BuXb Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 I have a Dell Optiplex 755 SFF (Small Form Factor) and am in need of a low-profile video card for low-requirement usage (watching movies, no games). Here's my requirements: 1. compatible with Mountain Lion 10.8.2 2. Video: HDMI (1080p)/ Dual-DVI (for 30" Apple Cinema Display 2560 x 1600 via adapter) 3. no preference if ATI or NVidia. If ATI: correct Framebuffer MUST work (if not OOTB then via hack is OK) 4. fully working wake-from-MONITOR-sleep AND wake-from-MacOS-sleep on BOTH monitors, HDMI & DVI !!! 5. quiet! Preferably fanless. 1GB is enough. HDMI audio (e.g. via DSDT edit) would be nice but is NO requirement. Sharing of experience would be very welcomed Thank you, Bugs PS: right now I have the fanless Saphire ATI Radeon HD 5450 1GB GDDR3 DVI-VGA-HDMI with 3. and 4. from my list not working as supposed .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theconnactic Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 NVidia G210 1024mb All ports (DVI - HDMI - VGA, left to right) working, HDMI audio works OOB with VoodooHDA... unfortunately i cannot use it anymore because 1) the one i have is defective (crash 3 minutes into any game) and 2) my HTPC hackintosh use an AMD CPU, and the latest legacy_kernels only work in 64-bit mode with (some) ATI cards - so i bought the HD5450, which is slightly faster but doesn't support HDMI audio with OSX (my workaround for it is to connect the internal audio output of the computer to the audio input of my TV). It has a fan, but it's mostly quiet as long as you don't force it with high-end games. If you are fond of Sapphire branded solutions and are prone to spend a little more, go for the Sapphire HD6670 low profile (http://www.sapphiret...1352&psn=&lid=1). That one i didn't test personally, but Toleda told me about its strenghts. At least the 4 first items are checked Best regards! P.S.: i use the same card as you, and only Eulemur works for me. All other framebuffers will give me a black screen, but in the end that doesn't really matter. P.P.S.: heavily edited post Another one which comes to my mind is the nVidia GeForce 610. Compatibility-wise and performance-wise, it should fare better than the G210. But i didn't test the HDMI port of this one, so you'll have to get more reports about it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuXb Posted March 15, 2013 Author Share Posted March 15, 2013 Greetings theconnactic - and thank you very much for this speedy and adorable reply. Contributors like you make the iNet worthwhile I have made the experience in years of h'tosh ever since maxxus {..} that different manufacturers usually mean totally different h'tosh results .. I see there is many different G210 low-profile models out there (PNY, GIGABYTE, EVGA two models, Asus). Would you be so kind and post the link to the shop where you purchased your G210, or at least share the exact model name? And just to double-check: from your remarks, I understand that the G210 is a) fully supported by both 64bit OSes, Mountain Lion and Lion (I equipped my OP755 w/ a Intel Quad Core so AMD compatibility is not an issue to begin with), and supports fully working wake-from-MONITOR-sleep AND wake-from-MacOS-sleep on BOTH monitors, HDMI & DVI? My Saph. HD5450 is running fine w/ GE + Eulemur VGA + HDMI (apart from HDMI not waking from OS sleep --> staying black). Oddly enough ever since I replaced the VGA w/ a 30" Apple Cinema display connected via Apple DVI adapter, BOTH, ACD @ DVI AND the Toshiba Regza 37" TV connected via HDMI turn black once the Mountain Lion GUI should kick in on OS boot.. I did not even get into trying other FBs again because from testing back then I know that Eulemur is indeed the correct FB (.. and I do not have time and mind to follow the manual to find all the correct FB settings for this card and its ROM ..) Audio: I was given a Klipsch Surround w/ optical which used to be connected to a MacPro, so I will look into a OS X compatible sound-card w/ optical for either the SFF's free low-profile PCI slot, or USB (have not looked into that all, fully working grfx is priority). Yes, right now I have it connected via analog (w/ limited quality). nVidia GeForce 610: hm .. I neither have any info of that one as low-profile in my db Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theconnactic Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Of course: my G210 is from a cheap, obscure brand: Point of View. And just to double-check: from your remarks, I understand that the G210 is a) fully supported by both 64bit OSes, Mountain Lion and Lion (I equipped my OP755 w/ a Intel Quad Core so AMD compatibility is not an issue to begin with), and supports fully working wake-from-MONITOR-sleep AND wake-from-MacOS-sleep on BOTH monitors, HDMI & DVI? Well, it used to sleep and wake well, but sleep in any of my computers was never quite stable: the system would either freeze minutes after waking (core i5) or crash randomly any time from minutes to hours after waking on my AMD. But i don't think these issues were graphics related, so i'd say yes. I still have the G210, even defective, as a secondary card (in the 4x PCI-e lane) in my i5 rig, so i can test it for you the 2-monitor sleep only for the sake of double-checking, because if i remember well, it used to work fine. As for audio, get a cheap M-Audio fast track: they can even record audio with professional quality! Best regards! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuXb Posted March 15, 2013 Author Share Posted March 15, 2013 that's odd .. I did several web searches (metacrawler/ eBay/ Amazon) according to which the Point of View GeForce G210 ONLY came in 512MB - they only equipped the GT220 w/ 1GB: http://www.pureoverc...eries-products/ http://www.guru3d.co..._and_gt220.html http://www.dvhardwar...ticle38394.html Thanks for you offer - I did a bit of research on the Sapphire HD6670 low profile in h'tosh world and purchased it via NewEgg for $100 incl. shipping. M-Audio fast track: oh, there is several - is there a specific Mountain Lion compatible one you are having in mind by any chance? http://www.amazon.co...udio fast track http://www.newegg.co...udio fast track Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theconnactic Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 BugsB, don't switch cards yet: i solved the black screen upon wake issue and also the HDMI audio issue (that one with the providential help of Mirone, an AppleHDA specialist). Yes, i made it! Hope the "like" i gave to your last post calls your attention to this topic before you trash your little card. I'll PM you anyway. Here's the solution: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/287013-thoughts-about-applehda-patching-on-amd-hardware-ati-chipsets-nvidia/#entry1899978 see post #17. EDIT: Hah, i see it's too late... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuXb Posted April 6, 2013 Author Share Posted April 6, 2013 Hi theconnactic - I'm pretty happy with the 6670, see here. Just no working fb yet when having DVI + HDMI connected both at the same time. Unless switching to clover, I guess I'd have to edit DSDT etc. accdg. to manual. Other than that, all prerequisites DO work - THANK YOU (really amazed that DVD Player launches with generic ATY fb, that's a novum ..) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theconnactic Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 (really amazed that DVD Player launches with generic ATY fb, that's a novum ..) Did you find out if encoded (surround!) HDMI audio also works with the same generic framebuffer? Perhaps you'll grow even more amazed. Best regards! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuXb Posted November 29, 2013 Author Share Posted November 29, 2013 Did you find out if encoded (surround!) HDMI audio also works with the same generic framebuffer? Perhaps you'll grow even more amazed. Best regards! no sorry I never got into HDMI audio at all because the TV's sound is not great, so I use a different sound solution, but big thanks again to you and toleda! I now need a low-profile w/ mDP (mini DisplayPort) and am looking at the Sapphire 100357LP Radeon HD 7750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Video Card mDP/ DVI-I/ HDMI which is getting very good reviews on Amazon and NewEgg. I now wonder if my requirements 1. compatible with Mountain Lion & Mavericks 2. Video: mDP (mini DisplayPort) with 2560 x 1440 for Apple Cinema Display/ HDMI 1080p/ Dual-DVI (for 30" Apple Cinema Display 2560 x 1600) 3. no preference if ATI or NVidia. If ATI: correct Framebuffer MUST work (if not OOTB then via hack is OK) 4. FULLY working wake-from-MONITOR-sleep AND wake-from-MacOS-sleep on ALL connected monitors w/o blue, white or black screens 5. quiet are met for the Sapphire 100357LP Radeon HD 7750 ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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