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New Graphics Card for Mac Pro 4.1

G

GameFreak348

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 28, 2014
152
0
Hello guys,

I have a Mac Pro 4.1
Intel Xeon E5520 Dual 8x2.26 ghz
6GB DDR3 1033Mhz Ram
Nvidia GT 120 512MB
Mac OSX 10.9.3

I wanted to buy this card here to replace it with the gt 120 http://www.steg-electronics.ch/de/article/evga-gtx-650-178246.aspx

And i have 3 questions:

1.I know i need another power cable for the graphics card is it this one?
http://www.amazon.de/Adaptare-PCIe-...7RU6G/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top#productDetails


2. My GT 120 is 1 slot , the gtx 650 has 2 slots do i need ot buy anything else or can i just do it like with the gt 120? Do i have to get another thing to plug it in the port or can i just use 1?


3. is the Evga GTX 650 compatible with mac osx?
 
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1> That is the right power cord - you definitely need 1.

2> Sshould fit fine in the bottom slot which is double wide. In any other slot it will also block the adjacent PCI slot.

3> No bootscreen, but should work fine once os is booted. If you want a bootscreen, you can keep your GT120 in one of the other slots and attach a second monitor - this is helpful if you need the boot disk selection screen (holding option during boot), or use FileVault (password entry screen won't display on the GT650)

Update: I have one of those cards, though haven't tested in my MacPro, since I've got a better card in that system. If you want, i can bring it home and double-check that both DVI ports work.
 
Well you dont have to but it would be pretty nice, this is the first time im buying a graphic card so i really have no idea about the port things and etc.

Can you also upload pics of how it looks?
 
So I stuffed the card in my system. If I also have the GT120 in slot 2, I can boot just fine, and the GT650 works as expected.

But without the GT120, I can't seem to boot -- granted I am running FileVault and am having to blind type my password, but I was able to do this in the past with a unflashed AMD 7950. Don't know if its an issue with the bootscreen, 10.10 beta, or something else.

So definite yes if you use both cards, not sure about just the GT650 by itself.

Actually, just realized my EVGA is a GTX 650Ti, while the one you linked is jsut a GTX 650, so no precisely the same model.
 
Are you saying I cant login without using the GT 120 and GTX 650 at the same time? Or can i just not see the bootscreen with the GTX 650?
 
GameFreak348 said:
Are you saying I cant login without using the GT 120 and GTX 650 at the same time? Or can i just not see the bootscreen with the GTX 650?
Click to expand...

I couldn't even login. But my system is setup using file vault, so maybe it was getting stuck on the filevault screen - i don't have a spare disk currently setup without filevault, though might be able to test that in a few days. But I think I've seen other posting of folks successfully using GT650's, so I think the odds of it not working are small.

I had setup a friend's MacPro4,1 with a GT640 -- he wasn't using filevault, and it would just be black-screen for ~20 seconds until OSX loaded the drivers, then you'd have the normal login screen.

For reference, my card is this one -- almost a dead-ringer to yours: http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Dual-Link-Graphics-01G-P4-3651-KR-02G-P4-3651-KR/dp/B009KUT3D6



All said, I wouldn't leave the GT120 in your system unless you really need the slot for something else. Having at least one EFI card in the system is handy if you need to do hardware diagnostics -- or if OSX just won't fully boot, or some other situation where having pre-boot video will help. Even if you're not dual-heading, you could just have the GT120 in there without a DVI connection - the mac is just fine with multiple cards installed.
 
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Hello I have a problem with the iPhone is cable stays mchghlin no maana cleared of charge

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Is there a solution to this problem...
 
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