-
Nvidia GTX 570 for Mac Pro Early 2003 3.1
Dear CC,
I’m sorry if a similar question has been asked previously, I’ve searched but I couldn’t find anything relevant and current.
We had a Mac Pro that we use for
Premiere Pro CC
After Effects CCMostly working with XDCAM HD, EX-CAM, some old Digibeta occasionally. Occasionally some Prores stuff (Alexa). We also own an Red Epic and an F55.
Current hardware setup is,
Mac Pro 2008 (3.1)
2 x 3.2 GHz Quad core Xeon
8 GB 800 Mhz DDR2 FB-DIMM
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256 MB
OS X 10.8.4Internal Drives
1 x 240GB 3G SSD (OS)
3 x 1TB WD Black (Striped Software Raid)External
2 x 4 Bay SAS drive bays used for storage (I think 3TB & 6TB)
1 x 8 Bay FC 4G (I believe it’s two arrays of Raid 5 striped) 3TB of usable spaceWe just recently upgraded the Ram and stock OS hdd, and are loving the performance increase, and I think maybe it’s time to look at the graphics card.
I was wondering if you think the GTX 570 is an appropriate card. It’s probably not worth spending more than $350 on such an old machine. I can get this card for just under $300 AUD shipped. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-Apple-Mac-Pro-Nvidia-GTX-480-1536MB-PCI-E-Video-Card-GTX480-570-285-Cuda-/261238888446?pt=AU_Components&hash=item3cd30d17fe&_uhb=1
It’s listed as mac compatible including boot screen, no external power supply and Cuda support. For Mac pro 2008.
Do you think this will have any real world performance increases for our workflow, or should we spend the money on doubling our RAM again?
Also we don’t care about FCPX, and I’m sorry if I’ve said something that don’t make sense I’m not an editor I just handle the IT department.
Regards
-
11 Replies
-
Hi Kallan,
I did a lot of research on this last year for my then new purchase of a used MacPro 3,1 Octo core 2×2.8 machine. You should know what path you are heading down before buying that card. BTW, it’s listed as a 480 not a 570. I could not recommend paying that much money for a GTX480.
Prices have come down on PC video cards like the 480 in the last 12 months since the introduction of the 6xx and 7xx Nvidia video cards in the last 12 months. This makes some new options available, see below and use google. In general the 6xx cards offer the same performance with less power consumption than the 5xx cards. BTW, here’s a good site for comparisons: https://www.hwcompare.com/12524/geforce-gtx-570-vs-geforce-gtx-670/
Some history:
The bad news for MacPro users desiring a Nvidia card is the only official mac compatible Nvidia PCI card released recently is a very expensive and often out of stock GTX680 (there was a GTX 285 and a GT120 in the past). This stranglehold on Macs and push towards ATI cards and FCPX use seems to be a strategy recently at Apple (sorry, OT). This lead a COW member Dave Pirinelli (aka: MacVidCards on ebay) to develop custom firmware for hacked PC video cards with the Mac EFI firmware on them (Mac uses EFI at boot and this provides the Mac’s grey boot screen). Read Dave’s post here( it’s the last one): https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/2/1017518#1017641 Also: https://my.creativecow.net/David-Pirinelli
I have read all over the internet Dave’s posts that the GTX 480 (the card you linked to on Ebay) requires more power than the MacPro power supply can provide. Over time this can ruin the power supply and other internals of the MP. Dave stated in one of his many posts on Netkas, MacRumors or his ebay ads, that he had to dial back the clock speeds on the GTX 480 and 580 to reduce the card’s power consumption, to be within the mac spec. For awhile his cards were the only option for MacPro owners and many members here may own one.Dave’s hacks were unfortunately pirated and since then many more eBay sellers have sprung up selling mac compatible cards. I believe your AUS seller maybe one such person. Your AUS seller also doesn’t mention if the clock speed has been dialed back. They may or may not know what they are doing. I’d stay away from 480 or 580 regardless. Dave is the source and it looks like he is on vacation but may have some cards up again soon.
The bottom lines is if you want to use an Nvidia card in the MP AND have an EFI boot screen you are limited to expensive: OEM GTX 680 or hacked cards. Dave is the source of the knowledge behind the hacked cards. Once COW member reported having a problem with a hacked card from him: https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/2/1032628 …FYI. YMMV.
The good news is Apple has started to roll most Nvidia drivers into the OS, and Nvidia offers even more up-to-date web drivers after every OS update.
The other option is if you are running 10.7.4 or later, and don’t mind losing your boot screen, you can buy a PC video card (again not a 480 or 580 due to power consumption) and get great results. I did this on my 3,1 with a GTX 470 I bought for $100 USD used and it worked well. There are many discussion on this on the internet. Here one: https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1440150&highlight=macvidcards
Please do your own independent research as the newer options may include the 7xx series, which I know nothing about.
Phillip Todd
Cinematographer -
Kallan, How did your vidcard search work out?
-
Hi Phillip,
Thanks for your response, it has been a huge help.
I first started looking at GTX 470, but couldn’t find one that was compatible with the Mac Pro 3.1 (Needs to been a non reference card). Well the ones I could find were about $500-$600 and not worth it for such an old machine.
I ordered some miniPCI 6pin to PCI 6pin power cables (2x) for the graphics card, and they will take a while to get here so I’ve got some time to do some more research.
I’m eying off a MSI N660-2GD5OC Geforce GTX 660, simply because I can get it locally and under $300. Will keep you updated.
Cheers
Kallan
-
Sounds like you are on the right path. Yes, you’ll need two power cables for any serious video card.
I assume the 660 you are looking at is a PC card. I see you are on 10.8.4. They work on 10.7.5 and above. Apple has the nvidia drivers in the OS, but, Nvidia always updates them a few days after every OS update.
You 1st need to install the Cuda driver (pref pane). 5.0.61 is the current version:
https://www.nvidia.com/object/macosx-cuda-5.0.61-driver.html
This is a pref pane which will report which driver is available to the card.If the apple driver is giving you trouble in your cuda program of choice, try the up-to-date web driver. There is a way you can revert back to the apple drivers built into the Nvidia sw (google for the instructions) or you can back them up manually.
The web updates can be found on the Nvidia site, I believe you need to search for Quadro drivers for mac (I find it hard to find the link within the Nvidia site, so I use google instead):
https://www.nvidia.com/object/macosx-313.01.02f01-driver.html
Your 660 card isn’t listed, but, is supported by these drivers. I think the GTX _70 cards (470, 570, 670) have been in the past easiest to install. I think those issues went away in 10.8.Regardless of the drivers, be aware using a PC card in a mac, you will lose the EFI boot screen you are accustomed to seeing. This only affects you if you need to boot at start up to another drive or use the recovery partition. You can use the pref pane “start up” disk and have a clone of your boot drive handy, should you need the recovery partition. Another recommendation is to hang onto the original mac card and if the machine is giving you trouble, swap back to your original EFI GFX card.
Best of luck. -Phillip
Phillip Todd
Cinematographer -
Hi Phillip.
The Mini PCI to PCI cables arrived today, so it’s time to pull the trigger.
Did you have any recommendations which build to use? Asus, EVGA, Gigabyte etc.
Kallan
-
All those brand are fine. Many people choose EVGA. I have an MSI GTX570 which works perfectly. it has a pretty complex cooler on it, and it stays really cool as a result. I’d stay away from the lesser known brands like Sparkel and Galaxy.
Phillip Todd
Cinematographer -
Hi Phillip.
The card arrived today.
For reference it was the Asus GTX660-DC20-2GD5 DirectCU II OC 2GB GDDR5.
It only needed 1 x 6 pin power cable. (miniPCI to PCI 6 pin).
I’m just trying to get CUDA working as per your advice now. Will keep you updated.
-
Hi Guys,
So I’ve manually added the card to the CUDA list, and it also now runs Final Cut Pro X which alone justifies the cost of the card. Haven’t really done any test exports yet, not really my area but not sure if that will improve.
Will feed you news as the editor hands it to me.
On a side note, anyone who is possibly thinking of updating their computer (any kind) to SSD… Do it! You will not regret it.
-
hi there hope you dont mine me quizzing you I have a mac pro 2.1 3.0 quad and have just ordered a PC version of a Gainward Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 “Goes Like Hell” 1.25GB 1280MB Graphics Card GLH….. do you know if i need to order new cables or will the ons allready connecting my NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 512 MB work just fine?
any help appreciated
cheers
jon
-
Looks like your card uses one 6 pin cable.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/opengl-workstation-graphics,1269-5.html
(open your case and verify for yourself)The GTX 570 uses two 6 pins Mini PCI to PCI cables. The longer ones, like these are easier to install:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Pcs-Apple-Mac-Pro-Tower-PCIe-Graphics-Video-Card-Power-Cables-5870-285-/261163688310?_trksid=p3284.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D21%26pmod%3D270862378214%26ps%3D54Kallan reported above that the GTX 660 uses only one. Check it out you might want to change your order?
Best
Phillip Todd
Cinematographer
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up