Re: 8800gt - and color

[Stuart Ferreyra] "I have run several tests on the new octos with the 1900XT for the last 2 weeks and until ATI comes out with a new card (AGP 64bit - I think), you can't use the ATI 1900.
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There is a workaround. I did a lot of research on this about a month ago. Tier 2 or 3 or whatever of Apple tech support said they didn't know if the 8800 would work, but that "it should." That wasn't reassuring, so I decided to go with some tried and tested. ATI cards have always worked well for me since the Final Touch days.

I have a 2008 Mac Pro 2.8 Octo. The X1900 will work, but it needs a firmware update that has to be done in an older (pre-2008) Mac Pro. The firmware is easy to find on ATI and Apple's site. It works, and I've been using it without any problems. I didn't notice much a difference from the stock 2600 that came with the machine, except maybe in rendering times. I've not had any heat or noise issues that have been reported in some posts. I always use floating point renders, and with 1080/24psf material it renders about 33-50% the speed of real time, and that's with secondaries and FX room business.

Andrew Huebscher
Los Angeles, CA