Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

giodelgado

macrumors regular
Jan 6, 2008
117
18
Nope! Going to sell it - picked up a "reference" GTX680 with 2x6 pin and flashed it instead.

I have a Gigabyte GTX 760 that's on repair, the TDP is 170~ so I'm going to try it, just to verify you avoided doing the 6 to 8 since you don't know the TDP on that card?
 

avkdm

macrumors regular
Feb 14, 2012
160
42
I have a Gigabyte GTX 760 that's on repair, the TDP is 170~ so I'm going to try it, just to verify you avoided doing the 6 to 8 since you don't know the TDP on that card?

Yes that's right - but according to Galaxys website TDP is 195watt the same as reference.
 
Last edited:

pixxelpusher

macrumors member
Aug 1, 2011
92
17
I just got a Gainward GTX 770 4GB put it in my Mac Pro 2006 attached 2x6pin cables (even though the card has a 8-pin + 6-pin) and it started up fine. No messages from the OS. Ran a few stress tests like LuxMark and Heaven and no system crashes or screen artefacts. Fans spun up quite a lot but everything works fine.

Ran it like this for a few days while waiting for some other cables to arrive and had no problems at all. For added insurance I've now got the 2x6pins going to a 8pin to 2x6pin Y splitter cable, and am feeding the other 6pin connector on the card with a SATA to 6pin cable plugged into a free hard drive bay.
 

MacVidCards

Suspended
Nov 17, 2008
6,096
1,056
Hollywood, CA
How come?
Thinking about buying a flashed 7970 or R9 280x from the bay. Both comes with 6 + 8-pin (including power cables).
As I read you, I should just buy and be happy?

Please read thread title.

Also take a moment to read the posts right before mine.

GTX760/770 have no, NONE, ZERO power issues to worry about on a cMP using onboard power.

If you have one of those, no worries.

Why would this automagically apply to R9 280X you are looking at on Ebay?

If the ad says it works, rely on them or file a claim. I am posting about GK107/104
 

Baunkjaer

macrumors 6502
Feb 20, 2009
388
53
Copenhagen, Denmark
Please read thread title.

Also take a moment to read the posts right before mine.

GTX760/770 have no, NONE, ZERO power issues to worry about on a cMP using onboard power.

If you have one of those, no worries.

Why would this automagically apply to R9 280X you are looking at on Ebay?

If the ad says it works, rely on them or file a claim. I am posting about GK107/104
Let me rephrase it.
Do I need to worry, if I remplace my HD 5870 with a 7970 or R9 280x?
 

SpecFoto

macrumors regular
Oct 23, 2013
114
42
SoCal Desert
Let me rephrase it.
Do I need to worry, if I remplace my HD 5870 with a 7970 or R9 280x?

Been running a unflashed 3GB MSI 7950 in my MacPro 5,1 for about 18 months on Mavericks. I borrowed the card from a homebuilt pc that I never used and both connectors are 6 pin. It has worked just fine, and with the addition of a SSD startup drive, the screen is blank for about 10 seconds at startup. Oh, and you cannot use the option key to select the startup drive, other than that it runs just fine.

But I want to sell the pc and so I purchased a used unflashed 3GB 7970 2 weeks ago to replace the 7950. It is a Gigabit card with 3 fans and has a 6 and 8 pin connectors. It would not start up with the standard 6pin connectors in the Mac, so I bought a 6 to 8 pin adapter. It started right up same as the 7950, but have come to find it will not start up if my iphone or iPad is connected via USB. Nor will it wake from sleep, the 7950 would, and now it does not start up right away but sometimes takes 2 starts to be recognized.

Don't know if the issues are just with this particular 7970 card, but I want to get this one flashed, where with the 7950 I did not feel it was necessary. Performance gains are not that great, but 10 to 15% improvement over the 7950 is just that.
 
Last edited:

Baunkjaer

macrumors 6502
Feb 20, 2009
388
53
Copenhagen, Denmark
My new card will be a flashen one, as I run bootcamp from my 120GB V300 SSD.
Hence i occasionally need the boot option.
Better safe, than sorry, so I Might end up with a 7950 or GTX 680/770.
 

12CoreMP

macrumors member
Dec 26, 2015
63
5
Edinburgh, Scotland
I have read this with interest. I have been offered a EVGA GTX680 Classified 4GB from what I know of this card it has two 8 pin connectors. I don't want to buy it if it is not suitable. If it is suitable do I use two 8 - 6pin connectors of just two 6 - 6pin connectors?
 

SteveJobzniak

macrumors 6502
Dec 24, 2015
489
780
I have read this with interest. I have been offered a EVGA GTX680 Classified 4GB from what I know of this card it has two 8 pin connectors. I don't want to buy it if it is not suitable. If it is suitable do I use two 8 - 6pin connectors of just two 6 - 6pin connectors?

2x8 pin = 300 watts
8 pin = 150 watts
2x6 pin = 150 watts (Mac Pro max output)
6 pin = 75 watt


The Mac Pro motherboard has 2x6 pin cables. If you connect the Mac's 75-watt cables to an 8 pin card that pulls 150 watts per cable (common during heavy load) you could get a cozy fire as the motherboard traces/pci cables melt.

If a card has even a single 8 pin connector you must research how much power the card draws from it. MacVidCards is the authority about such info, because PC users have correct 8-pin power supplies and don't have to give a crap about this Mac problem. So you need to research in the Mac community.

Check macvidcards.com's list of cards for sale and consider buying/flashing via him, or at least buying the same model to ensure it will not start a fire in your Mac.

I recommend nVidia's Maxwell series GTX 960 and 970. They both come as cards with dual 6-pins, and they draw half as much electricity as older nVidia cards. But check the card manufacturer, because many of them choose to use a single 8-pin instead. A good (and super silent) brand that has many dual 6-pin models is Gigabyte, but check the spec sheets on their site to be sure, since every model is different, and even different revisions of the same card has sometimes changed it (the site lists all revisions at the top of the page whenever there are multiple versions of a Gigabyte card).

Edit: The people below don't understand that the 6-vs-8-pin difference is that they support different amounts of power. Do not listen to them. It is DANGEROUS to use a PC graphics card with the internal PSU unless you can *guarantee* that it draws no more than 75 watts per cable. Many PC graphics cards draw more than that and will damage your computer (and they may even draw different amounts from their two connectors, like 150 watts from one and 20 from the other!). To find a card that is safe (meaning <= 75 watts per cable), you need to find EXACT card models from specific brands. You can't just say "All GTX960s work" for instance, because cards come in all kinds of power plug setups. The best way to find a safe card (and its model number) is via forums or via MacVidCards (they can tell you what cards are safe by just looking at the list of cards they offer the flashing service for, and seeing their notes that say if the card works with the internal PSU or not!). An example of a safe card is my Gainward GV-N960WF2OC-4GD, but even this card must be the Revision 1.1 (all store stock should be 1.1 by now since they changed it in mid-2015) to have 2x6-pin plugs.
 
Last edited:

pixxelpusher

macrumors member
Aug 1, 2011
92
17
I have read this with interest. I have been offered a EVGA GTX680 Classified 4GB from what I know of this card it has two 8 pin connectors. I don't want to buy it if it is not suitable. If it is suitable do I use two 8 - 6pin connectors of just two 6 - 6pin connectors?

As others have mentioned this card is really power hungry and something like a 970 / 980 would be better.

It is possible though – splitting the power over the 2 existing 6-pins on the motherboard and 2 empty hard drive SATA bays with cables like these:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/EVGA-DUA...ARD-POWER-CABLE-ORIGINAL-Yellow-/321949468810

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Origina...Female-F-Video-Card-Power-Cable-/271508827214

I've been doing something similar with a GTX770 that has a 8-pin on it and haven't had a problem at all, even with heavy gaming.

Splitting each 8-pin evenly over a 6-pin and SATA would even out the load (though the split isn't equal after my own testing):

zwi7he.jpg


I've tried to draw a diagram above to show how to split it, using the 2 6pins on the motherboard and 2 empty HD Sata ports. Even then I'd monitor the power draw like a hawk for a while to see how the card is drawing the power (Hardware Monitor or iStat Menus).
 
Last edited:

666sheep

macrumors 68040
Dec 7, 2009
3,686
292
Poland
I have read this with interest. I have been offered a EVGA GTX680 Classified 4GB from what I know of this card it has two 8 pin connectors. I don't want to buy it if it is not suitable. If it is suitable do I use two 8 - 6pin connectors of just two 6 - 6pin connectors?

If it needs both 8-pin connected use 8->6 pin cables or adapters. No fancy power splitting needed. This card on a factory clocks doesn't exceed 250W at high load. If you won't overclock it – no need to worry.
 

Itconnects

macrumors 6502
Jan 14, 2020
279
28
If it needs both 8-pin connected use 8->6 pin cables or adapters. No fancy power splitting needed. This card on a factory clocks doesn't exceed 250W at high load. If you won't overclock it – no need to worry.

Is the power draw from an EVGA GeForce 680 4gb confirmed. I have the 6+8 pin female. I have the 8pin plugged into the Mac 6pin... but I have an HDX card plugged into the other 6 pin, which leaves the gtx 6pin Open. If the TDP is 175, shouldn’t that be enough to plug the other 6pin to sata? There is no graphic design work goin on with this computer what so ever.
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    455.5 KB · Views: 143

Itconnects

macrumors 6502
Jan 14, 2020
279
28
Plug the hdx to 2x sata and let the 680 where it belongs. You will never know what metal draws in the system.
Plug the hdx to 2x sata and let the 680 where it belongs. You will never know what metal draws in the system.

Yes, I realized that as well. Now the next confusion is the only sata to 6 pin cable around is 15pin sata. How do I plug that into a 22pin sata of the Mac Pro ?
 

Attachments

  • E7766DB2-B3C8-4B05-9CD0-4183C3DD6075.png
    E7766DB2-B3C8-4B05-9CD0-4183C3DD6075.png
    925.4 KB · Views: 150

MIKX

macrumors 68000
Dec 16, 2004
1,815
691
Japan
To answer the OP's question . .

YES, a 6 pin male socket CAN be inserted into a GPU's 8 pin female socket and will work . . .BUT . . MUST be inserted into the RIGHT SIDE of the female socket . . it even delivers an AUDIBLE CLICK when being inserted which leads one to think that 8 pin female GPU sockets were designed with this connectivity in mind.

Indeed, years ago, I tried this with an ASUS GPU in a 2,1 cMP . . . worked !

The above says nothing about how much power is delivered.

This is how I currently power my MSI Armor RX 580 8gb with an EVGA PowerLink - I use X-Plane 11 a lot at extreme settings so I wanted to ensure that the MSI GPU is supplied with enough power, might be overkill but no shutdowns.

Note the LEFT EVGa PowerLink 'power IN' 8 pin socket.

EVGA Powerlink sockets NEW.png



a
[automerge]1583673906[/automerge]
Yes, I realized that as well. Now the next confusion is the only sata to 6 pin cable around is 15pin sata. How do I plug that into a 22pin sata of the Mac Pro ?
As Macschrauber says you have to 'snip off ' one of the SATA locking lugs. Have a look at how the SATA cable plugs into the socket, you'll 'get it'. I put a little white sticker on the cable to show which is " UP " for when I have to re-connect a SATA cable.
Also, whenever I have my cMP's side cover removed, I always check - with a gentle 'finger push' to ensure that these cables are firmly connected.
SATA cable snipped.jpg
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Itconnects
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.