Looking for recommendations for graphics card

[orph]

Hi I do photography and some light video work with my macpro 3.1 with CS6, I use a nvidia GTX 660 from EVGA and it works fine. (Im on osx10.10.5 at the mo if that helps)

It's just an off the shelf PC card no flashing or anything. The only draw back is lack of boot screen but that makes no real difference in any way.
(when you have no bootscreen you cant do things like hold alt and chose a boot disc on start up but you can still do safe boots or recovery boots without any problems, if you need to switch boot disc chose the boot disc in system preferences then reboot)

with a change to a text file you can activate CUDA with adobe apps (CUDA dose less than you want 99% of the time & i dont think any of the app's you use use CUDA)
https://creatorup.com/enable-premie...eration-cuda-imac-macbook-geforce-video-card/

you can get the CUDA driver from nvidia's site
http://www.nvidia.com/object/mac-driver-archive.html
and to get the nvidia drivers go to the nvidia site and chose Getforce 600 series, product GTX680, then your version of OSX (chose the 680 as that gets you to the osx driver's even if your card is not a 680)
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

for the gtx660 you just need 1 power cable like this one (im in the uk)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-pci-e-video-922-7128-922-8446/dp/B002NPZSQ6/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1458445789&sr=8-3-fkmr0&keywords=apple+graphics+card+power+cab;e

if you do get a newer card check it dose not need more than two 6 pin power cable things.

if you are just using just Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Dreamweaver you dont need a fast card like a gtx680 but there fairly cheep now so i half think why not & i dont think you need to flash the GTX680 you just can (is that correct?)

(are the gtx760 or gtx960 just plug and play like the GTX660?)

One thing you want to do is install your new card in the second slot from the bottom not the bottom slot in the mac pro because it can overheat & I installed my GTX660 in the bottom slot and now cant pull it out as it's hard to reach the plastic latch holding it in which is a pain. (i dont overheat but might be a problem with hotter cards like the GTX680)

& do keep you old card as a backup just in case you ever have a problem.

are there any newer ATI cards which are simple plug and play? (i dont know as much about the ATI cards)

PS your mac pro 3.1 will keep working as long as the 4.1 & 5.1 keep working even the 1.1 & 2.1 work with new versions of osx if you put in a new graphics card and do a work around

PPS the bigger cards can make more nose

edit
just noticed your on 10.11.3 if you use a PC card then you may want to turn of auto update for osx as sometimes the graphic card drivers can lag behind the osx updates by a bit (is that still correct?)

 

[nigelbb]

It's more fun to flash it yourself for free than pay over $100 to have MacVidCards flash it for you.
[doublepost=1458450502][/doublepost]That's not good advice about putting your graphics card in slot 2 as you then lose slot 3. Slot 1 is designed with extra space to slot 2 for double width graphics cards. There is no reason for them to overheat in the slot that Apple designed for use by double width graphics cards.

 

[Machines]

It's more fun to flash it yourself for free than pay over $100 to have MacVidCards flash it for you.
[doublepost=1458450502][/doublepost]That's not good advice about putting your graphics card in slot 2 as you then lose slot 3. Slot 1 is designed with extra space to slot 2 for double width graphics cards. There is no reason for them to overheat in the slot that Apple designed for use by double width graphics cards.

It's a quirk of the Mac Pro 3,1 (2008)'s SMC that sometimes a video card will work best in PCIe slot 2 , because when a card is installed in slot 1 it might force the Mac's PCI case fan to spin abnormally fast until it is placed at load . Placing the video card at load forces SMC to reset itself and lower the rotationals of that case fan . Short answer - it reduces noise .

 

[h9826790]

It's a quirk of the Mac Pro 3,1 (2008)'s SMC that sometimes a video card will work best in PCIe slot 2 , because when a card is installed in slot 1 it might force the Mac's PCI case fan to spin abnormally fast until it is placed at load . Placing the video card at load forces SMC to reset itself and lower the rotationals of that case fan . Short answer - it reduces noise .

Isn't that the 4,1's SMC bug, but not 3,1?

 

[Machines]

Isn't that the 4,1's SMC bug, but not 3,1?

I don't believe so . I have upgraded a lot of 4,1 and 5,1 cMPs . I have not experienced any issues installing modern high end non-EFI graphics cards in PCIe slot 1 with these models . SMC will detect that there are cards accessing booster power (the mini 6 pin motherboard connectors ) and rev up the rotationals of the PCI case fan . But nothing too noisy . I think it is around 1100 RPM . The next time I do such a Build, I'll report the factory SMC fan speeds . Of course, with my higher end Builds , I use Macs Fan Control to keep the System cool under load and I'll adjust all the case fans as needed , some as high as 1700 RPM constant . Goal is to keep the rig cool enough under load to render continuously or semi-continuously for 2-3 years after remanufacturing .

 

[orph]

mac video cards did a post about high end cards not working in slot 1 due to heat problems in this forum

blocking PCI slots is only a problem if you have lot's of PCI cards & most people only have one GPU so it's not relay a thing for most people.

the 4.1/5.1 have a different airflow system with ram that's not as hot, my ram heats up and is right bellow the GPU 1 slot so it can get toasty.

 

[Machines]

mac video cards did a post about high end cards not working in slot 1 due to heat problems in this forum

blocking PCI slots is only a problem if you have lot's of PCI cards & most people only have one GPU so it's not relay a thing for most people.

the 4.1/5.1 have a different airflow system with ram that's not as hot, my ram heats up and is right bellow the GPU 1 slot so it can get toasty.

You may have something here . The memory for the Mac Pro 3,1 is much , much hotter than the 4,1 and 5,1 models , In the MP 3,1 , maybe the heat from the memory modules is rising into the PCI card air channel zone and artificially raising the temperature of the thermal sensors of the PCIe slots . That'd trigger a response from SMC and spin up the PCI case fan . Maybe a big , fat video card in slot 1 would help to retain that excess heat, too . Makes a lot of sense , now . This event would not happen in the Mac Pro 4,1 and 5,1 models since the memory modules in those models is much cooler and would likely be removed by the exhaust fan (lower air channel) .

 

[h9826790]

You may have something here . The memory for the Mac Pro 3,1 is much , much hotter than the 4,1 and 5,1 models , In the MP 3,1 , maybe the heat from the memory modules is rising into the PCI card air channel zone and artificially raising the temperature of the thermal sensors of the PCIe slots . That'd trigger a response from SMC and spin up the PCI case fan . Maybe a big , fat video card in slot 1 would help to retain that excess heat, too . Makes a lot of sense , now . This event would not happen in the Mac Pro 4,1 and 5,1 models since the memory modules in those models is much cooler and would likely be removed by the exhaust fan (lower air channel) .

But stress the GPU won't fix the RAM temperature right? That's why I said the "stress GPU" thing is the 4,1 issue, not the 3,1's problem.

There are few reports here, including my 4,1 experienced this high PCIe fan idle, the work around is stress the GPU (or use MacsFanControl to overide the fan profile etc).

 

[orph]

ah sorry i must have misunderstood what you meant, the problem i think with the mac pro 1.1/2.1/3.1 is that a gpu in slot one can overheat under stress. I think this causes the gpu to slow down/lockups or a hard shutdown of the mac pro if it gets relay bad but this might only effect people stressing the computer with say rendering or games.
there is a post somewhere here about the problem, but like i mentioned my gtx660 is in the bottom slot and works fine the only problem i have is i cant reach the latch to pull it out :S but cards like the GTX570/GTX680 where mentioned as having problems i think

this is getting of topic tho

I still vote for something like a GTX660 for almost trouble free instillation & cheep (unless you relay need a GPU for AE work then you may want something faster). I think the GTX760 are almost as easy to install but you need to run the nvidia driver ?

 

[Machines]

But stress the GPU won't fix the RAM temperature right? That's why I said the "stress GPU" thing is the 4,1 issue, not the 3,1's problem.

There are few reports here, including my 4,1 experienced this high PCIe fan idle, the work around is stress the GPU (or use MacsFanControl to overide the fan profile etc).

What are the RPMs of the PCI fan in a cMP 4,1 , when you experience unnecessarily high rotationals at idle ?

 

[h9826790]

Around 1600RPM.

It will stays at there until GPU being stressed.

 

[Machines]

Around 1600RPM.

It will stays at there until GPU being stressed.

That's too high for an idle speed , although not dangerous for fan longevity . It's a bit audible though .

You might be interested to know that in my most powerful Builds - fully decked out cMPs - when everything is working right the case fan rotationals do not exceed a constant 1700 RPM . And that would be a properly cooled cMP at full System load for hours (all CPU cores at load , a big memory kit fully used and two high end GPUs also at load .) The Mac emits a soft hum , like an industrial transformer . Worse case situation is 2000 RPMs with the CPU booster fans . But this is a cMP that is capable of rendering continuously , safely and without throttling . And I'm able to do this because I rethermal paste all of the chips in the Mac and remove all of the dust, too. Maintenance is rewarded with these rigs .

 

[ActionableMango]

There is an existing thread about the slot 1 fan speed issue here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-970-980-ti-cause-expansion-fan-revs.1908705/

There are many other complaints as well. IIRC, the vast majority seem to be from 4,1 users but there were a couple of 5,1 users as well.

We never could find a pattern that explained why some computers were affected and others not.

 

[lexR]

I personally am running a GTX 980 Ti SC, a while back i installed an additional PSU in the optical drive bay as i was running an original Titan Card... massively power hungry, because i have the SC edt, i did not want to risk overloading the system so I'm running it from the additional PSU. There are reports of the 980 running on internal power but i cannot verify this. I have an original GTX120 for boot screens. Great performance, running 4K with no issues and the Samsung U590D.

 

[ActionableMango]

There are reports of the 980 running on internal power but i cannot verify this.

AFAIK, everyone with a 980 runs it on internal power. It has two 6-pin power connectors, which is fine in a Mac Pro.

 

[BenClement1978]

Running mine on the internal PSU also..

 

[ifraaank]

I can recommend the NVIDIA GTX 980Ti. Great card. I'm running it straight off the two mini-6-pin on the mobo. Might be a little risky, but works perfectly. I've even stress tested it as much as possible, and no shutdowns/overheats and so on.

//frank

 

[g2only]

Are all of you running this card in a 3,1 Mac Pro? I'm looking to make mine better for 4K editing...

AFAIK, everyone with a 980 runs it on internal power. It has two 6-pin power connectors, which is fine in a Mac Pro.

Running mine on the internal PSU also..

I can recommend the NVIDIA GTX 980Ti. Great card. I'm running it straight off the two mini-6-pin on the mobo. Might be a little risky, but works perfectly. I've even stress tested it as much as possible, and no shutdowns/overheats and so on.

//frank

[doublepost=1459624495][/doublepost]

I personally am running a GTX 980 Ti SC, a while back i installed an additional PSU in the optical drive bay as i was running an original Titan Card... massively power hungry, because i have the SC edt, i did not want to risk overloading the system so I'm running it from the additional PSU. There are reports of the 980 running on internal power but i cannot verify this. I have an original GTX120 for boot screens. Great performance, running 4K with no issues and the Samsung U590D.

What drive bay power supply are you using...ones that other posts have suggested always turn up discontinued. Do you have a link?

 

[ifraaank]

I'm running mine in a 4,1 to 5,1 Mac Pro