PNY GeForce 8500GT DDR2 512MB PCIe sort of works, but...

[dbmuzz]

PLEASE DISREGARD THE BUILD IN MY PROFILE TO THE LEFT -- THAT'S A DIFFERENT HACKINTOSH!

I've resuscitated an old PC, running on a Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P motherboard with a Core 2 Duo CPU, and (mostly) successfully hackintoshed it.

The graphics card is a PNY GeForce 8500GT DDR2 512MB PCIe. I had to do the nv_disable=1 to get it to work, otherwise it would always hang at Verifying DMI Pool Data. Once I got past that, I could use it. It mostly works, with these caveats:

1) When I connect it via HDMI to my 1080p TV, it's horribly stretched. The Monitors control panel doesn't let me select any other resolution other than its native setting.

2) The machine always freezes on shutdown.

3) If I start up the machine without any monitor attached, it won't boot at all. (My assumption is it freezes sometime in the boot process, but for obvious reasons, I can't tell where in the boot process.)

Apart from that, it seems to work OK.

So my questions are:

1) Is there anything I can do to experiment to try and get it to work better/properly? Any drivers worth installing?

2) If I'm using this for an application in which graphics aren't important at all (this will be a 24/7 server machine which I'll occasionally VNC into), what's the super-cheapest-budget video card I could use on this motherboard that would work fine for a Hackintosh? I went through the latest build list (January 2016) but all of the suggested graphics cards are in the $100 range and up, and I'd be willing to spend $20-30 to get this right, but not a lot more...

Thanks in advance for any tips!

 

[dbmuzz]

bump

 

[linuxrox]

maybe a GTX 610

 

[nobodynose]

2) If I'm using this for an application in which graphics aren't important at all (this will be a 24/7 server machine which I'll occasionally VNC into), what's the super-cheapest-budget video card I could use on this motherboard that would work fine for a Hackintosh? I went through the latest build list (January 2016) but all of the suggested graphics cards are in the $100 range and up, and I'd be willing to spend $20-30 to get this right, but not a lot more...

You can get an AMD HD 5450 right now for just $9.99! ($29.99 less a $20 MIR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131338). The 5450 doesn't work OOB, but is supposed to be easy to configure if you're using Clover, it just needs a FakeID injected; see this guide for details: http://www.tonymacx86.com/graphics/180817-guide-enabling-ati-radeon-hd-5450-a.html.

I believe an Nvidia Geforce 210 still works OOB; you can pick one up for just over $30 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121422). A GeForce 610 as linuxrox suggested will work OOB and set you back just over $35 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125484). Look on Craigslist or eBay and you can probably do a lot better on the price, if you're OK with used.

 

[dbmuzz]

@NobodyNose, thank you so much, that is EXACTLY what I was hoping for.

One last question: as I'm researching these few choices, I went on eBay to search for "GeForce GT 610" and I find matches from a lot of different manufacturers - Gigabyte, Zotac, Nvidia, EVGA, Asus, and others. Does it matter? Will these all work similarly from a setup/hacking perspective?

(Like I said, my graphics needs are so basic, I'm not interested in features or ports; I literally just need it to not get in the way of my basic server needs)

 

[nobodynose]

@NobodyNose, thank you so much, that is EXACTLY what I was hoping for.

One last question: as I'm researching these few choices, I went on eBay to search for "GeForce GT 610" and I find matches from a lot of different manufacturers - Gigabyte, Zotac, Nvidia, EVGA, Asus, and others. Does it matter? Will these all work similarly from a setup/hacking perspective?

(Like I said, my graphics needs are so basic, I'm not interested in features or ports; I literally just need it to not get in the way of my basic server needs)

Yes, in general the manufacturer doesn't matter, they all work pretty much the same. Where they may differ is in the connector type and layout, though I don't think there's much variation on the 610 - most are the reference design, which is 1 DVI-I (dual-link) port, 1 HDMI, and 1 VGA. Most have cooling fans, a few have passive heatsinks.

 

[trs96]

@NobodyNose, thank you so much, that is EXACTLY what I was hoping for.

One last question: as I'm researching these few choices, I went on eBay to search for "GeForce GT 610" and I find matches from a lot of different manufacturers - Gigabyte, Zotac, Nvidia, EVGA, Asus, and others. Does it matter? Will these all work similarly from a setup/hacking perspective?

(Like I said, my graphics needs are so basic, I'm not interested in features or ports; I literally just need it to not get in the way of my basic server needs)

I've had success with the Asus GT210 /610s they're basically the same card. Evga is also always a can't miss choice. Buy new, they're really cheap to begin with.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004KABG1I?ie=UTF8&tag=tonymacx86com-20

With Mavericks or newer OS X, use GraphicsEnabler=Yes

 

[slim.jim]

I run a PNY GT 610 in my one machine and it works fine with El Capitan.

 

[dbmuzz]

Most excellent. I nabbed a GT 610 for $20 on eBay, new. PERFECT.

Thank you all so much for the help and input. It'll be nice to get that machine solid. I'll report back if any problems, but the GT 610 looks to be pretty popular here at TonyMac so if by any chance it doesn't work, there's probably plenty of advice to go through here.