I would say that most of the MR contributors are probably Generation Y... with "me me me now now now" attitudes. But, I guess that's what keeps the threads interesting; the different points of view. As for me, I mowed lawns to earn cash to buy NES games. What a difference 20+ years can make.... I guess my point is, instead of getting upset that our younger contributors can't see our points of view, we should try to do a better job explaining it to them. In the end, we still may not agree, but we can at least respect other opinions.
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Upgrading old Mac Pro to 8800 GT graphics?
- Thread starter Fezzy
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I would say that most of the MR contributors are probably Generation Y... with "me me me now now now" attitudes. But, I guess that's what keeps the threads interesting; the different points of view. As for me, I mowed lawns to earn cash to buy NES games. What a difference 20+ years can make.... I guess my point is, instead of getting upset that our younger contributors can't see our points of view, we should try to do a better job explaining it to them. In the end, we still may not agree, but we can at least respect other opinions.
Call of Duty 4 rocks! You'll love it!
I've been playing it on my MP with the x1900, graphics set to low so that it's somewhat playable.
the 8800gt will get me more head shots.. or get shot less.. whichever works.
mine ships the 18th!
.. and for the haters out there, I use my MP heavily for work, so don't judge.
I've been playing it on my MP with the x1900, graphics set to low so that it's somewhat playable.
the 8800gt will get me more head shots.. or get shot less.. whichever works.
mine ships the 18th!
.. and for the haters out there, I use my MP heavily for work, so don't judge.
I can't understand why people judge what other people do with their computers. If someone want's to drop 9k on a bad-#ss Mac Pro and then do nothing but play chess, whatever. MYOB.
exactly.. its their money right?
i'd rather pay the apple tax and get the 8800 than get a xbox/ps3 AND pay the monthly fee for online multiplayer.
Paying for multiplayer when it's free on the PC ? .. I don't get how the console makers get away with that.. but thats a different thread/forum...
i'd rather pay the apple tax and get the 8800 than get a xbox/ps3 AND pay the monthly fee for online multiplayer.
Paying for multiplayer when it's free on the PC ? .. I don't get how the console makers get away with that.. but thats a different thread/forum...
I can't understand why people judge what other people do with their computers. If someone want's to drop 9k on a bad-#ss Mac Pro and then do nothing but play chess, whatever. MYOB.
I heard Ati and Nvidia are rivals in a machine too, installed at the same time.
Been known to be wrong before though.
Btw, I found a program that can flash your Woodcrest cpu into a Harpertown, but it may destroy $1400.00 worth of processors. Can one of you guys try it out for me if I upload the patch. I'm not good at these things. lol
Been known to be wrong before though.
Btw, I found a program that can flash your Woodcrest cpu into a Harpertown, but it may destroy $1400.00 worth of processors. Can one of you guys try it out for me if I upload the patch. I'm not good at these things. lol
How do you know I haven't contributed? Where have I begged for someone to flash a card for me? Why do you like to be a bitter drone and assume? I wrote plenty of emails to apple and the "supposed" Steve Jobs e-mail address, I think I did my part for this thread. Why is it so crazy for me to want to pay the same price for the same exact card as PC users? This isn't about store bought cookies vs. mom's cookies. This is the same cookie made by a single factory. You make horrible metaphors. I wouldn't be complaining if it's a 50 dollar markup, I'd probably suck it up. All they really had to do was update a firmware to make good on their claim that the Mac Pro is upgradable. Yes, this is a card for a small market so how much money can they really make? If they're breaking even on the card to keep potential customers happy, is a $100 dollar markup on a $180 dollar card(MSRP PC version.. and those stores aren't breaking even either) a fair price for a firmware update? Well I'm going to continue to question that but you can accept the status quo and just take whatever they dish out at you.
Although they may have had to rewrite the firmware, apple clearly did not have to re-engineer this card to work in the 1st generation mac pros. Even though if I purchase this card it will likely be from apple, I don't see why anyone should discourage flashing. As far as im concerned, If apple isnt selling the card at a reasonable enough pricepoint for someone to warrant the extra labor of flashing a card then that is up to them.
Well, the market will pay what the market will bear.
I understand the frustration.. but take a walk with me and look at the bigger picture.
If I get a PC version of the 8800, I have to get what? A PC.
So, I have this whizbang MacPro that has an OS that I find much more stable and adaptable to my work requirements, but I also sometimes want to play games or run some other apps on Windows. The stock 7300gt works great for me in OSX but since I'm a frequent PC gamer, I can boot into bootcamp and have my fix.
But gosh, this 7300gt is lame on CoD4! (and I love CoD4.. did I mention that ? )
So I have 2 choices.
I can buy a PC or pay a $100 premium on the apple version of the 8800gt.
Another PC is what ? ~$800 ? (at least $500 for a half-decent gaming rig)
So users will eat the $100 to save $500.. not to mention having 2 computers in an already crowded study.
Makes better sense now? It is probably THE choice for those who would rather have a single tower solution but have the benefits of both operating systems.
Apple knows this and they will charge what they can, they are out to make money after all.. and once again the market will pay what the market will bear.
So when you take a larger view, you end up saving money, even after paying the apple tax.
You can of course buy a PC version, flash it, moon it whatever (just like i did with the PC version of the ATIx1900 in my MP right now)
.... but you have not taken into account that flashing voids warranty.. you brick it, you bought it.. no exchanges etc..
The apple price includes warranty yadah yadah.. Is that $100 worth the warranty and support? not taking the risk of frying the $180 PC version? piece of mind? ..thats an individual's choice and, like buying stock, risk tolerance level.
I understand the frustration.. but take a walk with me and look at the bigger picture.
If I get a PC version of the 8800, I have to get what? A PC.
So, I have this whizbang MacPro that has an OS that I find much more stable and adaptable to my work requirements, but I also sometimes want to play games or run some other apps on Windows. The stock 7300gt works great for me in OSX but since I'm a frequent PC gamer, I can boot into bootcamp and have my fix.
But gosh, this 7300gt is lame on CoD4! (and I love CoD4.. did I mention that ? )
So I have 2 choices.
I can buy a PC or pay a $100 premium on the apple version of the 8800gt.
Another PC is what ? ~$800 ? (at least $500 for a half-decent gaming rig)
So users will eat the $100 to save $500.. not to mention having 2 computers in an already crowded study.
Makes better sense now? It is probably THE choice for those who would rather have a single tower solution but have the benefits of both operating systems.
Apple knows this and they will charge what they can, they are out to make money after all.. and once again the market will pay what the market will bear.
So when you take a larger view, you end up saving money, even after paying the apple tax.
You can of course buy a PC version, flash it, moon it whatever (just like i did with the PC version of the ATIx1900 in my MP right now)
.... but you have not taken into account that flashing voids warranty.. you brick it, you bought it.. no exchanges etc..
The apple price includes warranty yadah yadah.. Is that $100 worth the warranty and support? not taking the risk of frying the $180 PC version? piece of mind? ..thats an individual's choice and, like buying stock, risk tolerance level.
People keep saying the markup is due to a smaller market? That is kind of BS if you know how Nvidia cards are distributed. There are tons of companies that sell the 8800gt for example : BFG, PNY, etc. This is not PC market vs Mac market this is company market vs company market. If you look at an individual PC company distributing their 8800gt I doubt they sell many more than Apple will sell of theirs! Take PNY or BFG and Apple over the same amount of time at I bet Apple would be tied or not far behind, especially if the prices were the same. It is also EASIER for Apple to sell a 8800gt because they have one customer - while companies like PNY and BFG have to compete with the PC market and possibly pay for ads and additional marketing. In the end there is no big R&D cost to cover people are talking out their ass with that one. All companies that release the 8800gt had to do some R&D as well.
It's not that much more expensive though so I think most people can live with the extra cost.
It's not that much more expensive though so I think most people can live with the extra cost.
I want the 8800gt for Cinema and After Effects - both will be improved over my stock 7300. And when I've finished 4 or 5 hours of work I can kick back with COD4 on good settings at last!
Hey dudes, how about the noise level when using the 8800GT in a "old" Mac Pro?
I use my computer in a studio, and I do NOT want more noise from it. Although it would be nice to be able to play some games every now and then
Same here - I would like to know how loud the noise is when not gaming. Don't want my Mac getting into my recordings
Why is it...
Right now the only card I am running in my 2007 Mac Pro is a BFG 8800GTS 512 OC (overclocked). It is set to boot right into Windows XP64.
All I did to get it working in Windows:
1 - uninstall the ATI X1900 XT drivers and then shut down
2 - unplug the power cable and remove the X1900 XT
3 - plug in the 8800GTS and plug in the power cable from the X1900 XT
4 - fire up the Mac Pro into Win XP64 and install the drivers from Nvidia.
5 - It works great.
Why is it that you need a special card for OSX, just EFI? Shouldn't just having OSX drivers for the 8800 be enough, since it works fine in Windows? BTW, I haven't tried to run OSX yet, since I don't have Mac drivers for the card.
Right now the only card I am running in my 2007 Mac Pro is a BFG 8800GTS 512 OC (overclocked). It is set to boot right into Windows XP64.
All I did to get it working in Windows:
1 - uninstall the ATI X1900 XT drivers and then shut down
2 - unplug the power cable and remove the X1900 XT
3 - plug in the 8800GTS and plug in the power cable from the X1900 XT
4 - fire up the Mac Pro into Win XP64 and install the drivers from Nvidia.
5 - It works great.
Why is it that you need a special card for OSX, just EFI? Shouldn't just having OSX drivers for the 8800 be enough, since it works fine in Windows? BTW, I haven't tried to run OSX yet, since I don't have Mac drivers for the card.
so i guess no one saw my post. could someone help me out? i didn't want to start a new thread
I guess you don't read that much on these forums.
Every graphic card in the world will work if u run Windows. The issue with using OSX is not the drivers, it's the fact that OSX uses the newer EFI instead of ancient BIOS.
Microsoft would switch from BIOS if they could but having using it for such a long time it's really hard to do, would require lots and lots of recoding.
Graphic card makers, being a company and thus trying to make money, make cards for BIOS since the majority of the world is using Windows.
So why does BIOS cards work on a Mac in windows? Because using boot camp, you emulate BIOS in order to use Windows. The PC-card gets what it wants.
Apple could probably emulate bios for OSX also in order to use PC-cards in OSX. But that would be a step back in technology + they would not make money on the graphic cards. Two things Apple do-not-want.
Not to mention all the new drivers you need to jam in.
Thanks for the info Cindori - this is my first Mac and I am still learning how it functions compared to PC's. So when (or if) Micro$oft moves to UEFI it might solve the Video card issue...
I know I have read in the past that there have been problems running two cards of different manufacturers (1 ATI and one nvidia), I believe it was especially problematic in FCS2. This information was in respect to a 7300gt and an X1900 XT
extra $ for Apple
If you think Apple is r@ping you with hardware monopoly and you are against it based on principle, you can buy 8800GT directly from NVIDIA for ummmm.. same price.
https://store.nvidia.com
NVIDIA is happy to take extra $ for Mac 8800GT as well.
By the way, Apple is not encuring extra R&D cost as that is done by NVIDIA. Steve Jobs seems to peg delay in Mact 8800GT for old Mac Pro on NVIDIA, not on Apple R&D team.
If you think Apple is r@ping you with hardware monopoly and you are against it based on principle, you can buy 8800GT directly from NVIDIA for ummmm.. same price.
https://store.nvidia.com
NVIDIA is happy to take extra $ for Mac 8800GT as well.
By the way, Apple is not encuring extra R&D cost as that is done by NVIDIA. Steve Jobs seems to peg delay in Mact 8800GT for old Mac Pro on NVIDIA, not on Apple R&D team.
And according to Nvidia's web site the card is "In Stock: Available for Backorder" whatever that means. I thought it would be either in stock or back ordered.
mine shipped yesterday and arrives today. it's out on the truck for delivery
Yeah, so wtf ? How does it work. R U happy? Mine wont arrive till next week.