Decklink Extreme won’t fit in Mac Pro slot????

[Paul Provost]

mac pro has pci-e slots
you need a new decklink card

[Luke Maslen]

Hi,

The PowerMac 7200 (old beige computer) was one of the first Macs to use 33 MHz PCI slots. These PCI slots were continued through to the PowerMac G4 computers and were only available in the entry model PowerMac G5 computers.

The better and best models of PowerMac G5’s had PCI-X slots which were also backwards compatible with many PCI cards even though PCI-X cards were a different size.

In the last generation of PowerMac G5’s and the new Mac Pro’s, Apple has updated to PCI Express (PCIe) slots which are physically different and will not acccept either PCI or PCI-X cards.

Following is a picture of the PCI connection on your DeckLink Extreme:

The next picture shows the new DeckLink Extreme PCIe card with its much smaller PCIe connector:

As Paul mentioned, a new PCIe card will be required for use with your Mac Pro. If you have any other cards like SCSI or Fibre Channel cards, they will also need to be replaced with PCIe versions. Rather than replacing the DeckLink Extreme card with the PCIe version for $895, I would encourage you to consider the $995 DeckLink HD Extreme which is a PCIe card with HD and SD capabilies plus 14 bit analog video for maximum quality when working with analog hardware.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Sameer Shrivastava]

Hi,
can you tell me which was the last best version of g5 having pci slots so that i can fit my decklink extreme pci

thanks
sameer

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Sameer,

Any G5 with PCI-X slots will be fine for use with the PCI version of DeckLink Extreme. Just avoid the entry model G5’s with PCI slots. More information about this is available in the support note No video output from PowerMac G5 (PCI).

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Sean Oneil]

If you’re gonna spend the money to buy a new Mac, I would strongly consider getting an Intel Mac Pro and replacing your Decklink card with a PCIe model. Buying an older PowerPC Mac with legacy PCI-X slots is not a good long term investment just to hold onto one card. PCIe slots will be the norm for many years, and the Intel processors are much more powerful. Just my 2 cents.

Sean

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Sean,

I completely agree with your comments. If Kutmasta happened to find an inexpensive G5 with PCI-X slots, or if he has other PCI cards that would be expensive to replace, then a G5 with PCI-X slots might be worth considering. However where possible, I would definitely recommend stepping up to the Mac Pro (and use PCIe cards). It’s an awesome machine 🙂

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design