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

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GTX 650 for Mac Pro 3,1

Hello,

I want to buy a new graphic card for my Mac Pro 3,1 early 2008 (8core / 8Go) with 10.8.3.

I realized that the GTX 650 would work, but reading the reviews I see that this card does not work.
If I install the NVidia Drivers before installing the GTX 650, will it work ?

I found this card (650 Ti): http://www.ldlc.com/fiche/PB00136924.html
or this one (650): http://www.ldlc.com/fiche/PB00142541.html

Could you please tell me if they will work ?

Thanks,
 
is it better to use OSX built in drivers, or the nvidia drivers? any performance difference\benefits?
i have a 680 with mac EFI
 
Laouache said:
Hello,

I want to buy a new graphic card for my Mac Pro 3,1 early 2008 (8core / 8Go) with 10.8.3.

I realized that the GTX 650 would work, but reading the reviews I see that this card does not work.
If I install the NVidia Drivers before installing the GTX 650, will it work ?

I found this card (650 Ti): http://www.ldlc.com/fiche/PB00136924.html
or this one (650): http://www.ldlc.com/fiche/PB00142541.html

Could you please tell me if they will work ?

Thanks,
Click to expand...

I installed an ASUS GTX 650 in my early 2008 mac pro and it runs like a champ on OSX 10.8.3.

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-GTX650-D...8&qid=1370407032&sr=8-1&keywords=asus+gtx+650
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Laouache said:
Hello,

I want to buy a new graphic card for my Mac Pro 3,1 early 2008 (8core / 8Go) with 10.8.3.

I realized that the GTX 650 would work, but reading the reviews I see that this card does not work.
If I install the NVidia Drivers before installing the GTX 650, will it work ?

I found this card (650 Ti): http://www.ldlc.com/fiche/PB00136924.html
or this one (650): http://www.ldlc.com/fiche/PB00142541.html

Could you please tell me if they will work ?

Thanks,
Click to expand...

What's the purpose for your new card? Games, cad, video, ps? Or just all mentioned!
 
Hey guys, first post for me here. I've tried searching but couldn't find a specific answer for my question.

After doing some research I decided to go for the gigabyte gtx 670 with 2mb vram. The card arrived today and to my surprise it had a 6 pin and a 8 pin connector instead of 2x6 pin.

I'm pretty much a hardware illiterate so forgive the possible stupid question, but how do I get this card to work in my 4.1 macpro dual 2,26?

Thanks in advance.

Edit: I'm running 10.8.3 and have the latest nVidia drivers installed
 
Kris78 said:
Hey guys, first post for me here. I've tried searching but couldn't find a specific answer for my question.

After doing some research I decided to go for the gigabyte gtx 670 with 2mb vram. The card arrived today and to my surprise it had a 6 pin and a 8 pin connector instead of 2x6 pin.

I'm pretty much a hardware illiterate so forgive the possible stupid question, but how do I get this card to work in my 4.1 macpro dual 2,26?

Thanks in advance.

Edit: I'm running 10.8.3 and have the latest nVidia drivers installed
Click to expand...

If you can return\exchange it for a 6pin + 6pin that would be the best option.
If not you can use a 6pin to 8pin adapter, but doing that can allow the card to draw too much power and damage the logic\motherboard on your computer.
 
Good advice!!! RETURN it and for a two 6-pin model e.g from EVGA. I have the GTX-670 FTW 4GB in a Mac Pro 3.1, works like a charm running 10.8.3 & Bootcamp Win8prox64

GL & Cheers!
 
Thanks for the advice. After looking at the names of the card again, i figured out I had ordered the wrong Gigabyte card. Needed the WF2 in stead of the OC I got now. The card is going back in exchange for the other one.

Thanks all.
 
BDM STUDIOS NL said:
I have the GTX-670 FTW 4GB in a Mac Pro 3.1, works like a charm running 10.8.3 & Bootcamp Win8prox64
Click to expand...

It may work like a charm under Bootcamp but I'll bet you are only using a PCIe 1.1 bus. But you probably don't notice a difference.
 
Under 10.8.4 the actual original Nvidia driver 313.01.01d03 is not compatible. After the upgrade to 10.8.4 the internal mac driver is used.

Is that in any case an disadvantage ? Is the GTX 680 still working with the internal mac driver ?

Best,
Tom
 
Kris78 said:
Thanks for the advice. After looking at the names of the card again, i figured out I had ordered the wrong Gigabyte card. Needed the WF2 in stead of the OC I got now. The card is going back in exchange for the other one. Thanks all.
Click to expand...

YMW! Enjoy your new setup! Cheers.

----------
Topper said:
It may work like a charm under Bootcamp but I'll bet you are only using a PCIe 1.1 bus. But you probably don't notice a difference.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your comment, could you please explain your last a bit more? Cheers.
 
GP-SE said:
If you can return\exchange it for a 6pin + 6pin that would be the best option.
If not you can use a 6pin to 8pin adapter, but doing that can allow the card to draw too much power and damage the logic\motherboard on your computer.
Click to expand...

I'm running an ASUS GTX 570 which has 1x 6 pin and 1x 8 pin connector for quite some time in a MacPro 1,1. I found, that the 6 pin power cable fits into the 8 pin socket of the card (only one position possible leaving 2 pins unconnected).

Not sure, whether this works with all 6+8 pin cards and of cause I won't give any guaranty it is safe for your motherboard.

Just wanted to mention it is possible to connect a 6+8 pin card without using any 6 to 8 pin connector.
 
Cecco said:
I'm running an ASUS GTX 570 which has 1x 6 pin and 1x 8 pin connector for quite some time in a MacPro 1,1. I found, that the 6 pin power cable fits into the 8 pin socket of the card (only one position possible leaving 2 pins unconnected).

Not sure, whether this works with all 6+8 pin cards and of cause I won't give any guaranty it is safe for your motherboard.

Just wanted to mention it is possible to connect a 6+8 pin card without using any 6 to 8 pin connector.
Click to expand...

Always good to mention other setup and/or workarounds! But I agree with you, that the ASUS GTX 570 is surely not a fail-safe option!

Cheers!
 
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BDM STUDIOS NL said:
Thanks for your comment, could you please explain your last a bit more? Cheers.
Click to expand...

Under Windows you are only getting a PCIe 1.1 transfer rate of 2.5 GT/s.
This is irritating as you should be getting a PCIe 2.0 bus speed of 5.0 GT/s.
The good news is in most cases the 2.5 GT/s transfer rate is probably not a bottleneck for your GTX 670.
So, in most cases, you probably don't notice any decline in performance.

I have no idea why the 4GB 670 only uses a PCIe 1.1 bus with Windows under Bootcamp.
If you had a PC, the same 4GB 670 would be using a PCIe 3.0 bus. Go figure.
 
Topper said:
Under Windows you are only getting a PCIe 1.1 transfer rate of 2.5 GT/s.
This is irritating as you should be getting a PCIe 2.0 bus speed of 5.0 GT/s.
The good news is in most cases the 2.5 GT/s transfer rate is probably not a bottleneck for your GTX 670.
So, in most cases, you probably don't notice any decline in performance.

I have no idea why the 4GB 670 only uses a PCIe 1.1 bus with Windows under Bootcamp.
If you had a PC, the same 4GB 670 would be using a PCIe 3.0 bus. Go figure.
Click to expand...

Thanks again for your insights Topper! Let's see what the WWDC will bring us all ... At least I'm very excited about a new MP with all new & neat features!

Cheers!
 
bdm studios nl said:
at least i'm very excited about a new mp with all new & neat features!
Cheers!
Click to expand...

Fingers Crossed 2.jpg
 
GTX560 Open CL still buggered

Topper said:
Under Windows you are only getting a PCIe 1.1 transfer rate of 2.5 GT/s.

I have no idea why the 4GB 670 only uses a PCIe 1.1 bus with Windows under Bootcamp.
If you had a PC, the same 4GB 670 would be using a PCIe 3.0 bus. Go figure.
Click to expand...

This applies to ALL unmodded PC cards.

Some AMD cards require a resistor moved, while Nvidia cards have required a mod in their rom.

In fact, each AMD card has had a different resistor and each Nvidia series has had this rom mod in a different place. A moving target is harder to hit then a static one.

Someone wants to make OFFICIAL Mac cards better than hacked ones. I am quite proud that we have ALWAYS found these required mods first.

Not sure if Apple INSISTS on this or if AMD/Nvidia want to keep a profitable market for their board partners who make the Mac editions.

I would also like to point out for any Nvidia folks that with either the 10.8.3 Web Driver or the new 10.8.4 driver, OpenCl is STILL broken on GTX560 cards. PLEASE fix this.
 
I have a strange little problem here. I returned the Gigabyte card and have a EVGA GTX 670 installed now. Everything works like a charm, except that I've got a weird sound bug. I have 2 24" monitors connected to the DVI ports. I have audio connected to one of the monitors (normal analogue out). The other monitor (with only DVI connector connected) makes a strange noise that keeps humming. The monitor with the audio connected doesn't give anything. I do get sound when I use the build in speaker or the headphone jack on the front of the computer.

So cliffnotes, I don't have sound through my normal analogue out now. Any ideas what this could be?



edit: and i get this warning now when I start up AE (this is after I did the CUDA fix)

picture.php


edit2: Nevermind about the pop-up, this is fixed by updating to the latest AE patch
 
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I've been successfully using the EVGA 570 GTX for awhile in my 2009 Pro. It rocks. Black screen at boot is crappy though because you don't have a way to set your startup drive. Combine that with the fact that Bootcamp decided to stop letting me switch startup drives successfully and it's meant I have to take my Bootcamp HDD out entirely.

Of course with the new Mac Pro that won't be an issue... IT DON'T HAVE NO HDD BAYS
 
skippyfx said:
Has anyone updated to OSX 10.8.4?

Wondering if it causes any issues with the current NVidia drivers. Maybe it's best to wait this time...
Click to expand...

I updated, and as expected, the 10.8.3 web driver is disabled. Hopefully NVIDIA will ship an update soon via their auto-updater.
 
I have a Mac Pro 4,1 (patched to 5,1) with a single 2,93GHz Xeon CPU and OSX 10.8.4.

which card you suggest me?
My candidates are:
7950 (maybe vapor x)
GTX 670
GTX 680

But I prefer the 7950 for the price.
I use OSX for work and fun (CS6, Zbrush, Maya, etc.) and Windows for hardcore gaming.


A lot of cards have one 6 pin connector and 8 pin connector or two 8 pin connector.
Please advise me a tested card good for working in OSX (10.8.4) ad play in Windows (7 and 8).

This is so nice:
http://www.amazon.it/Sapphire-11196...8&qid=1370949200&sr=8-1&keywords=7950+vapor+x
But I saw pictures that show one 6 pin and one 8 pin or two 8 pin for the 7950 vapor x.

What should I buy?
 
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