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Video card problems on 2010 Mac Pros?

calderone said:
Got a base quad at work. If my displays go to sleep and are then woken up, they will sometimes come back as pure static. Unplugging and replugging in the cable fixes.

All non-Apple displays. We have had this same issue with the Mini's as well, on mini-DVI, mini-DP and HDMI. Is Apple trying to get us to buy their displays?
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From time to time, I'm having the same issue. I have the 3,2GHz with the 5870 and a single NEC MultiSync EA231WMi connected via DVI.

I also have a MDP2DP cable but it does not work correct. Somehow the MDP plug is very sensitive to any motion. I have to squeeze it in a certain direction to even get a signal via DP. Therefore I stayed with DVI since it is more stable.
 
I have three displays hanging off the 5770.

The only ones with issues are the ones on the mini-DP. Both of those are running through the dual link adapter though. Which Apple gave me for free since they initially told me that three displays would work out of the box.

Now they are shipping me a second 5770. So at worst, only one of my displays will shut off. I am hoping that dropping the dual link adapters will help, but given what I have seen with the hundreds of Minis we are deploying, I doubt the one will work fine.

VideoFreek said:
Jeez, Darlene, that's pretty bad--now you're scaring me! Frankly, having the display black out while you are working is totally unacceptable. Have you contacted Apple about this?

Actually, I'm beginning to wonder if the problem is with NEC monitors? It seems to be a common element among all people who've reported problems in this thread, and I suspect that the monitors Lloyd mentioned in his post are also NECs, since he seems to be quite fond of them. There is for sure not enough evidence at this point to be certain, but this one bears watching.
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Doubtful. The common element here is Apple and the Mini-DP. I am having problems with Dell and Viewsonic monitors.
 
calderone said:
Got a base quad at work. If my displays go to sleep and are then woken up, they will sometimes come back as pure static. Unplugging and replugging in the cable fixes.

All non-Apple displays. We have had this same issue with the Mini's as well, on mini-DVI, mini-DP and HDMI. Is Apple trying to get us to buy their displays?
Click to expand...

Also have the base quad and am seeing this issue. I have 2 HP 2207 displays that are HDMI in. On my 5770 I go from DVI>HDMI and have no issues. On the MDP>HDMI sometimes when the displays wake up, I get static. It is fixed when I unplug and plug it back in. I don't sleep the computer, only the displays.
 
I'm getting an undetected monitor with a 5870 using a Mini DisplayPort to DVI connected to either one of my 23" Cinema Displays. They both work fine on the DVI connection.

I'm wondering if the Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter will fix things or if it's a dud card.
 
jenzjen said:
I have 3 Dell U2410s hooked up to my 5870, and I have not experienced this issue running either SL or Boot Camp.

I do have one issue, though, that only occurs on the Boot Camp side. Whenever I visit a site with an embedded video and play the video and/or "back" away from this page that has the video to the prior page, I get a glitch / flicker that always affects the same 2 monitors (the ones connected with the dual DVI and 1 of the MDP ones). This doesn't happen on the Mac side, so I downloaded and installed the latest ATI driver on the Boot Camp side, and the problem still persists.
Click to expand...

That's a problem in the ATI drivers in Windows. I had an XFX 5870 in my old PC before the Mac Pro and had the same issue under Windows 7 with flash object causing the screen to flicker - it's related to the ATI Driver + Multi Display setups.
 
My second (of two) Apple 30" cinema display stays black with the 5770. So I can confirm that the problems are not related to Mac/third party screens.

The mini display to dual-link DVI adapter works fine from a laptop to a 30" and both screens work fine. It all seems to come down to the graphics card...

Some know issues + specs:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3477
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4279

And Bryan Dukes round up on connecting 3 screens:
http://blog.acceleroto.com/2010/08/...2010-mac-pro-with-3-monitors-read-this-first/

I'm bringing my computer into the mac shop tomorrow. Maybe taking out the graphics card and putting it back again can fix it - if Lloyd is right about the flaky problems. Someone else on the Mac support forums also suggested to ensure that the graphics card is fully pressed into place (I'm letting the apple guys do this - on their risk :)
 
odinsride said:
That's a problem in the ATI drivers in Windows. I had an XFX 5870 in my old PC before the Mac Pro and had the same issue under Windows 7 with flash object causing the screen to flicker - it's related to the ATI Driver + Multi Display setups.
Click to expand...

I didn't know that; thank you. Glad to know I'm not alone.
 
Same problem here, to be honest i was too busy trying to deal with the other problem my macpro has (loud popping sounds)

within the first hour of installing my macpro i had the following problem:

computer whent to sleep (because i was down stairs for like 30min. wiggled the mouse to wake the computer and all i saw was static snow on my monitor (DELL 24") to be honest i thought it was a cable problem, and didn't think much of it since turning my monitor off/on took care of the problem.

i had this mac replaced because of the loud pops it make...replacement macpro arrived...EXACT same problem again with the monitor showing nothing but static snow, you know the static you see when you're tv isn't plugged in.

again turned the monitor off/on and took care of the problem again.

to make a long story short:

my first 2010 6-core had a dodgy videocard and sound card problems (could be HDD related or motherboard related also)

my replacement also has a dodgy video card and again the audio problem.

this is my first Mac purchase and what a huge mistake it was, its pretty obvious to me that the quality of mac products is laughable. 5000$ machines, i have had a 600$ HP and never ever had these kinds of problems. Now fan boys can brag about how great and stable Macs are but i'm yet to discover it, the thing sometimes freezes for no apparel reason, force quiting don't even seem to work so have to shut down manually. Again never had this with cheap windows systems,well...not 2 times a week like with this MacPro

how overrated can a product be?

And claiming that its no biggie and Apple will sort it out with an update or driver is hilarious they should get it wright before release instead of flooding the market with crap dodgy systems.
 
I have been trying to address to sound issue with my 2010 Mac Pro. There is no question my mac pro puts out far more bass then my mac mini. I would say that were it not for my crossover i would have the popping issue. I need to play with sitting more, but with all settings the same the pro sounds like a teenagers car driving by boom boom boom. So next week I will take some measurements. My mac mini puts out a much leaner bass signal compared to the pro.
 
Lloyd just posted an update:

http://macperformanceguide.com/blog/2010/20100916_MacProVideo--macpro-bugs.html

Not encouraging.

Update on Video Issues with Mac Pro

Please refer to Sept 9 notes on the Mac Pro video problem as well as the hot corner workaround.

I’ve collected feedback from various users, including Rob-Art over at barefeats.com, and it is clear that the problem occurs with all brands of displays: NEC, Dell, Apple, etc. So it seems that Apple has a nasty bug on their hands. Whether or not Apple will do something about it, and when, is another matter.

The problem seems worst with the Mini DisplayPort and a second display, but since my own situation showed that both the DVI and MiniDisplay Port connectors can be involved, there seem to be no hard and fast rules other than a defective video card that has a determination to annoy.

Since I worked with dual displays for 18 months on my 2009 Mac Pro without trouble (indeed one of them the same display), this screwball behavior clearly falls into the camp of design defect, which we can hope that firmware will address.

On the plus side, I’ve had only a few intermittent black-outs on my 2nd display when both displays were blanked (eg for sleep mode), and those are easily dealt with via the hot corner workaround. But the idea of working with this lemon of a video card (the 5870 or 5770) for the next few years does not appeal to me.
Click to expand...
 
I have a base quad and have a dual screen setup. Noticed lately left screen is duller, right brighter.
 
it has absolutely "NOTHING' to do with dual displays or Dells or NEC, or whatever monitor brand you can come up with. the video card is dodgy and thats that, stop looking for lame excuses, Apple again ******** up bigtime. hooray for quality check!!

i run 1 monitor, no dual displays ...etc.

I'm experiencing the exact same problems, i'm thinking about just getting my money back and try and forget about this Apple adventure soon as possible. To much problems with these computers for that amount of money.

Next time when i hear or read that Apple makes quality products i'll have a good laugh...:rolleyes:
 
With folks clamouring (and I was one of them until I read this) to stick 5770s (and 5870s) in the 2006-2009 machines, I wonder if they'll be seeing similar issues.

That would effectively limit the issues to graphics cards rather than some more complex issue.
 
Running a 6-Core Hex, HD5780 on a Samsung monitor.

No issues at all in either Windows or OS X. I have not run dual monitors, which is where it seems to be an issue more often than not, but I will report back once my 27" ACD arrives and I run it in dual mode with the Sammy
 
ahavriluk said:
Is it possible that it is a monitor problem?
Click to expand...

Nope It's a video card problem. And, a problem even BIGGER than that is getting Apple to even admit they are selling dodgy video cards.

They wouldn't have had this problem if they let the video card manufacturers in and let them write the drivers and assist in integration. But Apple likes it closed system so much I guess they're willing to let this sort of thing happen.
 
I am running 5770 with Dell 24" UltraSharp monitor for couple of days. So far no issues. It goes to sleep and wake ups without any issues so far. (knock, knock...)
 
I haven't had any graphics problems with my 5870 yet, but its fan makes kind of a whirring sound. Is that normal or is the fan broken? :confused:
 
This just happened to me when I was rebooting from a software install. UGH and my pro is not even two days old yet.
 
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