Expansion card length in 2010 MP?

[DanielCoffey]

I am looking at third-party GPU coolers for the 5870 in a 2010 Mac Pro and would appreciate if someone who owns a 2010 case could measure the length between the card backplate and the expansion bay fan/card-lock for me please (my own case won't arrive for a good while yet). I need to know the maximum length a card with coolers can be and still fit in the case without fouling that fan.

Thanks.

 

[peskaa]

The 5870 pretty much fills the PCIe bay, there's a small (3-4cm at the most) extension to the rear of the card that connects with the rear holders. I can get you an exact size when I get home...

Basically a third party cooler has to be the same size as a 5870. No longer.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dustindamour/5203558970/

 

[DanielCoffey]

I appreciate that the 5870 in its stock cooler fits into the holder, but when the stock cooler is removed, some of that space is reclaimed. It would still be useful to know the full available length in the bay (backplate to holder) if you could check for me please.

 

[DanielCoffey]

Peskaa - my apologies for not reading your reply thoroughly the first time. Yes please, when you get back to your beloved Mac Pro, if you could measure the gap I would be most grateful.

Daniel.

 

[Transporteur]

The Mac Pro can take full length cards.
The maximum length of PCI extension cards (which includes PCI-X as well as PCIe) is standardised and it is very unlikely that a manufacturer (card or cooler) will exceed this standard (312mm).

So don't worry about that, the Pro can take them all.

 

[DanielCoffey]

A few reviews of the Arctic Cooler Accelero Xtreme Plus say it comes in at 300-306mm on a reference 5870 so I hope it fits but looks like it will be a squeeze. The review pics I have seen make it look like it overhangs the card by more than we appear to have in the case but I am sure a lot of that is the viewing angle when the shots were taken.

 

[Transporteur]

Keep in mind that the standard Apple cards use a little extension at the back to make them fit into the lock at the end.
Normal cards are in fact shorter.

 

[peskaa]

A stock/reference 5870 is 11" long, which is roughly 275mm - so the cooler you're looking at is 25mm longer than a reference board (and Apple use reference). However, if the slot is 316mm long, you should be okay.

EDIT: 316mm - 275mm = 4.1cm which is pretty much my guess in the original post

As said above, I'll confirm this for you when I get home

 

[goMac]

The Mac Pro meets the PCI Express specifications on the length of full length PCI cards. If the cooler meets those specifications as well, you'll be fine, but Apple doesn't exactly have any extra space beyond that.

 

[peskaa]

Okay, whipped out my tape measure.

5870 is, as expected, 275mm long, although the two exhaust ports add another 2mm to that length. The PCIe bay is 316mm long.

This means you have 3.9cm (including exhaust ports) of additional length over the stock cooler. 300-306mm will therefore fit, but it is going to be tight, with less than 1cm of clearance when mounted - and these things go in diagonally.

 

[DanielCoffey]

Fantastic news, thanks. I appreciate you checking for me.

Now we know it should fit I will certainly order the cooler and necessary accessories once my MP is here in around a week. After I have satisfied myself that the shipped 5870 is settled, I'll swap the cooler over and report here on how tight a fit it actually was.

 

[DanielCoffey]

I have now ordered the cooler and a few other bits from QuietPC and the 5870-specific heatsinks direct from Arctic Cooling (their thermal cement has a short shelf-life so is not stocked by distributors).

The catch is that Arctic Cooling ship from Hong Hong so I will have to wait up to a fortnight for the heatsinks and thermal cement to reach the UK before I can fit the card. This does mean I will be able to make sure my 5870 is happy and settled before I remove it from the stock cooler.

I understand that PC users tend to stress a card with something like FurMark to measure full load temperatures but I hear it is not available for Mac users. What do you recommend I use to test the 5870 under load?