Can I run one graphics for OS X & one for Windows?

[Goftrey]

Hey everyone, I picked up a 2.66GHz 1,1 Pro with a 7300GT yesterday for a really great price. Now after becoming accustomed to Mountain Lion on my aluminium MacBook, I have found it far sleeker & more enjoyable to use than Lion - which is of course the last iteration of OS X I'd be able to run on the Pro...

...UNLESS, I use MLPostFactor, a piece of software that allows unsupported Macs to run Mountain Lion. I have successfully used it on multiple MacBooks & iMacs in the past. MLPostFactor currently has support for the 7300GT, but not for Pro's with upgraded graphics cards. I have a Sapphire HD6570 2GB that I would love to use in the Pro - however I would only take full advantage of it when in Windows. The 7300GT would suffice in OS X.

So my question is - as there a multiple PCI-E card slots in the Pro. Would there be a way to run the 7300GT in OS X & the 6570 in Windows?

Thanks.

 

[Wardenski]

Yes.

I run an Apple 5770 for OSX via DVI and a PC OC 5870 for Windows via display port in addition to a creative sound-card.

The only annoying thing, is that I can't disable the second monitor in OSX...despite that the second input goes to the same monitor.

 

[Goftrey]

Yes.

I run an Apple 5770 for OSX via DVI and a PC OC 5870 for Windows via display port in addition to a creative sound-card.

The only annoying thing, is that I can't disable the second monitor in OSX...despite that the second input goes to the same monitor.

Awesome! How did you get it working? Was it just plug & play? Wouldn't both the 5870 & 5770 be recognised in Windows?

 

[Wardenski]

Awesome! How did you get it working? Was it just plug & play? Wouldn't both the 5870 & 5770 be recognised in Windows?

I needed to use the molex from the spare optic drive to provide worthy power but other than that it is plug and play but you may need to re-install drivers in windows.

I disabled the monitor corresponding to the 5770. I never had any issues in the three years I have had this dual GPU configuration.

FYI, this is using a 2008 Mac Pro.

 

[Goftrey]

I needed to use the molex from the spare optic drive to provide worthy power but other than that it is plug and play but you may need to re-install drivers in windows.

I disabled the monitor corresponding to the 5770. I never had any issues in the three years I have had this dual GPU configuration.

FYI, this is using a 2008 Mac Pro.

Great. Considering neither the 6570 or 7300GT requires external power, wouldn't that result in a a bottleneck? AFAIK, only one PCI-E runs at 16x. The others at 4x (in pre-2008 Pro's anyway).

 

[CaptainChunk]

Great. Considering neither the 6570 or 7300GT requires external power, wouldn't that result in a a bottleneck? AFAIK, only one PCI-E runs at 16x. The others at 4x (in pre-2008 Pro's anyway).

External power has nothing to do with PCIe lane allocation.

You can actually reallocate the lanes using the Expansion Slot Utility on a 2006 Mac Pro. If you're running two graphics cards, you can make two of the lanes x8. Bottlenecking really won't be much of an issue here, because the cards you mention won't even come close to even saturating 8 lanes of bandwidth.

 

[Goftrey]

External power has nothing to do with PCIe lane allocation.

You can actually reallocate the lanes using the Expansion Slot Utility on a 2006 Mac Pro. If you're running two graphics cards, you can make two of the lanes x8. Bottlenecking really won't be much of an issue here, because the cards you mention won't even come close to even saturating 8 lanes of bandwidth.

Awesome - thanks!