Nvidia 7950GTX in Macpro?

[Josias]

Whatever gave you that idea ?

Oh, just guessing , but now I see BlizzrdBomb saying that the 7950 GX2 "gas everything splattered", and I looked at his article. I saw that it's better than the X1900 XT and all the hi-end nVidia cards, but in that comparison were only 7800, 7900 and 7950 cards, no Quadro cards at all, which is why I'm still in doubt. I still believe the Quadro's are way better, but the sentence that it" had everything else splattered", made me think twice...

 

[omfgninja]

Oh, just guessing , but now I see BlizzrdBomb saying that the 7950 GX2 "gas everything splattered", and I looked at his article. I saw that it's better than the X1900 XT and all the hi-end nVidia cards, but in that comparison were only 7800, 7900 and 7950 cards, no Quadro cards at all, which is why I'm still in doubt. I still believe the Quadro's are way better, but the sentence that it" had everything else splattered", made me think twice...

Quadros are not gaming cards. They are ment for Graphics professionals.
They are made for 3DSM, Maya, and other such things.
The reason you didnt see that in the compairison, is because theres no compairison because its not a gaming card.
Compairing a 7950 to a Quattro is like Apples to Oranges.

 

[wako]

I dont know why you guys keep thinking the 7950 or Nvidia in general has the best card. So far many gamers perfer the x1900xtx as it performs the best. True a 7950 GX2 card can definitely beat it, as can the 7900GTX beat it in some applications (it is pretty much even), but it doesnt lead by much, and you pay a very hefty price for the performance you want. 450 for x1900xtx, 500 for 7900gtx, and a whopping 600 for the 7950GX2. Id rather save the money and still get about the same performance.

Remind you, these cards are built with gamers in mind almost entirely. If you want a professional card, Nvidia provides them in their Quadro line so it is no use in comparing it.

And finally the 7950GX2 WILL NOT work on the Mac Pro more than likely. Why you might ask? Well Ill let the Nvidia webpage answer this one...

Click Here

 

[Austin-jr]

Excuse me, no compairisons?
Check out Apples compairsons of the offered cards. The 7300 is an embarrassment. Period. Gaming aside, those that choose this card may well find that Apple doesn't offer upgrade graphics cards. I learned the hard way, choosing the low end card for my G5 dual 2ghz. When Apple finally offered better cards they were available ONLY on NEW built to order machines. No faster Photoshop for you! There is a very small upgrade path to be had, better make the right choice the first time or be stuck.

http://www.apple.com/macpro/graphics.html

 

[omfgninja]

I dont know why you guys keep thinking the 7950 or Nvidia in general has the best card. So far many gamers perfer the x1900xtx as it performs the best. True a 7950 GX2 card can definitely beat it, as can the 7900GTX beat it in some applications (it is pretty much even), but it doesnt lead by much, and you pay a very hefty price for the performance you want. 450 for x1900xtx, 500 for 7900gtx, and a whopping 600 for the 7950GX2. Id rather save the money and still get about the same performance.

Remind you, these cards are built with gamers in mind almost entirely. If you want a professional card, Nvidia provides them in their Quadro line so it is no use in comparing it.

And finally the 7950GX2 WILL NOT work on the Mac Pro more than likely. Why you might ask? Well Ill let the Nvidia webpage answer this one...

Click Here

So what? They dont list that motherboard, BFD.
That page is probably more directed toward people who want to build thier own computer.

I went ahead and googled to see if I could come up with a better answer. Heres what I got:
http://www.ipspty.com.au/computers/xeon/x-3.htm

This company sells Xeon Workstations, with the 5000x chipset (The same as the Mac Pro) and they sell the 7950GX2 as an option.

The only problem will be getting drivers. But I dont see any problem with putting the card in there, and then use it under Windows (Most people who are considering a 7950GX2 are probably worried about gaming under windows anyway.)

And honestly, as long as you can stick that card in your Mac and not have it blow up, we will eventualy have drivers. Im sure without a doubt, we will either have offical real drivers, or hacked ones.

 

[Sun Baked]

When Apple finally offered better cards they were available ONLY on NEW built to order machines. No faster Photoshop for you! There is a very small upgrade path to be had, better make the right choice the first time or be stuck.

http://www.apple.com/macpro/graphics.html

Right now the ATI Radeon X1900 XT card is offered as a $499 kit, and the NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT as a $149 kit at the Apple Store as single line items.

They have offered upgrade video card kits and low end Apple OEM cards in the past, but usually not the cards people wanted.

Usually it was a more expensive ATI Retail Kit that you needed to order.

 

[MacsRgr8]

Let me sum up this thread for a sec..... I find this discussion pretty interesting, and really want to know what will work, and what not.

- The standard grfx card in the Mac Pro is below par.
- Best "bang for buck" card for in the Mac Pro is the X1900 XT. Quadro is for 3D modelling pro's etc.
- Best PC single gaming card is the 7950 GX2
- Newer PC grfx cards support EFI
- But will the newer PC grfx cards work in a Mac Pro? Is there only a driver issue, or is the MB not supported, or... any other reasons?

I wonder who will be the first to try a new PC grfx card in the Mac Pro.

 

[quadgirl]

I'm not an expert, but i don't see why that wouldn't work if the card works with an EFI computer.

Barefeats are experts and have added this:

Will graphics cards from the PCI-Express Dual-Core G5 Power Macs work in the Mac Pro? NO.
Will graphics cards from the Mac Pro work in the Dual-Core G5 Power Macs? NO.

Will standard Windows PC graphics cards work in the Mac Pro? NO. They require special firmware to work in the Mac Pro.
Is there support for SLI on the Mac Pro? NO.

http://www.barefeats.com/quad05.html

 

[MacsRgr8]

You just beat me to it!
I was just reading the exact same page, and wanted to share it aswell.

So... that's that sorted out.

Now the question if it may be possible to flash the PC grfx cards to make it usable in the Mac Pro...?

 

[aiongiant]

Barefeats are experts and have added this:

Will graphics cards from the PCI-Express Dual-Core G5 Power Macs work in the Mac Pro? NO.
Will graphics cards from the Mac Pro work in the Dual-Core G5 Power Macs? NO.

Will standard Windows PC graphics cards work in the Mac Pro? NO. They require special firmware to work in the Mac Pro.
Is there support for SLI on the Mac Pro? NO.

http://www.barefeats.com/quad05.html

will the normal PC graphics card work on the Mac Pro under bootcamp is the other question?
i'm guessing there talking aobut graphics card working under OSX?

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Compairing a 7950 to a Quattro is like Apples to Oranges.

I'd consider it more like comparing a Ferrari to a Rolls Royce. Totally different markets.

While there is a chance that it would work, you wouldn't get the full performance in OS X. Why? Because OS X drivers do not support SLI. Even though this is 'SLI on one card', it still uses nVidia's SLI technology, and needs SLI support in the drivers. My guess is that if it works at all, the OS will see it as two video cards.

So, best case: It works, but is slower in OS X, so you can use the one card in both OSes. Worst case: It doesn't work at all in OS X, and not even in Boot Camp/Windows because of the EFI firmware issue.

We won't know for sure until someone tries it.

 

[Fadl]

Maybe barefeats is wrong. Where did they have those infos from or did they test it themselfes?

 

[wako]

So what? They dont list that motherboard, BFD.
That page is probably more directed toward people who want to build thier own computer.

I went ahead and googled to see if I could come up with a better answer. Heres what I got:
http://www.ipspty.com.au/computers/xeon/x-3.htm

This company sells Xeon Workstations, with the 5000x chipset (The same as the Mac Pro) and they sell the 7950GX2 as an option.

The only problem will be getting drivers. But I dont see any problem with putting the card in there, and then use it under Windows (Most people who are considering a 7950GX2 are probably worried about gaming under windows anyway.)

And honestly, as long as you can stick that card in your Mac and not have it blow up, we will eventualy have drivers. Im sure without a doubt, we will either have offical real drivers, or hacked ones.

I dont think your simple mind understands...


it has nothing to do with chipset... it is just plainly about system incompatibility. if you read any reviews or anything about the 7950gx2 it is simply a VERY picky video card.


The website i showed you are mobos that have been thoroughly tested to be able to use both GPUs and use them properly. Of course there are other mobos that is able to support the card but might not use it properly. For example I have read on other forums where the card is only using one GPU rather than two, to render images.

 

[quadgirl]

Maybe barefeats is wrong. Where did they have those infos from or did they test it themselfes?

Barefeats has been around for donkey's years. They do their own tests and generally know what they're talking about.

Before they posted that information I couldn't really see how Apple were going to stop people from adding a PC card with the same chipset. Looks like they've still got us over a barrell with VGA cards

 

[Fadl]

Barefeats has been around for donkey's years. They do their own tests and generally know what they're talking about.

Before they posted that information I couldn't really see how Apple were going to stop people from adding a PC card with the same chipset. Looks like they've still got us over a barrell with VGA cards

If it is possible to install a 7900GTX under windows in a Mac Pro than it is only a matter of time when it will be possible to get this card also working under os x. Maybe we only have to edit the device id in the os x drivers.

 

[aiongiant]

can someone with a 7950 gx2 confirm the rom size of these cards? 64k or 128k?
casue posted in the other thread that apple vid cards use the 128k for both bios for osx and windows

 

[tobyg]

can someone with a 7950 gx2 confirm the rom size of these cards? 64k or 128k?
casue posted in the other thread that apple vid cards use the 128k for both bios for osx and windows

ROM size won't matter, unless we have a firmware to flash to it. Apple doesn't have a 7950GTX card in their lineup, so there is no way we'd have the Apple firmware to flash to a off the shelf 7950GTX. You can't just take the 7300 GT rom and flash it to any other type of card. The reason I was trying to flash the XFX 7300 GT was because it is the same card as the apple one, basically. But I wouldn't even dare try to flash the 7300 GT rom to my 7800 GTX, even if the 7800 GTX had a 128k rom.

 

[dextertangocci]

Why can't ATI and Nvideagive their cards less confusing names? How am I meant to know the difference between the X1900XT or whatever is called, and the Quadro FX4500 and the X1600 and the 7300 etc etc?

Why can't they just call it the ATI 1, and the one up from that, the ATI 2, ATI 3 etc

 

[Joe The Dragon]

Thanks for the reply on the memory.

Newegg is the best, Newegg+Mac is even better.

I like tiger direct

 

[Chone]

Okay first of all the X1900XT is not ATI's flagship card, not even the XTX is, the newly released X1950XTX card with GDDR4 is ATI's flagship card and THAT card is faster and uses more heat/power than nvidia's flagship (7950GX2) as long as its not CPU limited (which means you really need a high end core-architecture processor).

The X1900XT is ATI's 3rd best card and outpaces the X1900 competition which are the 7900 cards, the 1900XT and 7900GTX are pretty close.

If I had to choose I'd go with a X1950XTX, its only 399$.

And any PC card works on Mac Pros running WINDOWS XP, as far as Mac OS X goes, thats tricky business.

 

[t0pcat]

One thing i can confirm for you all is the 7950gx2 WORKS in Winxp in SLI
and ver very well BUT when i boot her back in osx i get a kernel panic, i have read else where people are saying that there 7950gx2 doesn't give osx a kernel panic unfortunetly my XFX one does

Now to find a fix for the kernel panic

 

[I'mAMac]

HAHHAHAHAHHAHA!
You're kidding right? NO!
The x1900 is NOWHERE NEAR as good as the 7950GTX

In fact, the 7950GTX is the best consumer card IN THE WORLD.

Actually in many tests the x1900 scored only 20 fps lower and even outperformed it in some. so the 7950gtx doesnt really blow it out of the water.

 

[I'mAMac]

Wow, I thought most people knew that nVidia made the fastest cards in the industry

The 7950 GX2 has everything splattered especially when you pump up the resolution and throw some AA in.

No it doesnt... unless you call a 4 fps difference splattering. Your eye cant tell a difference in FPS above 80. so whether it is 100 or 300 it will just look the same. and the 1900xt only scored 3 fps lower than the 7900gt in SLI mode. HA.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

No it doesnt... unless you call a 4 fps difference splattering. Your eye cant tell a difference in FPS above 80. so whether it is 100 or 300 it will just look the same. and the 1900xt only scored 3 fps lower than the 7900gt in SLI mode. HA.

ATI fanboy eh? SLI is meant for ultra high resolution as in Apple and Dell 30" screens with a huge number of pixels to push. At lower resolutions a single card can easily compete with two. There's nothing wrong with the 1900xt, its just that a 7950 GX2 >> 1900xt but then you have to bear in mind that 7950 GX2 costs >> 1900xt.

 

[Dreadnought]

just a thought....

And knowing all this, I was kinda suprised that no one bought up the idea of dropping a 7950 into the Mac Pro with the intention of ONLY having it run under windows.
At this point, I see Mac Pro users not having drivers, or any other hacks avaible, a worst case scenario.
But if this did happen, why not just pop that 7950 into the 16x lane slot anyway, and then also have a 7300 in one of your 8x lanes (or even 4x).

They already tried it, and it works, but you have to switch displays to! So they are working around it now. They have copied the EFI files of the 7300 rom and put that in a pc 7800. Guess what, it boots into Os X as well! But you still don't have the appropriate drivers to get all the power out of it plus at the downside of the MacPro, you are missing the extra power that you'll need to give to the high-end graphics card. You can however take it from the second DVD drive with a hack/mod. The guys at strangedogs are working on it!!