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Still having fan issues with new EVGA 570?

M

mazuma

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 28, 2005
51
0
I posted a thread last week concerning a new EVGA 570 that I bought. The fan on that card would not spin. It only jittered a bit. I sent it back and received a new replacement card. The fan on this card seemed to work. I turned my mac on and the fan started spinning like I'd expect.

This morning I started using my mac and after a while it started acting weird. So, I shut down and popped the side off, restarted and watched the fan and it didn't spin. It only did a couple of revolutions and stopped. It repeated this until I shut down. After a few shut downs and restarts the fans started spinning again. I've tried two different power cables thinking maybe there was a short or bad connector in one of the wires. Same results with both cables. I moved the card up to slot 2 to see if that makes any difference. After installing the card in slot two the fan started spinning on the first start up. I plan to leave it there for now, but I'd be surprised if that is going to fix it.

Anyway, does anyone have any clue to why this is happening? I doubt that I received two bad cards. Especially since this one seemed to be fine a week ago. Do I have enough power to run this card? I have a early 2008 mac pro. From what I read I should have plenty of power, but maybe not. Does it matter how many additional peripherals that are plugged in?
 
are these the kind with fan in center?

I once noticed that I had left the clear protective plastic on one and it had sucked this plastic in and wrapped it around the fan shaft

I have also noticed that the fan will sit idle at startup until it gets warm enough to start spinning

I would only worry about this if the card gets so hot in use that the screen locks up or cuts out to black from the card reaching thermal shut off

It would feel too ho to touch a that point, especially at metal frame that house fan.
 
The fan is centered, but it is at the bak of the card. I did remove the plastic. And, yes it is reaching the thermal shut off point. It has done it twice. The screen goes black and the audio stutters. This is why I'm worried. I don't want to melt this card if I just need to return it.
 
EVGA GeForce GTX 570 1280 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 2DVI-I/Mini-HDMI 012-P3-1570-AR

The model is 012-P3-1570-AR at the end I believe?
 
This could be indicative of a 3,1 issue with the "magic" drivers OR you have really bad luck.

By "Center Fan" I meant that the fan is in the center of front face versus being at the end of the card.

The end of card ones are in fact based on GTX580 but missing some components.

The center fan ones are designed as 570 from ground up.

If there is in fact an issue we need to establish what is affected.

Have not heard a similar complaint from any EFI 570s but I don't know who has 3,1 vs 4,1 vs 5,1.

Sorry for your trouble.

Are you certain you got a new card and not just the same one returned to you?
 
I'm hoping I don't have really bad luck. : ( I see what you mean regarding the fan placement. It is definitely on the end of the card. I know I received a new one. I bought it from Amazon. They sent me a replacement basically the day after I sent back the old one.

It's odd that it worked fine for a week and all of sudden having issues. I thought maybe the cable could be to blame, but I switched those and same results. The only thing I did different this time was move the card up to slot 2. I thought maybe it needed air flow over top and bottom. It fits in the bottom slot, just seemed pretty snug on the bottom of the card. I doubt this is it, but one can hope.

If this keeps up I guess I'll return it and weigh my options. Pretty ridiculous that these cards are not supported on macs natively. This is 2012 right?
 
Slot 2 is still a PCIe x16 slot, right? I forget which models had a x4 slot between the two x16 slots, that might've been the Mac Pro 2,1. Is it still working okay in that slot? Or are you having issues there as well?

Pretty ridiculous that these cards are not supported on macs natively. This is 2012 right?
Click to expand...

Apple doesn't sell these cards, so they'll never be officially supported. I think Apple would prefer to sell you an entire new system than let you just upgrade the GPU in a 3-4 year old Mac Pro.

In any case, it's strange that you're having an issue like this, I haven't had any problems with either of my EVGA cards (560 Ti and 580).
 
Yes, that card is x16. At least that's what printed above the slot. I hope that is correct. I haven't gone out and researched, just took the motherboards word so to speak.

It still stinks that they're not supported. I never understood why the pro line wasn't a little more build to order. Why even wait to do refresh every year or so. The form factor hasn't changed since the G5. I'm sure there are little tweaks here and there, but why not do away with the refresh all together and just keep things current with an ongoing build to order model.

It seems the only thing the annual or bi-annual refresh does is build up the excitement for the next version of mac whatever. I don't think mac pros ever had this or need it. Different breed all together. My two cents, but what do I know.

One more thing I should add. So far if the fan doesn't work, it only does this when waking up from sleep or a restart. If the fan spins when I wake the computer from sleep it stays on. It doesn't stop once it starts.
 
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Don't get me wrong, I agree with you. There's a difference between "officially supported" and "basically work" though, and for many people here the unsupported cards are working pretty darn well.

I'm sure it takes a lot of time and money to qualify a new system for release, as well as provide additional support after it's gone out the door. One of the things that probably makes Apple's life a bit easier is the fact that they have a very fixed set of components, and don't have to worry about qualifying and supporting every single PCIe card ever made for their Mac Pro line.
 
Good point. Which ultimately is why I've stuck with macs for so long. They have always been less flakey for me.

I'm not really upset by any of this. I fully expect there to be hiccups with these cards. Especially since they are not supported and every mac is set up a number of different ways. I was hoping to be one of those working pretty darn well guys. I guess I've tasted how good it can be and don't want to lose it.
 
I can take a picture. What exactly are you wanting to see? So, I take the right shot.
 
I'm not sure if this is even helpful. You can't really see the fan now that it's in slot 2. On a side note, it has been working flawlessly in slot 2 since I placed it there. But it also worked in slot 1 for a week before having issues.
 

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same issue here!

Hey mazuma,

I experienced exactly the same issue with my GTX570 and a mac pro 3,1. in slot 1

Fan would not spin properly. fan would stutter. and in the middle of a render would crash my mac. After installing it in slot 2, it's been working perfectly!
 
Very interesting, well at least it's working for you now. Thinking about it some more, my GTX 580 is in fact in slot 2 while my GTX 560 Ti is in slot 1 and working fine.

We probably need a FAQ in one of the first posts in the two main threads discussing the new NVIDIA drivers, and this sure seems like a good piece of info to have there.
 
mymacpro said:
Hey mazuma,

I experienced exactly the same issue with my GTX570 and a mac pro 3,1. in slot 1

Fan would not spin properly. fan would stutter. and in the middle of a render would crash my mac. After installing it in slot 2, it's been working perfectly!
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing you success with slot 2. So far mine is working great. I just hate that on every wake from sleep I crawl under my desk and pop the cover to make sure the fan is spinning. Lol.
 
Gtx580?

Has anyone tried putting a GTX580 in a Macpro 3,1 slot 1 that's having issues with the GTX570? I've had to put my 570 in slot 2, to make it work. If a GTX580 works, I may consider it, even though I'd have to get some extra power.
 
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