Nvidia Geforce GT 120 In 2011 Mac Pro?

keelerstein said:

Hi, hope somebody can help. I am running two ATI Radeon HD 5770 Graphics cards in a 2011 MacPrS 10.6.8.
Due to other hardware expansion I need to replace them with two single slot dual port graphics cards.
Could somebody varify if the old Nvidia Geforce GT 120 cards would work in my 2011 MacPro.
Many thanks, Steve

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Yes they do, your model is likely a 2010 Mac Pro 5,1.

keelerstein said:

Hi, hope somebody can help. I am running two ATI Radeon HD 5770 Graphics cards in a 2011 MacPrS 10.6.8.
Due to other hardware expansion I need to replace them with two single slot dual port graphics cards.

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Keep in mind slot 1 is spaced double-wide. So if you replace the double-wide 5770 card in slot 1 with a GT120 you won't be freeing up a PCIe slot.

keelerstein said:

Thanks for you replies, and I hadn't noticed the 1st slot was double sized.
Which leads me to my next question: Can I run a GT 120 alongside the 5770? and does it matter which slot it resides in?
Thanks again.

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Yes.

No.

SnowLeopard2008 said:

Yes.

No.

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I agree with that for function it won't matter but I think that the primary (bottom-most) slot is double width so if you put the 120 in that bottom slot you'll be "wasting" the double-width of that slot and then the 5770 in the upper slot will block another one of your remaining slots... (I could be wrong tho!)

Louis

A GT 120 will run at full speed in both the x16 and both of the x4 slots. So it does not matter if you run it in slot 2,3 or 4

Louis Wu said:

I agree with that for function it won't matter but I think that the primary (bottom-most) slot is double width so if you put the 120 in that bottom slot you'll be "wasting" the double-width of that slot and then the 5770 in the upper slot will block another one of your remaining slots... (I could be wrong tho!)

Louis

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You are correct, however I think the OP was referring to if it matters if you put it, for example, in the upper most slot or if it should reside in slot 2 directly above the 5770.

Louis Wu said:

I agree with that for function it won't matter but I think that the primary (bottom-most) slot is double width so if you put the 120 in that bottom slot you'll be "wasting" the double-width of that slot and then the 5770 in the upper slot will block another one of your remaining slots... (I could be wrong tho!)

Louis

Click to expand...

True.

You could try to buy a "normal nvidia" GTS 630 or similar single slot card as well. I'd guess you would get more power for much less cash that way. They go for much less than what you would have to pay for an "apple GT120". ~ $100 for a 640 GTS, $55 for a 610 etc.
I'm not sure which will work in a mac pro though, but I see no reason why these cards shouldn't work when the 660, 670 etc are running in mac pros.

This if you are running mountain lion, the nvidia cards work without hassle on that. Running a 560Ti on my mac pro now, it is indeed amazing.

As already noted, you only need to exchange one of the cards..

Yes they will work,