Apple Geforce on PC?

[San]

Why do I even bother asking this? Because Apple is the only company I know that offers a 6800 GT DDL variation, their dual dvi little-bro of Ultra. I am looking for dual dvi for my PC but I am not willing to pay for Ultra. I was wondering if I able use a 6800GT DDL from Apple on my PC? Basic install the 6800GT DDL and install Windows drivers for Nvida.

Is this possible? If so, could this also be a cheaper solution to the "POST-less" problems for people who have Apple Cinema Displays Aluminum and dont want to spend more money on an Ultra? (IMHO, Apple makes THE BEST LCDs I have ever experience, better than some top-line CRTs bar-none, was well worth the money invested on my 23")

***Please note, though I appreciate the suggestion, I dont want to hear about suggestions on ATI. I dont want ATI, I dont care ATI. Thank you.

 

[cleeve]

Sorry friend. Apple videocards will most certainly not work on a PC.

P.S. Ati r0XXors.

________________
<b>Radeon <font color=red>9700 PRO</b></font color=red> <i>(o/c 332/345)</i>
<b>AthlonXP <font color=red>3200+</b></font color=red> <i>(Barton 2500+ o/c 400 FSB)</i>
<b>3dMark03: <font color=red>5,354</b>

 

[RX8]

P.S. Ati r0XXors.

 

[RX8]

P.S. Ati r0XXors.

lol

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

It's not dual DVI you're looking for it's DUAL Link you need.

The 23" can be powered by any quality single link card as it's resolution isn't that high that it's out of the single link range (except for many nV cards which lack the bandwidth fidelity as Lars and Extremetech demonstrated).

Also, the Matrox HR256 will power all the displays including the 30".

Of course if you did a little searching you'd find the answers already well covered here, plus some revelations about alternate solutions.

As for better than CRT "bar-none", that's highly doubtable unless a specific test, however better than <i>SOME</i> or even many CRTs that's quite understandable. Two competing qualifications you use though.


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK

 

[San]

Forgive my ignorance, but does this address the POST-less screen issue as well? My old GF4 Ti4600 worked fine on the Apple display, showed POST/Bios and booted fine. My new GF 6800GT works great! Only problem is, it doesnt show POST, and forced to switch between my old monitor and Apple if I ever needed to mess with the Bios settings and such. Everyone who I have spoken to who didnt have the POST-less problem, and who use 6800, are people with Ultras. Everyone who I have spoken to, who have 6800GT, have the same problem I have. Hence my original post about the 6800GT DDL, looks like Ultra, so I thought maybe that will solve the POST-less problem. Just wasnt sure if I could use it on a PC and just download Windows driver from Nvidia.

So maybe in my original post, I misspoke or I just dont know what I'm talking about. As fasr as finding answers here, I could barely find anything Apple-related in these forums.


As far as my opinions on this monitor, I spent a month shopping for monitors. I was leaning towards LCD because I'm tired of big clunky CRTs. I'm not sure what test(s) you are referring to as to judge the quality of a monitor. Reviews and websites can throw whatever benchmark numbers they can at me, "Seeing is believing" was the definitive benchmark that made my decision. I'm may have stared at maybe about 30-40 19"+ CRTs and LCD monitor. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to know quality from seeing one.

Aside for the bleeding cost of the Apple, the Apple Display was by far the best choice that fit my criteria: Games and Movies. I am confident of my amateur eyes, I did not see ANY ghosting (even for fast moving FPS games like CS and UT2k4), picture was bright and vibrant and sharp. I see it as a pictoral real estate investment and hope the monitor will last for quite a while.

CS Source + crank settings + 1920x 1200 rez + ~60fps = drooool<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by San on 01/13/05 07:15 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Crashman]

Some cards simply won't let you view POST from the DVI connection. The reason is simple: They're using the DVI as output 2, and the POST is going to output 1. There may be cards that can detect which connector is in use when you boot, but I haven't seen any, instead all I've seen is cards that assume you're using output 1.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

As Crash mentioned alot of it is based on the setup of the card, there is an Asus V999GE with dual DVI and a dual link connector, lb19984 has been doing alot of research on this. And I think he's found the card that would work well for you.

I have heard of people hacking their drivers to force this, but it's not an easy thing to do, and the issue was only something I'd seen addressed for ATI cards, not sure about nV. And I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who doesn't have alot of experience hacking drivers.

There are alot more options for the 23" than the 30", but you'll always be at the whim of your drivers because of the lack of ADC compatibility. Don't get me wrong the Cinema series is DAMN nice, but even the very best of the current LCDs won't have the contrast levels, the pure whites and blacks and the range of colours of a CRT or Plasma, however, they are great monitors. Now the next generation of LCDs using SONY's white LED technology and such should improve things even more.

But using regular Geforces on a PC with an Apple cinema LCD is definitely doable, and if it's just the 23" you wanna drive, I'd consider XFX's line, they do a VERY good job with dual DVI on even mid-range cards, and their quality has shown up as being pretty standard. Now you may encounter a <A HREF="http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041129/tft_connection-19.html" target="_new">problem similar to the MSI that Lars reviewd</A> in that your primary output run from on-die doesn't work well, but the dedicate TMDS transmitter on output2 may be what need to reach full native resolution, which would mean you may have the same post-ing issues as before.

I still haven't gotten a reply from my two Apple sources yet, so I can't get you a definitive answer until tomorrow probably. But for now the that's all I can tell you.


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK

 

[sweatlaserxp]

Grape, I've been wondering: AGP is the same spec on PC and Mac architecture, so why do ATi and nVidia have to issue Mac-specific video cards? It seems backwards to me...

<A HREF="http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/landing/landingIndex.jsp?id=dumb01&mature=accept" target="_new">DumbLand</A>

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Two reasons, first the practical, the ADC connector allows for certain connector/monitor information to pass through.

Second, both ATI and nV want to recoup some of their driver and developement costs for their Apple cards, etc. so they like to limit the compatibility so they can keep the prices higher to cover costs. From all the things I've read, you can easily use an Apple card on a PC, but not vice versa for that reason.


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by TheGreatGrapeApe on 01/13/05 11:49 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[eden]

As far as my opinions on this monitor, I spent a month shopping for monitors. I was leaning towards LCD because I'm tired of big clunky CRTs. I'm not sure what test(s) you are referring to as to judge the quality of a monitor. Reviews and websites can throw whatever benchmark numbers they can at me, "Seeing is believing" was the definitive benchmark that made my decision. I'm may have stared at maybe about 30-40 19"+ CRTs and LCD monitor. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to know quality from seeing one.

Aside for the bleeding cost of the Apple, the Apple Display was by far the best choice that fit my criteria: Games and Movies. I am confident of my amateur eyes, I did not see ANY ghosting (even for fast moving FPS games like CS and UT2k4), picture was bright and vibrant and sharp. I see it as a pictoral real estate investment and hope the monitor will last for quite a while.

The ULTIMATE LCD killer: Run the Marquee screen saver on Fast. :tongue:

PS: I love Apple's LCDs, even the Studio ones which I work with regularly at the College are nice and sharp, and I can't imagine how awesome the new ones must be. Wish THG would review LCDs larger than 19".

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