Best video card for cheese grater Mac and HDX?

[panamajack]

Originally Posted by johnnyv

. . . I've ordered some of the convertors and Y cables mentioned above. . .

About the QSI converters:

Without the converters, I have two 3840x2160 running at 30Hz on a Radeon HD5870 (2010 12 core MP). Neither require a converter: one is hooked up DVI, the other by mini DP.

However, this has only worked with El Capitan: When I boot into Mountain Lion, I have only been able to get one monitor at 3840 x 2160 and the other at 2560x1440 (same monitors, same video card, same cables).

On an early 2015 MBP (running El Capitan), I can get 3840x2160 @ 60Hz from the TB ports, or 3840x2160 @ 30Hz from the HDMI (same monitors as on the 12 core).

Just an FYI for anyone lingering a while longer on ML.

[johnnyv]

Originally Posted by panamajack

About the QSI converters:

Without the converters, I have two 3840x2160 running at 30Hz on a Radeon HD5870 (2010 12 core MP). Neither require a converter: one is hooked up DVI, the other by mini DP.

However, this has only worked with El Capitan: When I boot into Mountain Lion, I have only been able to get one monitor at 3840 x 2160 and the other at 2560x1440 (same monitors, same video card, same cables).

On an early 2015 MBP (running El Capitan), I can get 3840x2160 @ 60Hz from the TB ports, or 3840x2160 @ 30Hz from the HDMI (same monitors as on the 12 core).

Just an FYI for anyone lingering a while longer on ML.

Any idea what kind of success you'd have on Sierra?

[panamajack]

I was digging around on the web and noticed people started playing around with 4K monitors about the time Mavericks was released. They were more pricey then.

With prices in the $275 to $400 category for the 28" variety 4K goodness, and compatibility with the early Mac Pro hardware, seems like now is a good time to gather a few 4K monitors.

I have been holding off on Sierra. But I would be surprised if there was a problem.

Apple updated the video drivers for El Capitan, which gave new life to the old 5870 cards. The 4K video drivers supporting multiple 4K monitors on the 5870 card may be in Mavericks or Yosemite as well (not tested). Can't imagine they would go backwards with Sierra.

Mountain Lion supports a 4K and a 2K, just not sure if a different card would enable 4K Plus 4K. Maybe.

[djjazzy41]

Originally Posted by johnnyv

Any idea what kind of success you'd have on Sierra?

Just for reference, the setup I mentioned in an earlier post is running just fine on Sierra. You can see the basic specs of my machine in my signature.

[K Roche]

Originally Posted by djjazzy41

Just for reference, the setup I mentioned in an earlier post is running just fine on Sierra. You can see the basic specs of my machine in my signature.

so to clarify the Sapphire card you linked (out of stock right now hopefully it will come back in ) can go in the single bottom Pcie slot on my Mid 2010 Mac pro machine ( where the current video card is ) but needs the Y power adaptor ?

[djjazzy41]

Originally Posted by K Roche

so to clarify the Sapphire card you linked (out of stock right now hopefully it will come back in ) can go in the single bottom Pcie slot on my Mid 2010 Mac pro machine ( where the current video card is ) but needs the Y power adaptor ?

Yes; the video card is actually a double-slot card, but occupies the same space as the factory card. I installed mine in exactly the same location as the original Radeon card was installed. My machine is also a 2010 Mac Pro, and I used the Y cable I linked in the earlier post to connect to one power slot on the mother board and both power inputs on the card itself. The other power slot on the mother board was used to connect the power cable to my HDX card. I understand that there may be newer, more powerful cards out there that guys have used successfully, but I wanted one specifically approved and tested for the Mac, as I just needed one 4K display to run in conjunction with my Apple Cinema display. It has worked perfectly for what I needed. Hope this helps!

[K Roche]

Originally Posted by djjazzy41

Yes; the video card is actually a double-slot card, but occupies the same space as the factory card. I installed mine in exactly the same location as the original Radeon card was installed. My machine is also a 2010 Mac Pro, and I used the Y cable I linked in the earlier post to connect to one power slot on the mother board and both power inputs on the card itself. The other power slot on the mother board was used to connect the power cable to my HDX card. I understand that there may be newer, more powerful cards out there that guys have used successfully, but I wanted one specifically approved and tested for the Mac, as I just needed one 4K display to run in conjunction with my Apple Cinema display. It has worked perfectly for what I needed. Hope this helps!

Hey thanks, I have as per my sig PTHD native card and then the Samsung and PCIe card adaptor in the two slots above the Radeon so fitting into that slot is a requirement