Dual video cards on Mac Pros. Does this mean they support SLI?

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I noticed that the new mac pro's can hold 2 video cards. Does this mean they are SLI capable?



- Mark
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 83
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    They can hold 4 VC's so can the G5's, and you could use an SLI bridge I imagine, but what's the point?



    And do we need a new thread for every question? Just ask in an existing one. You and every other user that never uses this site it totally cluttering it up.
  • Reply 2 of 83
    I have a co-worker down there and he had told me that SLI is not supported by the Mac Pro video cards.
  • Reply 3 of 83
    sc_marktsc_markt Posts: 1,401member
    "They can hold 4 VC's so can the G5's, and you could use an SLI bridge I imagine, but what's the point?"



    I was just curious.

    Thanks for the reponse.



    - Mark
  • Reply 4 of 83
    It can use 4 video cards but likly only one in running at full x16 speed and are there power plugs for video cards in there new mac pro?
  • Reply 5 of 83
    Yes, there's power. It's just like the old G5. You are running low-powered cards (7300GTs) on x8 or x4 lane slots, so it can't do much fancy, but it can power a 23 inch display or two. Not an SLI solution.



    What might be interesting is if you had a dual-card dual-monitor situation, and a Windows setup using one, and OS X using the other, at the same time.
  • Reply 6 of 83
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    I was a bit perplexed about the lack of better graphics cards, but then I started to think it boils down to the 4500 QuadroFX. I think that the majority of Mac users who needed one stopped waiting for Apple to supply one, and bought a PC, and Apple got stuck with some inventory.

    I know of 3 people besides myself who did exactly that. It just took Apple far to long and I had no way of knowing if they were ever going to do it. You can only wait so long. I actually held out the longest of the 4 of us.

    But my point is in my small circle there were four of us not buying Quadro's from Apple who would have. We can not be only ones in that situation especially in 3D where PC's are in abundance. It got to be hard as hell watching everybody else's BOXX, or Homebuilt kick the hell out of anything they threw at it while I stood stagnant, and still comparatively.



    Although once Leopard comes out I'm going to sell my Alienware, and get one of these bad boys. I think that 3GHz monster is awesome! And I want it.



    On to SLI to stay on topic. Apple probably chose not to have the better SLI in one video card, or any better video card options because of some Quadro inventory issues, and fear. I imagine once sales get going on these Mac Pros (BTW I take full credit for all these names you know) and users start requesting better cards for gaming in the windows boot Apple will produce some better cards.



    My 2¢
  • Reply 7 of 83
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by onlooker


    wesome! And I want it.



    On to SLI to stay on topic. Apple probably chose not to have the better SLI in one video card, or any better video card options because of some Quadro inventory issues, and fear. I imagine once sales get going on these Mac Pros (BTW I take full credit for all these names you know) and users start requesting better cards for gaming in the windows boot Apple will produce some better cards.



    My 2¢



    it may be more then that like the intel chip set does not have the lanes for sli or the chip set can use it at all.
  • Reply 8 of 83
    Apple won't change video card options. When Nov. rolls around, they'll add the 8800GT, or the equiv. ATI, and maybe move up to a 7600GT on the low-end. This is as some Mac Pros get clovertowns (or the option exists).



    SLI isn't needed because Apple doubts people will use SLI'd Quadros, I bet. And they don't care about SLI'd X1900XTs for gaming.
  • Reply 9 of 83
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Joe_the_dragon


    it may be more then that like the intel chip set does not have the lanes for sli or the chip set can use it at all.



    Chipsets change. There will be an SLI dual-socket Intel chipset eventually, probably within 6 to 8 months. Whether or not Apple uses it is up to them.
  • Reply 10 of 83
    slugheadslughead Posts: 1,169member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sc_markt


    I noticed that the new mac pro's can hold 2 video cards. Does this mean they are SLI capable?



    - Mark





    The answer is no.



    The only reason to get more cards is to plug in more monitors. Plus, they don't offer the top of the line Nvidia anyway.



    The motherboard is not SLI compatible, so it won't work.
  • Reply 11 of 83
    Technically, the motherboard is compatible, as it supports P2P writes between PCI-E slots. All we're waiting on is the drivers.
  • Reply 12 of 83
    I don't think these support SLI, but perhaps they will make one.



    When I saw the 4 pci express slots i was like ... wow!



    I don't see why Apple wouldn't want SLI, it would 100% remove the fact the a mac can't play games, hell the 1900XT would play any game out here, but SLI would be a great option to have, so why limit them.



    I am also not happy they didnt offer the Dual GPU 7950GT2X - 2 gpu chips 1gb ram on the one card, I would prefer that over the 1900xt any day.



    Also Quadro, now i know they are for all the razzle dazzle stuff, like medical imaging and 3d modeling, but, wouldn't SLI be faster?



    Also, wouldn't the 7800 work for the MacPro with new drivers?
  • Reply 13 of 83
    tomhayestomhayes Posts: 128member
    Fair notice: I ordered a base system today. I ordered an ATI Radeon X1900 XT on a seperate order so the machine would ship ASAP.



    Q: Why don't we get SLI or Crossfire?

    The X1900 XT seems like a good, fast card for a BTO option. It's not the TOP of cards, but it's a good card for gaming. The only thing stopping other cards from working is drivers and firmware being written for them. Blame ATI and nVidia if we don't start seeing new video cards in a few months.



    Personally the only 3-D game I currently play is Unreal Tournament 2004, and I think this machine will be really fast for it.
  • Reply 14 of 83
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Joe_the_dragon


    it may be more then that like the intel chip set does not have the lanes for sli or the chip set can use it at all.





    Joe obviously didn't read what I said. I was referring to SLI on one card - The 7900GX2 or 7950GX2



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ZachPruckowski


    Apple won't change video card options. When Nov. rolls around, they'll add the 8800GT, or the equiv. ATI, and maybe move up to a 7600GT on the low-end. This is as some Mac Pros get clovertowns (or the option exists).



    SLI isn't needed because Apple doubts people will use SLI'd Quadros, I bet. And they don't care about SLI'd X1900XTs for gaming.





    Sorry Zach but your statement here stinks of bullshit.



    What, or how exactly do you know about what Apple wants?



    Apple is locked into intels current chipset, and until intel gets off their ass and does something about it, or Apple asks for outside help with their next board, depending on what intels future plans are for it, we will have to wait for any improvements. But how is it you know what they care about? It appears obvious that no other choices appeared in time to remedy the situation if they wanted to or not, being that no one has a solution for this yet.



    And you can't SLI a X1900XT it doesn't matter if they care or not.



    I think that's an overly bold statement seemingly saying you know what they care about just because it doesn't happen. Did you ever take into consideration that it hasn't happened anywhere, and no one has an SLI board for the woodcrest available?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ZachPruckowski


    Chipsets change. There will be an SLI dual-socket Intel chipset eventually, probably within 6 to 8 months. Whether or not Apple uses it is up to them.



    At least you caught your self and changed how that looked. You get points for that. Sorry for the lashing, but you were aching for one you know it.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DD_nVidia


    When I saw the 4 pci express slots i was like ... wow!




    The G5 had 4 PCI-E slots. This isn't anything different than the PPC version.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tomhayes


    Fair notice: I ordered a base system today. I ordered an ATI Radeon X1900 XT on a seperate order so the machine would ship ASAP.



    Q: Why don't we get SLI or Crossfire?

    The X1900 XT seems like a good, fast card for a BTO option. It's not the TOP of cards, but it's a good card for gaming. The only thing stopping other cards from working is drivers and firmware being written for them. Blame ATI and nVidia if we don't start seeing new video cards in a few months.



    Personally the only 3-D game I currently play is Unreal Tournament 2004, and I think this machine will be really fast for it.



    Everything you said was sound until you said "Blame ATI and nVidia".

    You can blame ATI for drivers, and cards, but you can't blame Nvidia for either. Nor can you blame them for this Mac Pro not having SLI . There is no SLI design for the woodcrest yet, but I am starting to think it's coming, and we will see it in a Mac. That's an opinion only. But Now that these have been released I see more people wanting it online than befiore. At least 5x the ammount.



    The Reason you can't blame Nvidia for cards or drivers is that Nvidia doesn't actually make video cards. Drivers they do supply, and they supply Apple with the exact source code that everyone else has, and Apple writes their own Nvidia drivers from nvidia's source code- So now you know.
  • Reply 15 of 83
    xsmixsmi Posts: 139member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by onlooker


    Joe obviously didn't read what I said. I was referring to SLI on one card - The 7900GX2 or 7950GX2









    Sorry Zach but your statement here stinks of bullshit.



    What, or how exactly do you know about what Apple wants?



    Apple is locked into intels current chipset, and until intel gets off their ass and does something about it, or Apple asks for outside help with their next board, depending on what intels future plans are for it, we will have to wait for any improvements. But how is it you know what they care about? It appears obvious that no other choices appeared in time to remedy the situation if they wanted to or not, being that no one has a solution for this yet.



    And you can't SLI a X1900XT it doesn't matter if they care or not.



    I think that's an overly bold statement seemingly saying you know what they care about just because it doesn't happen. Did you ever take into consideration that it hasn't happened anywhere, and no one has an SLI board for the woodcrest available?







    At least you caught your self and changed how that looked. You get points for that. Sorry for the lashing, but you were aching for one you know it.





    The G5 had 4 PCI-E slots. This isn't anything different than the PPC version.







    Everything you said was sound until you said "Blame ATI and nVidia".

    You can blame ATI for drivers, and cards, but you can't blame Nvidia for either. Nor can you blame them for this Mac Pro not having SLI . There is no SLI design for the woodcrest yet, but I am starting to think it's coming, and we will see it in a Mac. That's an opinion only. But Now that these have been released I see more people wanting it online than befiore. At least 5x the ammount.



    The Reason you can't blame Nvidia for cards or drivers is that Nvidia doesn't actually make video cards. Drivers they do supply, and they supply Apple with the exact source code that everyone else has, and Apple writes their own Nvidia drivers from nvidia's source code- So now you know.



    Take a look at this link. I think the SLI is a software issue with Apple. It may be coming.



    http://www.dell.com/content/products...=19&l=en&s=dhs
  • Reply 16 of 83
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by onlooker




    The G5 had 4 PCI-E slots. This isn't anything different than the PPC version.



    You've been caught by the oldest trick in the book: PCI-e ≠ PCI-X.
  • Reply 17 of 83
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by xsmi


    Take a look at this link. I think the SLI is a software issue with Apple. It may be coming.



    http://www.dell.com/content/products...=19&l=en&s=dhs





    It's not a software issue it's a hardware issue. The only real software issue would be that possibly Apple didn't releasing the SLI driver because they want the poor comparisons to true 16X SLI machines.

    Sure you can SLI two 16x cards, but you reduce both cards by half. because there is only one 16x lane. Being that SLI usually just renders every other frame (odd on one, even on the other) per card you can only go as fast as your slowest connected lane. Which would be your 8X lane. It's freggin pointless to use two 16x cards at 8X each when you can use one 16X card at 16X.



    So it is a hardware issue.





    Read what dell is doing with this setup. What a Joke



    Quote:

    Graphic Cards

    Please select graphics riser card for the following dual graphics option. After graphics riser card installation, the system has 2 available PCI-X slots and 1 available PCI-E X8 (wired) as x4. Note the graphic riser card option for dual graphics support must be ordered factory installed with this system - it is not available as an option after system purchase.Please match the Monitor Video Input Connector Type to the Graphics Card Display Interface (DVI / VGA). See Help Me Choose.Dell recommends DVI capable card for usage with Dell UltraSharp Flat Panel Monitors.



    Talk about getting ripped off. THere is only 1 8x lane and they are wiring it as two 4x PCI-E lanes,m and offering 16X cards. That is such a travesty of justice.



    Also, just so you know. Those are not listed as 5100 XEONS. I don't think they are woodcrests.
  • Reply 18 of 83
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Placebo


    You've been caught by the oldest trick in the book: PCI-e ≠ PCI-X.



    The last G5, with the dual-core processors had 4 PCI-E slots.
  • Reply 19 of 83
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Placebo


    You've been caught by the oldest trick in the book: PCI-e ? PCI-X.





    THe G5 had 4 total PCI-E slots. Including the main 16x Graphics slot.



    Quote:

    Originally posted @ the Apple store

    Two dual-core 2.5GHz PowerPC G5 processors
    1.25GHz frontside bus per processor
    1MB L2 cache per core
    512MB of 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-4200)
    250GB Serial ATA hard drive
    16x SuperDrive (double-layer)
    Three open PCI-Express expansion slots
    NVIDIA GeForce 6600 with 256MB GDDR SDRAM
    4 PCI-E slots/ 0 PCI-X slots.



  • Reply 20 of 83
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Sorry, I was thinking of the AGP generation, ignore me.
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