Existing Mac Pro Graphics upgrade to NVIDIA GeForce GTX ~690

[Shmaff]

Hi, I'm new to this community and have been reading these threads so far:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/buying-advice/66684-gtx-690-working-mountain-lion.html
http://www.tonymacx86.com/buying-advice/74681-gtx-690-mac-pro-hackintosh.html
http://www.tonymacx86.com/graphics/79359-quick-question-about-gtx-690-10-8-2-a.html

I'm not set on the GeForce GTX 690 as my final choice, however, not having the SLI working in Mountain Lion isn't a big issue for me because I'm really looking for the performance gain in my Boot Camp Windows 8 install. Having no SLI support logically means that Mac OS can only use one if the two GPUs. Out of curiosity, does this effectively halve (1/2) the performance? AND if SLI is ever supported on Mac OS, please let me know!

If necessary, I think I would be willing to try a single GeForce 670 or 680 given that they produce relative performance gains...

I've been reading that it's not advisable to use a 6 to 8 pin power converter as issues may occur with burning out a device. Would it make sense then to replace the existing PSU? I've read that someone else added an external PSU to their Mac Pro to get around this issue (Note: this created its own issues where the fans would spin up at full speed when their computer went to sleep). Does replacing my PSU complicate things at all? Perhaps my devices that require 6 pins can use an 8 to 6 pin converter with a new PSU or maybe a new PSU can offer both 6 and 8 pin solutions for multiple devices? Are there additional factors I need to consider in this scenario aside from voiding my warranty? Perhaps a change to the BiOS IF I even have access to such a thing on Mac -- From what I recall, I've only ever been able to modify the BiOS on a Windows PC.

I know there's a lot of questions in there, but I do appreciate any and all feedback!

Thanks!

Specs (all stock components with exception of some additional HDDs):
12-core Mac Pro, Mac OS 10.8.2 Mountain Lion, Boot Camp Windows 8 Pro, 10 GB ECC RAM, 512 GB SSD, 2 TB HDD, 1 TB HDD, 160 GB HDD (none RAIDed), single monitor Apple 27" Cinema Display (2560x1440)

 

[StickyS]

Hi, I'm new to this community and have been reading these threads so far:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/buying-advice/66684-gtx-690-working-mountain-lion.html
http://www.tonymacx86.com/buying-advice/74681-gtx-690-mac-pro-hackintosh.html
http://www.tonymacx86.com/graphics/79359-quick-question-about-gtx-690-10-8-2-a.html

I'm not set on the GeForce GTX 690 as my final choice, however, not having the SLI working in Mountain Lion isn't a big issue for me because I'm really looking for the performance gain in my Boot Camp Windows 8 install. Having no SLI support logically means that Mac OS can only use one if the two GPUs. Out of curiosity, does this effectively halve (1/2) the performance? AND if SLI is ever supported on Mac OS, please let me know!

If necessary, I think I would be willing to try a single GeForce 670 or 680 given that they produce relative performance gains...

I've been reading that it's not advisable to use a 6 to 8 pin power converter as issues may occur with burning out a device. Would it make sense then to replace the existing PSU? I've read that someone else added an external PSU to their Mac Pro to get around this issue (Note: this created its own issues where the fans would spin up at full speed when their computer went to sleep). Does replacing my PSU complicate things at all? Perhaps my devices that require 6 pins can use an 8 to 6 pin converter with a new PSU or maybe a new PSU can offer both 6 and 8 pin solutions for multiple devices? Are there additional factors I need to consider in this scenario aside from voiding my warranty? Perhaps a change to the BiOS IF I even have access to such a thing on Mac -- From what I recall, I've only ever been able to modify the BiOS on a Windows PC.

I know there's a lot of questions in there, but I do appreciate any and all feedback!

Thanks!

Specs (all stock components with exception of some additional HDDs):
12-core Mac Pro, Mac OS 10.8.2 Mountain Lion, Boot Camp Windows 8 Pro, 10 GB ECC RAM, 512 GB SSD, 2 TB HDD, 1 TB HDD, 160 GB HDD (none RAIDed), single monitor Apple 27" Cinema Display (2560x1440)

I recently did research for a high-end gaming machine, but $1000 on the GPU(s) was out of the question. I researched just for fun, and quickly found out that 2x680's OR EVEN 2x670's would be preferable to one GTX 690. This is because of a couple reasons. 1: Cooling-The 690 has only ONE fan, which at load is quite loud and doesn't actually do a very good job of cooling down the GPU's. 2: Pricing-the price of one 690 is ~$1000, while two 670's is MUCH cheaper, more around the $800 mark, while two 680's are about $1100. Two 680's will provide <5% performance loss to literally the exact same performance as the 690, but are overclockable very easily. Two 670's will provide equivalent performance to that of the 690 with a lot of overclocking, but with moderate overclocking will match the 690's performance.

I'd say either go with two MSI Lightning GTX 680's, or two Gigabyte Windforce 3 GTX 670's, because of cooling, performance, and cost.

EDIT: With regards to power supply, I'd also say go with 670's or 680's because they use common/regular power connectors. IDK which power supply you have right now, but it probably doesn't support 680's in 2-way SLI. Go with 750W+ either from Corsair or Seasonic, AX or X series respectively.

 

[Shmaff]

Thanks for your feedback, StickyS! This is just a guess but I probably have this 980 W power supply or greater already, which is obviously more powerful than your suggestion. I say "greater" because the linked web page says that it's designed for quad-core machines -- I have a 6-core x2 machine.

Your advice about 690 vs. 670/680 is helpful. My concern with using more than one card is the power/noise... Though, your point about having a single fan on the GTX 690 is a good one. Perhaps other manufacturers offer more fans? I'll keep looking.

 

[StickyS]

Thanks for your feedback, StickyS! This is just a guess but I probably have this 980 W power supply or greater already, which is obviously more powerful than your suggestion. I say "greater" because the linked web page says that it's designed for quad-core machines -- I have a 6-core x2 machine.

Your advice about 690 vs. 670/680 is helpful. My concern with using more than one card is the power/noise... Though, your point about having a single fan on the GTX 690 is a good one. Perhaps other manufacturers offer more fans? I'll keep looking.

Regards to PSU: Upgrading it is definitely my advice, who knows who made it/when it was made. Also, having an efficient, reliable PSU should definitely be considered when upgrading to a high end power consuming machine, like a six core gaming one. I have an X-850W from Seasonic to power my 3770k and 1x670, will definitely upgrade to 2x670's later. I recommend Corsair's AX or HX PSU's, or Seasonic X-Series PSU's, 750W+.

Regards to GPU: First, the 690 w/extra fans. A 690 with more than one fan does not exist-I think there are 4-6 different models offered by EVGA and ASUS right now, all have a single small fan. for the 670/680 sli power/noise concern, any reference designs' noise will get very noisy when demanding a lot of the gpu. As soon as you step into custom PCB's(i.e. any card not manufactured by EVGA for the most part), sound will go down dramatically. I spent a lot of time researching the GPU for my build, I wanted performance and acoustics. I ended up choosing between the Gigabyte GTX 670 and the MSI Power Edition GTX 670. I ended up going with the Gigabyte after loads of research. For power consumption-I think a 750W or more PSU would be safe, more if you REALLY want to be safe.

EDIT: Am also going to give advice on specific GPU's and VRAM. I would advise against triple slot GPU's because they are extremely heavy and take up a ton of space in your computer case-also, some triple slots might not fight with spacing on some motherboards. For VRAM, 1GB is enough for 1920x1280 to meet most monitors caps at 60MHZ, so about 1GB per screen is a safe bet. Two 2gb cards would be perfect for three monitor gaming. The 670 I would recommend is the Gigabyte Windforce 3 GTX 670, and the 680 I would recommend is the MSI Lightning GTX 680.