New Video Card

[bandgeek1]

Hey everyone, so here is whats up.

I have had an ATI 4670 for quite a while on my windows os, when i i got 10.5, i read that it would not work (i also tried it with 10.6 with no luck) so i pulled out an old 8400 GS to work with 10.5.

After dealing with the pain of going in the back of the computer to switch out video cards when i want to game on my Windows 7 os, i have decided it is time to find an upgrade.

SO

I have no preference as to ATI or nVidia.

I am looking for a new card that is at least as good as my 4670 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127383) and that will also work, fully, in 10.5.

I have no interest in installing 10.6 as it was one hell of a trip last time i tried.

As far as pricing goes, i would like to try to keep it under $150 USD.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

*EDIT*

After searching around other sites and whatnot, i have been keeping an eye on 9800's.

So, NEW QUESTION!

There are many brands of the 9800, from what New Egg tells me, the EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ has the best feedback.

I would be ok with putting out the money, but how nicely would it play with OSX 10.5?

[trance4jim]

 Same boat. I'm also looking to upgrade to a newer card in the same price range. I wish the wiki had better details to help with upgrading info. I've been looking at the Sapphire 4870 and the GTS 250.I would like dual monitor support. I'm not trying to hijack this thread, just don't want to double post ya know. BTW it brings it back to the top anyway.

[bandgeek1]

Anyone out there have any thoughts?

[bandgeek1]

*EDIT*

After searching around other sites and whatnot, i have been keeping an eye on 9800's.

So, NEW QUESTION!

There are many brands of the 9800, from what New Egg tells me, the EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ has the best feedback.

I would be ok with putting out the money, but how nicely would it play with OSX 10.5?

[Evildemon989]

 Same boat. I'm also looking to upgrade to a newer card in the same price range. I wish the wiki had better details to help with upgrading info. I've been looking at the Sapphire 4870 and the GTS 250.I would like dual monitor support. I'm not trying to hijack this thread, just don't want to double post ya know. BTW it brings it back to the top anyway.

If your looking into the Sapphire 4870, read this thread. I'd recommend getting one that has two DVI and an S-Video out, instead of one with a HDMI port(HDMI support is flaky). If you read that thread, brokenjack got his to work with dual monitor support. Also, sapphire is a good choice.

 

*EDIT*

After searching around other sites and whatnot, i have been keeping an eye on 9800's.

So, NEW QUESTION!

There are many brands of the 9800, from what New Egg tells me, the EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ has the best feedback.

I would be ok with putting out the money, but how nicely would it play with OSX 10.5?

The 9800 GTX+ are very flaky. Some have gotten it to work, and other have not. If you are going to get this card, be prepared if it does not work the first time. Be prepared to try lots of different techniques to get it to work. If you don't need that much power, go for a 9800 GT. Most of them work out of the box with GraphicsEnabler=YES. I'd recommend the EVGA Geforce 9800 GT 1GB.

[LogicalUser]

The 9800 GTX+ are very flaky. Some have gotten it to work, and other have not. If you are going to get this card, be prepared if it does not work the first time. Be prepared to try lots of different techniques to get it to work. If you don't need that much power, go for a 9800 GT. Most of them work out of the box with GraphicsEnabler=YES. I'd recommend the EVGA Geforce 9800 GT 1GB.

 

 

Interesting. I know I've been spending less time here recently, but I do not recall seeing these common difficulties with the 9800GTX+. I know that I had no difficulties with the two machines I've built with em, and no difference in setup versus similar machines with 9800GTs.

 

Other than the well known blackscreen on boot issue with many G92/G92b based cards (8800/9800GT/9800GTX+/GTS250) introduced in 10.6.2 that is solvable with 10.6.1 nvidia kexts, what are you referring to when you say flaky?

 

Other than using an EFI string if graphicsenabler=yes fails, I just can't see a G92 based card needing any special technique to get it to work.

[Evildemon989]

Interesting. I know I've been spending less time here recently, but I do not recall seeing these common difficulties with the 9800GTX+. I know that I had no difficulties with the two machines I've built with em, and no difference in setup versus similar machines with 9800GTs.

 

Other than the well known blackscreen on boot issue with many G92/G92b based cards (8800/9800GT/9800GTX+/GTS250) introduced in 10.6.2 that is solvable with 10.6.1 nvidia kexts, what are you referring to when you say flaky?

 

Other than using an EFI string if graphicsenabler=yes fails, I just can't see a G92 based card needing any special technique to get it to work.

Before, when I was looking for parts for my Hack Pro, I was looking into the GTX+ also. I was referred to this thread. Now looking back on it, I do agree with you. Most likely, EFI strings would work(As in this thread.). The reason why I went with my 9800 GT was because it was supported with just Graphicsenabler=YES, and their was no widely known problems with them in my eyes.

[LogicalUser]

Yeah, the issue described in that thread seems like it'd be easily resolvable by either using an EFI string, rolling back the new 10.6.2 nvidia kexts to 10.6.1, or perhaps both.

 

 

really, the 9800GTX+ is nothing more than a heavily overclocked 55nm 9800GT with different cooling and all 8 groups of shader cores unlocked instead of just 7/8 (128 shader cores VS 112)

 

Likewise, the GTS 250 is merely a 9800GTX+ with a new name, some minor power-related PCB optimizations that slightly reduce power consumption and possibly different cooling depending on vendor.

 

IMO I would go for a dual-DVI GTS 250 over a 9800GTX+ at this point, what with them being newer, slightly improved AND available for $10-30 less than that EVGA 9800GTX+, including a few with a full 1GB of RAM

[bandgeek1]

Yeah, the issue described in that thread seems like it'd be easily resolvable by either using an EFI string, rolling back the new 10.6.2 nvidia kexts to 10.6.1, or perhaps both.

 

 

really, the 9800GTX+ is nothing more than a heavily overclocked 55nm 9800GT with different cooling and all 8 groups of shader cores unlocked instead of just 7/8 (128 shader cores VS 112)

 

Likewise, the GTS 250 is merely a 9800GTX+ with a new name, some minor power-related PCB optimizations that slightly reduce power consumption and possibly different cooling depending on vendor.

 

IMO I would go for a dual-DVI GTS 250 over a 9800GTX+ at this point, what with them being newer, slightly improved AND available for $10-30 less than that EVGA 9800GTX+, including a few with a full 1GB of RAM

 

Is there a certain vendor you would recommend?