GTX 680 or HD7950 vid card and HDX-3 - how do i do power for the cards?

[TrackerLe]

At last, i go with the sata route, cause this is safe... You have to break the plastic clip...
The HDX Card needs <50w and the sata port of the MP delivers up to 55 watt... So there will be no problem... I am losing a hd/sata SSD Port, but my GCard works great with both powerconnectors from the cmp

[djjazzy41]

Originally Posted by Fidelis

The right way to do it is: one Mac Pro power connector with the split cable going to both HDX and to the video card. And the other Mac Pro power connector going the the second port on the video card. That is the way I do it. And you don't over power the Mac pro connectors because the HDX uses little power (just for the fan actually).


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What he said TrackerLe was right; connecting the video card the way I did finally ended up bricking my machine after 6mo. So now I have eaten my crow and found a way to connect everything the way Fidelis says to with my new HD7950 Sapphire video card. So far so good. Just wanted to follow up and post this in case someone else had read this thread and thought "I'll just do it the cheap and easy way that djjazzy41 did it and completely disregard the warnings of more experienced and technically savvy veterans like he did! What could go wrong?!?" Well.................Now you know.

[Fidelis]

OMG! Thanks for the report. Hope everything is ok now with your computer. All the best!


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[gearhead2010]

Originally Posted by djjazzy41

What he said TrackerLe was right; connecting the video card the way I did finally ended up bricking my machine after 6mo. So now I have eaten my crow and found a way to connect everything the way Fidelis says to with my new HD7950 Sapphire video card. So far so good. Just wanted to follow up and post this in case someone else had read this thread and thought "I'll just do it the cheap and easy way that djjazzy41 did it and completely disregard the warnings of more experienced and technically savvy veterans like he did! What could go wrong?!?" Well.................Now you know.

Hi there,

So what is the correct way to hook up the Sapphire HD7950 and an HDX card?

Many thanks,

gH

[djjazzy41]

Originally Posted by gearhead2010

Hi there,

So what is the correct way to hook up the Sapphire HD7950 and an HDX card?

Many thanks,

gH

The correct way is to use one of your power connections on the motherboard and go directly into one of the power in ports on the HD7950; nothing else connected to that power connection on the MB, and NO splitter cable. Use the second power connection on the motherboard to connect a splitter cable. Run one end of the splitter cable to the second power input port on the HD7950, and the other end of the splitter cable to the HDX card. Since wiring the card in this way, I have had no issues and the machine starts up as it is supposed to every time. I am feeding a large 4K monitor and an Apple Cinema Display off the HD7950. You may have to find the right combination of cables, but I believe links to some of the ones I used are included in earlier posts. One of the cables that came with the HDX card worked for me to get power from the splitter cable to the HDX card. I just made sure that both ends of the splitter cable matched up to the motherboard on one end and the HD7950 on the other end. The original cable that was in your MacPro to connect the motherboard to the factory video card will work for the other power connection to the HD7950. Hope this helps!

[1m1]

Originally Posted by TrackerLe

At last, i go with the sata route, cause this is safe... You have to break the plastic clip...
The HDX Card needs <50w and the sata port of the MP delivers up to 55 watt... So there will be no problem... I am losing a hd/sata SSD Port, but my GCard works great with both powerconnectors from the cmp

I'm in the same boat as your were. Just checking to see if this is still working well for you. Also, how did you adapt the larger 6 pin connector to the Avid cable which terminates in the mini 6 pin connector?

[Howardk]

Originally Posted by djjazzy41

The correct way is to use one of your power connections on the motherboard and go directly into one of the power in ports on the HD7950; nothing else connected to that power connection on the MB, and NO splitter cable. Use the second power connection on the motherboard to connect a splitter cable. Run one end of the splitter cable to the second power input port on the HD7950, and the other end of the splitter cable to the HDX card. Since wiring the card in this way, I have had no issues and the machine starts up as it is supposed to every time. I am feeding a large 4K monitor and an Apple Cinema Display off the HD7950. You may have to find the right combination of cables, but I believe links to some of the ones I used are included in earlier posts. One of the cables that came with the HDX card worked for me to get power from the splitter cable to the HDX card. I just made sure that both ends of the splitter cable matched up to the motherboard on one end and the HD7950 on the other end. The original cable that was in your MacPro to connect the motherboard to the factory video card will work for the other power connection to the HD7950. Hope this helps!

The above is what I did and it seems to me working fine, but concerns remain.

My video card is the Gigabyte R9 280X and although I am only HDX-1, I am still concerned that the power ports on the motherboard maybe on the edge with the extra current draw and eventually something will get the video card working hard enough that a trace will be damaged on the Mac Pro (2010) motherboard. Although there have been posts stating spec numbers, which is much appreciated. . . so far, with considerable googling, I cannot find direct specifications from the manufacturers for the current (milliamps or watts):
a) Gigabyte R9280x Video Card current draw on the two auxiliary connectors (Gigabyte Specs);
b) HDX Card Current draw on the Auxiliary connector; (Avid Specs)
c) Mac Pro mother board auxiliary power connector capacity (Apple Specs).

Strange that this info is not readily available from the video card manufacturer nor Avid nor Apple. Maybe my Google is not interested in this geeky stuff or I am blind. The video card specs, just say 600W power supply, which seems really high. Could it be the 600W is for a complete PC system, not just the video card, without regard for the CPU power required? Not sure on any of this. . . so not helpful.

Further thoughts or suggestions?

[drago76]

Originally Posted by TrackerLe

At last, i go with the sata route, cause this is safe... You have to break the plastic clip...
The HDX Card needs <50w and the sata port of the MP delivers up to 55 watt... So there will be no problem... I am losing a hd/sata SSD Port, but my GCard works great with both powerconnectors from the cmp

Hi, I'm in the same place right now, did you try this? Did it worked?

Luke

[drago76]

Originally Posted by TrackerLe

At last, i go with the sata route, cause this is safe... You have to break the plastic clip...
The HDX Card needs <50w and the sata port of the MP delivers up to 55 watt... So there will be no problem... I am losing a hd/sata SSD Port, but my GCard works great with both powerconnectors from the cmp

Hi, I'm in the same situation, have you try this! Did it worked?

Luke