Adding ATI Radeon HD 5770s w/NEC Monitors

I currently have the following:

Mac Pro (3.1 early 2008)
Mac OS 10.6.8
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT (in slot 1)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 (in slot 2)
3 Monitors...
(1) NEC LCD2690WUXi2 26" LCD Monitor (connected to ATI Card)
(1) NEC LCD2490WUXi2 24" LCD Monitor (connected to ATI Card)
(1) NEC LCD2490WUXi2 24" LCD Monitor (connected to NVIDIA Card)

The above configuration has been working flawlessly. My only problem is that when I launch the Carrara 3D Application it has some kind of compatibility problem with the video cards I have (apparently - or at least that is the Carrara Tech Support's best guess based on my posts there).

I am able to run Carrara without any issues on my newer MacBook Pro purchased last July w/i7 Processor.

So, as best as I can tell, I need to replace my Video Cards in my Mac Pro to allow me to run Carrara properly (hope that is the problem).

I have been researching the Q/As on the Apple Store site and there are many posts that claim that the newer ATI Radeon HD 5770 WILL work with my Mac Pro.

So, my questions are...

(1) Do you think I can install (2) ATI Radeon HD 5770 cards in place of my current two graphics cards?

(2) Do you think I can install (1) ATI Radeon HD 5770 card in place of one of my current cards (as an option).

(3) If I install (2) New ATI Radeon HD 5770 cards do you know if I can connect all (3) NEC monitors. If so do I need any adapters?

(4) Do you know if Carrara will run properly with ATI Radeon HD 5770 cards?

I know you may not have ALL these answers, but any light on the subject would be appreciated!

Librarian580 said:

1. You can, but it is not necessary to have two present to run all 3 monitors. (see #3). If you want to install 2 5770's to get double power, then just get a 5870.

2. That works; if you choose that then i'd personally recommend just replacing the 120 with a 5770, to try and avoid ATI/Nvidia conflicts.

3. Yes, that is one way. However, a single genuine Apple 5770 can run 3 displays in OS X off of one card (Flashed ones can be tweaked to work in the drivers supposedly). What you would need is to connect one monitor to the DVI port, then use a Mini Displayport to DVI Adapter for the second port, and an active mini displayport to DVI adapter for the third monitor.

4. It should run pretty stable, it appears to meet the System Requirements at least. I can't say for sure as i don't use Carrara, but i'd imagine it's worth a shot.

Have you tried running Carrara with only one of the cards in the Mac Pro? I think there is a possibility of it not liking an Nvidia card being run alongside an ATI card, but that is just a guess.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the rapid and thorough feedback!

I have NOT tried removing one of the cards that I have, but I may try that as it would be good to know.

Thanks again!

Librarian580 said:

1. You can, but it is not necessary to have two present to run all 3 monitors. (see #3). If you want to install 2 5770's to get double power, then just get a 5870.

2. That works; if you choose that then i'd personally recommend just replacing the 120 with a 5770, to try and avoid ATI/Nvidia conflicts.

3. Yes, that is one way. However, a single genuine Apple 5770 can run 3 displays in OS X off of one card (Flashed ones can be tweaked to work in the drivers supposedly). What you would need is to connect one monitor to the DVI port, then use a Mini Displayport to DVI Adapter for the second port, and an active mini displayport to DVI adapter for the third monitor.

4. It should run pretty stable, it appears to meet the System Requirements at least. I can't say for sure as i don't use Carrara, but i'd imagine it's worth a shot.

Have you tried running Carrara with only one of the cards in the Mac Pro? I think there is a possibility of it not liking an Nvidia card being run alongside an ATI card, but that is just a guess.

Click to expand...

Update...

Well, I finally broke down and purchased/installed an ATI RADEON HD 5770 (w/1-Gig GDDR5 memory) in PCi Slot 1. I removed the NVIDIA GT 120 card, but kept the ATI RADEON HD 2600 XT Card in Slot 2 for the secondary monitors. I performed this upgrade "exclusively" so that I could run Carrara (as ALL my other apps worked previously).

I just launched Carrara for the first time and at first I got the same behavior (no real-time display feedback). I had Carrara Reset the Prefs to their default and relaunched the app. EVERYTHING APPEARS TO BE WORKING NOW!!! First time in over 2 years I have been able to use Carrara! So far so good.

Thanks for the assistance.