Don't know how much luck you'll have. Suitable cards for G5 towers are scarce as proverbial hen's teeth.
Neil
This thread may help you:
<http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.59b69dcd/>
See the thread that I linked to in Message #2
official list of supported and tested graphics cards
My expectation is that it is not simply about supported. Similar to Adobe's ridiculous posted RAM requirements I am guessing we will need real tests to see which setups are best performance value.
the plugin may make everything work fine with the 7800GT which I have ordered and Is on its way again.
It's probably gonna be another hot topic.
Neil
Those cards are mentioned in the link that Jerry provided in #10:
<http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb404898>
-------------------------------
Display card: NVIDIA GeForce 7300GT
Issue: When you resize a window using keyboard shortcuts, Photoshop crashes.
Solution: Turn off Enable OpenGL Drawing, and make sure you're using the most recent version of the display driver.
Issue: Photoshop freezes when you zoom in on an image and try to move the image.
Solution: Check for an update display driver, or turn off Enable OpenGL Drawing.
--------------------------------
Looks like I'll need a new card, get used to crashes or simply not benefit from the GPU items.
Thanks Chris!
I'll hold off on the 8800 for a bit and hope for an Apple update soon. Not that money on an 8800 would be wasted. hmmm.....
I then immediately upgraded to the 8000GT so I could open more then 12 documents I need to be able to have twelve such documents opened. I can actually now open 15 with my screen set at a resolution of 1920x1200.
But as far as I know the 7300 works.
> 7300GT cards - and is waiting on Apple to fix a few dozen bugs in the
driver code so they can be used.
great, my backup mac pro has those cards, not too sure I want to wait for Apple to fix those bugs
Since I'm running 2 monitors off of one card a 30" and a 20" (and a 20" off a second card) getting an 8800 would probably be best, at least for the primary card.
It is listed as a supported card on Windows PCs, but, for understandable reasons, not mentioned on the Mac list.
Maybe I'll just have to way for the trial version of CS4 to find out…
I haven't yet tried using the optional plug-in (I assume you are talking about the "AllowOldGPUS.plugin"?) but Buko has apparently had no problems with it so perhaps I should install it?
I upgraded to the Geforce nvidia 8800GT and that seems to work well.
It does cost about $350.00.
I made a mistake in typing< I know you are all surprised since I type
so well.
I'm shocked!! I'll never trust your typing from now on. Its all over Wade.
It does cost about $350.00
You paid way too much :)
It was Ramón who put me on to the fact that there are companies that are making mutant Flashed-for-Mac cards from Nvidea Windows cards — and that these will work perfectly well.
Both Buko and I got ours from AppleMacanix and they are fine.
It is essential that the card that you buy isformatted for a Mac and is the correct kind for your computer's Bus.
I did install the "AllowOldGPUS.plugin".
No problems so far (despite the dire warning in the Tech Doc.!) and I now have full use of OpenGL Drawing.
I haven't hit any of the crash problems, even after attempting to. So even without a card upgrade it looks like I'd be happy. I'm sure the new card will simply improve things further.
I bet card manufactures and sellers love Adobe with this release.
What they will really love is Snow Leopard. Hopefully we will see wider selections of cards available to Mac users.
Meanwhile we have AppleMacanix … .
I did install the "AllowOldGPUS.plugin".
So did I. It wasn't pretty.
Want to bet that Snow Leopard won't lead to any wider choice of cards
for older non-Intel Macs — particularly AGP Bus models?
Of course not. Very little development - almost zero - is aimed at legacy systems.
As opposed to running both Monitors on the 7800GT.
I suppose I should put it back in.
sigh
If I were to run my panel monitor on my old video card(6600LE) and I run
the main monitor on the 7800GT will I get better performance on the main
monitor?
Well, in that case all the VRAM on the card would be available to the main monitor, without having to share it with the secondary monitor. Whether that makes a difference in practice or not is a different story.
Check and see if the 7300 card has a small notch in its board, near the bottom, with a tab locking it in place.
Neil
Yes, there's a small tab that you must pull out (gently, of course), to release the card. You can't really see it - so you have to go by feel.
By default, the first slot will provide the best performance - it's a x16 lane slot - and the one next to it will be x8. Run the better card in the first slot. You can configure these differently if you want using the Expansion Slot Utility but there's not much point. The ESU is located:
Boot drive / System / Library / CoreServices / Expansion Slot Utility
-phil
Am I correct that the move is to pull/lift the tab?
What am I doing wrong.
Quad2.66 MacPro
I have been running 3 monitors off of 2 nVidia 7300 video cards. When I initially installed Photoshop CS4, the Enable GL Drawing was checked by default for these cards.
I just installed an nVidia 8800Gt video card. So I've got 1-7300GT and 1-8800GT driving three monitors. System Info shows both cards correctly and all monitors work properly. However, now Enable GL drawing is not available.
So, somehow with a better video card I can't get GL drawing. Anyone have a clue as to why?
Have reset PSCS4 prefs, and PRAM on the machine. No change.
Basically.. I'm now wondering why I spent the money on a better card when Photoshop is somewhat acting like it's a worse card, at least in terms of preferences.
Reinstalled the OS10.5.5 combo update, no change.
It is working with the AllowOldGPU plug in.... but I really shouldn't need that plug in. At least that's what I thought. I mean the 7300 cards didn't need it.
called Adobe Tech Support.. they suggested installing the plug in. That's about all they had to offer.
so how do the two cards work compared to just one?
I attempted to hook my 30" to the 8800 then the two 20"s to the 7300... only 2 monitors were seen. So I moved one 20" back to the 8800 with the 30". All works fine.
I don't know why I couldn't run 1 monitor off the 8800 and 2 off the 7300. Maybe something to do with main slot and second slot. Or possibly card power distribution which I didn't play with.
So now I'm running 30" and 20" on the 8800 with AllowOldGPU plug in, and a 20" on the 7300. No issues. Photoshop is absolutely snappier than it was with two 7300 cards. I see a marked improvement in all window drawing on my main monitor as well, not just in Photoshop.
"the first slot will provide the best performance - it's a x16 lane slot - and the one next to it will be x8. Run the better card in the first slot. You can configure these differently if you want using the Expansion Slot Utility but there's not much point. The ESU is located:
Boot drive / System / Library / CoreServices / Expansion Slot Utility"
I recall setting mine to x16 (maybe on my 4-cor mac Pro under 10.4) but now 10.5x tells me Expansion Slot Utility won't run on my 8-core Mac Pro (so I don't know what's going on) and I've got Windoze Vista running on my Tiger box right now to check it...
But as the 7800 makes the OpenGL features of CS4 available to us, I reckon that I can put up with a little extra noise!
You will find that the card comes with a 3-point connection cable and one end of this must connect to the internal power supply.
On the G5, that port is on the rear end of the optical drive and you have to disconnect the optical (CD/DVD) drive and slide it forwards to make the connection; and then re-install the CD drive.
It is actually very easy to do and just sounds more difficult than it actually is.
To get the full use of OpenGL in CS4, you should also install the optional CS4 plug-in that allows the use of older GPUs.
Here's what I bought: <http://cgi.ebay.com/Mac-nVidia-GeForce-7800-GS-256MB-AGP-Video-Card-G4-G5_W0QQitemZ270290513235QQihZ017QQcategoryZ25449QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem>
Mac 10.4.11
Dual 2.3 GHz Power PC G5
3.5 GB DDR SDRAM
But surely you did plug in the three-ended cable into your Power Supply because the auxiliary fan on the card requires that, and you do need to run the fan to keep the operating temperature below 120°F.
Or does the 6600 (with which I am unfamiliar) also have an integrated fan so that a triple-ended connector was already installed in your G5?
If you look on the instruction-sheet that you received from Applemacanix you will see the Link to get the special instructions for installing a 7800GT in an AGP G5.
Question, Ann. Apple's technote says 512 MB of RAM is needed for the advanced GPU features. Yours has only 256. Can you enable the advanced stuff? Just curious.
On a un/related note, I've installed CS4 on my 2.66 Mac Pro and the ATI 3870 ($217) I installed a few months ago appears to work perfectly. All the advanced features are enabled and everything is very smooth.
Everyone suggests the Nvidia 8800 is the way to go for Mac Pros but I still say the ATI 3870 is the best bang for the buck. (and performs better with Apple's pro apps)
-phil
Your G5 is not an AGP 8x bus one is it and so it may be different?
The power-supply outlet on the AGP G5s is on the rear end of the DVD drive. You have to disconnect that plug and replace it with one end of the triple-ended cable.
Question, Ann. Apple's technote says 512 MB of RAM is needed for the advanced
GPU features. Yours has only 256. Can you enable the advanced stuff? Just
curious.
ALL advanced GPU features are working for me Phil — even with a 256 card.
Actually, the Adobe TechDocs that I have seen stated that 256 MB cards were usable.
You are very limited in the choice of suitable cards if you have an AGP x8 Bus G5.
My Graphics processor Chip is currently reading 111.2°F.
Ramón advised me that the temperature should be kept below 120°.
That's good to hear. Are you using that non supported "enabling" plug in?
FYI - It was this that I read:
"We require 512 MB RAM for Advanced Drawing to be enabled."
<http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb404898#known>
-phil
I have installed the "AllowOldGPUS.plugin".
I needed that to make "Advanced: OpenGL Drawing" available but the basic OpenGL functions will work without the optional plug-in.
Adobe seem to have updated KB404898 a few days ago. It now suggests that 128MB cards are sufficient — which I question?:
For Photoshop to access the GPU, your display card must contain a GPU
that supports OpenGL and has enough RAM to support Photoshop functions--
at least 128 MB of RAM--and a display driver that supports OpenGL 2.0
and Shader Model 3.0.
The 7800 fan is running just fine without being connected. I also just googled temps and gamers are running at 62+c / 143.6+f I'm running about 122f at idle.
However, I ran across this optional AllowOldGPUS.plugin:
<http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/thankyou.jsp?ftpID=4051&fileID=3770>
Once installed in the Plug-Ins folder, all the GPU-accelerated functions became available.
It's definitely worth a shot to try the plug-in to see if your current video card works.
Exact same experience... read below.
<http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.59b6e56d/43>
I resolved to upgrading to 2-8800s rather than deal with the problems. It seems the Apple OS doesn't not like two different video cards. Things work better when they are identical. I'm still waiting from my second 8800 to arrive. But I'm anticipating much better behavior with 2 identical cards again.
On the other hand.. even the second throttled down card on my system gave a noticeable improvement in video performance.
I finally had to remove the 8800 card and reinstall the 7600. It was not causing me problems in CS4, but was causing computer issues with waking up from sleep and major start up issues.
So I'm now back to two 7600 cards and will just have to wait for Apple to deal with the problem of having two different cards installed at the same time.
CS4 does work with the two 7600 cards...it's just a little sluggish for all the cool effects...zooming, tossing etc.
Let the monitor sleep but not the computer.