limitations of the PCI-e 1.1 power draw, but I can live with that.
Certainly I am. There's no real risk involved. I'm confident that I can get it working with some help from teh internets! Whether I can get it to work in OS X remains to be seen. Apple have to be made to realise that the Intel transition cuts 2 ways. I used to be tied to OS X as much by my hardware as by my choice but I can now switch to windows (XP: I may be annoyed, but I'm not stupid!) or linux any time Apple aren't delivering the goods! My Mac Pro already triple-boots.
Last night, as an experiment, I formatted one of my four hard drives as FAT32 and moved my iTunes library over. I can now use iTunes (OS X), iTunes (XP), WinAmp (XP, including milkdrop) and Rythmbox (Ubuntu 64bit) to play my tunes. If I can't get my 8800GT working in OS X, then I can see more files being moved to this "multi-boot readable" section of my system and OS X becoming less relevant to me by the day.
Some may see this as "cutting my nose off to spite my face" but it isn't. At the end of the day, I can do what I do (Theoretical Chemistry/Physics based Nano-science) on any operating system. I will not allow the choice of that system to cripple my hardware.
Aaaaand you won't get any. They don't HAVE to do anything lloyd. You got what you paid for when you bought it and were perfectly happy until you weren't the newest biggest dog on the block anymore. Tough luck.
I just got off the phone with Nate Doss, in Apple Customer relations. He said he had talked to engineers and all they could tell him was that the 1900XT is the only card I could upgrade to (I have a 7300), and that there are no plans to make the 8800GT compatible with older Mac Pros.
What a crock. I am in total disbelief.
I don't supose you got this guy's e-mail address. I wouldn't mind sending him an e-mail! - I think everyone who's concerned should as well. Does anyone have any other e-mail addresses of people in Apple Comms?
No I just have his phone number. 1-916-399-7032
He called me after I sent an email to a rep I dealt with back when I got my Mac Pro DOA.
I just left him a msg also.
I think it would be fantastic if he had dozens of messages to listen to by the time he comes in to work tomorrow morning. He probably won't be too happy with me, but what do I care? Who knows if he gets bothered enough he might insure that something happens with this issue. Either that or he'll have his phone number changed.
Nate Doss
1-916-399-7032
8am to 5pm (Pacific)
I hope you will consider this. He is just working at Apple and it is not his decision that you cannot upgrade your old Mac Pro model with the new Geforce 8800GT card.
While I agree with you. I do think that he can at least convey the concerns we all have as consumers of Apple Corp. products. If you do not speak up you do not get heard. You have to express your concerns at every outlet available to you. Wether it be via email, discussion boards or phone numbers.
While I agree with you. I do think that he can at least convey the concerns we all have as consumers of Apple Corp. products. If you do not speak up you do not get heard. You have to express your concerns at every outlet available to you. Wether it be via email, discussion boards or phone numbers.
Exactly. All Apple employees are just working at Apple. He just happens to be one who is a position that handles customer complaints and concerns. I have no problem with him personally, in fact, he seems like a decent guy. However, I feel like as many people as possible need to express their opinion in this matter to give Apple a realistic idea of what their loyal customers are feeling. Without our feedback they will have no idea how this decision has affected us.
This is an upgrade that can easily be offered to old Mac Pro users and its clear that they are not going to allow this in order to boost new MacPro sales. They owe me nothing more than what they sold me but they sold me a machine promised as upgradable...how is the mac pro any more upgradable than an imac or even a notebook? We are talking internal storage vs external storage and thats about it.
Its bottom line thinking at its worst and I would like the general public to know more about this business practice. People need to Dig this.
Question: If one was to get a Mac Pro (older or newer I guess) and pops in a PC 8800GT card, would it be possible to install XP or Vista CD natively without bootcamp and just not have OSX on the machine at all? If so, I dont get why any old PC video card wont work then or cant work within OSX on that same computer. Is it not a matter of someone just writing the proper driver?
Question: If one was to get a Mac Pro (older or newer I guess) and pops in a PC 8800GT card, would it be possible to install XP or Vista CD natively without bootcamp and just not have OSX on the machine at all? If so, I dont get why any old PC video card wont work then or cant work within OSX on that same computer. Is it not a matter of someone just writing the proper driver?
Vista 64Bit Edition with SP1 is rumored to support EFI. So I'd assume that you would be able to install a slipstreamed copy natively.
Driver support... well thats another issue!
The main problem you have here is getting the mac to boot from CD. Without a native mac card you'll only see a black screen on boot up (if it will boot up at all without a mac card) but as soon as it starts booting the windows CD you will get a display and it will work perfectly in windows.
To make sure it boots what you can do is leave the card your mac came with in the machine and when windows is installed you can set windows to use the 8800GT as your main graphics card.
Vista 64 already has EFI. Driver support is there because the card is supported under windows by nVidia.