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Problems with newly flashed graphics card and power supply? Now driver issues?

E

Emberfall

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 20, 2010
19
0
So, inspired buy all the flashed ATI card threads I got brave and tried to upgrade my 2006 quad core to the 4890.

I got the Sapphire Vapour-x 4890. I connected it via the molex to second optical drive connections. I flashed it with Cindori's Zues tool.

When I first rebooted to it I had a screen of snow. Eventually this resolved to a decent picture. Programs wont run with it though, things like games crash. Picture didn't seem that great.

My main concern is that I noticed fairly quickly that the computer power cord was heating up! It quickly got so hot it was uncomfortable to touch. Rather than wait to see if something burst into flames I powered down and removed the card.

So I'm wondering if the power supply for the macpro isn't enough to power this card? Yet many of you seem to be using it without issue?

I think I will order the more expensive cables that attach directly to the motherboard. No clue whether this could resolve the issue. Do I need to upgrade the power supply? If so this is getting expensive!

Insight and advice would be appreciated.
 
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It's not recommended to use Molex to power the GPU – using the PCIe cables is the way to go.

The Mac Pro's PSU is more than enough to power a 4890 (or even two of them). No need to upgrade the power supply at all. :)
 
Yes, you don't want to power graphics cards using Molex power alone. The Molex leads on 2006-08 Mac Pros are meant for powering optical drives and the power rails they're attached to really don't supply sufficient current for graphics cards. Use the two PCIe power leads on the logic board instead. You can find the proper 6-pin mini-PCIe to 6-pin standard PCIe cables for around $10-15 each on eBay.

The only scenario where you'd really want to use the Molex connectors is in an event where you needed additional current (as in, addition to using the PCIe connectors) for a very power-hungry card like a GTX 480.
 
Thanks guys. I ordered the adapter cables and will see how it goes when I hook it up to the motherboard.
 
So I re-installed the card with the mother board cables. The power cord for the computer is still rather hot, enough that it concerns me. CPU is only at 93% though according to the readout.

When I boot up I get the apple loading screen and then snow until I cycle my monitor through the input options. When I get back to HDMI1 the desktop appears.

I think I may have a driver issue? The one game I wanted this card to play won't run (World of Warcraft). It crashes immediatly on the new card but runs fine on the original Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT. Well not fine, ok, meh graphics.

I flashed the rom with the Zues tool and I used the "driver" tab to install the OS10.64 with graphics update which is what I believe I have.

Any pointers or help would be much appreciated.

also as I move my mouse around there are horizontal flashes on the screen :(
 
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Sounds like it's a problem with your card overheating, not your computer. I'd recommend RMAing it back to Sapphire.
 
Driver check in Zues says Quartz is a no. I ran ktexthelper. I guess I'm confused.
:confused:
 
Redid the Ktext from the mapp version. Now it says that quartz is installed and it starts up with no snow.

WoW still won't run though I do get farther (black screen and sound).

Is there anything I should try to see if it's just a conflict with wow?
 
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