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Frequently Asked Questions About NVIDIA PC (non-EFI) Graphics Cards
- Thread starter Asgorath
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Having just upgraded from a flashed AMD 6870 to a flashed GTX-680, this will be the first El Capitan update for me regarding Nvidia web drivers. So, after the new web drivers are released and downloaded...
apply the 10.11.3 combo update-> reboot-> install the new web drivers?
I have a Mac version 8800GT packed away should anything get dodgy, but I'm just looking for the best procedure for this first time update.
apply the 10.11.3 combo update-> reboot-> install the new web drivers?
I have a Mac version 8800GT packed away should anything get dodgy, but I'm just looking for the best procedure for this first time update.
680 can run without the web driver. The upgrade won't break anything.
However, before upgrade the OS, you better disable the Nvidia web driver. Make sure it's now running on the Apple driver, then update the OS and driver accordingly.
For unflashed maxwell card, the hardest part is how to do it without able to "see" the screen. But 680 won't have this problem. You can basically do whatever / however you want. You can even drop the Nvidia driver and run the card with only the Apple driver (if you don't need CUDA).
However, before upgrade the OS, you better disable the Nvidia web driver. Make sure it's now running on the Apple driver, then update the OS and driver accordingly.
For unflashed maxwell card, the hardest part is how to do it without able to "see" the screen. But 680 won't have this problem. You can basically do whatever / however you want. You can even drop the Nvidia driver and run the card with only the Apple driver (if you don't need CUDA).
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After the last updates, we need new web drivers for 10.11.3 and 10.10.5.
The current drivers are not compatible after the system update in El Capitan and the security update in Yosemite.
And hopefully the new drivers will be better optimized.
The current drivers are not compatible after the system update in El Capitan and the security update in Yosemite.
And hopefully the new drivers will be better optimized.
New driver for 10.11.3 is out:
http://us.download.nvidia.com/Mac/Quadro_Certified/346.03.05f01/WebDriver-346.03.05f01.pkg
FCP crash seems to have been fixed.
http://us.download.nvidia.com/Mac/Quadro_Certified/346.03.05f01/WebDriver-346.03.05f01.pkg
FCP crash seems to have been fixed.
I don’t know why, but my GT 740 doesn’t work without the web driver. Technically, it’s a Kepler card (GK107), but it actually requires the web driver to work. Without the web driver, it shows up as “Nvidia Chip Model”.
[doublepost=1453304224][/doublepost]
That’s interesting. When I go to Nvidia Driver Manager in System Preferences and hit the “Check Now” button, it reports back that there aren’t any updates.
Stock driver probably doesn't know about the PCI device ID for your specific card (i.e. the driver has a mapping of device ID to product name).
I am waiting for this one too.
And about the web driver for 10.11.3:
According to http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/97587/en-us
the 980-970 are not mentioned for support... Does the driver work for these cards?
I believe the nVidia pref panel will only fetch updated drivers that match the build number of OS X that you are running. If you are running 10.11.2, the pref pane will not offer you drivers for 10.11.3. If you update to 10.11.3 and run the pref pane again you would see them. To that extent I find the pref pane to be of limited use.
This question gets raised every so often. The answer is yes it will work on any modern Nvidia Card. The Supported Products section on the Nvidia site only mentions cards that were issued by OEM's as official Mac Edition cards. Flashed Nvidia Cards (I have an MVC flashed GTX 785) or off the shelf non flashed cards work fine with the Web Driver. Though with a off the shelf card you will not get boot screens.
Lou
I'm still using 10.10.5. There's a new web driver for the latest security update from a couple of days ago:
http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/97606/en-us
I just installed it and it works as expected.
http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/97606/en-us
I just installed it and it works as expected.
For anyone interested in my results...
I installed the EVGS SC GTX 970 card in PCIe slot 1, the original ATI 5770 HD in slot 2, and my USB3 card in slot 4.
Works very well, using a PCI power cable splitter to divide one of the motherboard PCI power outlets between the 970 and the 5770, with the other power outlet going exclusively to the 970.
The 970 gets to 80 degrees C in Windows running intensive games, the fan reaches 50% (quite loud), but the temperature never goes above 83. Seems hot but I think it can handle it. The ATI card stays around 50C all the time.
-I tried switching the ATI card slot to give more space between them for cooling, put the ATI card in slot 3 leaving the 970 in slot 1 and put the USB3 card in slot 2, but even though the Mac handles that fine with no change, in Windows Bootcamp (Windows is on its own hd) everything goes wrong. The nVidia card doesn't work at all, and the ATI card loses its drivers so it only works in very low res and I couldn't fix that. So back to original config, nVidia in slot 1, and ATI in slot 2 right up next to it.
In this configuration one small point is that Windows presents the login screen on the 'main' display (nVidia), while Mac OS insists on showing the login screen on the ATI card, even though the nVidia card is designated as the 'main' screen, which it indeed becomes once I have logged in.
I think this is a fairly good solution though ideally my second card would be something like a GT120 which requires less power and uses less space, so would be less in the way of the 970's cooling demands.
I can switch between cards easily with my monitor's hardware buttons to select input source.
Many thanks for this thread to all contributors.
If you have no plan to stress your 5770, you may put 5770 in slot 1 and 970 in slot 2. This will let the 970 have better cooling. Since both slot 1 and 2 are x16 slot anyway, so no performance plenalty as well. And if I have to kill a card (because of poor cooling), I prefer to kill the 5770 but not the 970.
Seeing chaosbunny's post above about availability of nVidia driver updated for 10.5.5 (14F1605) post Sec Update 2016 001, I thought I'd try my first system update with the GTX 970.
I always boot to Recovery partition to check disk and repair permissions before any system update. Turns out I cannot boot to Recovery partition at all with this 970 card installed. I switched to Apple's driver from the nVid driver in nVidia system pref panel first, but I still get the reboot loop with crash error report. Presumably I would have to tinker with the Recovery partition's video drivers directly to have any chance of getting it to be bootable with the 970 installed?
However I was able to successfully boot in Safe Mode: this triggers a disk check as it boots, which is checkable in Console; then I checked permissions in Disk Utility. After this I was able to update the system with a normal boot and Apple driver on, nVid driver off; then I did the Apple Security Update 2016 001 (all with the monitor switched to ATI card input). I then updated the nVidia driver, which switches it back on and the Apple driver off automatically; then rebooted, and switched to nVidia card source on monitor input, and it's all good.
I always boot to Recovery partition to check disk and repair permissions before any system update. Turns out I cannot boot to Recovery partition at all with this 970 card installed. I switched to Apple's driver from the nVid driver in nVidia system pref panel first, but I still get the reboot loop with crash error report. Presumably I would have to tinker with the Recovery partition's video drivers directly to have any chance of getting it to be bootable with the 970 installed?
However I was able to successfully boot in Safe Mode: this triggers a disk check as it boots, which is checkable in Console; then I checked permissions in Disk Utility. After this I was able to update the system with a normal boot and Apple driver on, nVid driver off; then I did the Apple Security Update 2016 001 (all with the monitor switched to ATI card input). I then updated the nVidia driver, which switches it back on and the Apple driver off automatically; then rebooted, and switched to nVidia card source on monitor input, and it's all good.
Excellent suggestion, I can't believe I didn't think of it.
With ATI in slot 1 and nVid 970 in slot 2, even though they're still hard up against each other in the PCIe bay, the 970's fans are not right up against the ATI card, they face onto open space by the small USB3 card in slot 4.
I booted into Mac OS after changing the hardware around: the nVidia card worked fine as before, but the ATI card's video flashed regularly on and off. Did a PRAM reset, and this fixed itself (tho the PRAM reset turned the nVid drivers off: I turned them back on again in the nVid control panel), Sorted.
I then booted into Windows. There was initially no vid from the nVidia, and the ATI worked fine but as the main display. The HD was churning away though, and after a while the ATI display flashed and became the secondary display without me doing anything. At this point I checked and the nVidia card had started to output video, and had become the main display again. There was a Windows message about having 'successfully installed driver for your new hardware'. Sorted!
Ran my most intensive game in Windows to check temps.
Now the temp sits around 73C average rising to absolute max of 79C for a second or two, with fan always <40%.
With the cards in the previous configuration, those figures were 79C, 83C, and 50%.
Didn't check the ATI 5770's temps: will report back if they're significantly raised (the card is never loaded now anyway).
EDIT: The 5770 has gone from 50C while the other card is gaming, to 62C (over several hours). The fan however stays at 15% whether temp is 48 or 62C, so I assume the 5770's firmware believes 62C is not worthy of a fan rpm increase, so it's probably fine.
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Which GTX 980 ti do people recommend to buy?
Priority is on lower noise and lower power consumption.
Priority is on lower noise and lower power consumption.
Perhaps this one? http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Installed-Backplate-Graphics-06G-P4-4995-KR/dp/B00YDAYOK0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1453635393&sr=1-1&keywords=GTX+980+ti
[doublepost=1453635951][/doublepost]Or this one, even lower power, does not require an additional power supply in a Mac Pro:
http://www.macvidcards.com/store/p49/Nvidia_GTX_980_Ti_6_GB.html
[doublepost=1453635951][/doublepost]Or this one, even lower power, does not require an additional power supply in a Mac Pro:
http://www.macvidcards.com/store/p49/Nvidia_GTX_980_Ti_6_GB.html
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
IMHO, given the tight power constraints on the cMP, I would avoid anything that is over clocked, as you're already getting a serious bang for buck. If you really need more horse power, get the TitanX.
As far as which version, I bought the this Zotac version from B&H Photo in NYC http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1156799-REG/zotac_zt_90501_10p_geforce_gtx_980_ti.html I typically buy from B&H if I can because they have a great return policy and they often will meet the lowest price.
Thanks, yes, power is a limitation, but these things to have high quality 1000W PSUs and it's not like I am going to be running a pair of them in SLI.
I am just trying to decide if I should go for it or hold off for the upcoming Pascal GPUs which are meant to be a massive leap forward in performance/power draw.
The current architecture is pushing over 1.5 years old and I am looking towards the oculus rift just because it is awesome.
I have a 2009 dual socket that will get bumped up to either a pair of x5680 or x5690 CPUs. The 5680 seems to be the sweet spot as far as the price/performance ratio goes. I know that they are rated higher power draw also, but I am sure I have seen builds here where people have the x5690s and a GTX 980 or above GPU.
I am just trying to decide if I should go for it or hold off for the upcoming Pascal GPUs which are meant to be a massive leap forward in performance/power draw.
The current architecture is pushing over 1.5 years old and I am looking towards the oculus rift just because it is awesome.
I have a 2009 dual socket that will get bumped up to either a pair of x5680 or x5690 CPUs. The 5680 seems to be the sweet spot as far as the price/performance ratio goes. I know that they are rated higher power draw also, but I am sure I have seen builds here where people have the x5690s and a GTX 980 or above GPU.
I have a 2011 cMP with 2x X5690, a GTX 980 Ti , 4x internal HDDs, a 16x Super Drive, Atto R680 PCIe , Atto H680 PCIe and Sonnet Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe ... so I'm just about maxing my cMP power draw, but in a way which does not overload any one area. I leave my rig on 24/7 and so far no issues (knock on wood).
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