When I bought my current Mac Pro, it came with nVidia’s GT8800 that I ordered as a factory upgrade from whatever was stock at the time.  The upgrade was inexpensive and got me a better GPU and more memory.  The card also supported Dual Link DVI to two displays and I have to say that I got over two years of excellent service from it.

But as I embark ever more deeply into video editing, I discovered that likely through my own ineptitude and lack of proper training, I was able to strain the capability of the GT8800 so I started researching alternatives.  There was the ATI Radeon HD 4870  on the Apple Store that had a faster GPU but no more video memory, there was the nVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 for nearly $2,300 (argh, choke) and the EVGA GeForce GTX 285.  I was not aware of the GTX 285 or of EVGA for that matter so I went over to my local Canada Computers and talked to John and Samuel.  Canada Computers is a retail chain that deals in all manner of kit but this store at least, attracts some seriously hardcore gamers and gamers as we know tend to beat on video cards pretty hard.  Both Samuel and John admitted to no familiarity with the Mac Pro platform but did share that they had enjoyed a lot of customer success with EVGA cards and with the Windows release of the GTX 285.  They did tell me that the GTX 285 had been superseded by the GTX 295 on the Windows platform and also advised that there was a hack out in the internet on making one work in a Mac Pro.  As I depend on the Mac Pro for work every day, i chose not to go that route and had them order me the Mac version of the GTX 285.  With no disrespect to Apple or Apple resellers, I saved at least 10% off the price of the card by getting it from these folks.

Installation was straight forward once I disconnected the web of cables from the Mac Pro and pulled its mass out from under the desk and into the kitchen where I could work on it without crippling myself.  I did learn some tips that might be useful for anyone else.

1. When EVGA says read the instructions first, do it.  If you are not running a current build of Snow Leopard, be absolutely sure you follow the instructions about installing the display drivers BEFORE you take things apart to install the card.  I found that on my machine, running 10.6.3 at time of install, the drivers had already been provided in an Apple update.  If you find this too, well you’ve burned a whole minute, but if you didn’t have the drivers installed and tried to power up the Mac with the new card and no drivers you’d be seeing a black screen and the only fix would be to pull the new card, put in the old card, load the drivers…You get the point.

2.  The PCI-e slots on the Mac Pro have little card locking clips that you engage when removing a card.  Using a flashlight helps you see them and helps you cut down on the cursing when you cannot figure out why the stock card will not come free of the slot.

3. The GT8800 has only one power cable.  The GTX285 has two.  Disconnect the one from the GT8800 before you try to remove the card as you’re going to need it in a minute.  The GTX285 comes with two new power cables, so you could use both new ones of course.  I did.

4.  The motherboard location of the two power ports you will be using is best accessed if you have 14″ long rubber fingers that are impervious to cuts and scrapes.  If you are not Mr. Fantastic, take the time to do the motherboard connections before you install the new video card.  If you don’t, you will just have to pull it out to get the cables connected, and if that happens, remember point #1.

5.  Did I mention that making those connections can be challenging?  I found that a pair of bent nose hemostats worked fine.  Connecting the upper slot first makes things easier as well.

6.  Once the cables are connected and latched onto the motherboard (check that the latching mechanisms on the power connectors have engaged), place the card into the slot.  Slot 1 is best because like most other high end video cards, the GTX 285 is a double-wide.

7.  Replace the card slot locking bar, put all the other pieces back together, connect your cables and fire it up.

At boot time and in normal operations, frankly you won’t see much of a difference.  If you use iStat and watch temps very closely, you might find the system runs a bit cooler.  Or not.  The new card really comes into it’s own when you are doing some intense editing in Final Cut Studio or Premiere Pro or Logic Studio.  Screen draws are faster in Aperture, and Photoshop seems snappier.  I’m not a gamer but I did speak to a guy who uses Steam on the Mac and he says this card is better than what I had for gaming.

In summary, if you need more video horsepower, can handle the expense, and are willing to read the instructions you will like the EVGA GeForce GTX285 Mac Edition.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

It’s now been about six weeks since the receipt of the new MacBook Pro core i7 machine. As I usually do, I went with a 17″ model again, and again chose the non glare screen option. While this means no glossy black bezel, it also means no annoying reflections off the super bright screen. I chose the 500gb drive and upgraded the RAM to 8gb. In selecting the Core i7 version I got the faster CPU and top end graphics capability.

First Impressions

This is my first unibody machine although I had bought a 13″ MBP for my wife. It feels lighter and more compact than the old MBP although technically they are about the same. The new screen graphics are really fast and the colours are amazing. I notice it most when working on HDR photos. I’m not a gamer but I do some video work and find that the machine is definitely faster rendering and even the redraws seem faster. This week I will be stress testing the machine building some content with the latest Camtasia:Mac that will include some HD video. The drive is quick enough and while the SSDs are faster the price differential is not justifiable to me.

Ongoing Use

Like the old unit I still have kernel panic issues with the eSata card that uses the Siig chipset sometimes on insertion and sometimes on removal. I am using their new drivers with my card that came from Griffin. Annoying but not a show stopper. eSata is so much faster for backups and Time Machine.

I use the machine for presentations several times a week and the mini display port adapter works great and is easier to connect than the old DVI adapter but I have more issues where it wants to mirror the screen even though I always select dual screen mode when connected. I just ran the 10.6.4 update so maybe this will improve. I also have a Targus bluetooth remote but it has become very unreliable for use with the new machine. I’ll need to see if others are experiencing this issue.

When traveling I use the machine to extend the hotel room internet connection to my iPad and iPhone and although the procedure seems to have changed since I last tried this, it works wonderfully. The new black keyboard is much easier to see in low light than the old aluminum topped one and I think I may type marginally faster on it. It’s the same keyboard as on my first gen MacBook Air and has a good feel, with decent resistance and return.

I kept the predecessor in production for just over two years and while there were few things wrong with it, other than the case starting to separate at the seams, I’m very happy to have upgraded and believe that the expense was worthwhile.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I’m a big fan of security as well as of screen savers, but not necessarily together. In fact I find entering the password every time the screen saver kicks in to be a major pain, but I do want to be able to lock the screen, preferably with a click.

Well today I learned you can, courtesy of an older post at Macworld. Here’s how to make it easy.

1. Open the Utilities folder, usually found in your Applications folder.

2. Launch Keychain Access

3. Open Keychain Access | Preferences

4. Click the box to show Keychain Access in the menu bar

5. Verify you see the little black unlocked padlock in the menu bar, then close the Preferences panel and exit Keychain Access.

Now to lock your screen with a click, just click the padlock and select Lock Screen. It’s that simple. This is going to be a huge time saver for me. Hope it is for you as well.

Well you’ve probably heard all the hype about the Magic Mouse. Mine arrived today and I’ve just set it up. This review is not sponsored and I receive no compensation for doing it.

Upsides:

Smaller than I expected and also lower
Case design is elegant
Good weight
Once paired, software update is smart enough to go get the right software when you check for updates
It’s the full Steve Jobs thing, no visible buttons
Has on off switch
Scrolling works well
No side buttons

Downsides:

Feels really awkward Will take getting used to, especially since I switched from the Mighty mouse to Logitech MX series mice a while ago
Scrolling with momentum far from the elegance of the Logitech model
No side buttons
Two finger swipes can move the entire mouse

So overall it’s beautiful, kind of cool, and has a learning curve. I’ve decided to pair it with the MacBook Air and try it instead of the Kensington Slimblade I use with that machine and see how it goes.