video cards for a 2006 mac pro?

T

twoodcc

Limp Gawd
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Nov 25, 2009
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i have a 2006 mac pro that is only getting about 3,500 ppd running the smp client in OS X. i was thinking i could get more out of this system if i put in a few video cards to fold in windows.

now i'm not sure what cards will actually work with my mac pro. will this card work? and if so, how many can i put in there?

thanks
 
First find out how many PCI-E slots you have. However, any standard PCI-E card should work fine, at least in Windows. That 9800GT should work, although it isn't a particularly great deal, and the 1GB of RAM is useless for folding. You should take a look in the FS/T subforum and see if you can find any deals on used 512MB 8800GT or 9800GT cards if that's the route you want to go. GTX260s are also a great option for getting more PPD per GPU and per Watt.
 
thanks for the reply. so the 9800GT isn't the way to go? the system has 4 PCI-E slots, but not all are 16x. in fact, i think if i run 2 cards, then they run at 8x. not totally sure though.

i know some cards use 64efi or something, and won't work my older mac pro. so i just don't want to buy something that won't work. but do you think the GTX260 would work in there?
 
Can't comment on what would work and wouldn't but I will say you'll have better luck and quicker answers in the mac subforum (do we still have one?)

And as for slot speed, as long as it's at least 4x electrical, your good for folding
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
thanks for reply. i'll try in the mac subforum as well then. but if any card would work, what would be better? 2 x 9800GT or 1 x GTX260 ?
 
ok after posting on several different forums and searching online, i think it's safe to say that any pci-e card will work with my mac pro. but i have only 1 16x slot. i'm not quite sure about the other slots, either 8x or 4x.

but i only have 2 6-pin power connectors on the motherboard. i've read about a hack to get another one off the dvd-rom drive. but that's still only 3 total, so i can only run 1 card that uses 2 power connectors.

so with that in mind, what's the best card to get for folding?
 
ok i just got back from the store:

i got 2 x 9800GT for $70 each. i also got a GTS250. how will these do with folding?
 
Whats the wattage of your PSU ??
Adding two cards will mean you system will draw ~150-200 watts more folding.
As long as your PSU has this type of overhead, ~500 watts or better, then your good to go.
But if you have a low power PSU, less than 350 watts, then you'll need to upgrade the PSU to supply the cards with enough power.

Luck .............. :D
 
i think my PSU is rated at 1,000 watts. not totally sure though. but it's got 4 video card slots (1 double wide slot)
 
well i've got all 3 folding now. i was getting just over 12,000 ppd on the 353 pointers with all 3 cards, now getting about 10,800 ppd with the 787 pointers.

the temps are 73 C - GTS250, 65 C - 9800GT and 60 C - 9800GT.

everything running stock. considering those temps, should i go for another 9800GT? i've got one more slot for another video card in my mac pro.
 
Yeah, those temps are fine for adding another card. I recommend that you overclock your cards though, since you could most likely get at least 1k more PPD per card from doing so.
 
thanks for the reply. i don't know about overclocking though. these things are pretty loud already
 
but i did just add another 9800GT. just got it folding now also. we'll see how it goes overnight
 
well all 4 cards have been folding for a few days now. here are the temps:

GTS250 - 75 C
9800GT - 66 C
9800GT - 68.4 C
9800GT - 70.1 C

when should i be worried with temps? does that seem normal/ok?
 
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