Yeah buying a card from the States is very pricey with postage costs plus 20% VAT on top and thats not very consumer friendly. Macvidcards, as I understand, is negotiating with a potential distributor in Europe. Hopefully MVC will update us on that soon.
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So I got the GTX 980 "Mac Edition" from MacVidCard
- Thread starter stevedusa
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Yeah buying a card from the States is very pricey with postage costs plus 20% VAT on top and thats not very consumer friendly. Macvidcards, as I understand, is negotiating with a potential distributor in Europe. Hopefully MVC will update us on that soon.
Man, after checking in for about a week on the MacVidCards site, I went ahead and bought the EVGA 980 SC Reference card from NewEgg last night only to find in the morning that the 980s are now available for order from the MacVidCards site.
MVC, any major issue sending this card in to have it flashed?(noticed it's recommended that only the EVGA dual fan model be sent it for the moment).
MVC, any major issue sending this card in to have it flashed?(noticed it's recommended that only the EVGA dual fan model be sent it for the moment).
You might get a faster response if you sent him a PM or click the contact tab at his store front:
http://www.macvidcards.com/index.html
Lou
I know earlier it was mentioned that he only had the ROM tested for the factory clocked version, and not Superclocked (SC) or the reference card for some reason. I would definitely email him and wait for a response before sending that to be safe.
We have listed a 2nd series of cards as available. Will be shipping by Feb 1.
Have not heard a single issue from first batch of 10 so guessing no bugs found.
Will be starting our own blog soon, been a bit of unnecessary noise here.
Will be adding 3,1 support shortly. Once 980 perfect will branch into 970/960.
You might want to keep your eyes peeled for some test results soon. Specificly some findings on PCIE 1.0 vs 2.0.
Thanks again to guys at NVIDIA for continued support.
Have not heard a single issue from first batch of 10 so guessing no bugs found.
Will be starting our own blog soon, been a bit of unnecessary noise here.
Will be adding 3,1 support shortly. Once 980 perfect will branch into 970/960.
You might want to keep your eyes peeled for some test results soon. Specificly some findings on PCIE 1.0 vs 2.0.
Thanks again to guys at NVIDIA for continued support.
E-mailed him and he said it'll work; Updated the site to include the SC Reference version(If I recall, of the initial batch of 10, 2 of them were the Reference design(OP got one of them)).
Looking forward to throwing this in after I upgrade my W5590s to X5690s; 4,1 *shudder*
Updating to 10.10.2 with EFI Mac Edition GTX980
Sadly, the wonderful ability we had in 10.10.1 to run EFI GTX980 with just the EFI driver in 10.10.1 has been lost in 10.10.2. (i.e., it will KP with OS X 10.10.2 driver)
So, when you go to update here is order:
1. Open Terminal and run "sudo nvram boot-args=nv_disable=1"
2. Enter password and hit enter, this will disable nvidia drivers on next boot.
3. Run the 10.10.2 installer
4. When machine reboots you will only have 1 display running via the EFI drivers, it will be sluggish and have strange horizontal sweeping upward, normal.
5. Open Terminal and type "sudo nvram boot-args=nv_disable=0" (better still just remove it)
5. The Nvidia driver manager should open, if not open it. It should prompt to install 343.02.02f01, do it.
6. CUDA for 970/980: http://www.nvidia.com/object/macosx-cuda-6.5.46-driver.html
On next boot, all should be well.
A "repair permissions" could be good to.
NOTE ; IF YOU ARE USING "TRIM ENABLER" YOU WILL NEED TO FOLLOW CINDORI'S INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE MINE.
Sadly, the wonderful ability we had in 10.10.1 to run EFI GTX980 with just the EFI driver in 10.10.1 has been lost in 10.10.2. (i.e., it will KP with OS X 10.10.2 driver)
So, when you go to update here is order:
1. Open Terminal and run "sudo nvram boot-args=nv_disable=1"
2. Enter password and hit enter, this will disable nvidia drivers on next boot.
3. Run the 10.10.2 installer
4. When machine reboots you will only have 1 display running via the EFI drivers, it will be sluggish and have strange horizontal sweeping upward, normal.
5. Open Terminal and type "sudo nvram boot-args=nv_disable=0" (better still just remove it)
5. The Nvidia driver manager should open, if not open it. It should prompt to install 343.02.02f01, do it.
6. CUDA for 970/980: http://www.nvidia.com/object/macosx-cuda-6.5.46-driver.html
On next boot, all should be well.
A "repair permissions" could be good to.
NOTE ; IF YOU ARE USING "TRIM ENABLER" YOU WILL NEED TO FOLLOW CINDORI'S INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE MINE.
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If next year's iMac comes out with a 980M then this problem should go away I think.
Or hopefully if they are planning on this they might just build the driver into OS 10.11, which we should see beta for in June. That would be nice.
Got my EVGA 980 SC reference model back from MVC the other day and couldn't be happier. I've been using an unflashed EVGA 570 2.5 and a 580 Classified Ultra(on external power) for the past two years and it was quite the surprise to see the Apple boot screen again.
System Information reports it running at PCIE 1.0(2.5GT/s), however after some digging around on the old interwebs, I stumbled upon a thread over at Netkas that MVC started, on how to determine whether the flashed card is running at PCI-E 1.0 or 2.0:
http://forum.netkas.org/index.php?topic=8400.0
PCI-E 2.0 in both Mac and Windows according to CUDA-Z and Luxmark.
I didn't have to do the terminal job to update to the most current driver as I stupidly had the NVIDIA Driver Manager set to auto-update and it went ahead and did it for me last month when I was still using the 570; I was sure to turn that off in the event the next Mac OS update or nvidia driver update does something wacky.
CUDA is recognized in the current version of Adobe CC, however I'm really looking forward to how C4D and Octane Render will perform.
All in all a great update and thanks to MVC, Netkas, and the good folks at Nvidia for their continued support.
System Information reports it running at PCIE 1.0(2.5GT/s), however after some digging around on the old interwebs, I stumbled upon a thread over at Netkas that MVC started, on how to determine whether the flashed card is running at PCI-E 1.0 or 2.0:
http://forum.netkas.org/index.php?topic=8400.0
PCI-E 2.0 in both Mac and Windows according to CUDA-Z and Luxmark.
I didn't have to do the terminal job to update to the most current driver as I stupidly had the NVIDIA Driver Manager set to auto-update and it went ahead and did it for me last month when I was still using the 570; I was sure to turn that off in the event the next Mac OS update or nvidia driver update does something wacky.
CUDA is recognized in the current version of Adobe CC, however I'm really looking forward to how C4D and Octane Render will perform.
All in all a great update and thanks to MVC, Netkas, and the good folks at Nvidia for their continued support.
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Gtx980 and gtx970 require yosemite and web drivers
I am now getting 2 or 3 emails a day asking me "Hey, I see that you say they require 10.10 but can I run a GTX980 in 10.9.5?"
I am not sure why people think I am just making up these OS restrictions for fun but I assure you I am not.
Whether you have an EFI version or a regular PC version, THESE CARDS ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT WORK IN 10.9.5 !!!!
THIS IS LIKE DEATH & TAXES, THERE IS NO AVOID IT.
You MUST run Yosemite and you MUST install the Nvidia Web Driver for whichever version of Yosemite you are running. There are no free passes, no get out of jail free cards, and no quick fixes to avoid this.
YOU MUST BE RUNNING OS X YOSEMITE AND LATEST WEB DRIVER.
If you have an unflashed card and try to run without latest Web Driver, you will never see anything but a black screen and maybe you'll note the power light keeps going on and off as machine reboots.
If you try to run an EFI GTX970/980 in any OS without the right Web Driver, you will see the lovely boot screen, the progress bar and then the machine will reboot. No fix until you install WEB DRIVERS AND MAKE SURE THEY ARE RUNNING !!!
If you do a PRAM reset you WILL be back to OS X Drivers and cards won't work.
The big difference is with an EFI card you can go into single user and disable the drivers, without EFI you will need a different card or to remove card with remote login enabled and turn them on from another Mac.
One more time.
GTX980 AND GTX970 REQUIRE YOSEMITE AND WEB DRIVERS !!!
I am now getting 2 or 3 emails a day asking me "Hey, I see that you say they require 10.10 but can I run a GTX980 in 10.9.5?"
I am not sure why people think I am just making up these OS restrictions for fun but I assure you I am not.
Whether you have an EFI version or a regular PC version, THESE CARDS ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT WORK IN 10.9.5 !!!!
THIS IS LIKE DEATH & TAXES, THERE IS NO AVOID IT.
You MUST run Yosemite and you MUST install the Nvidia Web Driver for whichever version of Yosemite you are running. There are no free passes, no get out of jail free cards, and no quick fixes to avoid this.
YOU MUST BE RUNNING OS X YOSEMITE AND LATEST WEB DRIVER.
If you have an unflashed card and try to run without latest Web Driver, you will never see anything but a black screen and maybe you'll note the power light keeps going on and off as machine reboots.
If you try to run an EFI GTX970/980 in any OS without the right Web Driver, you will see the lovely boot screen, the progress bar and then the machine will reboot. No fix until you install WEB DRIVERS AND MAKE SURE THEY ARE RUNNING !!!
If you do a PRAM reset you WILL be back to OS X Drivers and cards won't work.
The big difference is with an EFI card you can go into single user and disable the drivers, without EFI you will need a different card or to remove card with remote login enabled and turn them on from another Mac.
One more time.
GTX980 AND GTX970 REQUIRE YOSEMITE AND WEB DRIVERS !!!
Apologies in advance, I am a relative newbie. Can someone clarify how a flashed card is beneficial outside of getting a boot screen? I was under the impression a card had to be flashed to work at all in a mac, but now I've learned that not to be true. Not only that but now it seems as though pure EFI support has been lost in the latest OSX update. $300 extra for a flashed card is exorbitant! when a GT120 is $60 on ebay, am I missing something?
You are so wrong. There was a thread covering this subject awhile back, and, for the life of me, I can't find it. But for the amount of work that goes into the development of the EFI Flash, the equipment and inventory (both hardware and software) that must be purchased and maintained, the time necessary for the maturation of the flash and the necessary testing on different hardware and software combinations, MVC's EFI Flashing charge of $180.00 is VERY reasonable.
Lou
I agree totally. Time is money and all of this process takes time. The individual testing that goes into the card before it's shipped gives me great peace of mind. No one is forcing people to use the service. If you (not you Lou) can do better yourself then have at it. It's perfect for people like me. I like to install the part and know with confidence it's going to work correctly. No guessing... My 2¢ anyway...
Well, essentially that's the difference. For most users, it's not necessary to get a flashed card at all, but for some, it can be a great time saver. And as it's stated, these flashed versions aren't easy or cheap to make, and as I stated, these cards don't have the biggest market, and therefore must make up for that in higher margins, but they are of value to some. If nothing else, in terms of great time savings.
My first (bad) experience with GTX 980 from MacVidCards
I have:
Yosemite 10.10.2
MacPro 5.1
3 Displays
ATI 5870
I have purchased EFI 980GTX from MacVidCards to replace my ATI 5870 and my (bad) experience with it is this:
Before install the new card I had installed Nvidia Web Drivers (343.02.02f01) last versión.
I change from OSX Default Driver to Nvidia Web Driver inside Nvidia panel. I restart system to sure that Nvidia Web Driver is active. All seems be ready to install new EFI 980GTX MacVidCard
I install it, reboot, and...... All display show black screen!! no boot.
I restart and reset PRAM, now the display connected in first Display Port connector show boot screen (progress bar) and the system boot. With sluggish interface (seems that EFI OSX compatible drivers is active).
I go to the nvidia panel again, indeed OSX Default Driver is active. I try to change again by NVIDIA web driver and restart..
Again all display show black screen!! no boot.
Restart again and reset PRAM again to boot and use OSX Default Driver.
Now in file "com.apple.Boot.plist" I add "nvda_drv=1" and restart.
Again all display show black screen!! no boot.
Restart again and reset PRAM again to boot and use OSX Default Driver.
Now seems that "nvda_drv=1" works, I go to see if NVIDIA panel show "NVIDIA web drivers" but show that "OSX default driver" is active. Although this can not be possible due to all seems work fine....
But only "seems works", if I power off any of my three display alls displays go to power off too and with all screens black I can't do anything... restart again.
Again all display show black screen!! no boot.
Restart again and reset PRAM again to boot and use OSX Default Driver.
Same problems that before
I don't know how make it work correctly!!!
Someone can help me?
(I tried "sudo nvram boot-args=nv_disable=0" too but no luck)
Thanks!!
I have:
Yosemite 10.10.2
MacPro 5.1
3 Displays
ATI 5870
I have purchased EFI 980GTX from MacVidCards to replace my ATI 5870 and my (bad) experience with it is this:
Before install the new card I had installed Nvidia Web Drivers (343.02.02f01) last versión.
I change from OSX Default Driver to Nvidia Web Driver inside Nvidia panel. I restart system to sure that Nvidia Web Driver is active. All seems be ready to install new EFI 980GTX MacVidCard
I install it, reboot, and...... All display show black screen!! no boot.
I restart and reset PRAM, now the display connected in first Display Port connector show boot screen (progress bar) and the system boot. With sluggish interface (seems that EFI OSX compatible drivers is active).
I go to the nvidia panel again, indeed OSX Default Driver is active. I try to change again by NVIDIA web driver and restart..
Again all display show black screen!! no boot.
Restart again and reset PRAM again to boot and use OSX Default Driver.
Now in file "com.apple.Boot.plist" I add "nvda_drv=1" and restart.
Again all display show black screen!! no boot.
Restart again and reset PRAM again to boot and use OSX Default Driver.
Now seems that "nvda_drv=1" works, I go to see if NVIDIA panel show "NVIDIA web drivers" but show that "OSX default driver" is active. Although this can not be possible due to all seems work fine....
But only "seems works", if I power off any of my three display alls displays go to power off too and with all screens black I can't do anything... restart again.
Again all display show black screen!! no boot.
Restart again and reset PRAM again to boot and use OSX Default Driver.
Same problems that before
I don't know how make it work correctly!!!
Someone can help me?
(I tried "sudo nvram boot-args=nv_disable=0" too but no luck)
Thanks!!
Hmm, this is an odd one
do a nvram -p and see what is in boot args
Also, do you have any PCIE SSD cards? Or any other PCIE cards?
Do you have more than 1 Windows formatted drive (NTFS or FAt32)?
Have you selected the 10.10.2 drive as startup disk?
The EFI can get confused in the above situations.
What happens if you hold down "Alt" at boot?
Also, what type of displays and how are they connected?
do a nvram -p and see what is in boot args
Also, do you have any PCIE SSD cards? Or any other PCIE cards?
Do you have more than 1 Windows formatted drive (NTFS or FAt32)?
Have you selected the 10.10.2 drive as startup disk?
The EFI can get confused in the above situations.
What happens if you hold down "Alt" at boot?
Also, what type of displays and how are they connected?
nvram -p return this:
bluetoothInternalControllerInfo %15%82%ac%05%00%00%11Zx%ca9%c0%b4Z
fmm-computer-name Mac Pro de Eden
bluetoothActiveControllerInfo %15%82%ac%05%00%00%00%00%11Zx%ca9%c0%b4Z
SystemAudioVolumeDB %fa
SystemAudioVolume :
LocationServicesEnabled %01
boot-args nvda_drv=1
(nvda_drv=1 was added manually by me)
Yes I have PCIE SSD Cards (OWC Accelsior, work as my main boot OSX disk)
Only have a 1 Windows formatted drive in other drive HDD
OWC Accelsior (PCIE SSD card) is where is OSX 10.10.2 and work as my main startup disk.
I dont try "alt" to boot due to I cant boot correctly yet in OSX.
I have 3 Dell displays.
1 Ultrasharp 24" -> DVI
1 Ultrasharp 24" -> DVI-> Apple DVI to MiniDisplayPort adapter
1 Ultrasharp 30" (main) -> Display Port
bluetoothInternalControllerInfo %15%82%ac%05%00%00%11Zx%ca9%c0%b4Z
fmm-computer-name Mac Pro de Eden
bluetoothActiveControllerInfo %15%82%ac%05%00%00%00%00%11Zx%ca9%c0%b4Z
SystemAudioVolumeDB %fa
SystemAudioVolume :
LocationServicesEnabled %01
boot-args nvda_drv=1
(nvda_drv=1 was added manually by me)
Yes I have PCIE SSD Cards (OWC Accelsior, work as my main boot OSX disk)
Only have a 1 Windows formatted drive in other drive HDD
OWC Accelsior (PCIE SSD card) is where is OSX 10.10.2 and work as my main startup disk.
I dont try "alt" to boot due to I cant boot correctly yet in OSX.
I have 3 Dell displays.
1 Ultrasharp 24" -> DVI
1 Ultrasharp 24" -> DVI-> Apple DVI to MiniDisplayPort adapter
1 Ultrasharp 30" (main) -> Display Port
First up try holding "alt" as that has nothing to do with the OS.
I would also suggest moving the accession to another slot. A few posts back there was someone else who had reported issues with that card and ours in same machine.
You could also try removing the Win drive.
Do each of these things one at a time to isolate issue.
EDIT:
Just noticed this:
Do you have more than one? If so, test with just one.
Also, if you are still having trouble let us know the exact model and size of the assessor. As you are 2nd one to note difficulties using that drive I will need to get one and try to recreate.
I would also suggest moving the accession to another slot. A few posts back there was someone else who had reported issues with that card and ours in same machine.
You could also try removing the Win drive.
Do each of these things one at a time to isolate issue.
EDIT:
Just noticed this:
Do you have more than one? If so, test with just one.
Also, if you are still having trouble let us know the exact model and size of the assessor. As you are 2nd one to note difficulties using that drive I will need to get one and try to recreate.
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This my results from your suggestions (I only have 1 OWC SSD PCI Mercury Accelsior card 120Gb v1, now OWC only sell the v2 called Mercury Accelsior_E2):
1 - With "alt" system show "boot menu", from it I can select OSX System drive (OWC PCI Accelsior) and boot without reset PRAM. Now NVIDIA Panel show that NVIDIA Web drivers are in use.
2 - I had same problems booting, if I didn't press "alt" (or reset PRAM) system don't boot. So, I had change OWC PCI Accelsior from Slot 3 to Slot 4 and now system seems boot correctly
3 - Other issue was about Apple Adapter Mini DisplayPort to DVI Dual channel: When I connect one display with this adapter to EFI GTX 980 (with MiniDisplay port to Display port adapter) and I turn off this display, all others display go off too and I need reboot all system. To avoid this behaviour I have connected this display with a direct Display Port cable to EFI GTX 980 instead use Apple Adapter.
I'm worry about problems with PCI SSD cards and GTX 980. I want add 2 more PCI SSD cards in Slot 2 and Slot 3 soon. Specifically Samsung XP941 (256Gb) with M.2 to PCI adapter , these seems be bootable and I want create a Raid 0 between them for install OSX and programs.
Are you test it your cards with these cards? Users that want improve Mac Pro performance need upgrade Graphic Cards and HDD speed and PCI SSD cards are a must to avoid SATA bootleneck. It would be great that your Graphic cards run well with those hardware elements too.
1 - With "alt" system show "boot menu", from it I can select OSX System drive (OWC PCI Accelsior) and boot without reset PRAM. Now NVIDIA Panel show that NVIDIA Web drivers are in use.
2 - I had same problems booting, if I didn't press "alt" (or reset PRAM) system don't boot. So, I had change OWC PCI Accelsior from Slot 3 to Slot 4 and now system seems boot correctly
3 - Other issue was about Apple Adapter Mini DisplayPort to DVI Dual channel: When I connect one display with this adapter to EFI GTX 980 (with MiniDisplay port to Display port adapter) and I turn off this display, all others display go off too and I need reboot all system. To avoid this behaviour I have connected this display with a direct Display Port cable to EFI GTX 980 instead use Apple Adapter.
I'm worry about problems with PCI SSD cards and GTX 980. I want add 2 more PCI SSD cards in Slot 2 and Slot 3 soon. Specifically Samsung XP941 (256Gb) with M.2 to PCI adapter , these seems be bootable and I want create a Raid 0 between them for install OSX and programs.
Are you test it your cards with these cards? Users that want improve Mac Pro performance need upgrade Graphic Cards and HDD speed and PCI SSD cards are a must to avoid SATA bootleneck. It would be great that your Graphic cards run well with those hardware elements too.
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^^^^There is a new web driver released this morning:
http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/82983/en-us
343.02.02
Lou
http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/82983/en-us
343.02.02
Lou