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Fastest Mac GPUs with full EFI boot screens, etc, GTX570 & GTX580

I've been following this and other threads on using non-Mac graphics cards.

If I buy a modded card that does display boot screens and runs at full PCI-E 2.0 speeds, is there any possibility of some future change causing it to lose the ability to show the boot screens?

I wouldn't think so but I ask because I've got two GT120s and was planning on getting rid of one to partially pay for a better card but keeping the second so that I always have an original Apple card if needed. If I shouldn't have any problems with a modded card I'll go ahead and sell both.

I understand that an OS update may cause 3D acceleration to be lost and require the drivers be reinstalled but that doesn't seem to be a big problem.
 
The beauty of EFI is that it is static. What works for EFI64 today will continue working exactly the same for EFI64 until they change to a different standard. Think of it as a simple operating System that is held in a chip on the machine. It is almost never updated and continues working on same spec it has always worked on.

So, any of our EFI equipped cards can be counted on to continue their EFI behavior, regardless of whether Apple gets petty and temporarily cuts 3D support.

The GTX5xx support is still relative young, but the cards are solid and stable.
 
Evga gtx570

Hey guys - so I got my EVGA gtx 570 (2.5 gigs). I've installed it, removed my previous card and used the cables my Mac Pro came with (early 2009 - 4,1). OSX 10.6.8. When I boot I get a black screen.

Do I need to do anything special to get my mac to recognize this card?

Please help. Thanks.
 
phiphika said:
ok, so all I need to do is install Lion and the nVidia drivers?
Click to expand...

Correct.

1) Install Lion.
2) Update to 10.7.4.
3) Install the drivers from here.
4) Install the GTX 570.

At that point, everything should work fine.

Edit: To be absolutely clear, you'll need to use your original card for steps 1-3, the GTX 570 will only work once those steps have been completed.
 
Asgorath said:
Correct.

1) Install Lion.
2) Update to 10.7.4.
3) Install the drivers from here.
4) Install the GTX 570.

At that point, everything should work fine.

Edit: To be absolutely clear, you'll need to use your original card for steps 1-3, the GTX 570 will only work once those steps have been completed.
Click to expand...

Sort of. Note that if you just bought an nVidia GTX570 and didn't have any EFI work done to it, no matter how many driver or OS loads you do, you'll always have a black screen upon boot-up. After the OS loads, you'll see something on your screen. But prior to that: nothing.

Assuming you didn't have MacVidCards do the EFI work, then yes, you'll need another card in place to install Lion. If you have one of his cards and a Lion install USB, then you don't need another card to do the install. Pop the thumb drive in, boot the Mac and hold the Option key. Tell the Mac to boot from the thumb drive and you're off.

Also, once the card is installed, it makes a lot of sense to install the CUDA drivers which are also available on the nVidia site.

jas
 
Success with GTX5780

I just swapped my ATI Radeon HD 5870 with NVIDIA GTX570 (EVGA, 2560 MB) on a Mac Pro mid 2010 - OS X 10.7.4. Please note: In this case you DON'T need to order special Mac Pro 6-pin power chords, because the HD 5870 already has two of those attached. Just swap cards, the two power connectors: done!

I installed NVIDIA's driver (of course before swapping the cards) and Cuda driver (after swapping the cards): Cuda works.

Then I hacked the GeForceGLDriver (/Desktop/GeForceGLDriver.bundle/Contents/MacOS/GeForceGLDriver) according to Netkas: http://netkas.org/?p=1113 to get OpenCL support. This was a little harder, but worked too in the end.

OpenCL Benchmark with GTX570 (Luxmark Luxball): 6382 – compared to ATI 5870: 926. :)
 

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Hey everybody, I really appreciate the support. This is a great community.

So I installed Lion (10.7.4) and the CUDA drivers. Popped the new card in and I still get a black screen at boot (no EFI work done) and it stays black. Hard drive sounds like it's working; meaning, the boot process seems to be taking longer. I've tried this a number of times with no luck.

I too noticed that I didn't need the 6-pin cables, total waste because I have them already with the ATI card I took out.

Any ideas?
 
Figured it out guys. End user error. It turns out there are two sets of drivers from nVidia. The link jasonvp sent in his very simple steps fixed this for me. Thanks again!
 
phiphika said:
Figured it out guys. End user error. It turns out there are two sets of drivers from nVidia. The link jasonvp sent in his very simple steps fixed this for me. Thanks again!
Click to expand...

It was actually Asgorath that posted the link, I just quoted him. But I'm glad it's working. Note that when and if Apple releases 10.7.5, it'll likely nuke your drivers from nVidia. So when an OS update is released, it behooves you to wait for nVidia to release their update as well. And thus far it's happened on the same day or a day later. The wait isn't long.

Enjoy!

jas
 
ATI vs. NVIDIA benchmarks / NVIDIA crashes

initialsBB said:
It does look a little too good to be true.
Click to expand...

You're right, different scenes, sorry. The right benchmarks for the Luxball scene are 926 (ATI HD 5870) vs. 992 (NVIDIA GTX570). For the Sala scene it's 754 (ATI HD 5870) vs. 923 (NVIDIA GTX570).

As said: The GTX570 is working pretty well in my 5.1 Mac Pro, but now I noticed that there are occasionally crashes - obviously related to the graphics system (starts with weird graphics on the display, followed by crash). Anyone else experience crashes with GTX570 (OS X 10.7.4)?
 
I've been running a 2.5gb GTX570 plus a gt120 (for extra displays) in my 5,1 Mac Pro for 4 days now and have not had a single crash. I got my card from MacVidCards and it worked immediately with the boot screen.

I'm running three Dell U2711 2560x1440 displays, two off the gt120 and one off the gtx570, and all via Dual-Link DVI. No problems so far with this setup.

After adding the 570 to Adobe Premiere Pro's list of accepted cards Video editing has been FLYING the past few days.

This was an invaluable upgrade to my system.
 
MacVidCards said:
Still have to iron out the DisplayPort but shouldn't be a problem. I got it working on a GTX470, this is quite similar.

EDIT: Good news !!! Got GTX570 to run with Displayport and DVI as outputs. No need for external power, full boot screens on either display. This includes an Apple MDP display like 27" !!!

2.5 GB of DDR5 and it only needs 2 @ 6 pins...so no special adapters needed. Super sweet card if you use CUDA. Will also be adding more Dual DVI cards. Running at full PCIE 2.0 5.0 GT/s speed. (most flashed cards run at 2.5 GT/s, the speed of a 1,1 Mac Pro...but the Ebay vendors don't mention this since they have no clue how to make it work right)
Click to expand...

Good Day,

New Member here drawn by the lure of actually having some real Open GL horse power (What a concept) in a Mac. This is fantastic news! I have an older 2008 Mac Pro that I adore and IMO, easily the Best Machine that Apple ever built. Been a serious Mac User for years now and for the last 5 years have been using Mac extensively for 3D (yeah I know an odd bird indeed). While being a serious Mac Devotee, I must confess to some consternation regarding the strategies of Apple in regards to the offerings in this respect. What Apple offers in the next generation of machines will determine whether we soldier on with Apple or switch to a wintel solution. 3D is very demanding and with Apple increased pricing the return on the premium (Something we have always felt was justified in the past (based on returns) and were always willing to pay) on Apple Computers is diminishing (a sad thing to have to admit to).

Regardless, this is a truly amazing development as My Mac Pro has proven to be a first rate 3D machine and even stacks up favorably against a newer wintel box (which I have assembled). Oddly to say I still prefer to work on my Mac Pro over that of my faster, very stable and reliable wintel box.

So yes, I am interested and will be pursuing this route as we wait and see just what Apple will do. This should add another solid year of performance on My present (and beloved) 2008 Mac Pro Tower.

You are indeed a welcome sight in this land. Please keep us posted on new developments.
 
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Are there any links detailing the work that MacVidCards does on the actual card. I don't mean to come down on MacVidCards. I am very grateful that he has made a GTX 580 possible on the Mac Pro. I have been wanting to understand more about EFI because of the issues we are having installing Windows 7 via EFI boot and modding my own video seems to be a decent exercise in learning more about the underlying architecture of EFI. I have searched and not come up with any relevant info on their actual procedure. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it.
 
New update to MacVidCards Fermi EFI cards, no longer need to remove AGPM kext !!!

We were curious why we needed to remove AGPM kext in 10.6 and 10.7 but NOT in 10.8.

So we did some digging in the drivers and discovered a way to integrate the EFI with the driver better right from boot.

We have been phasing in the new cards. If you have a card with a hand written "A" on the back, it has this AGPM upgrade. Oddly, this means about 2-5% CUDA performance drop. Not sure why, but it is repeatable. But it sure is nice to not have to remove or modify this kext with every update.
 
EVGA GTX570 causes fan to speed up, no CUDA

Bought new 2.5 gig GTX 570 card from Newegg, followed all previous instructions for installation. Mac Pro started and after 19 seconds of Black, graphics were good.

However, I am using a trial version of Adobe CS6 and I could not get CUDA recognized by Adobes Mercury Engine. I had installed CUDA 4.7.2.

My worst problem was that the card cage fan was running at a notably higher speed, causing fan noise. I removed the 570 and reinstalled a GT120.

I am very frustrated and ready to send the card back to Newegg. I really need the CUDA and also CL for Final Cut Pro X.

Please help, I am a total newbie on this forum and to the Mac but very technically capable. Thanks in advance!
 
MacVidCards said:
The GTX570 is the new "Sweet Spot" in that it offers the performance e of the GTX480, while using power that is available in Mac Pro.
Click to expand...

MVC, would like your recommendation for the perfect modded card from you. This is a research question for equipment that I will have. For the purposes of this question I'm assuming a new 2010 MP. If I wanted the best of both worlds performance-wise (CUDA for APP CS6/AE *and* OpenCL for FCPX), with max possible CUDA performance (# of cores), max possible RAM, and max flexibility of monitor hookup options, via one of the following three options:

1) Two Apple 27" displays,

2) One Apple 27" display and one 3rd party 27" display (this display can be a little smaller if necessary, or if not available in 27"), or

3) Two 3rd party 27" displays (same note from #2 applies)

...factoring all of that in, which of your video cards would you recommend and what are the specs of that card? And do you have any advice concerning pros/cons of the 3 monitor options? Thanks in advance for your help. :)
 
There is one guaranteed home run right now, the GTX570 with 2.5 GB.

Has a Displayport and a DUal Link DVI port.

Can run 2 @ Apple LED displays if you get an appropriate Atloona adapter.

The EFI boot screen will appear on either port.

No longer need to remove AGPM kext.

Install 10.7.4 Nvidia drivers

Install MacVidCards GTX570 2.5 GB

Boot up to stunning GPU horsepower.

Sucks the headlights out of a 5870.
 
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MacVidCards said:
There is one guaranteed home run right now, the GTX570 with 2.5 GB.

Has a Displayport and a DUal Link DVI port.

Can run 2 @ Apple LED displays if you get an appropriate Atloona adapter.

The EFI boot screen will appear on either port.

No longer need to remove AGPM kext.

Install 10.7.4 Nvidia drivers

Install MacVidCards GTX570 2.5 GB

Boot up to stunning GPU horsepower.

Sucks the headlights out of a 5870.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply, and sounds great! So glad I saw this thread and will definitely keep this in mind as the way to go when ready to purchase.

Just a few more questions:

1) Via what software is there support for multiple displays, since the only noted software install is for the 10.7.4 Nvidia drivers? That is, the stock Windows model seems to have a control panel for this. How is it done on the Mac side with your modded card?

2) The reason I'm interested in multi-display use is so that if I want I can put the preview screen on a dedicated monitor, apart from the timeline and various palettes, so that I can see it full size, and I want to make sure that this can be done via what I think they refer to as Extended Mode. Do I understand that correctly?

3) On your modded card, are independent resolution and refresh rates per each monitor still supported in Extended Mode?


Please advise, and thanks again! :)
 
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MacVidCards said:
There is one guaranteed home run right now, the GTX570 with 2.5 GB.
Click to expand...

In your opinion, would the jump to your mod GTX580 3.0 GB (new) be worth the extra money over and above the GTX570, in terms of overall CUDA and OpenCL performance? I understand that the external PSU would be required with the GTX580 so I am taking that into account in asking this question.

Assuming the GTX580 also does multi-display, almost the same questions I have about the 570 apply for the 580 (if the jump is worth it):

1) Ebay ad doesn't say specifically, but I assume your mod 580 works with dual ACD 27" via Atlona adaptation also - yes?

2) Via what software is there support for multiple display configs, since the only noted software install (per ebay ad) is for the 10.7.3 Nvidia drivers? That is, the stock Windows model seems to have a control panel for this. How is it done on the Mac side with your mod card?

3) The reason I'm interested in multi-display use is so that if I want I can put the preview screen on a dedicated monitor, apart from the timeline and various palettes, so that I can see it full size, and I want to make sure that this can be done via what I think they refer to as Extended Mode. Do I understand that correctly?

4) On your mod card, are independent resolution and refresh rates per each monitor still supported in Extended Mode?
 
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