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Frequently Asked Questions About NVIDIA PC (non-EFI) Graphics Cards
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So let‘s say I want to convert my old Mac Pro into a Windows gaming PC without having OS X installed, I could just simply add empty hard drives and the Mac Pro would boot up in BIOS mode?
Technically yes. I did install Windows quite a few times on my cMP without bootcamp (only boot from the DVD and then run through the installation). So, OSX should be totally irrelevant in this matter (even though my OSX boot disk still there).
I installed from USB drive. Should I still try to boot with USB drive plugged in with Mac HD unplugged?
I thought Pigsyn mentioned that it will only switch to BIOS mode (or CSM) when there is no USB drive and no OS X partition in the system...
I am not sure about this, because I was not start from scratch. I installed Windows quite a few times with bootcamp. But then I realise that I can just boot from the disk and install windows (including format the drive to NTFS). My card is an EFI card, so I always have screen to work with.
I almost know nothing about those CMS, MBR, GPT... stuff. May be my HDD is already in the correct mode because I did run bootcamp long time ago. So that I can install Windows straight away.
Update:
got an extra mini 6 pin power cable for the ATI 5770 and so I have both gtx 970 and 5770 running at the same time. Booted into windows with the 5770 and installed the nvidia driver. Now the 970 is working on windows side. Finally...
Thanks for all the help!
will attempt to boot with the 970 to see if it works without the 5770.
got an extra mini 6 pin power cable for the ATI 5770 and so I have both gtx 970 and 5770 running at the same time. Booted into windows with the 5770 and installed the nvidia driver. Now the 970 is working on windows side. Finally...
Thanks for all the help!
will attempt to boot with the 970 to see if it works without the 5770.
I received my mac pro 5.1 this weekend, it came with a 5870 that has been replaced by a GTX680. I made the flash process following the guides found here and everything went well. My question is simple:
- If I install the nVidia driver will have some performance gain or run with OS X native driver is okay?
- If I install the nVidia driver will have some performance gain or run with OS X native driver is okay?
It depends (software, OSX version, driver version, etc), but seems at this moment using the Nvidia web driver is a better choice. If that is not working well on your 5,1. You can always fallback to native OSX driver by few clicks. So, it's an advantage that you can choose between drivers.
I have seen no benchmark or other evidence to demonstrate that the nVidia web drivers offer any advantage for GTX680 nor have I personally noticed any difference in use,
Thanks for your sharing, I didn't own the 680 and my reply based on the Nvidia website.
http://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2015/08/31/mac-driver/
I believe the 680 is one of the Kepler card, so it can benefit from the performance boost (in some applications). But surely your personal experience is a better reference then my Google search.
Mac Pro 5.1
24GB Ram
2x2.93ghz
El Capitan 10.11.3
I don't know where can I check the version of the native driver, but I believe it is the latest available. My main use is with Adobe CC. I will test this week with the native driver and the next with the nVidia.
Perhaps you missed this, then:
http://barefeats.com/gtx980ti.html
The web drivers are significantly faster in almost all cases, at least for the apps/games I use on a regular basis.
Those benchmarks do not test the native drivers. There is a comparison between two different versions of the nVidia web driver used on the GTX980 Ti GTX980 & GTX680
The old web drivers were comparable to the native drivers in many/most cases. The new ones are significantly faster. What more do you want? Yes, they could've included stock drivers for the GTX 680 but if they're basically identical to the old web drivers why bother?
Probably Photo & Video editing... i notice i run out at times 32 gig system here
This machine is fully dedicated to my work: images and video at high resolutions.
I'll do some tests during the next days and see which one works best in my work environment.
Thanks to all.
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I'll try that, but can I use a non-Apple GPU and use line-out audio? HDMI audio through the GPU adds a lot of signal noise.
First of all a huge thanks you. This is the most interesting post about the topic I've found in days. I have a Mac Pro 5.1 and I'm exploring the idea of updgrading my default 5770 and, even being kind of an expert in the Mac area I TOTALLY missed the fact I could aim for regular PC cards. Thanks again, you opened a world to me.
Now the hard stuff
Having used Mac for 20 years and always with their default hardware, I am completely out of the scenes if we talk about the millions of GPU and brands and options available...and for this reason my post will most probably appear as a classical newbie thing.
So...let's say I want a better video card, mainly for gaming, with a non crazy budget, something around 200 GBP; a card which I can supply easily, let's say from Amazon...where should I look into? You suggest EVGA brand, and there's many options on Amazon...but no specs present, for example, about the power requirements (6 or 8 pins, etc.)
If someone has time, I'd strongly appreciate some real suggestions
Thanks in advance
Tampano
I don't know how about him, but my machine constantly use up 24G of RAM (or more, the rest are all used as cache). I have 32G of RAM, and I simply use my Mac for Safari, HandBrake (almost running 24/7), FCPX (light editing, nothing close to professional), Chrome, Mail... these kind of "normal stuff".
I did think about run the RAM in 3x8 config for best speed. However, I end up still use 4x8G, and make sure I won't run out of RAM (however, my machine still occasionally need to use Swap).
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There is no benchmark evidence & in real life use I see no difference. The new web drivers may well be faster on the GTX980 which cannot use the native drivers but we don't have any evidence that this is true of the GTX680.
I chose the gtx 680 because I was looking for a GPU with a good performance and an attractive price, it may be a good alternative for you too. But if you're looking for an alternative plug and play with bootscreen without surprises, look at macvidcards.com, I have never traded with him, but based on what I read about him, surely he will be able to help you.First of all a huge thanks you. This is the most interesting post about the topic I've found in days. I have a Mac Pro 5.1 and I'm exploring the idea of updgrading my default 5770 and, even being kind of an expert in the Mac area I TOTALLY missed the fact I could aim for regular PC cards. Thanks again, you opened a world to me.
Now the hard stuff
Having used Mac for 20 years and always with their default hardware, I am completely out of the scenes if we talk about the millions of GPU and brands and options available...and for this reason my post will most probably appear as a classical newbie thing.
So...let's say I want a better video card, mainly for gaming, with a non crazy budget, something around 200 GBP; a card which I can supply easily, let's say from Amazon...where should I look into? You suggest EVGA brand, and there's many options on Amazon...but no specs present, for example, about the power requirements (6 or 8 pins, etc.)
If someone has time, I'd strongly appreciate some real suggestions
Thanks in advance
Tampano
I don't use 3x8 as you imagined, but 6x4, the idea is upgrade to 64gb soon.
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