Quadro for Mac Pro 1,1

[kunia]

My old mac pro became a Windows 7 only machine for CAD use. I currently have apple's 5770 in it which runs AutoCAD and Inventor - so far so good, because both do not require a quadro type graphics card.
But I hate Inventor and want to go back to using Solidworks, which works by the way, but since I'm not running a certified graphics card, a number of visual features are disabled (and it's being a bitch glitchy when it comes to display).

I'm thinking of getting a quadro card, but don't know if it's going to work in Mac Pro 1,1. I DON'T care for OS X. I do not need it - so I don't care if it'll boot or not into OS X. I just want to be sure that any quadro or firegl I get will work under windows 7 64 bit.

I'm also wondering if I can run both cards at the same time. I'm not sure if my mac has an extra video card power socket on the logic board.

I'd appreciate any feedback

thanks
adrian

 

[Mackilroy]

Any GPU will work under Windows. If the Quadro only uses one PCIe plug, then you can easily run both, as the 5770 also only uses one. Otherwise, no.

 

[Transporteur]

Otherwise,..

... you can use a $30 additional PSU that fits in a single 5.25" bay.

Fixed that for you.

 

[Mackilroy]

... you can use a $30 additional PSU that fits in a single 5.25" bay.

Fixed that for you.

I realize that, but how many people are willing to add another PSU?

 

[Transporteur]

I realize that, but how many people are willing to add another PSU?

Fair enough.

But actually, it isn't a big deal if you're handy and know how to strip the Mac Pro. It's definitely easier to add a graphics card that doesn't require additional power, though.

Some people use the power provided by either the backplane SATA ports or from the ODD bay, but that's not recommended. Those ports are intended to provide power for DVD drives or hard drives (both won't exceed 20W), not for a graphics card.