SLI in Mac Pro. It's True Onlooker!!

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Comments

  • Reply 41 of 146
    well, when the new Mac Pro comes out (it get revised with quad-core processors), we should expect at least one new card. Also, whenever Vista gets around to supporting EFI, there will be a lot more EFI cards.
  • Reply 42 of 146
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    I was hoping new cards would would start incorporating dual compatibility with EFI and BIOS. Isn't there a few that are doing that already?
  • Reply 43 of 146
    tombtomb Posts: 29member
    I was thinking about the new PC cards using EFI the other day. And then it occurred to me that this probably still won't allow those cards that are aimed at Windows to work correctly with OSX. The problem is that OSX uses the card differently than Windows and even though you might get video displayed on the OSX screen, the OSX drivers won't work correctly.



    All you have to do to suspect this is to look at the x86OSX (Hackintoshers) project. Ya know, this is where they get OSX to Boot on a BIOS based Intel PC which uses BIOS based PC graphics cards. The major problem these people are STILL having is that the OSX video drivers will not work with the PC ROM that's on the PC cards.



    So it appears that even if you get around the fact that a normal OSX install is only going to work with EFI equipped video cards, apparently, the standard OSX video drivers are only going to work correctly with Mac based EFI ROMs. So it looks like we will still be screwed when it comes to having a large choice of PC video cards to choose from
  • Reply 44 of 146
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Firstoff, if Apple does something differently from PC EFI cards, somebody can just rip the firmware off an Apple card and then you can flash it onto any PC EFI card you buy.



    But I think Apple won't do anything that different to its cards, and as long as they have drivers you should be able to run a standard PC EFI card in the Mac.
  • Reply 45 of 146
    tombtomb Posts: 29member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Placebo


    Firstoff, if Apple does something differently from PC EFI cards, somebody can just rip the firmware off an Apple card and then you can flash it onto any PC EFI card you buy...



    Apple does do something different to their cards. When's the last time you saw an OEM Apple card with S-Video or VIVO ports? All the PC cards have S-Video and many have VIVO. Also, Apple does DVI output differently. One of the hardest obstacles in flashing a PC card is having the DVI output work. I'm about to try flashing a PC ATI x850 to a Mac x850 and I know that the DVI out will not work, for now. And this is after the Strangedogs specialist have been working on the Mac x800-850 ROM for over a year.



    I haven't seen or heard of any PC EFI cards yet, but you'd better hope that they have 128kb ROM chips on them. That's because the Apple ROM used with the NV 7300s have a ROM dump size of over 100kb. Most PC cards have a ROM chip size of 64kb. And even if you could simply flash the Mac ROM to a PC card, I have serious doubts that it would work correctly without modifying the Mac ROM. And I'm talking about flashing a PC card that's the exact same model as an existing Mac card, not just any EFI PC card you can buy.



    From my flashing experience, I just don't think that PC cards going to EFI is going to solve the Mac video card problem. And I don't think Apple is going to solve the problem by releasing new OSX video drivers to work with those PC EFI cards either, considering that it would make hacking OSX to run on generic PC machines just that much easier.



    I guess we'll just have to wait and see what shakes out
  • Reply 46 of 146
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Apple uses standard EFI firmware and standard PC components. I can't see what the hell could be weird. Nothing special.
  • Reply 47 of 146
    msanttimsantti Posts: 1,377member
    Will a 7950 GX2 work in a Mac Pro?
  • Reply 48 of 146
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Placebo


    Apple uses standard EFI firmware and standard PC components. I can't see what the hell could be weird. Nothing special.



    According to a guy at MacNN who did a ROM dump, they use the double ROMs again.



    Yes: GX2 wil run under Windows in a Mac Pro. Not under OS X though.
  • Reply 49 of 146
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by theapplegenius


    According to a guy at MacNN who did a ROM dump, they use the double ROMs again.



    Yes: GX2 wil run under Windows in a Mac Pro. Not under OS X though.



    What does this mean?
  • Reply 50 of 146
    mattyjmattyj Posts: 898member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Placebo


    What does this mean?



    It means you can do more on your mac in XP than you can in OS X.
  • Reply 51 of 146
    leonardleonard Posts: 528member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Placebo


    What does this mean?



    It means you can use a 7950GX2 card in a Mac Pro when if you boot up in Windows XP. There are a few people on the net that claimed they've done it. Of course if you boot MacOS X on a Mac Pro with a 7950GX2 in a PCI-e slot it'll kernel panic since there are no drivers for the card in MacOS X.
  • Reply 52 of 146
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    Apple is ready for a graphics driver update. At least for a few cards. WTF!!!!!!!
  • Reply 53 of 146
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Placebo


    What does this mean?



    The old PPC ROMs were twice the size of the regular cards. I think 128k instead of 64k. If this is true, that means that Apple is up to their old bullshit again.
  • Reply 54 of 146
    slugheadslughead Posts: 1,169member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by theapplegenius


    The old PPC ROMs were twice the size of the regular cards. I think 128k instead of 64k. If this is true, that means that Apple is up to their old bullshit again.



    it's true.
  • Reply 55 of 146
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    "Bullshit"? If having far superior technology is "bullshit", then yes, count me in.
  • Reply 56 of 146
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Chucker


    "Bullshit"? If having far superior technology is "bullshit", then yes, count me in.



    Far superior to whom? Intel? Oh wait...Apple makes the same shit as everyone else now.
  • Reply 57 of 146
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by theapplegenius


    Far superior to whom? Intel? Oh wait...Apple makes the same shit as everyone else now.



    Uh, EFI (and OpenFirmware) to BIOS.
  • Reply 58 of 146
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Chucker


    Uh, EFI (and OpenFirmware) to BIOS.



    This isn't EFI. EFI has a compatibility layer for legacy BIOS parts. This is all Apple wanting to price gouge on their graphics cards again.
  • Reply 59 of 146
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by theapplegenius


    This isn't EFI. EFI has a compatibility layer for legacy BIOS parts. This is all Apple wanting to price gouge on their graphics cards again.



    Can you prove that EFI has a compatibility layer for VESA/VGA BIOS? This is the first time I've herad of it. If it does, why do neither ATi nor nVidia offer a card that uses it? In fact, why do neither ATi nor nVidia just move all their cards to this miraculous compatibility layer, seeing as it would enable them to provide more features, without additional development costs, since it's, according to you, already in the EFI spec?



    Or did you just want to slander Apple based on no knowledge at all?
  • Reply 60 of 146
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Chucker


    Can you prove that EFI has a compatibility layer for VESA/VGA BIOS? This is the first time I've herad of it. If it does, why do neither ATi nor nVidia offer a card that uses it? In fact, why do neither ATi nor nVidia just move all their cards to this miraculous compatibility layer, seeing as it would enable them to provide more features, without additional development costs, since it's, according to you, already in the EFI spec?



    Or did you just want to slander Apple based on no knowledge at all?



    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=223663



    That alone tells me that EFI has a BIOS compatibility layer as the 7900GTX isn't an EFI card, oh, and that thing called Boot Camp. That uses the layer too.



    Or did you just want to slander me based on no knowledge at all?
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