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Gtx580 in a Mac pro?

K

kma259

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 2, 2006
6
0
Hi guys,

I've been searching the threads and can't really get a definitive answer.

Does a normal gtx 580 work in the Mac pro with the nvidia drivers that they recently provided?

Thanks
 
Cindori said:
with aty init.
Click to expand...

This is not true, the GTX 580 will work without ATY_init on 10.7.3 using the drivers posted on NVIDIA's website. That is:

1) Update to 10.7.3 if you haven't already done so.
2) Install the drivers from NVIDIA's website.
3) Plug in the GTX 580.

You won't get the boot screen, but once you get up to the desktop it'll work fine. No need to remove AGPM or anything like that. Since the 580 requires an 8-pin connector, people either use a 6-pin to 8-pin converter or an external power supply. FWIW I've been using the converter cable without issue so far.
 
degl said:
I asked the same to MacVidCards andhe recommend me this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104054
Click to expand...

sweet, thank you very much :)

----------
Asgorath said:
Since the 580 requires an 8-pin connector, people either use a 6-pin to 8-pin converter or an external power supply. FWIW I've been using the converter cable without issue so far.
Click to expand...

Are you saying that if I used a 6-pin to 8-pin converter, I wouldnt need an external power supply to use a 580? Ive been told the 580 uses more power than the mac pro can supply
 
philiph said:
Are you saying that if I used a 6-pin to 8-pin converter, I wouldnt need an external power supply to use a 580? Ive been told the 580 uses more power than the mac pro can supply
Click to expand...

I have one of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130587

Google suggests that the TDP of that card is 243-244W, which is slightly more than the 225W that the PCIe slot + 2 6-pin power cables are rated for. However, the PSU in my Mac Pro 5,1 is up at the 1000W range, and I don't have any other peripherals in the system.

If you want to be really safe, then yeah, the external power supply like the one linked earlier is probably a better choice. However, I've been running with the converter cable and haven't had any issues so far. YMMV. There's definitely more of a chance of harming the system using the converter cable, as opposed to harming the card by driving it from two different PSUs.

My overall recommendation would be to just get a card that fits in the 225W available, such as the GTX 570 that MacVidCards has been talking about. Personally I cannot wait until the GTX 680 starts working, since that will be the perfect card for a Mac Pro (I think I read that the TDP is only 190W or something). Yes, the 580 will be slightly faster than the 570, but the 570 is already so much faster than everything else that it's probably the safer choice overall.

Edit: Google suggests that most 570s have a TDP of 219W, which is perfect.
 
Asgorath said:
I have one of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130587

Google suggests that the TDP of that card is 243-244W, which is slightly more than the 225W that the PCIe slow + 2 6-pin power cables are rated for. However, the PSU in my Mac Pro 5,1 is up at the 1000W range, and I don't have any other peripherals in the system.

If you want to be really safe, then yeah, the external power supply like the one linked earlier is probably a better choice. However, I've been running with the converter cable and haven't had any issues so far. YMMV. There's definitely more of a chance of harming the system using the converter cable, as opposed to harming the card by driving it from two different PSUs.

My overall recommendation would be to just get a card that fits in the 225W available, such as the GTX 570 that MacVidCards has been talking about. Personally I cannot wait until the GTX 680 starts working, since that will be the perfect card for a Mac Pro (I think I read that the TDP is only 190W or something). Yes, the 580 will be slightly faster than the 570, but the 570 is already so much faster than everything else that it's probably the safer choice overall.
Click to expand...

Sweet ok, I understand what you're saying. I think a 570 would most likely be a more simple option for what I need. One thing though, I just contacted somebody on ebay selling the 570 and he said "The 570 will work OOTB but only at PCIe 1x (2.5 GT/s) not PCIe 2x (5.0 GT/s) so it will only connect at half speed". Do you know this to be correct?
 
philiph said:
Sweet ok, I understand what you're saying. I think a 570 would most likely be a more simple option for what I need. One thing though, I just contacted somebody on ebay selling the 570 and he said "The 570 will work OOTB but only at PCIe 1x (2.5 GT/s) not PCIe 2x (5.0 GT/s) so it will only connect at half speed". Do you know this to be correct?
Click to expand...

As I understand it, this is correct, yes. The 570s from MacVidCards with an EFI will connect at full PCIe 2.0 speeds, though I believe he said that he didn't measure any major differences between 2.5 GT/s and 5.0 GT/s. Hopefully this will be resolved for standard PC cards at some point, I guess we'll wait and see.

I've been running the GTX 580 and GTX 560 Ti in my two systems and the performance is great. I wouldn't let the fact that it's only running PCIe 1.0 for now stop you from getting one of these cards.
 
Asgorath said:
As I understand it, this is correct, yes. The 570s from MacVidCards with an EFI will connect at full PCIe 2.0 speeds, though I believe he said that he didn't measure any major differences between 2.5 GT/s and 5.0 GT/s. Hopefully this will be resolved for standard PC cards at some point, I guess we'll wait and see.

I've been running the GTX 580 and GTX 560 Ti in my two systems and the performance is great. I wouldn't let the fact that it's only running PCIe 1.0 for now stop you from getting one of these cards.
Click to expand...

Thats great, thank you so much for your time and knowledge, really appreciate it :)
 
Asgorath said:
My overall recommendation would be to just get a card that fits in the 225W available, such as the GTX 570 that MacVidCards has been talking about.
Click to expand...

Ive decided to go down the 570 road but just have one more question...

I was thinking of keeping my gt120 and using it alongside the 570 so I can still get a boot screen. Would this work? Or would having two different gfx cards cause confliction or have any drawbacks at all?

Could always take the gt120 out and keep it somewhere safe if thats a better option...
 
Asgorath said:
This is not true, the GTX 580 will work without ATY_init on 10.7.3 using the drivers posted on NVIDIA's website. That is:

1) Update to 10.7.3 if you haven't already done so.
2) Install the drivers from NVIDIA's website.
3) Plug in the GTX 580.

You won't get the boot screen, but once you get up to the desktop it'll work fine. No need to remove AGPM or anything like that. Since the 580 requires an 8-pin connector, people either use a 6-pin to 8-pin converter or an external power supply. FWIW I've been using the converter cable without issue so far.
Click to expand...

lol dude. i know.
I also know that the nvidia self-init functionality has come and gone like 4 times already. want to update your OS only to stare at a black screen? no? then:

Cindori said:
with aty init.
Click to expand...
 
philiph said:
Could always take the gt120 out and keep it somewhere safe if thats a better option...
Click to expand...

This is what I did, yeah. Let's say 10.7.4 ships and a new driver gets posted on NVIDIA's website, similar to what happened with 10.7.3. You can just swap the GT 120 in, update the OS and install the new driver package, then swap the other card again. If 10.7.5 includes the support by default, then you're good to go.
 
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