EVGA's GeForce GTX 285 Mac Edition: The Best for OS X?

Home GPUs

by Anand Lal Shimpi on 7/17/2009 7:00:00 PM
Posted in GPUs

Installing EVGA's GeForce GTX 285 Mac Edition

EVGA’s GTX 285 will only work on 2008 - 2009 model Mac Pros, the original 2006 model is not supported. Bummer.

The first step to install the card is actually to install the drivers. If you fail to do so, you’ll be greeted with a kernel panic once you get the card installed and fire up the machine. The drivers are available both from NVIDIA’s website and on the driver disc EVGA ships with the card.

After the drivers are installed, turn off your Mac Pro and remove the side panel. There are two thumb screws (that need to be unscrewed with a screwdriver) that hold a bracket in place, which in turn holds your expansion cards in place. Remove them and it.

Remove these

There’s a metal bar that holds all of the PCIe cards in place, you’ll need to pull that back while you pull your existing video card out. You’ll need to pull it back while installing the new card as well.

Pull this bar back while you remove your old card and again when you install the new one

The Mac Pro is highly compartmentalized; to the far left of the PCIe slots there are two small connectors that look like PCIe power connectors. You’ll need to connect both cables that came with the card to these connectors. They only go in one way. The other end of the cables goes into the GTX 285.

Before installing the card you’ll need to remove one additional bracket cover (assuming the previous resident was a single-slot card). Slide in the EVGA, replace the retention bracket, close the case and hit the power button.

Index Performance Testing: Does Video Memory Size Matter?

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Follow-up by rpmurray on Tuesday, July 21, 2009

So, is there going to be a follow-up on how to upgrade the card to 2GB?

rpmurray

Mac Video Cards by RawOysters on Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Now if Mac users can only find a game to play.

RawOysters

Phhbrrt by DKant on Monday, July 20, 2009

Ergh. Still not used to or able to ignore trolls.

The 100$ premium can be attributed to one simple fact I think - lower expected volume of shipping so higher premium per SKU.

And all that wolf in sheep's clothing talk? Anybody heard of Windows 7? Hundred plus dollars for a freaking SPITnSHINE? THAT is overpricing! The only reason MS is charging so much is that - again - it makes it want to look like a different OS and not just an upgraded and FINALLY polished Vista. Maybe 40$ is all it was actually worth, if not less.

And why don't people ever get that Apple charges for the OS + the hardware. My theory for Snow Leopard upgrade being priced at a ridiculous 30$ (ESPECIALLY considering Snow Leopard comes with some ACTUAL upgrades, and not just tweaks) is just that - Apple has already recovered some of the cost of the OS from the hardware sales, plus this simply is the best possible way of extending the service promised to their high-paying customers. There is a loyalty there that MS simply cannot hope to emulate any time in the short run, and that's not a fanboy talking. The ONE time they did extend some kind of good support was when they shelled out 1 billion to extend the warranty of 360's, and even THAT was done because they really didn't have a choice - people would have simply walked away otherwise.

Windows is a money-minting device. Apple actually cares about what they build and put thought into it. If I have to pay a gazillion dollars for that, it is fine. I don't mind paying a premium to reap the results of somebody else's hard work. :)

I'm not saying that because I'm an Apple fanboy or something. I'm infact a long-time Windows customer who is just FED up with all the bull I have to put up with. 100+ $ for an OS UPGRADE?! Insane amounts of money for an Office suite that I cannot even make a half-decent presentation (for people with taste) with? I have had to design a custom background, spend several costly minutes configuring the fonts and their positioning because the defaults are just SO arcane and butt-ugly. And so are the fonts they use everywhere. Ugh. UI changes that do not even make any sense (can you seriously read those transparent top-bars in Vista? SERIOUSLY? All that transparency only hurts my eyes) 30% red-ringing hardware (I know, old news). Nah. I have had enough of Microsoft. Thank you. (please don't) Come again.

DKant

RE: Phhbrrt by OptimusP83 on Monday, July 20, 2009

I use both Vista and Leopard, though I FAR prefer Leopard. I am a Graphic Designer and hence use OS X at work. Each OS has its ups and downs, but what really irks me about Windows is its lack of snappiness. Blame it on Vista if you want, but With OS X programs launch faster, basically everything I need to be productive in doing, happens faster in OS X. Now Clearly GPU performance has yet to catch up and I blame this on Apple as well as the GPU manufacturers.

Also in regards to the FUD about OMG my i7 machine can roxxors yourz Mac Pro... They are machines with fundamentally different purposes. Yes you could most likely do the same work in the same amout of time on an i7 box, but Workstations are meant for very specific purposes in PRODUCTION environments. Yes there are people who would buy a MacPro to play games. They are idiots. I could build a Core2Quad box for 1/2 the cost of a MacPro and it would run games just as fast. But can you build an 8 core desktop machine? no. You have to PAY LAVISHLY to get a Xeon dual socket workstation for that. Yes the majority of applications wont run any faster from 4 cores to 8 cores (all else being equal) but for that tasks that do, machines like the MacPro are essential for maintaining productivity.

Having said that, the majority of the people posting on here would be much better served sticking to a consumer level desktop machine. Its really not worth the extra cost for them to get a dual socket machine. Hell even 4 cores are just finally being able to be utilized well...

OptimusP83

RE: Phhbrrt by Hxx on Monday, July 20, 2009

"Windows is a money-minting device. Apple actually cares about what they build and put thought into it. If I have to pay a gazillion
dollars for that, it is fine. I don't mind paying a premium to reap the results of somebody else's hard work. :) "

You cant compare apple with windows, its just doesnt make sense. Apple developes their own software assembles their own boxes and sells you the finished product. They use high quality components and they charge a little extra for them just because they offer a finished product.Does it make sense? it depends on the user i'd say. Microsoft on the other hand is a software developer. It is up to the user to either build a box or buy a prebuilt one. One can buy the highest quality hardware available and built one of the best and most expensive systems out there... or not. People dumb enough to criticize either OS are either not familiar with one of the two or just plain trolls.

Hxx

The Anti-Mac Trolls by OptimusP83 on Monday, July 20, 2009

... are out in force today.

4870s insanely easy to flash with an EFI capable rom provided you get the right model.

OptimusP83

How about using Phoronix Test Suit. by trochevs on Sunday, July 19, 2009

There is FOSS test suit that I believe supports Mac OS X and series of OpenGL test. Have you try to run it?

http://www.phoronix-test-suite.com/">http://www.phoronix-test-suite.com/

trochevs

Heatsink? by vailr on Sunday, July 19, 2009

The Intel Northbridge chip (?) on the Mac Pro motherboard photo has no heatsink?
That would seem to be an Apple design error, no?
Or: does it not get "too hot to touch"?

vailr

Wait... no TV out either? by Demon-Xanth on Saturday, July 18, 2009

One thing I just noticed, is that the TV out that's common with PC cards isn't there.

Demon-Xanth

Photoshop by MonkeyPaw on Saturday, July 18, 2009

I must say, I'm surprised that Photoshop manages the video memory that way. To have to quit the app and not close the picture to recover the video memory? Terrible! Many people buy Macs for the professional photoshop work, and this has to be a serious drag on productivity once the RAM is gone. Do you think it's Adobe's fault, or could it be a limitation where OSX doesn't know what to do with window-in-window closing?

MonkeyPaw

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