Mac Pro with Max/Vray

Trevor Tizard · July 22nd, 2008

Hi,

I may have the opportunity to get my hands on a six month old Mac Pro. I would want to run max and Vray (presumably under bootcamp) and use my existing (three year old) PC for distributed rendering.

I seem to remember reading somewhere about certain video cards on Macs being an issue. Is this the case, and is there anything else I need to know before asking IT to install it?

Thanks very much.

Trev

Ky Lane · July 22nd, 2008

Im using a 8 core mac pro with the 8800GT card at work, and all is fine there.

pico · July 22nd, 2008

hi trevor

im also working in a mac pro dualdual core 3,0 since 1,5 years with max and vray, i´m very satisfied, costs were lower then same configurations on a dell or hp

the main issue is to use 64bit os to have to whole power of ram. i have both windows xp and vista 64bit
apple dont support xp x64 so it would be better to use vista.
on my mac pro i have the ati card. they have driver for xp x64 and its working
on my macbook pro i have the nvidia geforce8600gt. the drivers from nvidia hompage didnt work with vista x64. so i have to use a rewritten driver.

never the less the main problem you will have if you use your mac with windows os 64bit is that there is now official support, so you have to search a lot of forums to find a solution for your problems if accrue!

i never regret switched to mac!

lyca · July 22nd, 2008

i have now 4 Mac-Pro Workstation for video and 3D, i use them for max-vray and for rendering, it's the best cost/power rate i found on the market.
Dell and HP are 800€ more expensive for the equivalent hardware.

Once you've found all the drivers for XP64 than you'll be good, and if you want you also do all your post-production in OS-X witch is really more confortable for work, best from the MAC/WIN world

PGD · July 22nd, 2008

Thought I was seeing double then! (chaosgroup)

AJLynn · July 22nd, 2008

The problem is that most video cards sold for PC don't work in OSX without some hackery, and some don't work even then (e.g., there's no FireGL driver). A PC video card in a Mac Pro will work in Windows and a Mac compatible video card will work in OSX and Windows.

lyca · July 22nd, 2008

yes, gfx card are a bit the down of apple, but if choose one of the 4 compatible, than it will be ok

NVIDIA GeForce 7300 G
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600

Trevor Tizard · July 22nd, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by PGD

Thought I was seeing double then! (chaosgroup)

Caught red-handed!

AJLynn · July 22nd, 2008

Wait, you can just take any old 8800GT, put it in a Mac Pro and have it work? I thought you needed one made for the Mac, that it's got a different ROM or something...

lyca · July 22nd, 2008

NVIDIA GeForce 7300 G
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600[/quote]

They has to be Mac edition, yes the Mac edition has a bigger ROM

July 22nd, 2008	#1 (permalink)
Trevor Tizard Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: London - ish Age: 38 Posts: 435 Name: Trevor Tizard	Mac Pro with Max/Vray Hi, I may have the opportunity to get my hands on a six month old Mac Pro. I would want to run max and Vray (presumably under bootcamp) and use my existing (three year old) PC for distributed rendering. I seem to remember reading somewhere about certain video cards on Macs being an issue. Is this the case, and is there anything else I need to know before asking IT to install it? Thanks very much. Trev

July 22nd, 2008	#2 (permalink)
Ky Lane Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Brisbane, Australia Age: 31 Posts: 924 Name: Ky Lane	Re: Mac Pro with Max/Vray Im using a 8 core mac pro with the 8800GT card at work, and all is fine there.

July 22nd, 2008	#3 (permalink)
pico Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: vienna Posts: 2 Name: franz stibli	Re: Mac Pro with Max/Vray hi trevor im also working in a mac pro dualdual core 3,0 since 1,5 years with max and vray, i´m very satisfied, costs were lower then same configurations on a dell or hp the main issue is to use 64bit os to have to whole power of ram. i have both windows xp and vista 64bit apple dont support xp x64 so it would be better to use vista. on my mac pro i have the ati card. they have driver for xp x64 and its working on my macbook pro i have the nvidia geforce8600gt. the drivers from nvidia hompage didnt work with vista x64. so i have to use a rewritten driver. never the less the main problem you will have if you use your mac with windows os 64bit is that there is now official support, so you have to search a lot of forums to find a solution for your problems if accrue! i never regret switched to mac! __________________ www.atelier12.com

July 22nd, 2008	#4 (permalink)
lyca Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Luxembourg Age: 35 Posts: 124 Name: Monte Caly	Re: Mac Pro with Max/Vray i have now 4 Mac-Pro Workstation for video and 3D, i use them for max-vray and for rendering, it's the best cost/power rate i found on the market. Dell and HP are 800€ more expensive for the equivalent hardware. Once you've found all the drivers for XP64 than you'll be good, and if you want you also do all your post-production in OS-X witch is really more confortable for work, best from the MAC/WIN world

July 22nd, 2008	#5 (permalink)
PGD Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: UK Posts: 109 Name: Phil G	Re: Mac Pro with Max/Vray Thought I was seeing double then! (chaosgroup) __________________ www.pgdesigns.co.uk

July 22nd, 2008	#6 (permalink)
AJLynn Moderator Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Beantown Age: 29 Posts: 4,426 Name: Andrew Lynn	Re: Mac Pro with Max/Vray The problem is that most video cards sold for PC don't work in OSX without some hackery, and some don't work even then (e.g., there's no FireGL driver). A PC video card in a Mac Pro will work in Windows and a Mac compatible video card will work in OSX and Windows.

July 22nd, 2008	#7 (permalink)
lyca Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Luxembourg Age: 35 Posts: 124 Name: Monte Caly	Re: Mac Pro with Max/Vray yes, gfx card are a bit the down of apple, but if choose one of the 4 compatible, than it will be ok NVIDIA GeForce 7300 G ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600

July 22nd, 2008	#9 (permalink)
AJLynn Moderator Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Beantown Age: 29 Posts: 4,426 Name: Andrew Lynn	Re: Mac Pro with Max/Vray Wait, you can just take any old 8800GT, put it in a Mac Pro and have it work? I thought you needed one made for the Mac, that it's got a different ROM or something...

July 22nd, 2008	#10 (permalink)
lyca Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Luxembourg Age: 35 Posts: 124 Name: Monte Caly	Re: Mac Pro with Max/Vray NVIDIA GeForce 7300 G ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600[/quote] They has to be Mac edition, yes the Mac edition has a bigger ROM

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