Geforce GTX 285 now supported officially from Apple

[spooksie]

http://store.apple.com/us/product/TW387ZM/A

I'm thinking of purchasing this GTX 285:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-Asus-GTX-285-55nm-PCI-E-20%28x16%29-Mem-2484MHz-GDDR3-GPU-648MHz-240-Cores-2x-DVI-I-HDTV

Does this mean that I can use the official drivers for the card with 10.6?
http://www.nvidia.com/object/GeForce_MacOSX_18.5.2f16.html

[Gringo Vermelho]

The drivers that ship with OSX already support a ton of Nvidia video cards, like my 9800GTX+ for example, even though they never made a Mac with such a video card.
I'm running the drivers you linked to - unmodified. Only had to modify the installer to get it to install the drivers.

You cannot (fully) use a PC video card on a hackintosh out of the box. The drivers may recognize the card properly but it will work in VESA mode with no hardware acceleration (Core Image and Quartz Extreme).

You will need some kind of "injection" method - PC video cards don't have EFI.

Injection can be done via

DSDT patching
Kernel Extension
Device Properties String
Chameleon built-in injection

I use NVEnabler.kext - find it at the ProjectOSX forums.

[skydrone]

Gringo Vermelho,

Why are you using NVEnabler.kext? I have patched my DSDT to support GTX285. What's the advantage of using NVEnabler.kext over DSDT Patch?

I am on 10.6.1. Would be better to install this drivers? http://www.nvidia.com/object/GeForce_MacOSX_18.5.2f16.html

Thanks!

[rzooff]

Injectors (like NVEnabler.kext), EFI Strings, DSDT patch are not drivers. It's a way to use orginal MacOS drivers with PC card. The final effect is the same, and there is no advantage in how it works.
Injector is easier to install. But DSDT patch or Chameleon's graphic enabler feature is more "clear" method then kext.

If you download new drivers from this link, you should be able to use it just like previous drivers - of course still with your DSDT patch.

[skydrone]

Good, if all injection methods do the same, then I think I will stick with current DSDT patch.

Anyways, I am having poor OpenGL scores and transition between spaces isn't smooth as it was on Leopard. Do you recommend to update the Snow Leo graphic drivers with nvidia site ones?

Cheers!

[Gringo Vermelho]

My scores in OpenGL Extensions Viewer went up by quite a bit (most of them past 4000 points) after installing those drivers, but that is on 10.5.8. I'm waiting for things to quiet down a bit before installing 10.6.

NVEnabler is currently the only injection method that gets analog TV-Out working on Nvidia cards. That's why I use it. I have component + audio cables running through the wall to the TV in the living room. I also pulled a USB cable through and attached a hub so I can plug in mouse/keyboard and a gamepad. 

[skydrone]

Great, thanks for the info! Will stick with current snow drivers and DSDT injection. Hope Apple will fix openGL on 10.6.

Cheers!

[Krazubu]

Injectors (like NVEnabler.kext), EFI Strings, DSDT patch are not drivers. It's a way to use orginal MacOS drivers with PC card. The final effect is the same, and there is no advantage in how it works.
Injector is easier to install. But DSDT patch or Chameleon's graphic enabler feature is more "clear" method then kext.

Fail : NVEnabler is not just a passive injecter it does ROM patching which can't be achieved with any other method, without considering the other values that need to be calculated for your card and not only being copy/pasted from a seemingly close model.

[rzooff]

OK - thanks for info, I didn't knew. But it is still a way to use oryginal Mac OS drivers.
So the main sense of my post is true