Confirmed AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Running on Mac Pro

[ActionableMango]

Anyhow, according to Hardware Monitor, the load seem not particular well spread out among the three available power lines.

So I am a bit concerned about the >100W part under load.

I had exactly this concern too:

Wouldn't a 6-pin and 8-pin pull unevenly though? I feel like all the extra wattage over 225 is being pulled from the 8-pin connector, not evenly between the two.

The connectors on the card are rated for:
75W Slot
75W 6-pin
150W 8-pin

Therefore, the card is literally designed to pull from the power sources in an uneven manner.

Earlier in the thread there is an assumption that the extra wattage needed beyond the 225W rated total is spread evenly over the three power sources, which would perhaps stay under the margin of safety. But Hardware Monitor seems to show that the burden of the extra wattage appears to be pulled completely from one connector (probably the 6-pin that's connected to the 8-pin, because that connector on the card is rated for 150W).

 

[Varmann]

I had exactly this concern too:


The connectors on the card are rated for:
75W Slot
75W 6-pin
150W 8-pin

Therefore, the card is literally designed to pull from the power sources in an uneven manner.

Earlier in the thread there is an assumption that the extra wattage needed beyond the 225W rated total is spread evenly over the three power sources, which would perhaps stay under the margin of safety. But Hardware Monitor seems to show that the burden of the extra wattage appears to be pulled completely from one connector (probably the 6-pin that's connected to the 8-pin, because that connector on the card is rated for 150W).

If I do an assumption about the right label configuration in Hardware monitor it comes out like this during my tests ("max" being the highest reading I have seen on that particular line during my all tests) :

PCI Slot 1 12V Line: Normal 27W, Luxmark 35W, Max 38W
6 pin cable: Normal 17W, Luxmark 57W, Max 63W
8-pin cable: Normal 15W, Luxmark 119W, Max 128W

From that it seems like you said that the card is designed to draw the power uneven during load. Only have a marginal increase in the PCIe slot, and draw most additonally power from the power cables in an approximate 2:1 ratio.

I have measured a total draw from the card at about 229 W. The standard edition maxdraw of about 275W, could then be assumed distributed as

PCI Slot 1 12V Line: 50W
6 pin cable: 75 W
8-pin cable: 150 W

With the two cables reaching their respectively max ratings way before the PCI slot. So a 6to8-pin cable may strain a 75 W rated power source.

I have made some assumptions about the labels in Hardware monitor, but it seems logical, from a design point of view, to draw most of the power under load from the extra cables.

 

[pastrychef]

I had exactly this concern too:


The connectors on the card are rated for:
75W Slot
75W 6-pin
150W 8-pin

Therefore, the card is literally designed to pull from the power sources in an uneven manner.

Earlier in the thread there is an assumption that the extra wattage needed beyond the 225W rated total is spread evenly over the three power sources, which would perhaps stay under the margin of safety. But Hardware Monitor seems to show that the burden of the extra wattage appears to be pulled completely from one connector (probably the 6-pin that's connected to the 8-pin, because that connector on the card is rated for 150W).

This makes absolutely perfect sense to me and is the reason I have shied away from from video cards that have 8-pin PCI-e connectors. While many have managed to use video cards that contain 8-pin PCI-e connectors, I'm convinced that they are definitely not designed to be run that way. I always feared that, if I did, I would find that the traces on my Mac Pro's main logic board simply don't have as high a tolerance as others' and could eventually fry.

A possible workaround would be to connect the 8-pin PCI-e power cable to both the main logic board's connectors and connect the 6-pin PCI-e power cable to the two SATA power cables from the optical bays. I think this would be far safer than only relying on the two main logic board connectors and using a 6-pin to 8-pin connector.

Personally, if/when I ever decide to transition to a video card with 8-pin PCI-e connectors, I would definitely use it in conjunction with one of the auxiliary power supplies designed for optical bays.

Thanks for sharing your findings regarding power draw.

 

[mattvs]

Well, I installed the Sapphire HD 7970 Vapor-X GHz Edition Card. BAM works like a champ.

Black screen when booting up. Video present at desktop when the machine finishing booting up.

Hey K15 have you been able to get this card to run in 10.9 Mavericks?

 

[100Daily]

This makes absolutely perfect sense to me and is the reason I have shied away from from video cards that have 8-pin PCI-e connectors. While many have managed to use video cards that contain 8-pin PCI-e connectors, I'm convinced that they are definitely not designed to be run that way. I always feared that, if I did, I would find that the traces on my Mac Pro's main logic board simply don't have as high a tolerance as others' and could eventually fry.

A possible workaround would be to connect the 8-pin PCI-e power cable to both the main logic board's connectors and connect the 6-pin PCI-e power cable to the two SATA power cables from the optical bays. I think this would be far safer than only relying on the two main logic board connectors and using a 6-pin to 8-pin connector.

Personally, if/when I ever decide to transition to a video card with 8-pin PCI-e connectors, I would definitely use it in conjunction with one of the auxiliary power supplies designed for optical bays.

Thanks for sharing your findings regarding power draw.

My MSI 7970 has worked just fine with an 8 pin adaptor and no external power supply for over the past year. Not one single issue. I have stress tested it many times. People have a right to be paranoid with an expensive machine, but I think people are over thinking the issue. As many at this point have shared IT WORKS FINE.

I doubt all of the personal experiences shared here will sway certain ultra careful people. Especially knowing Mac users... VERY timid. It's just a PC, not some magical device because it's a Mac. MSI includes an 8 to 6 pin adaptor with the card. It's common in the industry.

This message brought to you by an Apple Certified Technician.

 

[pastrychef]

My MSI 7970 has worked just fine with an 8 pin adaptor and no external power supply for over the past year. Not one single issue. I have stress tested it many times. People have a right to be paranoid with an expensive machine, but I think people are over thinking the issue. As many at this point have shared IT WORKS FINE.

I doubt all of the personal experiences shared here will sway certain ultra careful people. Especially knowing Mac users... VERY timid. It's just a PC, not some magical device because it's a Mac. MSI includes an 8 to 6 pin adaptor with the card. It's common in the industry.

This message brought to you by an Apple Certified Technician.

Your disregard for TDP requirements and the PCI-e 6 pin and 8 pin standards are reckless and irresponsible especially for an Apple Certified Tech. It is clear that the 8 pin standard is meant to provide up to 150W and 6 pin standard is meant to provide up to 75W. Can it work? Sure. Should we be doing it? No.

If you find the 6 pins so extremely adequate at providing enough juice to 8 pin connectors, why not try using a Radeon 7990 or an Nvidia Titan and over volt them?

You speak of personal experiences shared here, have you read of the shutdowns caused by some of the video cards with an 8 pin connector? I know a few quite daring Mac users. Perhaps your magical Mac Pro can provide up to 300W of power to a video card, mine can't.

Video card vendors who include 6 pin to 8 pin connectors intended them to be use with some older power supplies found in PCs which have cables connectors coming from them. Those cables are typically about 18 gauge which won't burn under from 150W. Can the same be said for the traces on a Mac Pro's logic board?

Don't toss that Apple Certified Tech thing at me, I'm not impressed.

 

[pastrychef]

Look at the image. Can it work? Sure. Do many people do it? Yes. Should it be done? No.

 

[100Daily]

Confirmed AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Running on Mac Pro

You guys are funny. I already did a complete writeup on the power usage, tested actual real world power draw, temps, etc. you can search my past posts and find it. I can't speak to every 7970 but my MSI is thoroughly tested on a 2010 Mac Pro over a long period of time. Believe whatever you want. Cheers!

 

[undergroundcub]

Hi all, I have just got an HIS 7970 reference and put it in my Mac Pro 5,1, I am using the standard Apple power cables (both mini 6 pin to 6 pin) the machine will boot but no display, used a GT120 to power screen and the 7970 is not in sys profiler at all, is the card not being powered enough to actually work perhaps? I thought it would just drop in as other PC cards have worked, any thoughts?

 

[RoastingPig]

Has anyone used a 280x or 270x. I wonder of you have the mess with the pcb to get 2.0

 

[MacVidCards]

Hi all, I have just got an HIS 7970 reference and put it in my Mac Pro 5,1, I am using the standard Apple power cables (both mini 6 pin to 6 pin) the machine will boot but no display, used a GT120 to power screen and the 7970 is not in sys profiler at all, is the card not being powered enough to actually work perhaps? I thought it would just drop in as other PC cards have worked, any thoughts?

Many cards with 8 pin plugs use "sense pins"

The 2 pins that aren't powered signal the card to not start.

You need to get grounds to those last 2 pins to have card work.

 

[K15]

Hey K15 have you been able to get this card to run in 10.9 Mavericks?

Yes,

Apologies for the late reply. Installed Maverick and just rebooted the machine.

 

[1nfr4r3d]

hi K15, how do you find the fans? Noisy or ok? Just got one myself and sitting here idling it is noticeably louder than previous HD7950 and HD5770.

Just wondered if this was "normal" or am i sitting on a dud?

 

[K15]

I find the fan noise to be ok at idle. When running in Maverick it seems to be ok.

When comparing to the HD5770s that came with the machine the HD7970 is a bit noisier.


When I boot into Windows and play COD Ghost the card can get very noisy.

 

[blackwoodfx]

Surprised to see this thread still going. And YES, this particular machine is still running that card in the same configuration as originally posted. It's gone through hundreds of hours of renders and workflow between my original post and today.

Thanks(?) to some of the people that posted here preventing other folks from running perfectly capable cards in their machines. I hope you're proud of your due diligence. Fact remains, this machine is kicking alive and very well.

We are also running 2012 Mac Pro configurations at even higher loads with more cards in other configurations (including Titan and RED Rocket-X configurations). If you'd like data on those, here's the score:
http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?108706-Dragon-impressions

Not going to share the rest of the results here. But for the integrity of this thread: Machine alive. Never failed. No crashes or lockups. Migrated from Mountain Lion to Mavericks without a problem. Same card, high loads (5K video rendering) plus more.

 

[100Daily]

Surprised to see this thread still going. And YES, this particular machine is still running that card in the same configuration as originally posted. It's gone through hundreds of hours of renders and workflow between my original post and today.

Thanks(?) to some of the people that posted here preventing other folks from running perfectly capable cards in their machines. I hope you're proud of your due diligence. Fact remains, this machine is kicking alive and very well.

We are also running 2012 Mac Pro configurations at even higher loads with more cards in other configurations (including Titan and RED Rocket-X configurations). If you'd like data on those, here's the score:
http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?108706-Dragon-impressions

Not going to share the rest of the results here. But for the integrity of this thread: Machine alive. Never failed. No crashes or lockups. Migrated from Mountain Lion to Mavericks without a problem. Same card, high loads (5K video rendering) plus more.

+1 - Same here on my similar 7970 setup, it has been 100% reliable as well. Not a single problem, it doesn't even get that hot.

 

[Frixo Cool]

7970 in Mac Pro 2,1

First of all many thanks to Revelstudios for the inspiration and all the info!

I'm writing this on my Mac Pro 2,1 (2007) with OS X 10.9 installed using Tiamo's Boot EFI patch (what a great hack, no need for Chameleon!) and with Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X OC Edition (3GB VRAM). No boot screen of course, but it works and recognize 3GB VRAM. I have tested the card on extreme setting in games and with some OpenGL and OpenCL tests. No problems, no shutdowns due to insufficient power and the card itself is very silent.

About the power lines debate: Revelstudio is right, the thing works with just the internal power supply. There was no 6 to 8-pin converter in my box and it's hard to find it our local stores, so I soldered one myself. Using just 2 x 6-pin does not work, the fans starts but there is no video. When you connect the right side connector with 8-pin (only 2 more grounds that signal the card that it can draw more power from the line) the whole magic starts. It's interesting that it does not work if you connect 8-pin to the left connector and 6-pin to the right one.

I used Bresink's Hardware Monitor to check voltages, power usage and temperatures. The facts are as follows:

PCIe Slot 1 12V Boost Line has dropped(!) from 2.60A and 31W to 1.61A and 19.2W (compared to Radeon HD 5870 I used before), PCIe Slot 1 12V Line has increased from 0.77A and 9.2W to 0.84A and 9.9W. PCI Slot 2 has almost doubled from 7.6W to 12.1W. All other values are roughly the same. When the card is stressed PCIe Slot 1 12V Boost Line increases to 1.93A and 23W, still lower than Radeon 5870. Strange. The whole Power Supply 1 Line 1 is also lower(!) with 7970 than with 5870: 215.3W compared to 214.9W.

As far as I know I am the first one who got 7970 working on 10.9 on old 2,1 machine. It's reasonable to conclude that it will work on 1,1 also.

Good luck!

 

[FireArse]

Image

I'm writing this on my Mac Pro 2,1 (2007) with OS X 10.9 installed using Tiamo's Boot EFI patch (what a great hack, no need for Chameleon!) and with Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X OC Edition (3GB VRAM).

About the power lines debate: Revelstudio is right, the thing works with just the internal power supply. There was no 6 to 8-pin converter in my box and it's hard to find it our local stores, so I soldered one myself. Using just 2 x 6-pin does not work, the fans starts but there is no video. When you connect the right side connector with 8-pin (only 2 more grounds that signal the card that it can draw more power from the line) the whole magic starts. It's interesting that it does not work if you connect 8-pin to the left connector and 6-pin to the right one.

I used Bresink's Hardware Monitor to check voltages, power usage and temperatures. The facts are as follows:

PCIe Slot 1 12V Boost Line has dropped(!) from 2.60A and 31W to 1.61A and 19.2W (compared to Radeon HD 5870 I used before).

As far as I know I am the first one who got 7970 working on 10.9 on old 2,1 machine. It's reasonable to conclude that it will work on 1,1 also.

Good luck!

Can I ask, was that 5870 an original Apple card, and what are you doing with it? I have a flashed Mac Pro 1,1 -> 2,1 and am also running Tiamo's EFI. Could do with a beefier card, but not willing to spend £300 on it..

FireArse

 

[Frixo Cool]

Can I ask, was that 5870 an original Apple card, and what are you doing with it? I have a flashed Mac Pro 1,1 -> 2,1 and am also running Tiamo's EFI. Could do with a beefier card, but not willing to spend £300 on it..

FireArse

Sorry for late response! The 5870 was the original Apple card. I am using the cards for our interactive 3D technology called Hyperviz (http://www.hyperviz.com). Also, I love games in my spare time, so it's double win!

 

[skyline r34]

just installed the AMD 7970

Pick up AMD 7970 this week

 

[thefredelement]

I got one of these a few weeks ago from MacVidCards and it's been awesome. I've been playing some Diablo 3 lately and it's nice to crank all the settings up, it's smooth and plays great.

I was a little nervous about the power stuff but so far so good. I'm not sure how power supplies work and if each rail is limited to a certain max wattage, but whatever the case may be so far so good.

I'm less nervous about the conductor on the logic board, it's probably insulated better than the conductor in the insulator on the plug going from the board to the card itself.

 

[cinealta]

So just to confirm before installing, there is no concern about burning out traces on the logic board? Everything is fine for long-term use (years), ie equally as safe as stock 5770 card? Thx.

 

[K15]

There are a number of folks that are running the 7970 with out any problems. I think they are 3GB cards for the most part.

I went with a 6GB card and felt personally that you can not have enough power, not video power. Power from a power supply, I played it safe and used a 450 watt external power source to power my card. I felt better knowing that there was more than enough power as to not burn out traces on the logic board. This is just me.

They may be a bit of discussion over this.

I use mine more for gaming in windows Call of Duty, Battlefield, Crysis

 

[jasonsansone]

Has anyone used a 280x or 270x. I wonder of you have the mess with the pcb to get 2.0

I have a 270X flashed for boot screens. It only works on MDP, no HDMI or DVI ports output. Runs at 2.5 GT/s.

 

[sirmacalots]

2x7970's?

So in theory, would one be able to hook up a external power supply, say 1000w, and run the cables to power two of these on a mac pro?