518 days never felt so good. Now that we have a graphics card made in this year, I was wondering what the possibilities of being able to utilize two of them together inside my future Mac Pro. Can it be done or am I just shooting blanks, eh?
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8800 GT SLI in Penryn Mac Pro
- Thread starter Tallest Skil
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Faraden
macrumors newbie
Tanj, never mind. OUTDATED AGAIN! 😀 Anyway, will this happen? Or some why to utilize the power of the second card together? Wait...what am I worried about, anyway? I have two monitors! I'll just plug one in each! Wait... can that be done?
I'd still like the "combining power of both" thing and be able to plug both of my monitors into one of my 8800 GTs.
Yes. I know. 🙄 I want the power of one graphics card per monitor. Will this be possible?
Umbongo
macrumors 601
There shouldn't be an issue with it.
edit: but being that it is Apple there might be. Wait for some reviews to comeout before you buy if it concerns you.
Yes, sir! Will do! It's not like I'm not being forced to wait until July to purchase it, anyway... 🙄
And perhaps a U.S. Apple Store standalone 8800 GT, since you can't get more than one BTO yet... 😛
And perhaps a U.S. Apple Store standalone 8800 GT, since you can't get more than one BTO yet... 😛
http://developer.apple.com/document...ation.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40003937-SW6
I also believe the Intel 5400 chipset does support SLI (it has the PCIe lanes for it, etc.)... well it may only ATI crossfire support.
I also believe the Intel 5400 chipset does support SLI (it has the PCIe lanes for it, etc.)... well it may only ATI crossfire support.
MRU
macrumors Penryn
fangiotophia
macrumors newbie
Hardware Supports it, but Software?
I do believe that the hardware supports SLI (according to the documentation) however the card firmware as well as the OS must support too. I believe that Apple has not released the drivers for SLI support. I would wait for some reviews and perhaps see what happens at MacWorld. You never know what 10.5.2 might bring 🙄
I do believe that the hardware supports SLI (according to the documentation) however the card firmware as well as the OS must support too. I believe that Apple has not released the drivers for SLI support. I would wait for some reviews and perhaps see what happens at MacWorld. You never know what 10.5.2 might bring 🙄
What, like the 3870 support that we'll never see now? 😀 Yeah, SLI in 10.5.2 would be frigtastically awesome. Can you imagine TWO Quadro 5600s?! Like that can be done, anyway... 🙁 Two 8800 GTs SLI'd in OS X would be amazing, but if the hardware supports it, at least I'd be able to run them in Boot Camp...
thagomizer
macrumors 6502
Haven't seen this myself, but I've heard of people running dual 7-series cards (7300 or 7800 to be exact) in SLI in the previous Mac Pro, running two PCIe slots at 8x and 8x. In Windows only, of course.
Here's one:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=612359&tstart=0
Here's one:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=612359&tstart=0
You can get 2 5600's, that would be awesome. Anyways I really think apple needs to start implementing SLI and Cross fire that way they can keep up with technology because it's beginning to get popular.
Topper
macrumors 65816
10.5.2 may give us a clue but I am certainly not holding my breath.
8800 GT in SLI would be a beautiful thing.
Truth is I don't know how SLI works.
We already have the driver for one 8800 GT card.
How hard is it then to get an SLI driver for two 8800 GT cards?
Yeah, and for the low, low price of only $5700.00 😛
killmoms
macrumors 68040
No, it's not. 99.9% of users don't know (or care) about SLI, and hardly any pros (the people the Mac Pro is targeted at) care either. The only people who would care are the infinitesimally small market of "high-end gamers with more money than sense who want a Mac Pro for some reason."
Most PC gamers don't even go SLI. Only the most committed do. That's not a very big market, and I can guarantee you nearly all of it pooh-poohs Macs.
Topper
macrumors 65816
True
Very true.
Not sure about this one. I think the market is more significant than you think it is. Mac gamers have no choice. We have to use a Mac Pro with a powerful video card. I personally don't use it just for gaming. It's my all-in-one computer!
True.
Umbongo
macrumors 601
A big deal was made about Intel making a deal with Nvidia and getting SLI for Skulltrail systemboards and also having crossfire support. As far as I am aware it requires Intel to use an Nvidia chip on the board. I don't believe Apple are using Skulltrail boards, which means they aren't going to be supporting SLI.
Whether someone can get it or crossfire to work under windows is another matter, but I wouldn't expect such a thing from Apple.
Tanj in Skulltrail... 🙄 So, now that we've debunked SLI, How about my other idea: Two 8800 GTs in the 16x 2.0 slots with one monitor on each?
Pressure
macrumors 603
I said earlier that I already know that... 😉🙄 I have two monitors and just want to know if it'll be possible to utilize the full power of one 8800 GT for each.
Guess we'll have to wait until someone tries it out!
Guess we'll have to wait until someone tries it out!