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8800 GT and HD2600TX for multiple displays

F

faumble

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 8, 2008
141
0
am planning to connect 3 displays to my new macpro (standard configuration) so I need some help figuring out how it works. Thanks in advance!

-Currently I have the 2600 in slot number 1 (pci 2.0), once I get the 8800 I will take out the 2600 and put the 8800 in slot number 1, is this just take out, plug in and it works? or do I have to configure something?


-The video card on slot number 1 is the one that will power applications? because I know one card will be the one applications use and another one, in my case the 2600, will only let me have a third monitor, right? so how do I know the 8800 will be the one that is used as the "primary card" or the one applications and games use?


-the sum of power consumption of this 2 cards doesnt exceed the 300 watts max? I read on the manual that the sum of the cards cant exceed 300 watts, or where can I find out how much each card consumes?


-can I plug the 2600 on slots 3 or 4 which are pci 1? or only slot 2 which is pci 2.0?
 
Most of your questions are answered here.

All of the slots are PCI-Express 2.0. The 8800GT comes with its own power cable to draw directly from the power supply as well. You'll be fine with both cards in your Mac Pro.
 
Thanks eidorian!
sorry, newbie here :)
what I didnt found on this thread was how to make the 8800 the primary card? i mean the card that is used by applications and games? is it the one on slot 1? the other card, the 2600, wont help my performance, right? only let me use a third monitor

so do I have to draw power from directly from the power supply? or they don't exceed the 300 watts?

also, just read the manual and it says slots 3 and 4 are pci 1.1 :

Slot Type Bandwidth
4 PCI Express 1.1 4-lane
3 PCI Express 1.1 4-lane
2 PCI Express 2.0 16-lane
1 (double-wide) PCI Express 2.0 16-lane

so will the 2600 work on 3 or 4?
 
The HD 2600XT will work in an the second 2.0 slot or the 1.1 ones. Both cards are single slot so you can put the next to each other with a nice space between them.

In System Preferences -> Displays -> Arrangement you can drag the menu bar to the monitor that's connect to the 8800 GT. This make it the primary display.

I have my MacBook attached to a 22" LCD and I made the larger screen the primary one the same way. All my games look great on the 22" compared to the laptop's 13.3" one.
 
Thanks guys!
so only got 2 questions left :)
how much power is required by the 2600?
8800 seems to need 200 watts. I am guessing 2600 needs 75 since you can have four of them. if its more then I will plug the 8800 to the power supply, how do i do this? just plug and play...to what cable in the power supply?

What I meant about the card that is used by applications is, when adding a second card like the 2600 this one wont help me in performance, just lets me hook up 2 more displays right? so how do I let the computer know that I want the 8800 to be the one used as the "primary card" or the one that deals with the performance of the computer? the computer picks the fastest card, or the one in slot 1 or what?
example, how do I know when playing a game if the game is using the 8800 or the 2600? cause I want the game to use the 8800 since its faster :)
 
faumble said:
Thanks guys!
so only got 2 questions left :)
how much power is required by the 2600?
8800 seems to need 200 watts. I am guessing 2600 needs 75 since you can have four of them. if its more then I will plug the 8800 to the power supply, how do i do this? just plug and play...to what cable?
Click to expand...

BareFeats said:
ONE GeForce 8800 GT vs FOUR Radeon HD 2600 XTs? (Corrected)
Notice that Apple will only let you configure-to-order ONE of the GeForce 8800 GTs while they will let you configure-to-order up to FOUR of the Radeon HD 2600 XTs. Why?

We first thought it had to do a difference in power requirements. Our initial posting of max power usage (based on an outside source) was in error. Apple has published the maximum power usage of each "2008" Mac Pro card:
ATI Radeon 2600 XT = 50 watts
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT = 110 watts
NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 = 175 watts

Though the difference is significant in power requirements, it's not enough to preclude installing two GeForce 8800 GTs in a "2008" Mac Pro 8-core. However, you must
1) order the second one as a kit (MB137Z/A),
2) place the two GeForce 800 GTs in slots one and two, and
3) leave slots 3 and 4 empty (to prevent exceeding the 300 watt limit for the PCIe bus).

For more info on the PCIe 2.0 bus of the "2008" Mac Pro, read Apple's documentation on "PCI Product-Specific Details."
Click to expand...
Here's the final say from Apple via BareFeats. I have a Radeon 3850 and it draws 95 watts.

What I meat about the card that is used by applications is, when adding a second card like the 2600 this one wont help me in performance, just lets me hook up 2 more displays right? so how do I let the computer know that I want the 8800 to be the one used as the "primary card" or the one that deals with the performance of the computer? the computer picks the fastest card, or the one in slot 1 or what?
example, how d I know when playing a game if the game is usin the 8800 or the 2600? cause want the game to use the 8800 since its faster :)
Click to expand...
The second video card would be used for additional displays you won't get any additional performance having two video cards. Setting a monitor connected to the 8800GT as the primary display will make games run on it by default and using the fastest card.
 
Mixing Brands

I could be wrong but I don't think you can use both an ATI and an Nvidia in a Mac Pro. Maybe the new Mac Pro with 10.5 is different but it was not possible under 10.4.x on the old Mac Pro.

Either all ATI or all Nvidia, no mixing them in OSX
 
Thanks, appreciate it eidorian!! :D
on windows (bootcamp), primary monitor on 8800 means also the 8800 is the card use by the game/application?
 
spacepower7 said:
I could be wrong but I don't think you can use both an ATI and an Nvidia in a Mac Pro. Maybe the new Mac Pro with 10.5 is different but it was not possible under 10.4.x on the old Mac Pro.

Either all ATI or all Nvidia, no mixing them.
Click to expand...

I also heard this but it is seems its possible now. Mixing doesnt bring any "fights" btw the drivers? I am guessing on mac osx it wont, on windows it might?
 
apple store

Since you can't configure a Mac Pro with both brands of cards on Apple's online store, I would assume they won't play well together in OSX.
 
driver fights

I read that they fight under OSX but not under bootcamp XP, ironically.

This was with the old Mac Pro, so I can't say for sure on this new one.
 
cant find the thread here but theres people using 1900xt and geforce 7300 at the same time (edit) with no problems, anyone can verify?
 
There was only one person in that thread that claims they had it working. He doesn't give many details (unlike the thread starter.) The guy who said it works mentions oddities in iMovieHD.

There was an Apple technote stating that you can't mix brands of graphics cards on the 2006 Mac Pro.
 
As to both Nvidia and ATI at the same time.

Apple revised the drivers, and removed the warning.

---

Used to be a problem, Apple worked to get it resolved. And Apple also did some work to resolve some of the deep sleep issues with the PCI/PCIe cards.

So Apple has been doing more lately to solve issues that used to result in finger pointing before.
 
Sun Baked said:
As to both Nvidia and ATI at the same time.

Apple revised the drivers, and removed the warning.

---

Used to be a problem, Apple worked to get it resolved. And Apple also did some work to resolve some of the deep sleep issues with the PCI/PCIe cards.

So Apple has been doing more lately to solve issues that used to result in finger pointing before.
Click to expand...


Not too sure about this in practical sense. I just got a new Mac Pro and added a 7300gt Nvidia with the 2600 that comes standard from ATI, and it will not detect any displays attached to it. Any suggestions?
 
spacepower7 said:
There was only one person in that thread that claims they had it working. He doesn't give many details (unlike the thread starter.) The guy who said it works mentions oddities in iMovieHD.

There was an Apple technote stating that you can't mix brands of graphics cards on the 2006 Mac Pro.
Click to expand...

That technote was removed about 30 days after the release of the August 2006 Mac Pros.

X1900 + 7300 runs fine, expect for a problem with iMovie, which has since been fixed.

7300 + HD 2600 also works fine.

First hand experience.
 
Same as timb, I ran an HD2600 and 7300 GT in the same Mac Pro, hooked up to different monitors without a problem.
 
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