Any PCI-E card on a Mac Pro / No Hacks needed.
I just saw this at CGTalk, and spit up my water in excitement. I thought I would share.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Per-Anders
I did some calling, and according to apple sales the machine can run any PCI-E graphics card now (no need for bios hacks), so it seems it's finally a standard (if nice) PC.
I did some calling, and according to apple sales the machine can run any PCI-E graphics card now (no need for bios hacks), so it seems it's finally a standard (if nice) PC.
Comments
I just saw this at CGTalk, and spit up my water in excitement. I thought I would share.
Since you asked for the other thread to be deleted I'll post my questions here again. First, do you have a link so I can read more about this? Second, does this mean you can upgrade the graphics by yourself at a lower cost than BTO from apple?
It was just a thread discussing the Mac Pro, and that was the one post that had that in it. It wasn't a whole subject dedicated to video cards or anything. As you can guess at CGTalk they were a bit unhappy about the limited video card choices made available. THey were unusually happy about the Mac Pro specs, and pricing otherwise though.
Ok, thanks. Sorry about the "merry go round" type event on the other thread. I'm trying to get a much positive information as I can about the MacPro. My Grandparents need a new computer and so do a couple of my friends. Needless to say, I would like them to switch.
Just sayin'.
Unless, of course, grandma is a biogenetics researcher who needs to crank through a few million basepair matches in her spare time...
Not to dump water on this fascinating thread, but maimezvous, do you really think your family members *NEED* the raw power of a Mac Pro? You might want to be looking at the iMac or mini instead.
Just sayin'.
Unless, of course, grandma is a biogenetics researcher who needs to crank through a few million basepair matches in her spare time...
Yeah you're right. My grandparents don't need the MacPro. I'm pushing the Mini on them. A few of my friends are into gaming and video editing so the MacPro would be the system for them. The limited expandability of the Macs was the basis for one of my friend's arguments to stick to Windows machines, so this is good news.
Does it work in os x? I did read some where that a pc works in windows xp but not at boot time or in mac os x.
Can you elaborate on that post? I'm not sure what it is your saying. Thanks!
He meant that any graphics card would work in Windows, but does it work at boot time (not a huge deal) or in OS X (which is pretty big, since it'd be a shame to have a 8800GT or whatever and not have it work in the real OS)
Just a guess but Apples Nvidia Drivers should technically work in with any nvidia cards because their source code for regular cards are not card specific. Apples driver updates usually cover a wide range of functionality over many cards. I don't think there would be a problem. I think the only card you may have a hard time getting to work would be a 7950gx2 or something that may require some features that their regular cards do not have. I could be wrong.
Scratch that. There are some scattered reports in various forums on this, and some cards are working, but others aren't. Apple is probably going to get involved in this because it made it's way to Apples forums, and users are getting upset in lack of driver support.
You mean by allowing us to use cheaper Windows/PC cards? Nah didn't think so.
Although someone mentioned in a previous thread to use a powerful (let's say, already owned) graphics card in the primary 16x slot and whatever lowend Nvidia card comes in the default Mac Pro setup. Then use a video switch to chose which one you want.
Yeah, I'm a shmuck, I'm consider this [Mac Pro] as a single machine that can both run Windows XP (Games) and Mac OS X (everything else). I already own a Radeon X1900 XT in my PC with a custom heatsink that makes it quieter then most.
Problem with all this is (1) switching takes up two slots and requires a video switch and (2) I _have_ to use Windows if I want to game. Sure stuff like FlatOut 2 and Steam aren't ported but I also play a lot of Quake 3 and Quake 4, those can be done in OS X without rebooting. Sigh.
If I don't see anything in a month I'll go ahead with my PC and Mac mini w/ Merom upgrade plan.
Just a guess but Apples Nvidia Drivers should technically work in with any nvidia cards because their source code for regular cards are not card specific. Apples driver updates usually cover a wide range of functionality over many cards. I don't think there would be a problem. I think the only card you may have a hard time getting to work would be a 7950gx2 or something that may require some features that their regular cards do not have. I could be wrong.
The cards may need a efi bios on be able to work in osx
However, nearly no GPUs have graphics drivers on the Mac right now, so Mac OS X won't detect them. So basically what people are doing is running Mac OS X on the 7300GT, and then switching the display cable over to their gaming GPU when they boot in Windows.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....99724&tstart=0
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....87565�
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=223663
You mean by allowing us to use cheaper Windows/PC cards? Nah didn't think so.
Well the real problem I read is PC users are buying Mac Pro's and having any card they want, and abandoning the Mac OS side entirely because of it. At this point Apple should take a better look at what's going on.
#1) Mac users/buyers are really wanting a better choice of cards available to them weather it be from Apple or not. (preferably not because they are cheaper)
#2) PC users are walking in our house kicking our asses up and down.
#3) if we thought just because there are people less interested in graphics upgrades in this forum you should take a look at Apples forums, and every other Mac forum. The need far exceeds what Apple is providing, and probably what they, and we expected. This is becoming a huge issue.
Just on a side note. It appears from what I read elsewhere that with the way that the motherboard is configurable on the Mac Pro it is actually possible to configure it to a dual 16X PCI-E configuration. This may not be a stock configuring, but it's possible for the 3D or gaming enthusiast.
Well the real problem I read is PC users are buying Mac Pro's and having any card they want, and abandoning the Mac OS side entirely because of it. At this point Apple should take a better look at what's going on.
On one hand that is great from a hardware perspective, Apple has its money. On the other hand, yeah, it says something about the absolute dearth the Mac Video Card Market is. It's pathetic.
I've been an Apple users for 6 years so I know it's too much to ask that I own the EXACT same model ATI card in my PC but that it won't function in a Mac for Mac OS. I know that, I've come to expect that from Apple. New users who are told that all Macs are now just glorified PCs won't understand that. Then it becomes bad for Apple when users have to jump through hoops (we are used to it, they aren't) to get hardware working from "one PC to another".
Hell, I told myself many years ago that I'm not going to upgrade just because of games. But here I am, contemplating a consolidation. But I already own a very upgraded but very loud Power Mac G4, a G4 Cube, a Mac mini G4, and a Mac mini solo. The Mac Pro has to work without a hitch in order for me to justify ANOTHER Mac purchase haha.
See, the good news is, when Apple releases new Mac Pros around January, potentially with 8800GTXs or what have you, the drivers will be available through software update and thus you can buy an off-the-shelf PC card provided that it's been featured in a Mac Pro and thus has drivers.
OK, but how is that related to say the Radeon X1900 XT? If that exact card already exists the problem (I thought) was the ROM because most PC chips are 64K and only hold BIOS code whereas the Mac cards have 128K and hold both EFI and BIOS.
Are the newer PC cards 128K now? Or am I looking too closely? I don't care about just using any card, but having it work for Mac OS as well as Windows.