The GeForce 8800 GT

I own a 2006 mac pro.
I was very happy when I ordered on 9 jan a GeForce 8800 GT.
I was disappointed when on 11 jan I had to cancel my order because the card would not work in a 2006 mac pro.
I just wandered if it is not possible for a third vendor to bring a videocard to the market for older mac pro's with the quality of a GeForce 8800 GT or better.
Iemke

It really is funny how it really does feel to me that my Vista Bootcamp experiment on my 8-core is really going to have a referendum within this video card situation. Because for me, it's not even really about this 8800GT in particular. It's about the possibilities for a new card after that and how much of a living breathing investment the Mac Pro will be for Windows as time moves on. For these reasons (as absolutely ridiculous as it sounds - and I know it might seem to some), I'm actually contemplating a Blackbird 002 8-core machine and just calling it a day after this.
I think what we may be seeing play out here is the viability of Bootcamp as time moves on with your Mac hardware. If Apple doesn't either generate a third party interest in developing video cards (which is hard with EFI and the issues that others have gone over more intelligently than I could) or make card upgrades available in the future on their own, Pro users & gamers may begin to feel that the Windows on Mac Hardware option is initially fun, but ultimately a longer-term failure - feeling that it is perhaps better suited to those who just want to work in MS Office and play a few games now and then...
I'm hoping for the best, because otherwise it's rather a seismic shift in thinking for me and time to consider using that since abandoned input on the KVM switch that used to have a Gaming PC plugged in.
Love Apple since my Mac SE days. And I still do. Running both OS's on the same machine and having all the peripherals, FW800 audio interfaces, etc. all available in Vista is the most amazing computing thing that has happened to me in a long time. But if I'm eventually going to have to switch out to a separate machine eventually due to being stuck in the mud re: graphics, etc. as time moves on in my Windows life, I'd rather do it now than suffer through future newsgroup chats and rumor-forum analysis of compatibility. Life's too short. Steve Job's email on the subject (in the other discussion thread) makes a big difference to me and I'll be anxiously listening for the answer.

Similar Messages

OpenGL Profiler , the Profile for the GeForce 8800 GT ?

Hi there,
i'm looking for the profile of this video card, where can i get it ?
i really need it for playing with some game, opengl profiler is the only one issue for having a good render.
TY very much for your help ^^

Hi there,
i'm looking for the profile of this video card, where can i get it ?
i really need it for playing with some game, opengl profiler is the only one issue for having a good render.
TY very much for your help ^^

Radeon 2600 beats GeForce 8800 -- again

I was doing some tests comparing two iMacs, one with the Radeon 2600 Pro and one with the GeForce 8800 GS. The test was to import a movie file into iMovie, which renders thumbnails of each segment of the video.
The iMac with the Radeon completed the thumbnails faster even though it had a slower CPU clock (2.8 vs 3.06GHz). Huh?
The same thing happened when I encoded a DVD project into a disk image using iDVD. This required it to render an animated welcome screen. The iMac 2.8 with Radeon 2600 Pro beat the iMac 3.08 with the GeForce 8800 GS!
Scratching my head, I decided to try the same two tests on a Mac Pro 3.2GHz 8-core. When the Radeon 2600 XT was installed, the Mac Pro completed the iMovie and iDVD tests faster than when the GeForce 8800 GT was installed.
Apparently the GPU is handling at least a portion of both tasks -- and the Radeon 2600 handles its portion better than the GeForce 8800. And to add insult to injury, the Radeon 3870 will be shipping within a week.
Message was edited by: rob_ART to correct spelling.

Thanks for the information. I am considering to replace my standard mac pro first generation video card by a ge force 8800.
I am using the mac pro mainly for D 200 raw file editing on 30 inch ACD screen. I jjust wondered if yoyr results are also applicable for my situation.
Any comments
Iemke

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

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

GeForce 8800 GT in MP 2007?

Was a Mac Pro built in late 2007 ever released with the GeForce 8800 GT 512, even as a BTO?

I don't think any Mac Pros shipped with it, but it was available as a replacement graphics board
<http://cgi.ebay.com/NVIDIA-GeForce-8800-GT-S-512MB-Video-Card-Mac-Pro-06-07-/16 0474712723?pt=PCCVideo_TV_Cards&hash=item255d09ca93#ht_4916wt976>
There was a different version for the 2008 Mac Pro.

Geforce 8800 just for Windows

I use my Mac for video work, but I'm also an avid PC gamer. Since the Mac has excellent hardware, except for the latest Direct X 10 video cards, I was wondering if I could install a Geforce 8800 card in an additional PCI-X slot. I'm fine with using my current Mac video card for my work, but I was wondering if I could get my Mac to "ignore" the Geforce 8800 in OS X, and when I install Windows via Boot Camp if I could just use the Geforce 8800 as my primary video card and play games. I don't mind some cable switching or using a video switcher to make this happen. But will my Mac be OK just having this extra card sitting around inside?
I know Boot Camp is still in Beta, I was just wondering if anyone had tried this out.
2.66 Ghz Quad Xeon, 2 GB RAM, 250 GB HD Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Thanks for the quick answers - since I would have only one 16 lane slot, could I place the geforce 8800 in slot #1 (double-wide) and put my standard card in another slot? Is the Mac looking for the primary OSX video card to be in slot 1? I know you can adjust the lanes for the different slots through some utility. I would plan on moving my Mac card first, making sure I could boot, install Boot Camp and Windows, and then install the 8800. I feel like that should work.
And I totally understand your suggestion of waiting - like many other users, I'm hoping for an ATI/AMD R600 upgrade option, but I feel like it may just get pushed back more, or might not even happen.
2.66 Ghz Quad Xeon, 2 GB RAM, 250 GB HD Mac OS X (10.4.9)

GeForce 8800 Core Image issues finally worked out?

Getting ready to order a new Mac Pro, and deciding between the Radeon 2600 and GeForce 8800 I have been reading that for games the 8800 is smoking fast - but for normal work in Aperture/etc it's actuall slower than the Radeon. Also saw some people reporting issues playing back HD video on the 8800...
Have these issues finally been worked out? Is the 8800 working well for HD video, moving windows around without stuttering, core image, etc...??
Thanks in advance for the replies...

I'm quite sure the 8800 will do well as a gaming card under windows. But if you use the computer mainly for CS3, Aperture etc, then I think you should go for the cheaper 2600 and then upgrade.
Barefeats has recently tested the ATi 4870x2 and the GTS280 under Vista and the former is significantly stronger. http://www.barefeats.com/harper19.html.
Note that in that article it is said that ATi "has optimized their Mac Edition drivers and firmware for the Radeon 2600 XT and 3870 so that they run Core Image effects much faster than comparable nVidia cards including the GeForce 8800 GT and Quadro FX 5600." This was news to me but perhaps it answers your question in part at least.
I have not seen any solutions for the HD video playback issue. I'm using the 8800 but don't do HD so I have no personal experience of that.
Btw note Barefeats finding that a 2,8 Mac Pro is as strong as a 3,2 Mac Pro for graphics work.
/p
Message was edited by: pullman

GeForce 8800 with GeForce 7300

I'm looking for some advice... I am planning on purchasing a 30in LCD (Samsung 305T) and I'm wondering if I should upgrade my current GPU (GeForce 7300) to the GeForce 8800. Or if the 7300 is capable of driving the 30in monitor.
My next question is whether or not I can re-utilize my existing GeForce 7300 GPU's with the 8800. If the 8800 is that much better than the 7300 I would like install the 8800 and connect the new 30in monitor to it. Then connect my existing 2 x 24" LCD's to the 7300 GPU's (one each, I have 2 x 7300).
Will this be possible?
Most of my time on the system is spend using standard desktop application like MS Office (70%). The rest of the time I spend in Aperture and Final Cut.
Thanks in advance...

I don't see the 7300GT on Apple Store, but Nvidia specifies:
Dual-link DVI capability to drive the industry's largest and highest resolution digital flat panel displays up to 2560x16001
So if you plan on only using a single 30", you are fine, but if you feel you need an upgrade graphics, the Radeon 2600XT would be my first choice actually. People are generally happy as a replacement for 7300 or even x1900. The first revisions had a noisy fan, but so too would the 8800GT. Two dual link DVI ports
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB198Z/A
Someone last night said their 7300 and 8800 'don't get along' and having trouble, though it seems it should but make sure you get the right card.
And there is the Radeon 3870.
http://www.barefeats.com/harper16.html
http://www.barefeats.com/harper15.html
Even the 2600 can be used if you have Leopard.
Comparing 2600 to 8800.
http://www.barefeats.com/harper8.html

NVidia GeForce 8800 GT *and* GeForce GTX 285 in a Mac Pro?

Hi,
my Mac Pro came with an nVidia GeForce 8800 GT, and I've now bought an extra GeForce GTX 285 Mac Edition (for the Compute Level 1.3 double precision floating point capability in CUDA).
(Everything bought from the Mac Store)
I wasn't aware that I was expected to throw away the GeForce 8800 GT , what with the other three PCI-e slots being free.
The GTX 285 (max requirement: 204 W) requires two extra PCI-e power connectors. The 8800 GT (max: 110 W) uses one. There are only two available from the motherboard though.
So, *although I realize this isn't supported*, has anyone else managed to scrounge some current from somewhere else on the motherboard?
I'm only using one hard drive and one optical drive and no other PCI-e cards. Surely the power supply (around 1000 W ?) can supply the extra?
Does anyone know how much current the PCI-e extra power connectors are rated for?
Thanks,
colin

Search long enough and you may find...
According to this
http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#pciexpress
The PCI-e slot can supply up to 75 W, whilst a 6 pin cable can provide another 75 W.
So:
2 PCI-e slots + 2 auxiliary 6-pin connector = 300 W
"Even with only two 12 volt lines the standard implementation of PCI Express power cables use large enough gauge wire and a good enough connector to provide much more than the three amps per wire required to provide 75 watts. Nonetheless, the 6 pin PCI Express power cable officially provides only 75 watts. *In all likelihood, however, real implementations of this power cable can provide far more than 75 watts.* "
Hmmm

Neo4 Plat SLI & geforce 8800 GTX

Can anyone confirm if the geforce 8800 GTX will run in a Neo4 Plat SLI? The last bios mentions support for the GX2's but no new updates for the 8800 series.

Quote from: Biggs25 on 17-November-06, 13:48:05
Can anyone confirm if the geforce 8800 GTX will run in a Neo4 Plat SLI? The last bios mentions support for the GX2's but no new updates for the 8800 series.
Tested it and it works You might have to fiddle around with the cooler a bit - There's a capacitor next to the PCIE slot wich is in the way
Only 1 card tho, you can't run SLI on this board as the 8800GTX requires a full x16 slot and won't work on a x8 slot
so x8 - x8 SLI won't work.

Photoshop CS4 Issues with the NVIDIA GeForce 8800?

I have an Mac Pro Intel 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Xeon with 6GB RAM running OS X 10.5.5 and an NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT driving two monitors.
I just installed Adobe Photoshop CS4 fresh from a factory CD.
When I perform a Distort -> Lens Correction or do a Free Transform to rotate an image an arbitrary amount, and then follow that with a resize (tried 133% and 166%), the image ends up with a pattern of gray plaid overlaid -- especially visible in the darkest shadows. The pattern appears only on the rotated layers of an image.
This pattern persists if I quit and restart Photoshop, BUT -- there's no pattern visible if I open the same image in Photoshop CS3. It only appears in CS4.
This is easy to reproduce -- I just tried it with an image I created in Photoshop at 5x7" at 240dpi and filled with solid black.
I dropped a Bug Report to Adobe, and they wrote back suggesting "This is most likely an issue with your video card driver."
Anybody else out there having this issue? Anyone with an identical setup want to test this?
-=-Joe

sako75 wrote:
I'm seeing what you are talking about when viewing at 200% and up on my 300dpi images. I'm thinking that its the new pixel grid overlay for dialing in the details on the image.
No, that's not it. I can see it at 100%, and only on images that have been rotated and resized.
In fact, yesterday I rotated one layer under an unrotated layer, and only the rotated layer showed the plaid pattern.
And it's not a simple grid -- it's a real plaid-like gray, almost like stretch marks.
-=-Joe

Will the new GeForce 8800 make a difference for Final Cut Express?

Planning to buy soon a new 24 inches iMac, I am wondering if the new GeForce 8800 graphic card will make a significative difference compared with the ATI 2600 Pro?

Basically, no. The additional VRAM may enhance your overall RT Effects capability and may provide some general benefit if you run 2 monitors in extended desktop mode. But it won't make a difference in general editing or playback of your videos.

Is the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS worth the money for Final Cut Express?

Hi,
I'm considering a new iMac 24, but not sure if the speedier on is worth the money.
Currently I use a MacBook Pro 2.2 for Final Cut Express with a 23" cinema (mostly DV, some HD) and that works okay, but won't play back in real time when I composit video.
Anybody know if the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS will help in that area?
Thanks,
KC

The speedier video card is great for 3D stuff, but it won't matter a wink for Final Cut Express, which barely makes use of the video card.
Keep in mind that Final Cut is using the CPU, not video card, to perform the editing, decoding, and encoding of the video. The only time the video card comes into play is during playback of the video, and any of the video options available for iMacs will handle that just fine.
When you composite video, the hard-disk throughput will start to come into play. The dinky 5400 RPM disk in your laptop will adversely affect the performance of that.

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

The GeForce 8800 GT

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for