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Uses of PCI slots?

Loa

Loa

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 5, 2003
1,733
79
Québec
Hello,

Simple Q: I know these slots can be used for GPUs and sound cards, but what other uses are there?

Update: I'll update this topic as answers come in:

-GPUs
-Sound Cards
-Expansion cards for USB 2-3, Firewire, eSATA, SATA3
-TV Tuner cards
-RAID cards
-Fibre Optic cards
-In-Circuit Emulation (ICE) In-Circuit Programming (ICP) controller boards. (Search for JTAG or BSDL)
-NI-PCI-8254R and NI-PCIe-8255R For NI LabVIEW DIO.
(Yep, I had the same reaction reading those two... Uhh? hahaha)
-WLAN cards
-ISDN cards
-NICs
-Hardware encoding cards


Thanks

Loa
 
So, please do... go on I mean... :p

I'll add two:

  1. In-Circuit Emulation (ICE) In-Circuit Programming (ICP) controller boards. (Search for JTAG or BSDL)
  2. NI-PCI-8254R and NI-PCIe-8255R For NI LabVIEW DIO. :)
 
Network adaptors:

ISDN - cards

WLAN - cards, not made by Apple but compatible with good MIMO technology and external antennas (Ralink chips)

USB 3.0 - pretty soon

eSATA and SATA3
 
Tesselator said:
So, please do... go on I mean... :p

I'll add two:

  1. In-Circuit Emulation (ICE) In-Circuit Programming (ICP) controller boards. (Search for JTAG or BSDL)
  2. NI-PCI-8254R and NI-PCIe-8255R For NI LabVIEW DIO. :)
Click to expand...

:eek: I'm not the only one? :p

I would have thought you'd list things along the lines of video capture cards. :D
 
pci fan cards to improve circulation if you feel air circulation isn't good enough in a mac pro yet. ;)

well, due to rather powerful video card options these days, it may make good sense to "waste" one of these slots to ensure sufficient cooling and also, hopefully it allows one to operate at a quiet enough situation.


p.s. i'm wondering if we will be able to add a 3G or 3.5G card to allow us to surf on the move. just think, an oversized iphone with a 30" LCD ... the mac pro in the car boot or something. Hahaa :D never mind tethering
 
AmpCoder said:
You can put in expansion slots for USB and Firewire, add TV tuner cards, etc.
Click to expand...

+1 on the USB, always the first card to go in for me. Much neater than having an external powered USB hub with messy tangle of cables on the desk (or wherever you put it) and no need for yet another power adapter and occupied wall socket.
 
Kind-of along the same lines as WLAN and Fiber-optic... Network Interface Cards, for all sorts of Ethernet speeds. Just a more general term.

Also, cards that will enable hardware encoding, mainly for video formats such as H.264. Matrox makes one....
 
Question ...

Is there a card out there which allows one to use the Apple Remote with the Mac Pro? It uses IR, does it mean line-of-sight is a must? Any thoughts and links? :confused:

TIA!
 
nanofrog said:
:D

But where's the laundry list of capture cards? :confused: ;) :p
Click to expand...

NewTek gave me a few Video Toasters (worth $9k each) for that. But with firewire and solid-state media these days capture cards aren't nearly of as much use as they used to be. Unless you're still editing on an A-B-Roll system with frame accurate transport servos and machine control (read old school) I can't see a use for these any longer. Maybe for security monitoring or something? <shrug>
 
Tesselator said:
NewTek gave me a few Video Toasters (worth $9k each) for that. But with firewire and solid-state media these days capture cards aren't nearly of as much use as they used to be. Unless you're still editing on an A-B-Roll system with frame accurate transport servos and machine control (read old school) I can't see a use for these any longer. Maybe for security monitoring or something? <shrug>
Click to expand...
I wasn't sure, and thought they may still have a place in video editing. :eek:

From what I'm aware of for security systems, it's all gone digital.
 
iamcheerful said:
Is there a card out there which allows one to use the Apple Remote with the Mac Pro? It uses IR, does it mean line-of-sight is a must? Any thoughts and links? :confused:

TIA!
Click to expand...

You can also use the Logitech MX revolution mouse for that like me and hey, no peripheral clutter !

its really neat where you can program the extra buttons for specific programs, and best of all, its mac compatible.
 
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