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Are there any slim, fanless video cards to upgrade my gt120s ? (mac pro 4,1)

G

gjarold

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 14, 2007
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I have a early 2009 mac pro 4,1 which has dual gt120 cards inside of it. So I have a total of four video outs (2x DP and 2x DVI).

Very happy with these slim, silent cards - the problem is that they won't drive a newer 4k display.

I *still require* four video outs ... but I don't have high demands for GPU/graphics ... I would love to use a single-slot card with nothing but displayport ports. Fanless would be a bonus ...

Does that exist ?

Is there a single slot card, with dual 4k@60 DP ports (v1.4) that I can use in my mac pro ?

Again, fanless would be a bonus, but the real issue is being single slot since I need other slots free for PCIe SSD and USB3 card ....

Thanks.
 
The first slot is double slot, so installing a single slot card in it does not give any benefit with the number of slots available. You certainly can have four monitors and two slots still available. I think you can get six monitors and two slots available. Maybe a lot more, if you want to examine and modify a little bit.

There are examples of these configurations seen around this great forum. These posts there are why I started my own experiments. Thank You to all pioneers here.

In my tests I used the configuration seen as an attachment. 2xAMD, RX570/RX460 cards, nVidia GT120, Kingston HyperX Predator 480GB. That means 8 monitors and a pretty fast PCIe SSD. Now I have reverted to only 3 monitors, and a PCIe SSD. One slot still empty and available, maybe for my Inateck 4006 USB 3.0.

edit. Oops. Omitted the "fanless" part, sorry..
 

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gjarold said:
I have a early 2009 mac pro 4,1 which has dual gt120 cards inside of it. So I have a total of four video outs (2x DP and 2x DVI).

Very happy with these slim, silent cards - the problem is that they won't drive a newer 4k display.

I *still require* four video outs ... but I don't have high demands for GPU/graphics ... I would love to use a single-slot card with nothing but displayport ports. Fanless would be a bonus ...

Does that exist ?

Is there a single slot card, with dual 4k@60 DP ports (v1.4) that I can use in my mac pro ?

Again, fanless would be a bonus, but the real issue is being single slot since I need other slots free for PCIe SSD and USB3 card ....

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Have you looked into FirePro W7000? I believe a few people on this board uses them. I have a uad card in slot 2. It gets very hot. I don't like my video card so near my uad card. I also been looking for a good single slot card.
 
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a GTX 1030 will drive a 4k panel.

Not great for gaming but it is a 2Gb card designed for use for home theater, hence the 4k panel capability.

As an added bonus, they are pretty cheap ($70 - $80). They also come fanless.
 
joebclash said:
Have you looked into FirePro W7000? I believe a few people on this board uses them. I have a uad card in slot 2. It gets very hot. I don't like my video card so near my uad card. I also been looking for a good single slot card.
Click to expand...
I agree, the W7000 seems like a good GPU
 
joebclash said:
Have you looked into FirePro W7000? I believe a few people on this board uses them. I have a uad card in slot 2. It gets very hot. I don't like my video card so near my uad card. I also been looking for a good single slot card.
Click to expand...

Wow - thank you - although it is not fanless, I think that is exactly what I am looking for.

I see that these are displayport v1.2a, and I see that the table here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort#Resolution_and_refresh_frequency_limits_for_DisplayPort

shows that DP v1.2a can drive 3840x2160 @ 60hz.

So I should not have any flicker/refresh issues @ full 4K, correct ?
 
The WX 7100 is theoretically supported in 10.13 (based on the device ID). Basically pro version of RX 480.

Update: The WX 7100 card's device ID needs to be changed from 67c4 to 67c0 (either faked or in the VBIOS) in order for the AMD9520Controller.kext driver to load.
 
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MisterAndrew said:
The WX 7100 is theoretically supported in 10.13 (based on the device ID). Basically pro version of RX 580.
Click to expand...

Can I use the WX7000, on a mac pro 4,1, running El Capitan, without having to upgrade my mac pro firmware ?
 
Not sure why you'd want a single-slot GPU, I'd rather replace both GT120 by a more modern one. Starting with Kepler generation, all consumer level Nvidia GPUs support up to 4 concurrent displays including 4K on DP (only on models with enough ports obviously), some AMD cards even support up to 6 displays.

I don't see the need for a workstation level GPU, even old AMD HD 7xxx GPUs for <$100 would do what you want.
 
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I think there is "fanless" Nvidia 750Ti .. . according to Netkas, the ROM God.
 
MisterAndrew said:
The WX 7100 is theoretically supported in 10.13 (based on the device ID). Basically pro version of RX 580.
Click to expand...

Question - based on relative scores in Passmark, the RX 580 (~8250) is substantially faster than the WX 7100 (~5300). How would the WX 7100 be the "pro" version of the RX-580?
 
Naimfan said:
Question - based on relative scores in Passmark, the RX 580 (~8250) is substantially faster than the WX 7100 (~5300). How would the WX 7100 be the "pro" version of the RX-580?
Click to expand...
You don't buy a workstation grade GPU because of it's raw processing power, consumer GPUs are always faster (at least in terms of single precision TFLOPs). You buy it because of its superior software/driver support, performance optimizations in professional CAD applications or ECC VRAM.
 
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Fl0r!an said:
You don't buy a workstation grade GPU because of it's raw processing power, consumer GPUs are always faster (at least in terms of single precision TFLOPs). You buy it because of its superior software/driver support, performance optimizations in professional CAD applications or ECC VRAM.
Click to expand...

Ah! That makes sense. Thank you.

I was imagining it would be analogous to the comparison between something like an i7 and Xeon CPU.
 
Just to help people answering your question, do you need the Boot Screen? And how much fiddling are you willing to do to make something work?

Or do you want it to be plug and play like it would be if it was an official Apple card?
 
I don't know why these folks keep pushing high end cards when the OP has stated that his graphics requirements aren't high. You don't need a $400+ card to drive a 4k monitor.

A GTX 1030 is designed specifically to push 4k panels and it is around $70 - 80.
 
ssgbryan said:
I don't know why these folks keep pushing high end cards when the OP has stated that his graphics requirements aren't high. You don't need a $400+ card to drive a 4k monitor.

A GTX 1030 is designed specifically to push 4k panels and it is around $70 - 80.
Click to expand...

The issues is. He wanted 4 display ports with a single slot. Low end geforce cards are limited in that area.
 
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hello
Is the 1030 enough to use Adobe Lightroom. I have 1 gt120 Mac Pro 4,1 to 5,1 and 24 gb ram. Im going to see any difference?
thanks a lot
 
The 1030 is a 2Gb card - I am sure you will see a difference.

10x the Cuda cores: 384 Cuda cores (same as GT 640)
2x Base clock speed 1227Mhz
2 - 4x memory (2Gb)
Supports OpenGL 4.5
Max Resolution: 7680x4320@60 Hz aka 8K (using both display ports)
30 watt power draw.

I've been following the threads over at insanely Mac and tonymacx86.

The 1030 isn't a gaming card (although it seems acceptable at medium resolutions at 1080p).

I am getting 2 of them on Dec 26. 1 for my 1,1 (I'm turning it into a HTPC), and I'll replace my Apple 5770 in my 4,1 with the other.
 
gjarold said:
Right, but what about El Capitan ? I checked the official page for the firepro w7000:

http://www.amd.com/en-us/products/graphics/workstation/firepro-3d/7000

... and in the specs it only mentions what versions of Windows it will work for - no mention of OSX.

So I am wondering if it will work in El Cap ... so I can avoid firmware upgrades, etc.
Click to expand...

You'll have to search for the device ID for the card you want to install in OS X's drivers. If the card didn't exist when El Capitan was a current OS then the answer is no.
 
If you want a high-end GPU but don't want the noise, there are 3rd-party fan-less heatsinks which you can attach to them; however, those kits don't fit certain models.

Keep in-mind that modern GPUs are normally inaudible, due to the fact that their fans don't spin until the card reaches a heat threshold; and, even once they're running, they're either silent or barely detectable. In my experience, I've noticed that NVIDIA cards are generally the quietest (although, it can depend upon the brand of the cooler). Fan-blower cards are generally louder, so avoid those - go with a card whose cooler has an open-blade design and, preferably, dual fans.

A potent card for its age is the GTX 660. While its fans run constantly, they're totally inaudible. They're both extremely quiet and utterly drowned out by the noise produced by the case fans. My GTX 1060 was also inaudible and had the start-stop fan feature; however, I forfeited that card for other reasons. (10xx cards are glitchy under OSX.)
 
Hi, thanks for the info



ssgbryan said:
The 1030 is a 2Gb card - I am sure you will see a difference.

10x the Cuda cores: 384 Cuda cores (same as GT 640)
2x Base clock speed 1227Mhz
2 - 4x memory (2Gb)
Supports OpenGL 4.5
Max Resolution: 7680x4320@60 Hz aka 8K (using both display ports)
30 watt power draw.

I've been following the threads over at insanely Mac and tonymacx86.

The 1030 isn't a gaming card (although it seems acceptable at medium resolutions at 1080p).

I am getting 2 of them on Dec 26. 1 for my 1,1 (I'm turning it into a HTPC), and I'll replace my Apple 5770 in my 4,1 with the other.
Click to expand...
 
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