MacPro compatible graphics cards?

[suurland]

I'm considering getting a MacPro but I'm not sure what graphics cards to get, from the factory it only comes with a 7300 or a quadro 4500, but the 7300 is slow and the quadro is quite expensive so I'm thinking about switching it out, but as I would like to dual boot the graphics card have to be compatible with OSX, which the 8800 as far as I could figure out isn't, but what about a quadro 1500?.. Havn't been able to find anything on the net so maybe someone in here knows something.

/Thomas

[posterus]

hello thomas.
i'm using the two stock 7300 GT's in my macpro. as you mentioned there are faster, more expensive cards out there (i dont know which ones are compatable with OSX) but for whats its worth i've been very pleased with performance of the stock macpro. panning/zooming the viewports is always fast enough for me.
if you run into any snags while trying to get boot camp up and running then drop me a note. i saved all the links to the explaination pages. although they have probably already fixed all the problems that i ran into

[mdi]

get it with the ati, very fast in Max9 with DX9...much faster than any gfx card Iv ever had in Max.

[dapeter]

The only graphics cards that will work with OSX are the ones listed on the MacPro purchasing page (so I think only the QuadroFX 4500, the 7300, and the ATI x1900). You can't buy a third-party card for the computer, since Apple writes the drivers and there's a special chip/hardware ID they specifically put in the card to allow OSX to work on it. For instance, if you went out and bought a regular QuadroFX 4500 and put it in, the computer won't run OSX since it will know it's not the Apple-'certified' board.

That said, if they ever release an apple-compatible 8800 or QuadroFX 5500 you can buy one of those and upgrade but you'll have to do it through the Apple store. My advice at this point would be to get the ATI for now to save some $$$ until the 8800's or the new ATI's will work in it.

[Dynedain]

Well, either way... you can't buy the MacPro without some kind of video card. So at least you could get it with the cheapest option for OSX and still stick the card of your choice in for Windows useage.

[Dynedain]

Also, I'm not sure if daPeter is entirely correct (at least for the modern Intel Macs).

These guys seem to offer quite a few different video cards for Mac:

http://www.macmall.com/macmall/searc...eo%20Cards.asp

[suurland]

hmm.. sure isn't easy.. lots of different opinions, not only here but on other sites too.

/Thomas

[dapeter]

Also, I'm not sure if daPeter is entirely correct (at least for the modern Intel Macs).

These guys seem to offer quite a few different video cards for Mac:

http://www.macmall.com/macmall/searc...eo%20Cards.asp

They may offer them, but they don't run under OSX. If you even go to the page they have for the Nvidia 8800 it only lists Windows XP and Vista as supported OS's. On the left side of the screen you can filter by OS supported - the Mac one brings the list down to 5 options (and one of them is a Kona 3 video i/o board).

Nvidia and ATI do not provide the graphics drivers, Apple writes them and as of yet there's no way around this. This is one of the reasons Apple can provide the level of support they do - since it only runs on a handful of graphics cards they can pinpoint what's wrong easier. If you don't believe me go on Nvidia's website to the driver download, the only OS's listed are Windows and various Linux distributions.

Additionally:
http://www.nvidia.com/page/macintosh.html

"Please note NVIDIA graphics options for Apple desktops and notebooks can only be purchased through Apple or as Apple update kits."

[Dynedain]

Well, dual card with dual monitors it is then!