Supporting the weight of a GTX 680 in a Mac Pro

[minifridge1138]

Hello everyone,

I recently purchased a gtx 680 for my Mac Pro (yeah, i'm only 2 years too late). I noticed that it doesn't have the "handle" part of the card like the AMD cards that goes into the slot near the fans. I'm not sure what to call it, but you can see it in the top of this pic on the side of the card away from the connectors.

This acts as a support to keep weight off of the PCI-E slot. I guess this isn't really a problem, but could I remove the plate from the bottom of my AMD card and put it on the Nvidia card?

I was just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on the matter.

Thanks!!

 

[ScottishCaptain]

I wouldn't bother.

The 680 GTX is a hell of a lot lighter then the 5870, and it's also a fair bit shorter too. The PCI-e slots in the Mac Pro are very well designed and extremely solid (especially with that fancy locking mechanism). Since it's a double width card, it an't going anywhere once you bolt it into the back with the retention bracket.

Mine won't flex or move at all. It's totally level with the chassis, and there's a good deal of clearance between the bottom of the card and the rubber insulation on the top of the CPU cage. It doesn't move at all, and I doubt there's much (if any) stress on the PCI-e slot- if there is, it's certainly not enough to do anything. You'd really have to push down on the back of the card to damage something. I suppose you might run into problems if you dropped the entire machine from a height of 2 meters, but if that ever happened then a loose GPU would be the least of your problems...

PS: The bracket from the 5770/5870 won't fit. I've already checked. There's no mounting holes for it. I suppose if you were really worried about this, you could design your own bracket and have it 3D printed, but again I don't know why you'd bother- the 680 GTX just isn't heavy enough to need it.

-SC

 

[Demigod Mac]

Backplate is what you're looking for.
Looks like all the shops are sold out of the 680 version, but several are on eBay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EVGA-GTX-680-NVIDIA-Reference-Model-Backplate-M021-00-000008-/131511883067

 

[Tucom]

Backplate is what you're looking for.
Looks like all the shops are sold out of the 680 version, but several are on eBay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EVGA-GTX-680-NVIDIA-Reference-Model-Backplate-M021-00-000008-/131511883067

That wouldn't be what the OPS is looking for - he's talking about the additional length out of the back of the workstation cards (HP, Dell, and Lenevo have these same retention slots for such GPUs to keep them in place) to further secure it in the Mac Pro.

However as SC said, it's unnecessary - it'd be cool to have just to have it, but keep in mind there are gaming PCs from boutique builders that don't have such installation features as they just assemble a PC with off the shelf components, and those GPUs bow down/sag a fair amount and there's no issues, even in shipping.

This is something I've thought about too as I have a GTX 680 Mac Edition on the way for my 5,1, and good to know it'll be fine, even during transit.

 

[Surrat]

That wouldn't be what the OPS is looking for - he's talking about the additional length out of the back of the workstation cards (HP, Dell, and Lenevo have these same retention slots for such GPUs to keep them in place) to further secure it in the Mac Pro.

However as SC said, it's unnecessary - it'd be cool to have just to have it, but keep in mind there are gaming PCs from boutique builders that don't have such installation features as they just assemble a PC with off the shelf components, and those GPUs bow down/sag a fair amount and there's no issues, even in shipping.

This is something I've thought about too as I have a GTX 680 Mac Edition on the way for my 5,1, and good to know it'll be fine, even during transit.

I have a evga 680 mac edition in my 5,1 and I recommend getting the optional backplate. They still show up on ebay and besides helping to cool the pcb of the card, it does help support the card in the mac pro. If you look closely, the far end the card, where the power plugs are, does sag down a bit when in the mac pro 5,1. The backplate would raise this up about 1/8 inch and should keep the card fully supported along its length and level.

 

[Tucom]

I have a evga 680 mac edition in my 5,1 and I recommend getting the optional backplate. They still show up on ebay and besides helping to cool the pcb of the card, it does help support the card in the mac pro. If you look closely, the far end the card, where the power plugs are, does sag down a bit when in the mac pro 5,1. The backplate would raise this up about 1/8 inch and should keep the card fully supported along its length and level.

I'll see how it is once my card arrives. I bought it direct from EVGA on the sale about a week ago, and I don't want to risk voiding the 1 year warranty just to save a little most likely inconsequential sag. I do like the idea of having it right properly level, though.

 

[DanielCoffey]

You could use a small round piece of rubber of roughly the correct thickness with some double-sided tape on the chassis side. The sort of hard rubber that case grommets are made of.

It could sit on the case and support the top corner of the card.

 

[minifridge1138]

I'll see how it is once my card arrives. I bought it direct from EVGA on the sale about a week ago, and I don't want to risk voiding the 1 year warranty just to save a little most likely inconsequential sag. I do like the idea of having it right properly level, though.

Yeah, I bought mine during the sale, too. I'm quite impressed with its performance of the 5870 that it replaces.

Gaming, photo editing, and video rendering are all faster. I'm looking forward to trying the Metal improvements in El Capitan.

Good luck!