7300 Video Card PLEASE HELP!

[Juicess]

Ughh so I just went and bought the GeForce 7300 GT and put it in my Intel Mac Pro. I already have a Radeon 1900 dual DVI port that is hooked up to my two 30's.

So then I connect my DVI TV to my DVI port on the 7300... however since I installed this myself there are no specific nvidia drivers and I can't configure it.

Does anyone know how I can get my HDTV to act as a 3rd monitor? How would I set this up without the actual drivers? My Mac doesn't recognize it in the display options or anything... however it does see that it is plugged in via system profiler.

Any advice appreciated

Thanks

 

[robbieduncan]

So you've bought a PC card that doesn't have Mac support and has never been shipped by Apple in the Mac Pro so probably doesn't have drivers?

I'd guess that it won't work unless you are really lucky.

 

[Juicess]

OOPS SORRY
7300**** not 7800

Most mac pros come stock with a 7300. Sorry, I have a Nvidia GeForce 7300.

 

[dkoralek]

OOPS SORRY
7300**** not 7800

Most mac pros come stock with a 7300. Sorry, I have a Nvidia GeForce 7300.

I would assume that you have to flash the firmware since it is not mac compatible (if you bought a pc version).

cheers.

 

[Juicess]

I just bought the card from CompUSA. How would I flash the firmware? Also like I said I use a Radeon 1900 in my pro as well to hook up my dual 30's

So I have two video cards
Radeon 1900
Nvidia 7300

 

[dkoralek]

I just bought the card from CompUSA. How would I flash the firmware? Also like I said I use a Radeon 1900 in my pro as well to hook up my dual 30's

So I have two video cards
Radeon 1900
Nvidia 7300

I haven't seen anything out there about anyone doing this (but haven't looked very hard), since the more common thing to want to do is to flash the x1900. (the other question is whether it is worth doing, since unless you plan on using the hdtv from far away, the resolution isn't going to be a problem since the pixel density will be poor relative to your 30" displays)

cheers.

 

[Juicess]

Well ideally i'd like to establish the connection so I can use it for After Effects and FCP. Also I'd like to be able to play a DVD or something while I am working and this HDTV would be perfect for that.

I find it hard to believe that this card comes in tons of mac pros and no one has ever purchased it stock before?

Thanks any and all advice is appreciated.

 

[trainguy77]

I find it hard to believe that this card comes in tons of mac pros and no one has ever purchased it stock before?

Why would someone buy it stock if it people already have either the same card or a better card. Very few people need it. But back to the subject. Are you able to return it? Your best option may be to return it for a full refund(I don't know if compUSA does that) then just buy one off ebay. There is a good number of them around from all the people who rushed to get the mac pro then bought the x1900 separate.

EDIT: apple also says that the two brand names to work with each other. I have heard of problems when a Nvidia card and a ATI card and in the same machine.

 

[slughead]

Why would someone buy it stock if it people already have either the same card or a better card. Very few people need it. But back to the subject. Are you able to return it? Your best option may be to return it for a full refund(I don't know if compUSA does that) then just buy one off ebay. There is a good number of them around from all the people who rushed to get the mac pro then bought the x1900 separate.

EDIT: apple also says that the two brand names to work with each other. I have heard of problems when a Nvidia card and a ATI card and in the same machine.

sure enough..

Sometimes when moving DVD player from one monitor to another, the framerate drops and remains low until I pause and play again.

 

[Juicess]

Hey,

Hmmm so what do you recommend? I just bought the card... it was cheap and I figured it would work. Yes, I can return it. Do I need to order a different card off the internet? How do I know the other stock card will be recognized?

Honestly all I need is like a driver... the computer knows its plugged in but doesn't know what it is.

Err I wish this wasn't that hard.

Thanks

 

[slughead]

Go to http://strangedogs.com and ask there.

You need to flash your 7300 to mac. If it's possible, the guys at strangedogs would know.

 

[Juicess]

Thanks. I will go make a post on their forums. Is flashing dangerous? Could it cause my system damage?

Is there an alternative? Maybe I just buy another x1900 for mac? Where do you get cards specific to mac?


Thanks!

 

[dkoralek]

Hey,

Hmmm so what do you recommend? I just bought the card... it was cheap and I figured it would work. Yes, I can return it. Do I need to order a different card off the internet? How do I know the other stock card will be recognized?

Honestly all I need is like a driver... the computer knows its plugged in but doesn't know what it is.

Err I wish this wasn't that hard.

Thanks

not a driver, but the firmware on the card needs to be compatible with os x (and possibly EFI instead of BIOS?). The worst case scenario is that you have to buy one from Apple. IIRC, they are the only place you can buy the mac versions of their cards (at least according to the NVIDIA web site, it looks that way).

cheers.

 

[dkoralek]

Thanks. I will go make a post on their forums. Is flashing dangerous? Could it cause my system damage?

Is there an alternative? Maybe I just buy another x1900 for mac? Where do you get cards specific to mac?


Thanks!

Sorry, I posted while you were posting here. buying another x1900, even a pc one, would be more expensive than buying a 7300GT directly from Apple. The only problem would be the potential conflict between cards from two different manufacturers. Considering the undemanding needs for driving the HDTV, it would probably be a waste of money to go with another x1900 (and the motherboard is limited with regards to the bandwidth available to all the PCI-E slots).

cheers.

 

[Juicess]

Hmm so you're saying either I flash it myself or buy one that has been flashed via Apple? Otherwise... it wont work? No other cards will work? This has never been done before?

I don't understand how video editing systems have dual monitors and a TV for output? I mean it has to be doable??

 

[trainguy77]

I don't understand how video editing systems have dual monitors and a TV for output? I mean it has to be doable??

Yes it can be done there is a couple options with the mac pro. 2 7300s. 2 x1900s running one at x16 slot the other at x8. This only decreases performance by a small amount. Or just run 1 x1900 then split the signal so the TV and second monitor are mirrored. But thats not always what people want. Works fine when you want someone on stage to see whats being projected though....

 

[Juicess]

thanks for the reply... what's the point of running 2 7300's when 1 of them doesn't work? I only need one DVI port? How will 2 of them do the trick? Also I assume these cards are purchased from Apple?

 

[dkoralek]

Hmm so you're saying either I flash it myself or buy one that has been flashed via Apple? Otherwise... it wont work? No other cards will work? This has never been done before?

I don't understand how video editing systems have dual monitors and a TV for output? I mean it has to be doable??

If you want a video card to work natively in os x, you need one that has a ROM that is compatible with the Mac. You have a few options. You can buy a card from Apple. You can buy the same card and flash the ROM so that it is essentially identical to one sold by Apple. Until there is a larger market share of computers with OS X and a demand for these same cards in after market versions (I can't imagine there is a large demand for after market 7300s that would warrant someone selling mac versions directly). Maybe as windoze machines move towards EFI, things will get easier? The other option is to look at what some Hacintosh users have done to get OS X support for their video cards have done (this would all be in emulation and potentially degrade performance). I don't know that it is Kosher to provide links to sites that discuss these things, but I'm sure that you could do a google search for installing OS X on X86 machines and run into some info.

cheers.

 

[trainguy77]

thanks for the reply... what's the point of running 2 7300's when 1 of them doesn't work? I only need one DVI port? How will 2 of them do the trick? Also I assume these cards are purchased from Apple?

I mean instead of a x1900. Just run two 7300s as they mesh fine with eachother. But that depends if you need the power or not.

 

[dkoralek]

thanks for the reply... what's the point of running 2 7300's when 1 of them doesn't work? I only need one DVI port? How will 2 of them do the trick? Also I assume these cards are purchased from Apple?

Yes. You can actually run four 7300s (provided that they are the ones with Apple ROM) to drive 8 independent monitors (but limited to 1920x1200 on half of them since one of the two DVI ports on the 7300 is only single link). As stated above, you could also run two x1900s (you can pick up an x1900xt for the pc and flash it for the mac as described elsewhere in these forums). Running two x1900s in your case, is probably a waste when you look at how much you would be paying for that second card vs. even a 7300 from the Apple store. The other thing is that, I belive, some (all?) x1900xt s for pcs have a super video port between the two dvi ports. can that be used for a third output when flashed for a mac?

cheers.

 

[Juicess]

Thanks. I am going to call this Apple superstore here in Minneapolis tomorrow and see if I can grab an APPLE specific card. Man... so complicated!