MP 1,1-5,1 Quick sanity check - 6 pin power cable K5000?

[GlynH]

Hi there,

Just picked up a K500 Mac Edition and I suspect it doesn't come with any cables so I need to be prepared as I don't want to just stare at the card and not be able to fit it!

Checking around it seems like I need a 6-pin standard (GPU) to 6-pin Mini (cMP) cable but what length will I need to make a neat job without the cable snaking around like a serpent inside the case?

Are there any nicely designed, quality cables that anybody can recommend or am I limited to the usual culprits from Amazon and the like?

How about a low profile, right angle PCIe power cable? Is there such a thing?

Would have preferred a graphics card that only needs power from the PCIe slot itself but its a compromise between being excessively neat & tidy on the inside of a case that can't be seen when the side cover is on vs graphics performance!

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

 

[MarkC426]

Do you not have the original 6pin cable that came with your Mac?
It's just a standard 6pin, I think they are a standard length.

 

[GlynH]

Nope...or I wouldn't be asking!

Just stumbled across these Pactech G-Power cables that look good and they do a version specifically for the Mac Pro - not sure if they mean the 5,1 or the 6,1/7,1 as it mentions new Mac Pro in their catalogue but don't know how old the catalogue is though!

Don't look to be readily available here in the UK unfortunately...?

Ah well I'll just have to keep looking...and I've just found these Shakmods cables.

Geez Mark...6 SSD and a HDD in your 5,1 box?

Where do they all go?

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

 

[MarkC426]

Have a look here:

Amazon.co.uk: Mac Pro 6 Pin Gpu Cable

Amazon.co.uk: mac pro 6 pin gpu cable

www.amazon.co.uk

3 ssd and hdd in sata bays, 1 in optical, 2 in pcie sonnet tempo cards....

 

[GlynH]

Have a look here:

Amazon.co.uk: Mac Pro 6 Pin Gpu Cable

Amazon.co.uk: mac pro 6 pin gpu cable

www.amazon.co.uk

3 ssd and hdd in sata bays, 1 in optical, 2 in pcie sonnet tempo cards....

Already been there...but thanks. ?

Now that's just being greedy

-=Glyn=-

 

[Macsonic]

Hi there,

Just picked up a K500 Mac Edition and I suspect it doesn't come with any cables so I need to be prepared as I don't want to just stare at the card and not be able to fit it!

Checking around it seems like I need a 6-pin standard (GPU) to 6-pin Mini (cMP) cable but what length will I need to make a neat job without the cable snaking around like a serpent inside the case?

Are there any nicely designed, quality cables that anybody can recommend or am I limited to the usual culprits from Amazon and the like?

How about a low profile, right angle PCIe power cable? Is there such a thing?

Would have preferred a graphics card that only needs power from the PCIe slot itself but its a compromise between being excessively neat & tidy on the inside of a case that can't be seen when the side cover is on vs graphics performance!

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

I’m assuming you’re referring to the QUADRO K5000 Mac Edition. In your first post, it mentioned “K500” A standard one piece 6-pin to 6-pin cable would be fine. I have both the Quadro K5000 official Mac edition a a flashed for Mac Quadro K5000 (Windows GPU). The performance for both GPUs are the same with video editing. Runs quietly and doesn't get too hot. However, the official K5000 Mac edition only shows 3.5 VRam while the flashed K5000 shows 4Gb VRam.

 

[GlynH]

I’m assuming you’re referring to the QUADRO K5000 Mac Edition. In your first post, it mentioned “K500” A standard one piece 6-pin to 6-pin cable would be fine. I have both the Quadro K5000 official Mac edition a a flashed for Mac Quadro K5000 (Windows GPU). The performance for both GPUs are the same with video editing. Runs quietly and doesn't get too hot. However, the official K5000 Mac edition only shows 3.5 VRam while the flashed K5000 shows 4Gb VRam.

View attachment 1936070

Ah no wonder it was cheap! ?

No seriously it is the genuine Mac Edition of the K5000 not a generic flashed one but even after all my research I just discovered after buying it that it occupies two slots in the Mac Pro which might have scuppered my plans for that Highpoint/Sonnet/Squid M.2 adaptor and a couple of blades down the road unless the double Slot 1 space still allows for a card in Slot 2?



Is there an ideal length for the 6-pin cable to keep things neat inside the cMP as most of the cables seem to be 12"/30cm long.

What are your impressions of the K5000 - guessing you must rate it as you have two of them!

I currently have the Quadro NVS 510 fitted but am only driving a couple of old Eizo Flexscan monitors at the moment so even that is wasted on them.

Next item on the shopping list will be an Apple LED Cinema Display to at least do the GPU some justice.

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

 

[Macsonic]

Ah no wonder it was cheap! ?

No seriously it is the genuine Mac Edition of the K5000 not a generic flashed one but even after all my research I just discovered after buying it that it occupies two slots in the Mac Pro which might have scuppered my plans for that Highpoint/Sonnet/Squid M.2 adaptor and a couple of blades down the road unless the double Slot 1 space still allows for a card in Slot 2?

View attachment 1936229 View attachment 1936230

Is there an ideal length for the 6-pin cable to keep things neat inside the cMP as most of the cables seem to be 12"/30cm long.

What are your impressions of the K5000 - guessing you must rate it as you have two of them!

I currently have the Quadro NVS 510 fitted but am only driving a couple of old Eizo Flexscan monitors at the moment so even that is wasted on them.

Next item on the shopping list will be an Apple LED Cinema Display to at least do the GPU some justice.

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

Yep, I was aware you have the official Mac edition K5000 GPU. Not sure about the best cable length to get, maybe around 8”-10” would be okay. The graphics of the K5000, specially the skin tones with photo and video editing is very good and has that “warmth” color skin tone. As far as I know, Quadro GPUs are not known for speed but more on accuracy. The good thing about this card is its low power draw at around 130 watts. Also works with a 4K monitor using the display port. Enjoy your Quadro.

 

[KeesMacPro]

I just discovered after buying it that it occupies two slots in the Mac Pro which might have scuppered my plans for that Highpoint/Sonnet/Squid M.2 adaptor and a couple of blades down the road unless the double Slot 1 space still allows for a card in Slot 2?

Physically a HighPoint or similar will fit in slot 2 with the K5000 in slot 1.
Nevertheless it's common to install the GPU in slot 2 and the HP card in slot 1 , as the HP will almost completely block the fan(s) of the GPU.
Drawback is that you will lose slot 3 though.

 

[GlynH]

Physically a HighPoint or similar will fit in slot 2 with the K5000 in slot 1.
Nevertheless it's common to install the GPU in slot 2 and the HP card in slot 1 , as the HP will almost completely block the fan(s) of the GPU.
Drawback is that you will lose slot 3 though.

Ah OK. That's not too much of a hardship as the Highpoint will replace the current M.2 adaptor I have in Slot 4 and Slot 3 has a Sonnet Allegro USB 3.2 card that I have never used either so that's surplus to requirements.

Thanks for the info.

Kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

 

[KeesMacPro]

You're very welcome!
In that case you could still install the Sonnet in slot 4 ; it's a relatively small card and will not obstruct much airflow.

 

[GlynH]

Do you not have the original 6pin cable that came with your Mac?
It's just a standard 6pin, I think they are a standard length.

A standard one piece 6-pin to 6-pin cable would be fine. I have both the Quadro K5000 official Mac edition a a flashed for Mac Quadro K5000 (Windows GPU). The performance for both GPUs are the same with video editing. Runs quietly and doesn't get too hot. However, the official K5000 Mac edition only shows 3.5 VRam while the flashed K5000 shows 4Gb VRam.

Well it turns out it is indeed a Mini 6-Pin to 6-pin cable that is needed such as this one;

COMeap Mini 6-pin to 6-pin PCIe GPU Cable

Even though it is 350mm long I dressed it neatly inside the case where it naturally forms a loop tucked up against the motherboard behind the card itself so keeps things nice & tidy and does not impede airflow from the PCIe fan;



There are two cables in the pack so I can utilise the other one if needed without re-ordering.

The standard 6-pin to 6-pin cable I originally purchased was actually an extension cable with one male and one female 6 pin connector on either end;

Shakmods 6-pin PCIe GPU Cable

Was a lovely made and nice looking cable though!


I have the full 4GB VRAM showing on mine but that's because ECC is disabled on my card;

NOTE: Currently, the only NVIDIA graphics card that supports ECC functionality is the NVIDIA Quadro K5000 for Mac. Enabling ECC requires a portion of the graphics card’s usable memory size and bandwidth. In the Graphics/Displays section of your System Information, you may notice the “VRAM (Total)” amount of your NVIDIA Quadro K5000 drops from 4096 MB to 3584 MB when ECC is enabled. This is normal.

Interestingly the NVIDIA drivers would not install on one of my 10.13.6 High Sierra blades complaining that it only works under 10.13.6 which a quick visit to About this Mac confirms is indeed the case! Go figure...

Also shame the NVIDIA drivers do not install on 10.14.6 Mojave although I suppose I could boot into High Sierra and make any changes there which should stick when booting back into Mojave.

The K5000 is a huge card compared to the diminutive Quadro NVS 510 it replaced though;


Mind you it benchmarks 500-700% faster than the smaller Quadro although what that means in real life remains to be seen.

I have installed it in PCIe Slot 1 and am now wondering whether I should go for the OWC Accelsior 4M2 as this is a half length fanless card and would fit nicely in Slot 2 barely coming up to the beginning of the fan opening on the Quadro leaving it unobstructed for good airflow.

If I fitted the Highpoint or others being full length cards they would completely cover the fan and restrict airflow possibly causing it to work harder/noisier and possibly overheat.

I realise I could swap the GPU/NVMe cards around but doing that would cost me a slot although the addition of the Accelsior would in effect free up a slot as I currently have two blades fitted in Slots 3 & 4.

I have also removed the Sonnet Allegro as I have no need for USB 3.2 at the moment but who knows what other cards might be on the horizon?

What software do you guys use (if any) to read GPU Temps, fan speed, voltages etc?

Another bonus is that although boot time is about the same it seems quicker as it now displays the grey screen with the Apple logo and progress bar immediately after the chime and having something to look at gives the impression of speeding it up! ?

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

 

[tsialex]

What software do you guys use (if any) to read GPU Temps, fan speed, voltages etc?

Apple never exposed an API for monitoring GPU management data like what we have with the SMC, no macOS software can access it.

 

[GlynH]

Apple never exposed an API for monitoring GPU management data like what we have with the SMC, no macOS software can access it.

Thanks for the quick reply Alex even if it was not what I wanted to hear!

Ah that's a pity...if not a 3rd party utility then I was hoping maybe the NVIDIA Web driver package itself might be able to read that data as it does at least allow you to do a couple of tweaks to the card but I guess with no Apple API then it is a lost cause...

Thanks & kind regards.
-=Glyn=-

 

[Mariner19]

I was reading through how GlynH resolved his K5000 power cable issue. I also have 2 of the NVIDI Mac version GPU's,
The Quadro 4000 & the K5000. I noticed that the 4000 has a MPC of 142w & the K5000 uses 122w. Both came with a single - Mini 6 Pin to 6 Pin PCIe cable. I was recently told the logic board can only provide 75w per cable, shouldn't I be using a dual mini 6pin to a single 6 pin PCIe cable. I've seen ads for these GPU's with the single PCIe cable shown below & others with a dual female 6 pin to a 6 pin male. Appreciate any advise.

 

[MarkC426]

The Quadro K5000 (Mac Edition) is a standard Apple recommended card, which uses the ONE 6pin cable.
The PCI slot provides 75w also.