Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
How to flash GTX 970 with EFI BIOS?
- Thread starter Zaithe
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Thank you for your info. How easy is it to make your own rom? As easy as grabbing a 680 rom and modifying the configuration?
I have absolutely no idea how can produce a Mac EFI ROM for Nvidia card. If you can figure that out, and willing to teach us for free, please remember to come back.
You just open up the code and type in the code to run the 970. No big deal.
Yes, the action is easy, but I just don't know what I should type in. It seems a bit too hard for me to get every single bit right just by luck.
I bought two GTX680s, flashed both, kept one, sold the other.
It sold for ~double the unflashed cost so I effectively got mine for free
</smug>
With a GTX 970 will the card be handicapped in OSX in regards to performance with the web driver installed? I could deal with no bootscreen if i had to. If so i guess i will have to take it in to get flashed or else i run the risk of bricking it. I'm a programmer but not a ROM engineer. Seems like i shouldn't even waste my time trying from what your saying. Does anybody own a flashed 970 which they could download the rom using software like nvflash?
Hi. Welcome to MR site and the solution to your problem..sell your current Mac Pro and run for your life.
AFAIK, in OSX, there is no performance difference between flashed or non flashed card once the web driver installed.
I would if i could but i work from home and the industry i work in require me to use apple products. I got a good setup though. mid 2012 12 core 3.46ghz mac with 64GB 1333mhz ECC Registerd memory. 1TB Sata3 Raid, 1TB M.2 Raid and a 6TB Raid 1. Should outperform the top grade 2013 model in most areas.
Quoted from the macvideocards website:http://www.macvidcards.com/what-are-the-benefits-of-buying-a-flashed-card.html
- When installed in a Mac Pro a stock PC GPU will only be able to utilize the outdated PCIe 1.0 format. A card flashed with a Mac BIOS will be able to work at PCIe 2.0 speeds, supporting twice the data rate.
So your saying if i use bootcamp and install the latest driver for the card in windows it won't properly utilize it?
Yep.
PCIe 2 - OSX
PCIe 1 - Bootcamp/Windows
If boot screens and rev 2 speeds in win are important to you, only option is to send it in for flashing. If you think you can survive without seeing a silly boot screen (Apple logo, or option/boot menu), please remember that nvidia web driver is locked to OS build, so until you see a driver update hold off on updating OSX. So many threads on this here, please read around and search...education is power.
Looks like i'm going to have to do it then i guess. I also want the rig to be gaming ready on windows. What if i use a VM and interface it directly with my video card within OSX?
That could be more of a perf hit than just using it natively with PCIe 1
The thing to remember about graphics cards and PCIe is that the cards have a good amount of onboard RAM that essentially acts as a fast cache. They're not going over the PCIe bus for everything they do, and so there being a bit less bandwidth isn't necessarily a showstopper.
Of course, as an enthusiast, I understand the appeal of having hardware firing on all cylinders.
Last edited:
idk the games i play currently max out this card on a windows pc so I think i'll just bite the bullet and pay to have it flashed. Maybe after it's flashed i'll download the rom and peak inside. Thank you everyone for your help. Feel free to chime in if you have anymore input.
I would rather sell it and get a titan than take a step back. I will probably flash this and later buy a titan z when they get a little older and give this card to my wife.
