Geforce 8800 Gt For I Mac



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'BARE facts on Mac speed FEATS'
Rob-ART, Main Mad Scientist (aka Dr. Frankenstein)
Bet-TAY, Special Features Edtior (aka Frau Blucher)

Mac Pro BUYING ADVICE:
Radeon HD 2600 XT
or GeForce 8800 GT?

Originally posted January 9th, 2008, by rob-ART morgan, mad scientist
Updated January 10th, 2008, with correction on compatibility with older Mac Pro
Updated January 10th, 2008, with more info on the Quadro's advantage
Updated January 14th with more on the power usage of the graphics cards
and info on PCIe slot usage.'

One of the email queries most often received is, 'What graphics card should I order with my Mac Pro?' The new 'Early 2008' Mac Pros with 'Penryn based Xeon' (Harpertown) processors offer three choices.

We think 99% of 'Early 2008' Mac Pro buyers will be choosing between the Radeon HD 2600 XT and the GeForce 8800 GT. Even though we haven't tested either yet, we have some buying advice based on the data collected by Anandtech and the specs published by Apple, nVidia, and ATI.

PRIMITIVES
Apple was kind enough to publish some of primitives. We got some of them from other sources.

Pixel Fill Rate:
Radeon HD 2600 XT = 11.8 billion/sec
GeForce 8800 GT = 33.6 billion/sec
Quadro FX 5600 = 19.2 billion/sec

Triangles Per Second
Radeon HD 2600 XT = 700 million
Geforce 8800 GT = 33.6 billion
Quadro FX 5600 = 28.0 billion

Memory Bandwidth
Radeon HD 2600 XT = 25.6 GB/sec
GeForce 8800 GT = 72.0 GB/sec
Quadro FX 5600 = 76.8 GB/sec

GAMING PERFORMANCE?
(SEE OUR 'SHOOT 'EM UP' ARTICLE)

'BUT I'M NOT A GAMER.'
Up until recently, with the exception of high-end 3D apps like Maya, the GPU was not stressed by professional applications. Even though Photoshop CS3 is a 'graphics' application, it does not use the GPU to render effects.

However, that is going to change. Apple has already shown with Motion and Aperture that certain graphics functions can be handed off to the GPU. For example, when we render a RAM preview with Motion, we see as much as a 100% load on the GPU (according to Hardware Monitor) and we get different render times with different graphics cards. So GPU does matter in some cases and the trend with pro apps is to use the GPU more and more.

(SEE OUR 'SHOOT 'EM UP' ARTICLE FOR MOTION AND IMAGINATOR RESULTS.)

COUGH UP THE $200 for the GeForce 8800 GT
The gains to be had by the GeForce 8800 GT is well worth the $200 premium you'll pay at the time of ordering your Mac Pro. Considering how much you pay for a new Mac Pro, the extra $200 for the optional GPU is trivial.

Note, however, if you order your Mac Pro with the GeForce 8800 GT (or Quadro FX 5600), it will take longer to ship. If you order it with the Radeon 2600 XT, it will take '3 to 5 days.' (Since we plan to test both, we ordered our Mac Pro 3.2GHz with the stock Radeon and made a separate order for the GeForce 8800 GT kit -- MB137Z/A.)

ALERT TO OWNERS OF 'OLD' MAC PROS! (CORRECTED)
Though the GeForce 8800 GT is available in kit form, it is *NOT* compatible with the older Mac Pro (August 2006, April 2007) as we first thought.
Turns out the aftermarket GeForce 8800 GT kit is for the '2008' Mac Pro ONLY. The ROM only has an EFI64 driver in its ROM. It could be made compatible with the older Mac Pros by putting both a 32-bit and 64-bit EFI driver in the GeForce 8800 GT's ROM -- assuming there's room for both. Otherwise, a special legacy version will have to be created by Apple or a third party.

If you still want to order the GeForce 8800 GT kit, go to the Apple Store USA and search on 'MB137Z/A' to find it. The price is $349. If you are very unhappy about it not working on your 'old' Mac Pro, then sign our petition asking Apple to create a version that will. We also suggest you give feedback to the Mac Pro management at Apple.

By the way, the Radeon HD 2600 XT kit will work on the older Mac Pros as well as the new one (thanks to having both a 32-bit and 64-bit EFI driver in the ROM). Search on 'MB198Z/A' when you visit Apple Store USA ($149).

FLASH: On January 19th, we tried the Radeon X1900 XT in the '2008' Mac Pro on a tip from a reader. It works just fine. The Radeon X1900 XT kit is still available. It works on all models of Mac Pro and goes for $399 (eek!). Search on 'MA631Z/B' at the Apple Store USA. (One user reported that the Radeon X1900 XT did NOT work in his 2008 Mac Pro 2.8GHz. We didn't do anything special to get it to work in our 2008 Mac Pro 3.2GHz or our friend's 2.8GHz. However, we do recall running the firmware update on the card back in October 2007 when it was installed in our 'Apr 2007' 8-core Mac Pro.)

WHY MOST USERS SHOULD PASS ON THE $2850 QUADRO FX 5600
We think most of you should pass on the Quadro FX 5600 option. Though it costs 14 times as much as the GeForce 8800 GT, it is not 14 times faster.

However, the Quadro FX 5600 does feature more video memory (1.5GB vs 512MB). And, according to one Maya guru, the extra memory (and superior memory management code) of the Quadro workstation cards becomes useful for frame buffering in Maya. This is especially true for redraw of multiple views of the same complex 3D model.

This has been enhanced further by Quadro FX 5600's new integrated memory allocation which allows the card to dynamically allocate on-board RAM to whatever task is at hand rather than have specific hard wired allocations. So rather than say a maximum of 40% of total on-board RAM dedicated to the texture buffer the card can ramp up and down from 80% sharing with the immediate needs of the other buffers.

And it does have a stereo 3D port which I've seen used in one scientific visualization lab for demonstrations with software that generates an animation that requires special 3D glasses to view.

If you are a heavy Maya user or often view your screen with 3D glasses, the cost might be justified. Might. But I still say the cost is not justified for 99% of consumers.

ONE GeForce 8800 GT vs FOUR Radeon HD 2600 XTs? (Corrected)
Notice that Apple will only let you configure-to-order ONE of the GeForce 8800 GTs while they will let you configure-to-order up to FOUR of the Radeon HD 2600 XTs. Why?

We first thought it had to do a difference in power requirements. Our initial posting of max power usage (based on an outside source) was in error. Apple has published the maximum power usage of each '2008' Mac Pro card:
ATI Radeon 2600 XT = 50 watts
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT = 110 watts
NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 = 175 watts

Though the difference is significant in power requirements, it's not enough to preclude installing two GeForce 8800 GTs in a '2008' Mac Pro 8-core. However, you must
1) order the second one as a kit (MB137Z/A),
2) place the two GeForce 800 GTs in slots one and two, and
3) since those two cars total 220 watts, if there's room to add an PCIe cards in slots 3 or 4, make sure they use only 80 additional watts (so as not to exceed the 300 watts limit for the PCIe bus).

For more info on the PCIe 2.0 bus of the '2008' Mac Pro, read Apple's documentation on 'PCI Product-Specific Details.'

RELATED LINKS
Bare Feats' CPU crunch tests on the 3.2GHz Harpertown Mac Pro versus others.

Bare Feats tests the Radeon HD 2600 XT on the 3.2GHz Harpertown Mac Pro versus other GPUs on other Macs.

Bare Feats' memory speed and heat tests on the 3.2GHz Harpertown Mac Pro versus others. (Plus 800MHz vs 667MHz FB-DIMMs in the 2008 Mac Pro.)

Bare Feats' power usage and noise level testing on the 3.2GHz Harpertown Mac Pro vs the 3.0GHz Clovertown Mac Pro.

Apple has posted some 2008 Mac Pro benchmarks.

See Apple's technical briefing on Mac Pro memory expansion.

WHERE TO BUY A MAC PRO
When ordering products from Apple Store USA, please click THIS TEXT LINK or any Apple display ad as your 'portal' to the online store. In so doing, you help to support Bare Feats.

(DON'T LIVE in the USA? See links for Apple online stores in other countries.)

NEED 667MHz or 800MHz memory for your new Mac Pro? Apple charges and arm and a leg. We suggested ordering it with minimal memory and getting 8GB or 16GB of matched modules from ....

MaxUpgrades makes max_flow, a kit to keep your Mac Pro memory running even cooler. They also sell memory for the Mac Pro.

Has Bare Feats helped you? How about helping Bare Feats?

© 2008 Rob Art Morgan
'BARE facts on Macintosh speed FEATS'
Email , the webmaster


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The gains to be had by the GeForce 8800 GT is well worth the $200 premium you'll pay at the time of ordering your Mac Pro. Considering how much you pay for a new Mac Pro, the extra $200 for the optional GPU is trivial. Note, however, if you order your Mac Pro with the GeForce 8800 GT (or Quadro FX 5600), it will take longer to ship. Apple introduced the GeForce 8800 GT as a graphics option for the Mac Pro when the professional desktop system was refreshed just prior to Macworld Expo in January. The board was available both as. The Radeon HD 3870 Mac & PC Edition ($219 MSRP) will be available 'late June' direct from ATI's Online Store or from Other World Computing or from Small Dog Electronics.Unlike the GeForce 8800 GT, one card is compatible with ALL models of Mac Pro (2006 - 2008). The Apple Store now lists a GeForce 8800 GT graphics upgrade kit for first-generation Mac Pros. The kit costs $279. Apple introduced the GeForce 8800 GT as a graphics option for the Mac Pro when. The Double-Slot Nvidia GeForce GT 640 is a strong option for adding more displays to an EFI64 (2008-2012) Mac Pro without using any of the two Power plugs! -GeForce 8800 GT, Radeon HD 3870, Quadro FX 5600 (Similar performance, with newer technology, better reliability, better support, and lower heat and power usage with no power cable required).

Nvidia Geforce 8800 Gt Specs


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'BARE facts on Mac speed FEATS'

PC Only Gaming:
Radeon HD 3870 Mac & PC Edition
versus GeForce 8800 GT

Originally posted June 13th, 2008, by rob-ART morgan, mad scientist

If you are a 'hard core' gamer that runs 'PC only' 3D games, then you'll want to know how the new Radeon HD 3870 Mac & PC Edition stacks up against the GeForce 8800 GT and other GPUs. We tested several PC games under Vista 64-bit Ultimate in the Boot Camp partition of our Mac Pro 3.2GHz octo-core Mac Pro 'early 2008.'

ID Software ENEMY TERRITORY: QUAKE WARS (ETQW)
For Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (ETQW) we recorded our own 4897 frame netdemo which includes running/shooting and flying/shooting. Also 'r_useThreadedRenderer' was set to '2' (enabled) instead of the default '0' (disabled).

EPIC UNREAL TOURNAMENT III
For the UT3 tests, we used the Suspense Flyby. The Flyby emphasizes GPU speed. Though a Botmatch is more like actual game play, the artificial intelligence varies the actions of Bots from run to run, making it impossible to get a repeatable results. Also, the Suspense Flyby is available for you to try yourself in both the Demo and Retail versions on the game.

Take 2 Interactive PREY
We use a demo file in our benchmarking that we downloaded from Overclockers in Australia. High Quality was selected (including 8X anisotropy and dynamic shadows).

Activision CALL of DUTY 4: Modern Warfare
We ran a timedemo created by Bryan C. of InsideMacGames with maxFPS set to 500 to overcome the 90 fps default max.

Capcom LOST PLANET: EXTREME CONDITION
LP has a built-in two part Performance Test (Snow and Cave). We posted the results for the Snow sequence below.

THQ Company of Heroes
Using HIGH settings and DX9 shaders, we ran the built-in performance test for 90 seconds.

Electronic Arts CRYSIS
We chose the GPU benchmark and MEDIUM settings. We had some odd results when in Crossfire mode. We'll add those later once we've done more testing.

LEGEND of GRAPHS
Harper = Mac Pro 3.2GHz 'Harpertown' (early 2008)
8800 = nVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT (Apple CTO option or kit; different ROM code for 'early 2008' versus '2006/2007' Mac Pro)
3870 = ATI Radeon HD 3870 Mac & PC Edition (Retail upgrade kit)
3870x2 = Dual ATI Radeon HD 3870 Mac & PC Edition cards with Crossfire jumper attached and Crossfire enabled using the Control Center app.
2600 = ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT (Apple OEM)

Vista 64 Ultimate was running in the Boot Camp partition of a Mac Pro 3.2GHz octo-core with 16GB of RAM.

CONCLUSION
The GeForce 8800 GT carries its 3D edge over to Windows, but it's nice to know that the ATI Radeon HD 3870 Mac & PC Edition 'holds its own' plus it supports Crossfire if you happen to have two cards. That's signficant for 'hard core' gamers who prefer running their 3D games under Windows. Why? Because two GeForce 8800 GTs will NOT run in SLI mode.

MORE ON CROSSFIRE
The 'early 2008' Mac Pro makes using the Crossfire jumper easy since there are two side-by-side x16 PCie slots. The '2006/2007' Mac Pro only has one x16 slot. and the one next to it is an x1 slot. Unless you 'downgrade' slots 1 and 2 to x8 using the Expansion Slot Utility, Crossfire will be counter productive. But then, who wants to run a high powered pair of GPUs in x8 slots?

RELATED LINKS

Bare Feats tests the Radeon HD 3870 Mac & PC Edition using Core Image intensive apps (Motion 3, iMovie HD, iMaginator 4).

Bare Feats tests the Radeon HD 3870 Mac & PC Edition running Mac 3D Games.

WHERE TO BUY A MAC PRO
When ordering products from Apple Store USA, please click THIS TEXT LINK or any Apple display ad as your 'portal' to the online store. In so doing, you help to support Bare Feats.

(DON'T LIVE in the USA? See links for Apple online stores in other countries.)

Also check with Small Dog Electronics and Power Max. (Power Max takes trade-ins.)

WHERE TO BUY GRAPHICS CARD UPGRADE KITS

The Radeon HD 3870 Mac & PC Edition ($219 MSRP) will be available 'late June' direct from ATI's Online Store or from Other World Computing or from Small Dog Electronics. Unlike the GeForce 8800 GT, one card is compatible with ALL models of Mac Pro (2006 - 2008).

You can order the GeForce 8800 GT kit for whatever Mac Pro you own by going to the Apple Store USA and clicking on the 'Displays' link in the left column. You'll see two versions of the GeForce 8800 GT listed: The 'early 2008' and '1st Generation' models. The price for both is $279.

The Radeon HD 2600 XT kit will work on the older Mac Pros as well as the new one (thanks to having both a 32-bit and 64-bit EFI driver in the ROM). Search on 'MB198Z/A' when you visit Apple Store USA ($129).

WHERE TO BUY MEMORY FOR YOUR MAC PRO
Apple charges and arm and a leg for CTO memory options. We suggested ordering your Mac Pro with minimal memory and getting 8GB or 16GB of matched FB-DIMMs that meet Apple's specs and use Apple approved heat sinks from ....

MaxUpgrades makes max_flow, a kit to keep your Mac Pro memory running even cooler. They also have a kit called 'MaxConnect' which enables you to use the lower optical bay to add four more internal hard drives for a total of eight.

Has Bare Feats helped you? How about helping Bare Feats?

© 2008 Rob Art Morgan
'BARE facts on Macintosh speed FEATS'
Email , the webmaster


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