Quietest/Lowest Power 5870 Eyefinity 6 Card that works with Mac Pro

[jkheit]

Hi All:

Some Background First (My question down below in bold)
So I've been torturing everyone in another thread to get help with building a Mac Pro that's driving 10 screens (6 30" cinema displays, and 4 65" 1080p displays).

I've learned, thanks to netkas and calvmtl that the 5770/5870s can now work on a stock Mac Pro, see here:

http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,5299.0.html

I've just ordered these single slot 5770 eyefinity 5 cards:
http://xfxforce.com/en-gb/Products/...-Radeon-HD-5770-Single-Slot/HD-577X-Z5FH.aspx

Question
Does anyone have any recommendations on good 5870 eyefinity cards that will work in the Mac Pro?

I want to order two 5870 eyefinity 6 cards to experiment and see which combination works best. I'm primarily concerned with power draw and noise, and was hoping those that are using 5870 eyefinity 6 cards might comment on their experiences. Particularly those that are using 2 5870 eyefinity 6 cards. Will the 2010 Mac Pro even drive two 5870 eyefinities?

Any feedback welcome and once I finish the set up I'll post some pics of the end result and my findings.

Thanks so much for any help!

 

[ActionableMango]

5770 uses one Aux power lead. 5870 uses two Aux power leads.

Your Mac Pro has two of these leads, so 2x5770 is fine.

For 2x5870 you have to add another power source for the second card.

What software are you intending to use? It might not even use the extra horsepower available on the second 5870.

 

[jkheit]

5770 uses one Aux power lead. 5870 uses two Aux power leads.

Your Mac Pro has two of these leads, so 2x5770 is fine.

For 2x5870 you have to add another power source for the second card.

What software are you intending to use? It might not even use the extra horsepower available on the second 5870.

Dont really need horsepower. It's just to drive 10 screens, although 6 screens are 30" cinema displays, and 4 screens are 1080p monitors.

My thinking is it's better to keep all 6 screens on one card so that window movement between those 6 screens occurs on one video card and is more fluid. I've had occasions when using 2 different brand cards that moving a Preview.app window from one display card to another display card display causes some lag.

That said, it's not the end of the world and it sounds like power wise, the 5770s are less hassle.

 

[ActionableMango]

Dont really need horsepower. It's just to drive 10 screens, although 6 screens are 30" cinema displays, and 4 screens are 1080p monitors.

My thinking is it's better to keep all 6 screens on one card so that window movement between those 6 screens occurs on one video card and is more fluid. I've had occasions when using 2 different brand cards that moving a Preview.app window from one display card to another display card display causes some lag.

That said, it's not the end of the world and it sounds like power wise, the 5770s are less hassle.

Yes, 2x5770 is much less of a hassle.

You have this working? I didn't think anyone ever got the Eyefinities working with all outputs in OS X.

 

[jkheit]

Yes, 2x5770 is much less of a hassle.

You have this working? I didn't think anyone ever got the Eyefinities working with all outputs in OS X.

I ordered the cards. Earlier in the thread I posted a link to netkas where I got some confirmation that at least a single eyefinity 5 would work. Not sure about two, or the single slot model I'm working with. I should have the cards and give it a college try come January...

 

[ActionableMango]

I ordered the cards. Earlier in the thread I posted a link to netkas where I got some confirmation that at least a single eyefinity 5 would work. Not sure about two, or the single slot model I'm working with. I should have the cards and give it a college try come January...

Well let us know how it goes. Based on what I've read, I am really skeptical, but I hope to be proven wrong.

 

[ActionableMango]

I ordered the cards. Earlier in the thread I posted a link to netkas where I got some confirmation that at least a single eyefinity 5 would work. Not sure about two, or the single slot model I'm working with. I should have the cards and give it a college try come January...

So did it work? Not work? Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[jkheit]

So did it work? Not work? Inquiring minds want to know!

Well I got the XFX 577x single slot card working supporting 5 monitors. I should be getting another card, PowerColor eyefinity 5 card on monday. Hopefully it will work too, and then I'll be up to 10. Knocking wood.