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Frequently Asked Questions About NVIDIA PC (non-EFI) Graphics Cards

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Clearly you haven't used screensharing either, shame on you!
That's what I call 'feeding the fear', everybody keeps saying 'yeah but they say...' and that's enough for most to crawl back .
The GTX 700 series flashing is totally useless, agree. Never a black screen and ...again...screensharing!'


I often advise starters, or try to anyway,...;
-'I upgraded, but the progress bar sticks what do I do now!'
-Apparently it takes hours.......
-Users bank on TM getting it right, OSX for Dummies!!

I keep control on my own work,, thank you very much, nobody else to blame if...
 
carpsafari said:
I really don't understand anybody would flash a GTX, my favorite for Apple dummies is the GTX 780, great gpu and dummy proof.
The ones insiting on having a bootscreen should have their heads examined....

Boot manager,...hahahahaha, yeah most modern Mac dummies are too stupid to do 'screensharing'

Time Machine is backing up for dummies and even than often it goes wrong.

Users bank on TM getting it right, OSX for Dummies!!
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How the heck many times are you going to call me stupid and a dummy??????

I have a GTX 780 that was modified with an EFI by MVC. I chose to it, I use it and don't really give a darn what you think about it, or me.

But, your forum etiquette could stand a lot of improvement!

Lou
 
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I have a GTX 785 that was modified with an EFI by MVC. I chose to it, I use it and don't really give a darn what you think about it, or me.


hahahahahaha, says enough I feel pity.
 
carpsafari said:
I really don't understand anybody would flash a GTX, my favorite for Apple dummies is the GTX 780, great gpu and dummy proof.
The ones insiting on having a bootscreen should have their heads examined....
Click to expand...

Obvious the absolute greatest BS contribution to this thread!!!!
Why didn't Apple ever kill their own bootscreen???

"Don't eyeball me boy...!!!"

Arggggg...
 
carpsafari said:
I really don't understand anybody would flash a GTX, my favorite for Apple dummies is the GTX 780, great gpu and dummy proof.
The ones insiting on having a bootscreen should have their heads examined....
Click to expand...

Ehhm, no. Only the first GTX 780 with GK110 chip are working ootb in OS X, not the later with GK110B. But I'm sure you never ever heard about this.

And if you are booting Windows sometimes it's better to use option boot.
 
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hey guys! Just installed a evga gtx 970 on my 5.1 mpro.

Any tips of how to install windows on it? I've burnt a windows 8.1 iso on a DVD but im not able to install it.
 
carpsafari said:
I really don't understand anybody would flash a GTX, my favorite for Apple dummies is the GTX 780, great gpu and dummy proof.
The ones insiting on having a bootscreen should have their heads examined....
Click to expand...

There are several advantages to having the flash. Depending on your needs or preferences, you might choose to go one way or the other. I don't think anyone is a "dummy" or needs "their heads examined" based on which way they decide to go, either way.

But for those who don't understand why someone would flash and would genuinely like to know, here are the advantages that I am aware of:
  • Proper listing of card model in OS X system information.
  • Full PCI 2.0 speed in both Windows and OS X (without EFI, the PCIe speed is cut in half for Windows and for older versions of OS X). (AMD cards typically also need a hardware mod to enable this.)
  • For Maxwell-generation Nvidia cards, the ability to boot into OS X and see the GUI with default Apple drivers loaded.
  • Ability to install Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 in EFI mode instead of BIOS emulation mode, with related benefits such as fast boot, faster and more sophisticated drive access (AHCI mode), no weird hybrid partitions, support for more than 4 partitions, and support for partitions greater than 2TB in size.
  • Ability to use the 1,1 to 2,1 firmware upgrade utility.
  • Ability to use the 4,1 to 5,1 firmware upgrade utility.
  • It is one of the pieces required for enabling audio over GPU outputs.
  • Boot screens:
    • Selecting an operation system at boot time for multi-boot systems, or any time you insert a boot disk or USB thumb drive.
    • Ability to use rEFIt/rEFInd.
    • Ability to do a clean install of an operating system.
    • Booting into the recovery partition so you can use one of its many features: to restore from a Time Machine backup, to reinstall OS X, to set a firmware password, or to use Disk Utility to repair your drive.
    • Ability to use Safe Boot mode.
    • Ability to use Single User mode.
    • Ability to use Verbose mode.
    • Ability to see the password prompt for systems with the firmware password enabled.
    • Ability to see the password prompt for systems with Full Disk Encryption, such as Filevault.
    • Ability to see in any number of bootdisk-based utilities that won't initialize the GPU, such as AHT (Apple Hardware Test), MemTest86, CloneZilla, any number of Linux Live discs, etc.
    • Ability to see the Apple firmware upgrade progress (and likewise, problems).
Note that a lot of the items in the "boot screens" list will seem unimportant as long as everything is working well. But the moment you have problems, you will find that many normal avenues for troubleshooting, recovery, or even starting all over from scratch, are not available without boot screens.

As far as I know, screen sharing only works after the OS has at least partially booted up. This makes screen sharing nonviable as an alternative solution for almost everything on the list.

I understand that my knowledge is limited, and so I encourage respectful corrections to the list.
 
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also nvidia may stop updating there graphics driver, most macs use ATI cards so there's nothing to force them to update the OSX driver forever so we may hit a point where you cant update osx without braking the driver compatibility.
 
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orph said:
also nvidia may stop updating there graphics driver, most macs use ATI cards so there's nothing to force them to update the OSX driver forever so we may hit a point where you cant update osx without braking the driver compatibility.
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I've read somewhere – and agree – that the real reason NVidia keep their Mac drivers updated is the hackintosh community. Obviously I have no numbers but I'd imagine there are more hackintoshes than Mac Pros in the wild.
 
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navaira said:
I've read somewhere – and agree – that the real reason NVidia keep their Mac drivers updated is the hackintosh community. Obviously I have no numbers but I'd imagine there are more hackintoshes than Mac Pros in the wild.
Click to expand...

I imagine there are but there can't be enough to keep engineers paid.
 
im out of touch with the currant mac line up so im not shore if any of the new macs have nvidia cards, they may be updating it because apple dose some times just switch GPU brands just in case and apple is getting a growing market share but most of it is 13" laptops id gess which tend to have intell graphics.
or maybe they relay do want to support the pro users or maybe it's just vary easy to port the drivers now but relay you cant tell why they do it and it just takes some one in management trying to cut costs for it to stop.

the hack market cant be that big & if you cant quantify it i cant see how they can see the profit made by supporting it.
(dose the nvida video driver send user data home? if not they cant even tell how big the mac pro user market is)

(or they may be waiting for the day AMD/ATI go's bust)

ps im not going to complain that they do it :D makes things so easy for us but i know it may end one day

pps it might also be that with windows 10 going all lock down on games and now ppl are like >_> thinking the steam box or non windowz boxes might be a legit future platform for games keeping the devs practiced porting drivers to mac/linux like systems is a potential skill that may be needed in a few years time.
not being able to use FRAPS or something to see FPS as well as all the problems some of the Microsoft store games have + steam dose not like the idea of being cut out of the market, there top dog and want to stay top dog so a second harder linux push might actually happen
 
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What is the maximum number of double height gpu's that a MacPro 4,1 or 5,1 can hold (powered externally)? 3? I'm happy to lose two drive bays.
 
Hey guys!

Been lurking on the forum for a week before deciding to make a post.

I will be acquiring a old 2009 Mac Pro from a professor who let me purchase it from my school (I got it for a really good price) and using it as a editing station to compliment my Retina MacBook Pro.

Now I was reading this forum and this post specifically in order to learn info about what GPU upgrades are possible and their downsides. I would like to dual boot into Windows for some Adobe programs plus the occasional gaming sessions so I'd figured I'd get something decent but not too expensive. Just wanted to confirm something before I shopped around:
  • If I get the card from a place like Newegg, this would be a non-EFI card meaning no boot screen and slower PCI-e speeds in Windows.
  • MVC Flashed cards would have full 2.0 speeds in OS X and Windows but are slightly more expensive.
Is that true? Are there any downsides to buying a flashed card? Also any recommendations on a particular card would be much appreciated. Thanks :)
 
D4rkShaDoWz said:
If I get the card from a place like Newegg, this would be a non-EFI card meaning no boot screen and slower PCI-e speeds in Windows.
Click to expand...

Correct.


D4rkShaDoWz said:
MVC Flashed cards would have full 2.0 speeds in OS X and Windows but are slightly more expensive.
Click to expand...

Correct.


D4rkShaDoWz said:
Are there any downsides to buying a flashed card?
Click to expand...

None that I'm aware of. Although, I don't know how a flashed card will affect a normal PC if you ever want to move the card to a Windows box.
 
pastrychef said:
None that I'm aware of. Although, I don't know how a flashed card will affect a normal PC if you ever want to move the card to a Windows box.
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Synchro3 said:
EFI flashed cards should work in a PC, I tested it with a GTX 680.
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Thanks for the help! Are you happy with the GTX 680 or would you recommend something else? Also perhaps another site or eBay account besides Macvideocards that deals with EFI flashed cards.
 
I've got an EVGA GTX 680 2 GB Mac Edition. It is a very fine card, no issues at all. Very silent.

But over time I needed a card with 4 GB VRAM, e.g. for Premiere and GTA V (it needs approx. 3.5 GB VRAM @ 1140p, using Apple Cinema Display).

So I bought a MVC EVGA GTX 770 4 GB, running with 2 * 6 pin power. Happy with this card too, no issues at all. Now using the GTX 680 via eGPU with a Mac Mini 2012.

Still to mention that booth cards, the GTX 680 and GTX 770, already support 4K SST displays.
 
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