Author Topic: Replace my HD 3870 with GTX 260, GTX 275, or GTX 285 ?  (Read 3744 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

InToVectors

  • Entrant
  • Posts: 0
Replace my HD 3870 with GTX 260, GTX 275, or GTX 285 ?
« on: May 06, 2010, 05:18:03 PM »
Hi,

I'm currently using Chameleon-2.0-RC4-r684 (AsereBLN) with Snow Leopard 10.6.2. Dual booting with Windows 7.
I didn't bother upgrading to 10.6.3 because I need to replace my ATI Radeon HD 3870 which has become obsolete in Macland, because it cannot support OpenCL in hardware.
It could support QE/CI, but apparently these 2 somehow do not work on the PC version (they do on the Mac version of the card).
I narrowed down my selection to NVidia GTX 260, 275, and 285.
(I also checked in the ati.c and nvidia.c source files to see which card models were supported.)
I also looked at GTS 250 cards, which should be fine for my purposes, but they seem to come with only 1 DVI-I port, and 1 D-Sub port.

Speedwise the HD 3870 is still OK for what I'm using it for, so all 3 GPU types will do me good.
I therefore have a preference for the GTX 260, but of the bunch these are the hardest to get, even second-hand.

What is important to me is that the card should :
work OOTB with "GraphicsEnabler=Yes"
have 2 fully working DVI-I ports (dual 30" monitor support or my old analogues; also see below)
support QE
support CI
support OpenCL
have reasonable future proof driver support in OS X

Basically provide a super snappy desktop experience without graphics glitches

A fully working DVI-I port to me means :
Dual-link DVI upto 2560x1600, and analogue upto 2048x1536. So both the digital and analogue signals should work.

I'm mainly programming, browsing, emailing, digitally drawing, digitally clouring and painting. I do not play games on the desktop.
The usual stuff.

I'm just not sure about the dual monitor support working in Snow Leopard.

I hope someone has a dual monitor setup with either of these cards, and can make a redcommendation.
Or, tell me which of these 3 cards will not support something on my shortlist.

Thanks,
Robert
|Cooler Master Stacker STC-T01|Corsair HX1000W|Foxconn BlackOps (X48) boxed again|GigaByte GA-X48T-DQ6 (X48)|Intel C2Q Q9550 @3785Mhz|OCZ Vendetta 2|OCZ OCZ3P20004GK (2x) 8GB @1425Mhz|Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 (RV670) 1GB GDDR4 @stock|SAMSUNG HD642JJ 640GB (2x)|SAMSUNG HD103UJ 1TB (2x)|Hitachi HDS722516VLSA80 160GB (2x)|OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.2|Windows 7 Ultimate x64|BENQ DW1650|Hitachi GSA-H22N|Logitech Cordless Desktop S520|HP p1230 22" CRT (2x)|NEC Multisync LCD3090WQXi (2x)|

Gringo Vermelho

  • Forum Moderator
  • Posts: 611
  • The gray monster energy hat
Re: Replace my HD 3870 with GTX 260, GTX 275, or GTX 285 ?
« Reply #1 on: May 06, 2010, 05:52:31 PM »
Well written and a legitimate question and everything but this is the Chameleon support forum and the subject is not related to Chameleon, so.. welcome to the Black Hole. You should post over at InsanelyMac or one of the other general Hackintosh forums.

If you want to see which cards are recognized by Chameleon's GraphicsEnabler, download the source code and take a look inside nvidia.c.

I highly recommend the Geforce 9800GTX+, it will do all the things you mention. I don't know much about 200 series cards, except that the 285 is supported in the drivers that ship with OS X but maybe it's a bit overkill.

Good Luck!
« Last Edit: May 07, 2010, 07:13:16 PM by Gringo Vermelho »
10.9.5 - ASUS P8Z77-V Pro - i5 3570K - GTX 660 - Chameleon 2.3 svn-r2xxx
How to...
Install Chameleon: http://forum.voodooprojects.org/index.php/topic,649
Make your own Chameleon boot CD: http://forum.voodooprojects.org/index.php/topic,484.msg2131.html#msg2131

InToVectors

  • Entrant
  • Posts: 0
Re: Replace my HD 3870 with GTX 260, GTX 275, or GTX 285 ?
« Reply #2 on: May 06, 2010, 06:02:33 PM »
OK, I understand.
Thanks for replying though. ;)
|Cooler Master Stacker STC-T01|Corsair HX1000W|Foxconn BlackOps (X48) boxed again|GigaByte GA-X48T-DQ6 (X48)|Intel C2Q Q9550 @3785Mhz|OCZ Vendetta 2|OCZ OCZ3P20004GK (2x) 8GB @1425Mhz|Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 (RV670) 1GB GDDR4 @stock|SAMSUNG HD642JJ 640GB (2x)|SAMSUNG HD103UJ 1TB (2x)|Hitachi HDS722516VLSA80 160GB (2x)|OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.2|Windows 7 Ultimate x64|BENQ DW1650|Hitachi GSA-H22N|Logitech Cordless Desktop S520|HP p1230 22" CRT (2x)|NEC Multisync LCD3090WQXi (2x)|