[Frigidman]

http://www.evga.com/articles/00479/


For those interested.

[jgwdoc]

You notice the page says nothing about which generation of MacPros it supports?

[Janichsan]

Probably the ones mentioned on the corresponding Apple Store page.

[iEvan]

Ouch, my wallet!

[Frigidman]

Althought such a thing was 'rumored' about before in this thread:

Finally a True High-End Mac GPU - GTX 285 Coming

What I posted was the actual announcement page that was sent via the newsletter yesterday. Just an FYI.

[rob_ART]

Posted my first set of GeForce GTX 285 benchmarks using max settings, 4X AA, and 2560x1600 rez:
http://www.barefeats.com/nehal11.html

Expensive but effective.

[jgwdoc]

Janichsan, on June 10th 2009, 08:47 AM, said:

Probably the ones mentioned on the corresponding Apple Store page.

Yeah, I know. I was just hoping. Do you think the card could be adapted by a 3rd party, or would Nvidia have to issue a separate card the way they did for the 8800?

[ltcommander.data]

rob_ART, on June 10th 2009, 03:13 PM, said:

Posted my first set of GeForce GTX 285 benchmarks using max settings, 4X AA, and 2560x1600 rez:
http://www.barefeats.com/nehal11.html

Expensive but effective.

Based on the Quadro FX 4800 consistently outperforming the HD4870 in games despite it's consumer 192 SP GTX260 version being slower than the HD4870, it appears that the significant limiter of Mac HD4870 performance at 2560x1600 and 4x AA is unsurprisingly the lack of video RAM. I've mentioned it before, but seeing that before the HD4870 was launched with the Mac Pro, ATI already lowered the MSRP of the 512MB HD4870 to $149 and the 1GB HD4870 to $199, it isn't unreasonable for Apple to have included 1GB of GDDR5 considering they are selling the Mac version for $349. A 1GB HD4870 would probably be quite a bit closer to the GTX285 at these high settings. Some GPU accelerated applications like Mudbox already complain about 512MB of VRAM and I'd imagine the situation only getting worse with OpenCL.

[jgwdoc]

ltcommander.data, on June 10th 2009, 05:56 PM, said:

A 1GB HD4870 would probably be quite a bit closer to the GTX285 at these high settings. Some GPU accelerated applications like Mudbox already complain about 512MB of VRAM and I'd imagine the situation only getting worse with OpenCL.

For the same money, you can get a flashed 4870 with 1GB from a number of vendors on eBay. I followed that route and have been very pleased. Runs like a charm.

[ltcommander.data]

jgwdoc, on June 10th 2009, 09:01 PM, said:

For the same money, you can get a flashed 4870 with 1GB from a number of vendors on eBay. I followed that route and have been very pleased. Runs like a charm.

You mean flash a PC 1GB HD4870 with the video ROM of a Mac 512MB HD4870? I guess it's not like Apple cares enough to hunt people down, but I wonder are there any questions of legality of flashing a graphics card with a video ROM from a video card you don't own?

I'm hoping ATI will introduce a new Mac & PC edition to replace the HD3870 which is no longer available. I'm thinking a 512MB HD4770 for $199 would be very reasonable. It's still slower than the $349 HD4870 to avoid overlap while much better value than the $149 GT120. Make it single-slotted and completely PCIe bus powered without the 6-pin connector as an improvement over the PC version, which is certainly possible given the thermal and power results in reviews. I'd prefer 1GB of GDDR5, but seeing the Mac HD4870 only has 512MB, that's unlikely. Still, there is definitely a hole that an ATI Mac & PC Edition typically fills between the $149 GT120 and the $349 HD4870 considering the high-end is now nicely covered with the $449 GTX284 and $1799 Quadro FX 4800. Demand for a Mac & PC Edition with good price/performance would probably be high now that the HD2600 XT and HD3870 are known not to support OpenCL and the 8800GT is no longer available for Mac Pro upgrades.

[rob_ART]

jgwdoc, on June 10th 2009, 06:01 PM, said:

For the same money, you can get a flashed 4870 with 1GB from a number of vendors on eBay. I followed that route and have been very pleased. Runs like a charm.

What model of Mac Pro do you have?

[jgwdoc]

ltcommander.data, on June 10th 2009, 07:01 PM, said:

You mean flash a PC 1GB HD4870 with the video ROM of a Mac 512MB HD4870? I guess it's not like Apple cares enough to hunt people down, but I wonder are there any questions of legality of flashing a graphics card with a video ROM from a video card you don't own?

Yes. You are correct. I hadn't thought that aspect would necessarily be proprietary. Anyway, it doesn't ring real high on my guilt-meter and I'm usually pretty neurotic about that kind of thing.

rob_ART, on June 10th 2009, 08:07 PM, said:

What model of Mac Pro do you have?

I have a Dual-Core 2006 (1.1) at home and a Quad-Core 2007 at work. Both are obviously impacted by the same EFI issue. I replaced the X1900 in my work machine with an 8800GT and just swapped out the home X1900 with the souped-up 4870 which has made a very noticeable difference. Am considering eventually upgrading the 8800 and am quite curious about whether the GTX 285 will ever be an option.

[Sneaky Snake]

Flashing GPU's is entirely legal. Getting the bios/EFI to flash it sometimes isn't.

I have a 4870 1 GB is my homebuild and when I'm done with that when the new 5xxx or GTX 3xx series' come out I'm gonna try flashing it to work in the Mac Pro. What brand of card do you have? Mines a Sapphire 1 GB with stock clocks

I curious to know whether people have flashed the PC version of the GTX 285 for Mac

[jgwdoc]

Sneaky Snake, on June 11th 2009, 02:15 PM, said:

Flashing GPU's is entirely legal. Getting the bios/EFI to flash it sometimes isn't.

I have a 4870 1 GB is my homebuild and when I'm done with that when the new 5xxx or GTX 3xx series' come out I'm gonna try flashing it to work in the Mac Pro. What brand of card do you have? Mines a Sapphire 1 GB with stock clocks

I curious to know whether people have flashed the PC version of the GTX 285 for Mac

Actually, I don't know which brand they used. I got it from Applemacanix, who seem to have multiple Ebay auctions and who were suggested by rob_ART. It's 1GB and also slightly overclocked.

[teflon]

Probably not.
For one thing I doubt that anyone aside from Rob has got their grubby mitts on one yet.

[ltcommander.data]

teflon, on June 11th 2009, 06:40 PM, said:

Probably not.
For one thing I doubt that anyone aside from Rob has got their grubby mitts on one yet.

Does that imply that Rob uses grubby mitts or that grubby mitts are required to touch high-end GPUs?

[The Liberator]

ltcommander.data, on June 12th 2009, 11:07 AM, said:

Does that imply that Rob uses grubby mitts or that grubby mitts are required to touch high-end GPUs?

Maybe both...

Liberator.

[Sneaky Snake]

jgwdoc, on June 11th 2009, 06:28 PM, said:

Actually, I don't know which brand they used. I got it from Applemacanix, who seem to have multiple Ebay auctions and who were suggested by rob_ART. It's 1GB and also slightly overclocked.

What brand does it say on the cards cover/cooler, or is it an aftermarket one?

[jgwdoc]

Sneaky Snake, on June 11th 2009, 08:46 PM, said:

What brand does it say on the cards cover/cooler, or is it an aftermarket one?

I'll let you know next time i open the machine and look at it. meanwhile, i have no idea.

[teflon]

ltcommander.data, on June 12th 2009, 02:07 AM, said:

Does that imply that Rob uses grubby mitts or that grubby mitts are required to touch high-end GPUs?

I think just a plain and simple yes should suffice.