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Confirmed AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Running on Mac Pro
- Thread starter blackwoodfx
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I trusted the earlier poster who swore that there is nothing wrong with just hooking in the 7970 to the Mac Pro and let her go. Yes, it works but when I am loading my graphics card with Aperture or Final Cut, the whole system shuts down cold. I mean immediate black screen, hard reboot. Without warning. Clearly the power draw goes up and the system kicks out on some kind of safety preservation mode. Thank God. Perhaps he has a higher tolerance for some reason but I have three other graphics cards and it doesn't ever do this. So, against the advice of many here, I listened to the experience of one and now I see he is wrong. I will try to figure out what power supply I need to hook up to make this thing work. On top of all that, it never made a lick of difference in any of the Apple Apps I use. FCPX and Aperture mainly.(
Did you use the same type of 7970 as he did? I have been running my MSI 7970 Afterburner since March with no external power supply and it hasn't caused me a single issue (but I don't use FCP).
Been trying to teach myself maya, and just using basic tutorials, while playblasting a simple scene I had the computer stutter and then freeze and restart
This is the problem report sent to Apple
According to this is this issue due to the graphics card and its drivers?
This is the problem report sent to Apple
According to this is this issue due to the graphics card and its drivers?
Yes. Below part is telling that driver has crashed:
Code:
Kernel Extensions in backtrace:
com.apple.AMDRadeonAccelerator(1.0.8)[157EC843-007C-3D62-ABAB-DAE8B2D90AA4]@0xffffff7fa524f000->0xffffff7fa5606fff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOAcceleratorFamily(74.5.1)[B4CBCBA2-CDCB-31DC-BCA2-F8CA6F212801]@0xffffff7fa51f9000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.7.3)[1D668879-BEF8-3C58-ABFE-FAC6B3E9A292]@0xffffff7fa3a46000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(2.3.7)[6C8CFC18-75F0-3DEF-86C7-CEB2C1FD6BB1]@0xffffff7fa40eb000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(2.3.7)[990D1A42-DF16-3AB9-ABC1-6A88AC142244]@0xffffff7fa40a8000K thanks I thought so, I dont use the computer for gaming and the jump in performance in certain applications only seems moderate to me so I will probably return the card and spend the money elsewhere, maybe a hackintosh to use as a render node.
Fascinating thread. In seven pages there are two actual reports of 7970s causing systems to spontaneously shut down. Of the two persons reporting these problems, one of them is selling 7970s on ebay. Wow.
So we have anectodal reports of cards working fine and two reports of failure among a fairly small sample size. We also have data from Techpowerup who directly measured 7970 power usage at a maximum of 270W which is within 5% of other video cards having power requirements known to fry Mac Pros (see the 6970 right next to the 7970 on Techpowerup's Furmark graph?)
Based on the user who directly measured temperatures of the 6-pin connectors, it appears they are not the current limiting point. The PSU has plenty of capcity. So we're left with the weak point being the most expensive component: the logic board traces. Contrary to some claims, we do not know the specs for those traces, because Apple and HP do NOT use the same logic boards. Unless someone can point to an HP LB using the mini 6-pin connectors, we should assume that if Apple designed an LB with custom connectors, they also specified the traces for those connectors.
One can reasonably conclude that the 7970's power requirements are right on the edge of what can safely be supplied by a Mac Pro. Why gamble on this card when one can buy a 228W max GTX 680 offering similar if not superior performance?
So we have anectodal reports of cards working fine and two reports of failure among a fairly small sample size. We also have data from Techpowerup who directly measured 7970 power usage at a maximum of 270W which is within 5% of other video cards having power requirements known to fry Mac Pros (see the 6970 right next to the 7970 on Techpowerup's Furmark graph?)
Based on the user who directly measured temperatures of the 6-pin connectors, it appears they are not the current limiting point. The PSU has plenty of capcity. So we're left with the weak point being the most expensive component: the logic board traces. Contrary to some claims, we do not know the specs for those traces, because Apple and HP do NOT use the same logic boards. Unless someone can point to an HP LB using the mini 6-pin connectors, we should assume that if Apple designed an LB with custom connectors, they also specified the traces for those connectors.
One can reasonably conclude that the 7970's power requirements are right on the edge of what can safely be supplied by a Mac Pro. Why gamble on this card when one can buy a 228W max GTX 680 offering similar if not superior performance?
^^^ Fan Bois? I don't know. OpenCL compute power would be one reason. Gaming doesn't make a whole lot of sense but you could always use a 3rd party PSU to power the card as some do for cards that fry Mac Pro PSU.
Yeah it's no problem with a second PSU. But many are dropping these in their multi-thousand dollar Mac Pros without one.
Far be it for me to argue with someone who uses 7970s for studio production, but for more casual users who aren't making money with their Mac Pros, this thread could cost them. Big time.
Far be it for me to argue with someone who uses 7970s for studio production, but for more casual users who aren't making money with their Mac Pros, this thread could cost them. Big time.
I'm a casual user. Internet and video games in Windows.
I felt that there is no substitute for power. You can never have enough of that.
If I install the stand alone PSU and the PSU is just for the video card then I should not have any problems when I ever I do anything video related. Just my thoughts. If I burn up my system then its my fault and I paid the price for playing.
To this point it has not. I bought it the video card because I wanted to.
I felt that there is no substitute for power. You can never have enough of that.
If I install the stand alone PSU and the PSU is just for the video card then I should not have any problems when I ever I do anything video related. Just my thoughts. If I burn up my system then its my fault and I paid the price for playing.
To this point it has not. I bought it the video card because I wanted to.
What 6 pin to 8 pin adapter do you use? Are all the same?
Should i use a 6 pin to 8 pin cable and just replace the cables that came with the computer?
Should i use a 6 pin to 8 pin cable and just replace the cables that came with the computer?
I had been looking for an upgrade for my 5,1 for a while now (mostly just for gaming). I suppose it could be a little risky, but I took the plunge and went with the 7970 with the 8 pin adapter cable.
If something fries because of a power overload I promise to report it here. In the meantime, what an amazing upgrade.
If something fries because of a power overload I promise to report it here. In the meantime, what an amazing upgrade.
I haven't read through this whole thread. Forgive me if it's been mentioned before. IMO 20$ and some time is a small price to pay for not ruining a mac pro.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817206001
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817206001
Try to flash it with EFI rom then run Luxmark 2.0 to see if it shows up 6GB.
I have run Quadro 6000 6GB card on Mac Pro and it only showed up 2048MB.
On Luxmark, it shows up 6GB.
On OpenGLviewer , it shows up about 4GB.
On CUDA-Z, it shows up 4GB.
Suggest to flash the card to see if it can shows up 4GB in Mac Pro.
My Quadro 6000 is flashed with EFI rom.
Attachments
Wow, that is cheap. If anyone who has one of these could answer basic questions, I would appreciate it.
Since the Mac Pro has room for two optical drives, would something like this fit into "one" of the optical drive slots, allowing me to keep my DVDRW drive, or does it need both slots?
How do you get the AC power cord out of the back of the Mac Pro case?
Since the Mac Pro has room for two optical drives, would something like this fit into "one" of the optical drive slots, allowing me to keep my DVDRW drive, or does it need both slots?
How do you get the AC power cord out of the back of the Mac Pro case?
You can keep 1 optical drive.
Drill baby drill!
there's a "how I did it" thread around here somewhere.
A bit scary, but when the available GPU upgrades require it I may try it.
Thank you.
Check out Dr. Stealths build. If you can soldier it's clean as can be.
Hi everyone, It's sad to read about new hardware and do not have it.
So can I buy something like PCI-E 3.0 ASUS HD7750-DCSL-1GD5 and put inside my Mac Pro early 2008 (and throw out radeon hd2600 that I have now).
I use Snow Leopard but can purchase Mountain Lion if needed. Thanks.
So can I buy something like PCI-E 3.0 ASUS HD7750-DCSL-1GD5 and put inside my Mac Pro early 2008 (and throw out radeon hd2600 that I have now).
I use Snow Leopard but can purchase Mountain Lion if needed. Thanks.
Is this card safe to have it for a Mac Pro 5.1? I currently have the 5770 and i want to upgrade. Mainly for gaming purposes and few video editing (basic stuff). Also, photoshop use. The price range of this card is quite tempting right now and i am considering to buy one (flashed of course).
What is your opinion?
Will this card be fine with a 2560x1440 resolution or i need a more powerfull one?
Thank you
What is your opinion?
Will this card be fine with a 2560x1440 resolution or i need a more powerfull one?
Thank you
Is this card safe to have it for a Mac Pro 5.1? I currently have the 5770 and i want to upgrade. Mainly for gaming purposes and few video editing (basic stuff). Also, photoshop use. The price range of this card is quite tempting right now and i am considering to buy one (flashed of course).
What is your opinion?
Will this card be fine with a 2560x1440 resolution or i need a more powerfull one?
Thank you
I am running it at 2560x1440 with no issues in a 5.1.
I trusted the earlier poster who swore that there is nothing wrong with just hooking in the 7970 to the Mac Pro and let her go. Yes, it works but when I am loading my graphics card with Aperture or Final Cut, the whole system shuts down cold. I mean immediate black screen, hard reboot. Without warning. Clearly the power draw goes up and the system kicks out on some kind of safety preservation mode. Thank God. Perhaps he has a higher tolerance for some reason but I have three other graphics cards and it doesn't ever do this. So, against the advice of many here, I listened to the experience of one and now I see he is wrong. I will try to figure out what power supply I need to hook up to make this thing work. On top of all that, it never made a lick of difference in any of the Apple Apps I use. FCPX and Aperture mainly.
I had very much the same problems.
I have a 3.1 with 7970 (from macvidcards)
As soon as I started some application that used the card more heavily (like luxmark). It worked for a short period then suddenly I got a black screen and had to restart. Hardware monitor indicated it happened when "PCI Slot 2 12V" reached about 120 W (is that actually the PCI 1 slot where the card sits?).
I solved it by resetting PRAM.
After that it has not crashed. After that hardware monitor have once showed 128W on the same sensor when I really taxed the card, but otherwise the power readings seem to be a few watts lower than before the pram reset.
Does anyone know if I am above the safe territory?
I have the following in my PCIe slots, in order, 7970, Areca1882, Caldigit USB3 and Sonnet EP4.
Hardware monitor now show the following max values during luxmark load compared to some more typical values (Hardware monitor certainly have mixed up the labels):
PCI Slot 1 12V boost Line: 35W (27W)
PCI Slot 2 12V boost Line: 24W (23W)
PCI Slot 1 12V Line: 57W (17W)
PCI Slot 2 12V Line: 119W (15W)
PCI Slot 3 12V Line: 3W (3W)
PCI Slot 4 12V Line: 0.3W (0.3W)
Power Supply 1 Line 1: 477W (280W)
The card certainly does a difference compared to my old 5770.
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The labels are mixed up, so I don't know what's what. However, the spec is:
75W from the PCIe slot
75W each from the two 6-pin cables
The total is therefore 225W, and the max for any individual source is 75W.
That is the spec. Surely there is a lot of headroom for safety, so I don't know where actual dangerous territory starts.
Thanks!
Anyhow, according to Hardware Monitor, the load seem not particular well spread out among the three available power lines.
Without being sure which line is which, at least the load seem to be distributed 118+57+37W during load, and 15+17+27W during normal use.
So I am a bit concerned about the >100W part under load.
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