24" iMac GeForce 8800 GS Pixelated Display

I bought a refurb Spring 2008 24" iMac with the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS video card from the Apple online store almost a month ago now. Worked brilliantly until yesterday afternoon when the display suddenly went all pixelated, with a funny aqua coloured wash effect over parts of all windows, the menu bar and desktop. The desktop background image shadows are all pixely and blocky (as if it'd switched to 256 colours or resolution had suddenly reverted lower than default is the best way I can describe it). The drop shadows are all pixelated too and parts of the desktop background seem to pulse... It happens, sometimes a few minutes after a bootup, but usually almost immediately, booting from the internal disk and my external backup disk, from the install DVD, and also if I boot in safe mode. Given this I don't think it's a software or driver issue.
I've run hardware check from the supplied 10.5.4 DVD, both the short and the long runs, and it found nothing. If I shut it down and leave it for a while (like an hour or overnight) it'll come up and work fine for a few minutes, then the display will flash several black horizontal lines for a second or two and then the display will switch back to the pixelate/low res mode again. When it happens the Displays preference pane shows the correct 1920 X 1200 setting, millions of colours, and the Display Profile is set to iMac as it should be (and changing to another profile doesn't help).
It seems possibly temperature related as leaving it powered down for a while seems to fix it temporarily but the iStat Nano widget shows the CPU/GPU temps are only about 43-47C when it goes crazy, so it doesn't seem to be particularly high (and I'm usually only doing some web browsing when it happens, no games or videos playing or anything). The machine seems to work fine aside from the messed up display, I can launch apps and work with them when it's happening.
The machine came with 10.5.4 installed and I updated it to 10.5.6 via software update and used Migration Assistant to copy my user data and apps from my MacBook Pro.
I've reset parameter RAM and SMC with no change in behaviour. The only new software installed recently was the iPhone SDK about three days before it started playing up and I also installed Scribbles drawing program several hours before it started misbehaving (but I wasn't using Scribbles at the time it broke and I've since removed it with no change).
Has anyone seen this problem before? Is it a faulty graphics card as it appears or could it be something else given that hardware tests found no problems?

Wow, this is bizarre. I got home today and I have the exact same issue, except I have a mac mini, so it is obviously the original video card. I thought it must be that somehow the video card got damaged, but now I think whatever has caused your problem is related to mine.
I booted in safe mode and the video was clear, there are some hardly noticable artifacts when dragging a window but that is probably due to the safe mode driver. I really don't know what to think. Maybe the video card got messed up or maybe it is in the driver. But you have to admit that it seems beyond coincidence that we would both have the save video issue on almost the same day, even though we have different hardware setups, maybe something else is going on.
Please let us know what is response you get!
Cheers.
-Sam

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New IMac GeForce 8800 GS Graphics card is really GeForce 8800M GTS

After calling NVIDIA I've finally discovered what this graphics card REALLY is.
This card is NOT the GeForce GS that was recently renamed to 9600 GSO. That card has 384 MB GDDR3 Memory with 550 Core Speed.
The new IMac GeForce is 8800M GTS.
Heres some specs on the new card:
Pipelines 64 - unified
Core Speed 500 MHz
Memory Speed 800 MHz
Memory Bus Width 256 Bit
Memory Type GDDR3
Max.Memory 512 MB
Shared Memory No
DirectX DirectX 10, Shader 4.0
Power Consump 35 Watt
Transistors Million
Features 1250 MHz Shader clock, Pure Video technology (H.264, VC-1, MPEG2, WMV9 decoder acceleration), HDCP-capable, PowerMizer 7.0 energy management (dynamic switching between performance and energy saving), HDR (high dynamic-range lighting), designed for Windows Vista, Dual-Link DVI-D exits for resolutions from TFT up to 2560x1600, PCI-E 16x, OpenGL 2.1, Gigathread technology.
Anyway, hope this clears up some confusion for people. I know it baffled me for a good few.

Heres another useful link:
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/43pxg/
Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS
Owner's Comments:24 inch iMac, 3.06 Ghz C2D, 8800GS 512 DDR3, 2 Gig 800 Mhz Ram, 500 Gig HD
GPU: G92 M Revision: A2
Technology: 65 nm Die Size: 330 mm²
BIOS Version: 62.92.27.00.12 Device ID: 10DE - 0609
Bus Interface: PCI-E x16 @ x16 Subvendor: Apple Computer (106B)
ROPs: 16 Shaders: 64 (DX 10.0)
Pixel Fillrate: 0.0 GPixel/s Texture Fillrate: 0.0 GTexel/s
Memory Type: GDDR3 Bus Width: 256 bit
Memory Size: 512 MB Bandwidth: 0.0 GB/s
Driver: nvlddmkm 7.15.11.6763 (ForceWare 167.63) / Vista
GPU Clock: 0 MHz 0 MHz
Default Clock: 500 MHz 799 MHz 1250 MHz
Overclock: - - -

New IMac GeForce 8800 GS Graphics card questions

I am considering buying a new IMac 3.06 Intel Processor with 500 GB HD, 2GB RAM, Geforce 8800 GS Graphics Card and 24 inch display.
Will this computer be able to run Windows Vista Aero Glass with all features turned on via Bootcamp software included with Jaguar?
Also does anyone have any information on this GeForce 8800 GS card? I've tried googling it and keep getting sporadic results of Geforce GTS and Geforce GTX cards but nothing about this GS card!
I want to run Vistas AeroGlass and the games I'm interested in playing are WOW, Oblivion, Battlefield 2142 & COD 4.
Can the new IMacs with this GeForce 8800 GS handle all this?

I have the AL iMac 2.4GHz w/ 1GB RAM and the Radeon 2600 w/ 256. Running XP in BootCamp I can run COD4 @ Max and is very playable (not necessarily full throttle) w/ plenty of action on screen. Also the PREY demo works just about as good. If I go to 1600x1200 it will run flawlessly.
WoW will play great on Leopard (though I've had a few freezes in game:::not sure if this is Mac update related or patching for WoW itself). You can also max WoW out and it runs smoother than COD4 (WoW is older) but for the beauty of the game and smoothness tune it a bit and you are cool. And yes AAx8:)
Can't wait until I go to the Corsair 4GB kit w/ 4-4-12 cycle:):):P

Is it worth upgrading iMac 24" to GEForce 8800 card?

Greetings!
I am about to configure and order an iMac 24" model as a workstation. My employer, a large university, will pay for the bottom-of-the-line 20" model, but the cost above that comes out of my pocket. I'm definitely going for the larger model, and I am going to max out the RAM in it (I have posted a separate question asking if there is any use for the 2x1 GB RAM sticks I would remove if I buy 3rd party RAM), but the only other thing I am considering is an upgrade to the video card. I would like advice on whether it is worth doing for my use of the machine.
I will use the machine mainly for desktop publishing, mostly text with some graphics mostly involving Photoshop. I don't do video editing, nor am I a gamer. I do plan to drive an external monitor with the iMac; I have a 22" WS LCD monitor that I am currently using with a G5 DP 2GB machine I am upgrading from, and I want to keep it for additional real estate.
I would guess that I don't need the upgraded video card for this use BUT I will not be able to upgrade the computer further for 3 years. So I am thinking that the prime reason for the video card, if I pay for it (it costs me $135 extra) would be to allow for higher-end demands on the video performance in Snow Leopard or even beyond.
So the real question is whether participants in this forum have any strong sense whether three years from now I'd be happier with the upgraded video card, or whether it wouldn't make any difference to me even then.
Thanks in advance for any informed suggestions!
George Fowler

I spec'd out new iMacs and drove myself rather crazy trying to decide which iMac to get. I use my mac very similarly (PS, FCP, Logic Express). I'm not a gamer but figured that it would be best to by the best I could afford and opted for the 3.06/Geforce 8800/750 Gig HD don't regret it at all. It is smokin' fast with all these apps. Rendering is quick as well as converting video.
I also figured that if I didn't by the top model I would forever be second guessing myself as to how much faster the 3.06 machine with 8800 graphics would be. I know there have been a few benchmarks that show the Radeon 256 card is faster for graphics work, but I think it is minimal and the Geforce 8800 will likely last much longer in the minimum system requirements department with futures OS's and Pro Apps.
I love this machine and think it is worth every penny! I was a little afraid that the display may have some bright/dark spots as I've seen in other posts, but I can't tell. The glossy display doesn't bother me at all either. These were all concerns I had before purchasing this iMac, but have all been dispelled completely. I say go with the flagship model... you will be happy!
Peace

Will the new 3GHz iMac (24") with GeForce 8800 be good for Aperture v2?

hi all.
I've just seen the specs on the new iMac and I'm interested. I was resigned to buying a Mac Pro but found it difficult to justify the cost because I'm not a professional photographer. the new iMac might be good enough at a much more justifiable cost.
I wonder if anyone has information or opinions regarding the following.
Will the glossy screen be a nuisance? There is stray light in our living room where I use my computer although we do have venetian blinds on both windows. (don't bother suggesting using the computer in another room. this is Hong Kong where space is scarce and expensive.)
Will 3GHz/4GB be significantly faster than my 2GHz/2GB iMac for Aperture operations? (Aperture was not included in Apple's test comparisons)
Will the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS card be beneficial to Aperture use?
Will the FireWire 800 be significantly faster than the FireWire 400? on my iMac, transfers to/from my external SATA disks run at only a dismal 13MB/s rather than the ideal 40MB/s. is it my iMac's limited processor power, or a limiting factor with having only 2GB of RAM and a scad of applications open, or a problem (concerning caching) with Leopard's copying routines?
for future reference, would the Aperture library saved on the internal SATA drive be faster than if it was saved on the external SATA drive connected via FireWire 800?
your input and information would be appreciated (and it's probably going to be a common question).
sincerely,
Gregory

Gregory Rivers wrote:
Will the glossy screen be a nuisance?
My expectation (every workspace is different as are individual perceptions) is that the reflective issues of the iMac's glossy screen would be very tolerable. What many (not all) graphics pros including me find intolerable is the fact that glossy displays add contrast and saturation to images. However many, perhaps most, non-graphics-pros prefer the added contrast and saturation, which is why Apple uses those displays. Each individual must do his/her own side-by-side comparisons and determine personal preference.
Will 3GHz/4GB be significantly faster than my 2GHz/2GB iMac for Aperture operations?
Yes.
Will the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS card be beneficial to Aperture use?
I believe yes, but that is just a guess since I do not know the card well. Certainly picking an iMac for Aperture usage I would choose the top 24" with the 8800 GS card
Will the FireWire 800 be significantly faster than the FireWire 400?
Yes.
...for future reference, would the Aperture library saved on the internal SATA drive be faster than if it was saved on the external SATA drive connected via FireWire 800?
Yes. Best IMO will be to have the AP Library on the internal drive but with Referenced Masters on external FW800 drives. The top iMac allows up to 1 TB internal drive size. Since drives slow as they fill, order a large drive and keep it less than half full to optimize operation.
...is it my iMac's limited processor power, or a limiting factor with having only 2GB of RAM and a scad of applications open, or a problem (concerning caching) with Leopard's copying routines?
Pretty much everything impacts AP performance, so the more things you optimize the better. The maximum 4 GB RAM of iMacs, although quite workable, will always be limiting. Good policy is to restart or at least close as many irrelevant applications as necessary prior to an extended Aperture work session.
Steve Weller, builder of the excellent <http://www.bagelturf.com/index.html> Aperture website, discusses speed improvements here:
<http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1273934&tstart=75>
If you ever do run into performance issues, work to dial in on each of the performance tweaks he discusses.
As an aside, I too like the MBP (ideally 17" matte screen) as preferable to the iMac because of the portability. Unfortunately cost may make that an unacceptable choice, but I cannot overstate the huge benefits of portability.
Good luck!
-Allen Wicks

Yet another problematic iMac 24" - 3.06Ghz - Nvidia GeForce 8800 GS

My iMac 24" (Early 2008) - 3.06Ghz - Model A1225 with the Nvidia GeForce 8800 GS card does not work properly.
I purchased my machine in September of 2008 and the issues began about four years later, in late sprin of 2012.
When the screen/display/video problems started, I got blue or pink screen startup failures, beachballing, crazy static lines through the screen, sometimes beeps or screen flickers. All of this started four years after buying it—and it is NOT unreasonable to expect a $3200 machine to last far more than four years.
When my machine stopped working I spent hours over doing diagnostics, reseating the RAM, a reinstall of the OS, all to no avail.
Digging for information on the Internet pointed to so very many other owners of this machine type having the same problem! But the cost to repair the card, as reported time time again, was close to $900. Angry and bitter, I boxed up my machine and started saving—and went back to using my 20” white G5 iMac (no problems with this machine, thank heavens!).
Is there any recall movement in effect? I don’t want to have to pay 900 or so dollars to repair a video card that is inherently defective!
Nvidia recently admitted to having produced lots of faulty Geforce cards for their laptops but also stated that there could be other products with similar faults (http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1045810/000119312508145974/d8k.htm). They have set aside about $150 million to redress the matter.
There is a UK forum dedicated to helping laptop owners with problematic Nvidia cards get help and they have started fielding quesitons from iMac owners, as well (
http://www.nvidiadefect.com/apple-imac-24-early-2008-imac8-1-defect-geforce-8800 -gs-t3813.html).
Is anyone else an unhappy owner of an early iMac 24" (Early 2008) - 3.06Ghz - Model A1225 with the Nvidia Geforce 8800 GS?

After a lengthy long-distance call to Apple Tech Support, both agents I spoke to told me that this is the first time they have heard about this issue. There are no repair protocols in place for this make and model of iMac with these issues.
I asked the senior of the two again, just to clarify, if this was the first time he heard about such a problem and he said yes. I then asked him if he knew the subject was being discussed here on the Apple Support Communities forum and he said that this forum is for users and is not used by them. I asked him if he thought it would make sense for Apple Techs to be up to date about common repair issues being discussed on Apple's own forums, and he said that he can't speak for Apple. I then asked him his opinion about the matter and he said, "I suppose so."
The "suppose so" line told that that I would get nowhere with him. I just hope the authorized repair center I visit is more up to date about this problematic iMac build that Apple's own Tech Support staff are.
Shame on you, Apple!

My Mac Pro (2006) with NVidia GeForce 8800 GT is not detecting a second display. What can I do?

My Mac Pro w/ NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT does not detect a second display from the System Preferences / Displays. Even though I select the "Detect Displays" button, nothing happens. I also have Bootcamp and Windows 7 in a partition on my drive. When I operate with Windows 7, there is no problem detecting both of my displays. However, when I operate with Windows 7, there is no sound signal sent from my sound card. When I switch back to the OS X then I get a sound feed from the sound card, but then it will not detect more than one monitor. I'm ready to pull out my hair. Anyone have suggestions?

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC094Z/A
Leopard 10.5.6 DVD (Amazon has it for $106)

New iMac 24 " GeForce 8800 flicker : sharing a solution

Just in case you face the same problem I have had with a new 24" iMac equiped with a GeForce 8800 GS. I faced a flickering of rectangular areas on the screen in certain applications, the worst being Capture NX 2, but also while scrolling the iTunes Store pages. The problem also implied the smearing of text lines while scrolling rapidly (with the mouse center button) web pages or text files.
I did a safe boot and noted the problem had disapeared. I de-activated Snapz Pro as a starup item and am now working w/o the problem any more. I thought I'd share this. I will contact Ambrosia Software to inform them.

Hello, maybe you've seen the other topic on this board about rectangular areas that flicker.
I'm wondering what exactly you mean with a 'safe boot'? And this Snapz Pro was an application you installed yourself?
Could you do me a favour and go into iTunes, then activate visualisation (apple+T i think) and at view go to visualisation and then options.
You'll get a prompt box. Now check if the OK button is flickering, if so I guess the problem is still there but now in a less annoying way. (will upload a video later on)
When I look at the other topic I'm getting more and more the idea that this is a hardware problem not a software one. Alltho it has been gone for a while but now it's back, really weird and such a trigger.

Early '08 iMac with a GeForce 8800 GS graphics card.

I have an early '08 iMac with a GeForce 8800 GS graphics card. Can I update my card with a newer, better updated one? Would like to play Battlefield 3 and others. If so, can I replace it myself or should Apple do it after I buy it from OWC.

Apple will not install a non-Apple product in your iMac. Maybe an Apple Authorized Service Provider might.
Some models have replaceable video cards, but updating with a newer one will require much research, (my guess is that this is not possible, as connectors and circuitry aren't standardized).
See this DIY on an iMac video card procedure to see if it's something you would want to try yourself: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing-iMac-Intel-20-Inch-EMC-2133-and-2210-Vide o-Card/1014/1

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS in iMac White

Hello, is posible "NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS" in my iMac 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo 24" (MA456LL)? I dont have guarantee.

No it will not work, your machine does not have the correct architecture so it will not fit.

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS upgrade for 24" aluminum iMac -- can it be done?

I have a one-release-previous 24" aluminum iMac (bought about 2 months before the newest one was released). I play a lot of World of Warcraft, and would love to upgrade the video card to the new NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS that works in the current 24" iMac.
Is there a way to do this at all? Apple solution, third-party solution, anything? I've heard rumors, but can't find out anything for sure.
All help appreciated.

Yes, I think it's technically possible, but you'd have to purchase the stock part from an Apple specialist (a corporate store probably wont do it) and have them install it. Expect to pay $300+ for the part alone. Even then, there's no real guarantee that it will work, even though they do indeed use the same form factor. There may be power/thermal issues.

IMAC's NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS w/512MB up-to-date?

I am currently using a 20" IMAC and have been thinking about purchasing a new one.
I was curious to know "*NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS w/512MB GDDR3*" is a decent "UP-TO-DATE" card?
When looking at a list of NVidia's current cards available at http://www.nvidia.com/object/graphicscards_buynow.html - they list cards that have "*Maximum Memory Bandwidth*" of 103 up to 147 GB/s. with up to 1GB memory size!
This sounds allot better than the 57GB/s Max Memory that the IMAC card offers, which isn't even half of some the current cards.
Should I be waiting for the IMAC to get updated with better video cards? or is this the best card I am going to see for a while with IMACs?
Thank you in advance for any help given.
Message was edited by: Psychojkl

True, and those cards also cost $4-500. Nvidia has other cards with a similar memory bandwidth that they rate for extreme gaming. The GPU in the iMac is an on-the-board GPU which can provide reasonable performance at a reasonable price. It ranks about mid-way in Nvidia's 8-series of video cards. If you want something faster, then you need to move up to a Mac Pro. For the vast majority of iMac buyers the video performance is more than adequate. But if your software needs demand higher performance, then the iMac is not for you.

IMac Nvidia GeForce 8800 GS Drivers

I am running XP Professional via Boot Camp. I run XP so I can play America's Army since it is a Windows only based game. The problem I am having is when I expand Americas Army full screen it completely locks up my iMac and I have to hold down the power button to reset it.
I have been told by several people that the problem is from the Nvidia GeForce 8800 GS drivers. I tried to up date the graphics drivers from Apple's and Nvidia's website with the latest driver. When I try to install the graphics driver from the setup file, it gives me the following error.
"The NVIDIA Setup program could not locate any drivers that are compatible with your current hardware. Setup will now exit."
Here is the location where I downloaded the driver from.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp175.19whql.html
Here is a link to America's Army on the support forums.
http://forum.americasarmy.com/viewtopic.php?t=279590
Any help is appreciated.
Message was edited by: allen2680

Hey guys,
I encountered problems renaming the nv4 disp file that allen sent me (drivers still would not install)...so instead of replacing the original nv4 disp.inf file in windows, I opened the nv4 disp file allen sent me, copied the text, and pasted it in the original nv4 disp file in the NVIDIA folder after deleting the text of the original file and saved it...after that, the new drivers installed without a hitch...have yet to test whether or not the infinite loop is gone or not in Age of Empires 3 though...will keep u updated...thx for the file allen!

Imac, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS

Hello,
I am planning to buy iMac 3.06 model.
I read somewhere that core animation is slower on "NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS" then "ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO".
The guy on that forum was saying that NVIDIA graphics card is faster in 3D rendering But slower on core animation. He was also saying that iMovie will be slower on NVIDIA graphics card then ATI.
Is that true.?
Sorry, I couldn't find the link of that forum, I read that only once.
Thanks
Dhaval.

Here are two interesting links:
"Early 2008" iMac
iMovie and iDVD Surprise:
Radeon beats Geforce!
OS X 10.5.3 versus 10.5.2:
Has the GeForce 8800's Core Image Performance Improved?
Also, note that you can order a Built-To-Order iMac with the 3.06 Ghz processor and the Radeon 2600 card on the Apple online store:
Configure your iMac 24-inch

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS issue

I have a 24 inch iMac with a NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS video card. The computer is out of warranty.
A while back I noticed that, while playing World of Warcraft, the computer would have a sort of graphical glitch and then freeze up.
This happened a few times, infrequently, until finally the computer would not start at all.
At the startup screen with the apple logo, the wheel would spin a minute, then pixels would appear all over the screen and it would freeze. The screen would then turn to a bright orange color and stay that way.
I took it in to the mac store, where I was told the video card had failed.
They replaced the video card, which I had to pay for, due to the computer being out of warranty.
I have had the new video card now for about two weeks. I just loaded World of Warcraft for the second time on it. After playing for less than 20 minutes, the screen glitched out (pixelated flashes) and then froze.
I am now afraid to play the game.
I have never had the computer freeze while doing anything else.
Considering I just spent $600 to replace the last video card, is there anything I can do to figure out what exactly is causing this problem?
Thanks.

Hi Riley71
I'm not sure what you were charged $600 for, but I would take it back and either ask for my $600 back or that it be fixed correctly.
Dennis

24" iMac GeForce 8800 GS Pixelated Display

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