Multiple Vid Cards

[paulrbeers]

I have an Nvidia GT 440 and the original Nvidia 7300GT in my Mac Pro 1,1. I run 3 monitors, so I need two vid cards. What I want to do is replace the 7300GT so I can run Mt Lion. I want to pick up a GTX 550 TI for some mid-level gaming, so I assume if I do my gaming that is hooked up to the GTX 550 TI I will be able to take advantage of the extra processing power over the GT 440 correct? I'll have 1 monitor hooked to the 550 and 2 hooked to the GT 440 (for day to day tasks). If I won't see any benefits from the 550 due to OSX limitations, then I'll just go with another GT 440 to cover the 3rd monitor...

Any help is greatly appreciated...

 

[Louis Wu]

Multiple monitors on vid card

I just ordered the newly released GTX 660 card and when it arrives I will plug it into my octo 5.1 and let you know if it runs 4 monitors concurrently as claimed. I'm especially curious if it will also run my 24 LED Cinema display using a displayport (male) to minidisplayport (female) adaptor. I have 3 monitors right now but am running one using a Diamond displaylink graphic card on a USB adaptor. Works quite well but I am using it only to keep an eye on my mailbox. (if you get one make sure you get the most recent model; the older model works on Lion but not ML)

oh, FWIW the EVG GTX 660 SC was $309 (Cdn) while the 560 SC was around $220; the 570 was around $300 and the 550 considerably less, like $115.

Louis

 

[Louis Wu]

Probably expecting too much

well, under 10.8 I can only get the GTX 660 to drive 2 monitors (DVI, or displayport -- didn't test HDMI) but not more than 2, and not the Apple Cinema Display 24" using an adaptor. When you plug in the 3rd monitor, one of the others goes black. Thanks goodness for the displaylink USB adaptors, as I love my 3 displays!

Louis

 

[paulrbeers]

well, under 10.8 I can only get the GTX 660 to drive 2 monitors (DVI, or displayport -- didn't test HDMI) but not more than 2, and not the Apple Cinema Display 24" using an adaptor. When you plug in the 3rd monitor, one of the others goes black. Thanks goodness for the displaylink USB adaptors, as I love my 3 displays!

Louis

Bummer! I would have loved to have had an all in one card....

 

[Louis Wu]

of course...

Bummer! I would have loved to have had an all in one card....

well, I might be missing something that I need to do because I only installed the nV cuda drivers and nothing else. I was impressed that the cards (the 560 works too) right out of the box, albeit with no boot screen.

I'm not familiar with your 7300 GT -- does it require any power cables or is it bus powered like the GT 120? If you have the 2 power ports unused you could always leave your 7300 installed for boot screen and run a day to day monitor off it, and run the other 2 monitors off the other card -- selling the 440 and going to a 570 or 660... (on the 570, look for the HD models as they also have a displayport output in addition to the DVI. the DP output at least works with PC monitors).

oh, for about $20 more than the cost of the 570 which seem to be around $300, the 660 can be had superclocked and with 2 Gb memory... (and a free PC game for now)

And a 560 should run about $220. And the 560 works great in a PC rig for folding@home.

I like the Diamond BVU solution because I can pull it off the pro and use it on my laptop, which otherwise can drive only one external display -- no Thunderbolt

 

[slughead]

I'm not familiar with your 7300 GT -- does it require any power cables or is it bus powered like the GT 120? If you have the 2 power ports unused you could always leave your 7300 installed for boot screen and run a day to day monitor off it, and run the other 2 monitors off the other card -- selling the 440 and going to a 570 or 660... (on the 570, look for the HD models as they also have a displayport output in addition to the DVI. the DP output at least works with PC monitors).

the 7300 is bus powered. The 7300 GT doesn't work with mac pros made after roughly 2008, so you know.

 

[Louis Wu]

oh yeah.. and make sure...

the 7300 is bus powered. The 7300 GT doesn't work with mac pros made after roughly 2008, so you know.

before you sell the 440 that the newer cards (like the 560) will work on a Pro 1.1

wouldn't want to go to all that trouble to NOT have things work out...