Adding 4850 with current 2600 - How to?

[AdiosVista]

I know video cards are discussed regularly here but I can never seem to find answers to my specific situation. Here's the deal: I have a new Mac Pro 8-core with the crappy 2600 card in it. The 2600 actually does fine for OSX since I don't often run core-intensive applications. I do like to game in Windows though and I happen to have a spare Asus 4850 pc video card. Here are the questions:

- Can I simply plug the 4850 in the slot next to the 2600, or is it more of a process? I don't want OSX to see the 4850 at all and, vice versa, I don't want XP to see the 2600.
- Will I be able to benefit from the 4850 in both Boot Camp and VMware Fusion?
- Will I need to start worrying about the MP's power supply? I currently have added 2 hard drives, 8GB of ram, wacom tablet, firewave sound adapter, external hard drive, and am thinking about this card now.
- If using the second card for windows only, can I put in any PC video card I want? The 4850 is handy because I have it already but I may consider selling and getting something like the 4870x2.

In general, what's the process to adding the 4850 if it's possible and what am I in for? Thanks.

 

[KPTChristopher]

- Can I simply plug the 4850 in the slot next to the 2600, or is it more of a process? I don't want OSX to see the 4850 at all and, vice versa, I don't want XP to see the 2600.

You need a 6 pin to 6 pin molex cable to connect to the card to the Mac motherboard, you can buy it from ATI if you live in US or from http://www.svideo.com/x1900.html if you live outside US.
This cable draws the power the card needs so you don't need to worry about how many hard disks etc you have.
The fan on the 4850 goes all the time at full blast when running in Mac OS X which may or may not annoy you.
The 2600 can give you a dual desktop with two monitors in Windows Vista which is nice if you have a second monitor. The ATI drivers recognise the 2600, if you run a non ATI there is some messing setting up which card to use from what other posters have said.

Not sure about how easy it is to add a 4870x2 do a search here and see about that.

Installing the card is straightforward. Getting it back out can be tricky as the plastic tabs that hold it in place can be tricky to open.

there is an earlier thread where someone posted a pic of the connector for the cable on the motherboard, there are two of them near the power supply.

 

[nanofrog]

Place it in Slot 2. Use a 6 pin to 6 pin PCIe cable. This will take care of the physical installation.

OS X would ignore it I think. On the windows side, you'd have to open Device Manager and disable the 2600 IIRC.

You can use it in Boot Camp, not sure about VM Fusion, as I don't run it.

This card won't kill the PSU, unless you have a massive power draw from something else not mentioned. It's rated for 980W.

For use in windows only, you can install other cards. The 4850 or the 4870X2 would work. Some have even installed an nVidia GX280. Your choice.

Hope this helps.

 

[grue]

You don't need to worry about the power draw, that much I can tell you.

I've got the 2007 8-core 3.0Ghz model which is more power hungry, 2x10,000RPM Raptors, 2x7,200RPM Barracuda ES, all my DIMM bays are full, both of my optical bays are in use, and I have an 8800GT and an 8600GT installed.

 

[AdiosVista]

Thank you! That answered all of my questions. Very helpful!

 

[m1stake]

You don't need to worry about the power draw, that much I can tell you.

I've got the 2007 8-core 3.0Ghz model which is more power hungry, 2x10,000RPM Raptors, 2x7,200RPM Barracuda ES, all my DIMM bays are full, both of my optical bays are in use, and I have an 8800GT and an 8600GT installed.

Why the 8600GT?

 

[grue]

Why the 8600GT?

PhysX board with the ForceWare drivers