Coolest running Vid card for 08 MP?

[xgman]

For an 2008 Mac Pro, what choices would make a noticeable difference in how much heat it puts out through the rear exhaust fan from the GT285 that is in there now? I also have a 2010 MP with a 7870 ATI card and it runs about 1000% cooler. Or, is there something else going on with the 2008 that is heating up my house? I don't get what is so darn hot in the 08.

 

[CaptainChunk]

The GTX 285 is a pretty hot-running card. The fully-buffered RAM in 2006-08 Mac Pros also runs quite a bit hotter than the unbuffered RAM used by 2009-10 Mac Pros. But I'd say it's mostly the graphics card.

If you're that worried about the level of heat exhaust and want to retain similar performance, you could swap the card out for an ATI card (5770/5870/6870 to name a few), but you'd no longer have CUDA support (assuming you actually need it).

About the coolest running card that will work in a 2008 Mac Pro is a GT 120, but the performance is abysmal in comparison to what you already have.

 

[xgman]

I have noticed the ram compartment does produce more heat than the newer ones. What a hot box this is. I assume the 5770 is Lion bootable?

 

[CaptainChunk]

I have noticed the ram compartment does produce more heat than the newer ones. What a hot box this is. I assume the 5770 is Lion bootable?

Yes. A 5770 will boot in Lion. Official cards will give you the boot logo and 3rd-party (PC models) will not (but will still boot to desktop).