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Radeon 4850 power connectors

K

KPTChristopher

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 26, 2008
18
0
Derry
I have bought a Radeon 4850 graphics card to play some games in Windows under boot camp. The card comes with a mini 6 pin power connector that connects to the graphics card and supplied lead has at the other end a 4 pin power connector to go into the computer's power supply by the looks of the diagram in the box. My question is do I need to connect this to the Mac Pro power supply? The ATI 2600 card in the machine doesn't look like it connects to another power supply.
If I do need to use this then I can only see two small power connectors on the motherboard near the fan, does anyone know anywhere in the UK that would sell a compatible power lead?
 
Yes, you need to connect the power cable because the Radeon HD 4850 draws more wattage than the PCI-Express 16x slot can provide on its own.

You should have a molex to PCI-Express 6-pin connector in the box, which you can plug into the second molex connector in the drive bay (where the Superdrive is).
 
Pressure said:
You should have a molex to PCI-Express 6-pin connector in the box, which you can plug into the second molex connector in the drive bay (where the Superdrive is).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, I found the power connector in the Superdrive bay but am a bit stumped how to get the power cable into the bay, it looks like a closed unit once it is put back in place. Any hints on how to route the cable through to it? This is probably blindingly obvious once you have done it once but I'm a bit flummoxed. My previous Mac was a G4 and all the wires where pretty accessible in it, the Mac Pro seems so sealed.
 
I found a power cable to connect my Radeon 4850 to the motherboard power supply. It is a 6 pin to 6 pin PCI Express power cable for a X1900 card.
I ordered it from http://www.svideo.com/x1900.html and they delivered it internationally using the US Postal service for a very reasonable price.

The 4850 card works great in Vista but the fan is on at full blast in OS X which is a bit annoying.
 
Anyone know the type of connection that is on the motherboard? I don't need the 6-pin PCI end, I just need a pigtail that connects to the G5/Mac Pro's power socket on the motherboard.
 
I have the same problem as the original poster, and am confused as to:
1) how to open up the drive bay
2) where in the bay is it?

I would rather not have to go out and buy an external power supply.

If possible, I'd like to know where exactly on the motherboard the connectors are. I think I know, roughly, but pictures would be nice?
 
Radeon 4850

Hi KPTChristopher,

How did you get your Radeon 4850 to work in your Mac Pro? I just purchased the XFX model and cannot seem to get it to work.
 
You will need to flash it to see it on the Mac side. You can follow similar instructions for creating your own version of a Mac-compatible XFX 4850 ROM at this thread. Be mindful that the thread is talking about the 4870, but everything should be similar.
 
super_kev said:
You will need to flash it to see it on the Mac side. You can follow similar instructions for creating your own version of a Mac-compatible XFX 4850 ROM at this thread. Be mindful that the thread is talking about the 4870, but everything should be similar.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I had actually been looking at the thread for the 4850 but I haven't been sucessful in getting my mac to boot at all with the 4850 in the system.
 
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