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GTX680 4GB - ROM Image - Full Boot Screens, Full Clock Rates & PCI-E 2.0 - 5GT/s

Anyone try this with a 3,1?

Hey there, thanks much for all this incredible info. Checking the thread and the signatures of those posting, it looks like everyone is on a MP 4,1 or 5,1.

Please forgive me if I missed it somehow, but has anyone tried this on a 2008 Mac Pro, the 3,1?

Super curious if PCIe would still be at 5GT/s Link Speeds on a 3,1 with this flash method, or if it's merely getting PCIe 2.0 Link speeds of 5GT/s due to the Mac Pros being version 4,1 or 5,1, as described by MVC post #69 in this thread.

Thanks much for any help here!
 
stmp said:
Hey there, thanks much for all this incredible info. Checking the thread and the signatures of those posting, it looks like everyone is on a MP 4,1 or 5,1.

Please forgive me if I missed it somehow, but has anyone tried this on a 2008 Mac Pro, the 3,1?

Super curious if PCIe would still be at 5GT/s Link Speeds on a 3,1 with this flash method, or if it's merely getting PCIe 2.0 Link speeds of 5GT/s due to the Mac Pros being version 4,1 or 5,1, as described by MVC post #69 in this thread.

Thanks much for any help here!
Click to expand...

MacVidCards said:
Actually, not quite accurate. A 3,1 Mac Pro does not get 5.0 speeds from Nvidia drivers with unflashed cards, just 4,1 and later. EFI cards do get in lower 2 slots.

You should always test card with original rom before flashing.

You should always back up original rom before flashing. I mean ALWAYS !!!

If card works with original but acts up after flashed than rom isn't right.
Click to expand...

What MacVidCards is true. I am currently on a 5,1 Mac Pro. But, I have a MacVidCards flashed GTX570. I've had the GTX570 for close to a year now. It's a Gigabyte 3 fan Windforce 3 model that I sent in to MacVidCards for flashing. I never used it out for the box. It was originally installed in my old 3,1 Mac Pro and worked in the bottom slot without issue and it also ran at the full PCIe speed of 5.0 GT/s. When I got my 5,1, I transferred the GTX570 to my new Mac and put the HD5770 in my old 3,1 before I sold it. So yes, a correctly flashed GTX card will run at full speed in a 3,1 Mac Pro.

Lou
 
BigChrisUK said:
Hi,

Just to clarify, you bought this card

Which is a single 8 pin, and used the existing 2 x 6 pins to run it? Apologies for my dumbness, theres a lot to divulge on this thread.

You then ran the ROM image kindly provided on this thread and all worked well? No external PSU needed? Full boot screen and clock rates?
Click to expand...

That is the card, however plenty of other 4GB cards seem to work as stated by others in this thread.

That card has one 6-pin and one 8-pin connector. I connected one 6-pin cable directly to each connector.

Yes, I used the MAC ROM in the thread. No extra PSU needed. Boot screen, yes.

As Dr Stealth posted already, the MAC ROM in this thread has reference clock rates. He used Kepler BIOS Tweaker to copy the FTW ROM values over the reference values in the MAC ROM. I ran at the reference rates for a while just to make sure everything was working, then I followed his footsteps and did the same.

So to answer your last question, yes full FTW clock rates, but that requires the extra step of using Kepler BIOS Tweaker.

pastrychef said:
Did you compare the Boost Table in Kepler Bios Editor?
Click to expand...

I only changed the values to match on the common tab. Should I be doing something with the boost table too? I could take a look tonight and report back if there is something you want to see.
 
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stmp said:
Super curious if PCIe would still be at 5GT/s Link Speeds on a 3,1 with this flash method, or if it's merely getting PCIe 2.0 Link speeds of 5GT/s due to the Mac Pros being version 4,1 or 5,1, as described by MVC post #69 in this thread.

Thanks much for any help here!
Click to expand...

Properly flashed Nvidia cards will run at 5GT/s in Mac Pros 3,1-5,1.
 
Questions!

hey man, i have the 680 mac edition 2GB, i was looking into getting 2 4GB versions like you have, but my 680 alone gets some hefty heat playing games like skyrim with massive amounts of graphics mods.

how are your temps? and are you using any type of extra cooling systems?
i was thinking about making a gpu water cooling loop, with an exterior pump and resevoir, i was just going to buy second empty mac pro 5,1 case and put them side by side.

what are you suggestions?

Thanks :)
 
aww man i just got this mesage and it didnt flash...im using the evga ftw 680 4gb in a 2010 mac pro quad

5edt.png
 
ScrappyCoco said:
aww man i just got this mesage and it didnt flash...im using the evga ftw 680 4gb in a 2010 mac pro quad
Click to expand...

You have to run the command manually from the command line with the right switches. That's addressed in the thread already. You should read through it! :rolleyes:
 
ScrappyCoco said:
aww man i just got this mesage and it didnt flash...im using the evga ftw 680 4gb in a 2010 mac pro quad

Image
Click to expand...

If you used the flashBIOS function from Kepler BIOS tweaker, NVflash is supposed to give you a choice to either continue or abort. Somehow it just aborted without giving you a choice. Did you have your GPU in slot 2? Maybe you should try it in slot 1 and see if it'd work? Or you may just have to run NVflash under the command line directly with forced flash options, something like "nvflash -4 -5 -6 GTX680-4GB-ROM.rom". Google NVflash if you're not sure how to use it in command line but try slot 1 first.
 
xcodeSyn said:
If you used the flashBIOS function from Kepler BIOS tweaker, NVflash is supposed to give you a choice to either continue or abort. Somehow it just aborted without giving you a choice. Did you have your GPU in slot 2? Maybe you should try it in slot 1 and see if it'd work? Or you may just have to run NVflash under the command line directly with forced flash options, something like "nvflash -4 -5 -6 GTX680-4GB-ROM.rom". Google NVflash if you're not sure how to use it in command line but try slot 1 first.
Click to expand...

its in slot 2 currently because slot 1 makes the computer fans act up
 
That error message is normal; the slot position didn't cause it. Assuming you've made your backup file of the original ROM already, go ahead and flash.
 
ActionableMango said:
That error message is normal; the slot position didn't cause it. Assuming you've made your backup file of the original ROM already, go ahead and flash.
Click to expand...

attempted to flash in slot one and the same error happened..can someone tell me how to flash thru command line the google searches rendered me crosseyed. please.
 
ScrappyCoco said:
attempted to flash in slot one and the same error happened..can someone tell me how to flash thru command line the google searches rendered me crosseyed. please.
Click to expand...

I had assumed you were trying it already since xcodeSyn gave you the command line code:

xcodeSyn said:
Or you may just have to run NVflash under the command line directly with forced flash options, something like "nvflash -4 -5 -6 GTX680-4GB-ROM.rom"
Click to expand...
 
ScrappyCoco said:
i typed v into command prompt but i don't think thats were you do it right?
Click to expand...

Here is a step-by-step version for flashing a GTX680 card in Windows. There is also a FreeDOS method, but I don't know anything about that.

Do this at your own risk. Some exotic GTX680s cannot be flashed successfully (some can). Nearly all plain ones can. If you are concerned about it, pick one that's already been verified by someone else in this 4GB thread you're in right now, or this other thread for 2GB models: Confirmed and Possible Flashable GTX680 Models.

Notes:
  • You have to boot Windows natively on your Mac Pro or on a PC (do not do this in a virtual machine like VMWare or Parallels).
  • The GTX680 card must be installed in the computer. Don't have any other video cards installed at the same time.
  • There is no point in flashing a GTX 680 for a Mac Pro 1,1 or 2,1. You will not gain boot screens.

1) Obtain these files:
  • An older version of NVflash (5.134) that works with GTX 680 cards, from here.
  • If you have a 2GB card, get the ROM for it here. This is from EVGA.
  • If you have a 4GB card, get the ROM for it here. This is from Fl0r!an.
2) Unzip NVflash.zip.

3) Unzip the ROM file. For 2GB cards, the 2GB ROM filename ends in .BIN; rename it to end in .ROM. The 4GB ROM is fine.

4) Copy the above files to a single folder that is easily accessible from the command prompt. I suggest you make a new folder C:\mango. If you come up with your own folder name, don't use spaces in it. The folder should include the following files:
nvflash.exe (and related files from the ZIP)
gtx680mac.rom (for 2GB cards)
GTX680-4GB-ROM.rom (for 4GB cards)​

5) Open a command line window:
Click Start button, type CMD, and press Enter. (A command line window will open.)​

6) In the command line window, navigate to the folder with the files. To use my example, the command would be:
Code: 
cd c:\mango

7) Save your existing firmware to a file for backup in case you want to flash the original back in. I recommend you don't use spaces in the filename.
Code: 
nvflash -b Backup.rom

8) Flash in the new firmware. The following example shows the 4GB ROM file, but substitute the proper filename for your card:
Code: 
nvflash -4 -5 -6 GTX680-4GB-ROM.rom

9) If it asks for confirmation, press yes. When it says to wait, wait.

10) After it is successful, reboot and you will see boot screens.

11) Celebrate.

-----------
If you want to flash your old ROM back in, use step 8 but replace the filename with your backup ROM filename (Backup.rom from the example) from step 7.
-----------
Note For Windows 10 EFI Users: In a couple of cases a GTX680 flashed with EFI ROM installed into a Mac Pro running Windows 10 installed in EFI mode may have very long boot times or may boot to a black screen. This does not happen if Windows 10 is installed in CSM/BIOS mode.
 
Last edited:
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kennyman said:
Hello
Do you think this rom will work with a GTX 680 Classified (2 x 8 Pin)?
Click to expand...

ActionableMango said:
I believe someone tried that card, but I don't recall how it went. Read the thread.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that was me! Look around post #8 in this thread. I got the GTX680 Classified 4GB on sale from NewEgg for ~$460 just before they became "discontinued". It is still in the box! :eek: I've been going nuts with work and haven't time to install everything and shuffle items around in my computer, and I can't afford to have a SNAFU with critical work at the moment. I'll update here with news when I finally get it installed!

@ActionableMango: hope your blu-ray drive is going great! I got the same LG drive and it has worked fine -- it was a good choice! Cheers!
 
Thanks Durex, after reading couple of posts here about 6 pin to 8 pin bad adventures, I did not purchase the GTX 680C. In fact I bought Asus GTX 680 (GTX680-DC2T-2GD5). That thing is huge and it prevents me from accessing my second x16 pcie slot, so I returned it. I am currently using an old GTX 9800 from a spare PC.

I was playing around with my friend`s MP (2012 8-Core with HD 7950), did some content rendering tests on Mavericks today, it looks like it has better support for AMD rather than NVIDIA. Weird thing is I could not find old kexts, like Apple Graphics Power Management etc... Mavericks is a different beast, it has better OpenGL support across the platform. Now I am not sure what to purchase Nvidia or AMD:confused:
 
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