Very unhappy with my 8800!

[tugger]

Better drivers soon?

How likely is it that Apple will release better drivers for the 8800 in the near term? Will we ever see comparable performance to the 3870 in the Pro apps?

Thanks.

 

[Bubba Satori]

How likely is it that Apple will release better drivers for the 8800 in the near term? Will we ever see comparable performance to the 3870 in the Pro apps?

Thanks.

No. The 3870 runs cooler, too.

 

[slughead]

How likely is it that Apple will release better drivers for the 8800 in the near term? Will we ever see comparable performance to the 3870 in the Pro apps?

Thanks.

It'll never be the same, but the 8800 will get better. I think the ATI3870 is designed more in-line with Apple's core Image stuff.

However, the 8800 should still beat the 2600, once Apple actually gets their drivers in order.

I bought an 8800 and I don't regret it--I don't use pro apps but I do game sometimes in Windows, it's a good fit for me. Apple really should be carrying the 3870 as a CTO option though, it'd ridiculous that they aren't.

 

[FireSlash]

My Mac Pro with 1900XT and two 30" ACDs worked flawlessly. Never a dancing pixel. After I upgraded to the 8800XT, I started getting the green pixels on one of the monitors. When I switched their video plugs on the card, the pixels showed up only on the other monitor. With 10.5.2, I only got the pixels very occasionally on start up. When I upgraded to 10.5.3, I now only get them very occasionally when the machine wakes from sleep, never on startup.

Theory time

I seem to remember some discussion on the pixel clock issue with my old monitor that strikes interesting here. nVidia cards tend to advance their clock timing a small degree ahead of ATI cards, which can create a green pixel distortion effect (Like the dancing green pixels you're all seeing). This issue is more common with larger monitors, which do not handle refresh rates above 60.0hz properly. Expect an nvidia card to put out around ~60.5 at 60.0hz or so. Mfg variance and revisions may cause some ACDs to be affected while others aren't, but expect the larger ones to show it more consistently.

Which brings up an interesting hypothesis, which is easy to test.

1) Collect results from users running smaller non-apple displays
2) Try using analog (RGB/VGA) instead. Analog connections are generally not affected in the same way, if at all.
3) If no other monitors are available and analog is not an option, try one of these apps and try a lower refresh rate, such as 58hz.

 

[sooty1138]

Well,
It was my Cinema Display at fault with the green pixels. Got a replacement for it and so far its been 2 weeks and no green pixels. Before they occurred every day at varying degrees.

And when I say replacement I mean a refurbushed/repaired monitor because the tech guy said Apple does not give you brand new replacement monitors UNLESS the problem continues to reoccur about 3 or 4 times. That or if you bitch long enough I suppose.

No whether its a fault in the design or what I do not know. One thing I have noticed is how much heat these things give off and the fact the monitor has no venting on it compared to the old monitors. The aluminum casing is one thing but it still is an enclosed monitor not allowing heat to escape.

Who knows, but I will say that I will not recommend such an expensive monitor to any Mac user. I even talked to some Apple techs in stores and they have said the colour quality pails in comparison to other cheaper brands. Especially if you do a lot of Photo/Video/Graphic work.

Anyway, hopefully this CD will last me longer than 3.5 months than the previous one, which happened to be my second CD replacement. Originally bought the first in Feb.

Good luck people. Welcome to the PC world.