Need good advice for an older setup

[albee1952]

I acquired a bunch of older stuff with HD3 cards in a G5(not booting). Given that early Mac Pro's are a bargain, I'd like to run PT10HD, so which Mac Pro and OS will work with:
Early HD3 cards(PCI)
PT 10HD(which I have)

I have tried to understand the compatibility grid, but there is some confusion there(especially for a Windows guy) and it looks like Leopard is the right OS. It also appears that things can change if I use an expansion chassis(the package also came with a brand new Digidesign-branded chassis, which I could move the cards into).

[off the wall]

Originally Posted by albee1952

I acquired a bunch of older stuff with HD3 cards in a G5(not booting). Given that early Mac Pro's are a bargain, I'd like to run PT10HD, so which Mac Pro and OS will work with:
Early HD3 cards(PCI)
PT 10HD(which I have)

I have tried to understand the compatibility grid, but there is some confusion there(especially for a Windows guy) and it looks like Leopard is the right OS. It also appears that things can change if I use an expansion chassis(the package also came with a brand new Digidesign-branded chassis, which I could move the cards into).

If those are truly older cards in an older G5, they may be PCIX, not PCIe, which all mac Pros are. HD3 cards came in two flavors PCIX and PCIe. I used to run a PCIX to PCIe expansion chassis when I first moved to a Mac Pro until I upgraded to HDX cards.

[albee1952]

Hmm, they are in a G5 at the moment so I do assume they are PCIx. I was led to believe the first 1,1 and 2,1 had PCI slots(of course, by someone trying to sell a 2,1 Mac Pro). The chassis is PCI with a PCI card, so that doesn't help much. I suppose I could scrounge a working G5, but will that run PT10?

[JFreak]

Don't assume, check. If it is the very latest generation G5 PowerMac, it has PCI-express. Other G5's have PCI-X.

If it is PCI-X the OSX version you want to be using would be latest Tiger, and PT version that works most stable would be 7.2 which was the last PPC-only version. Whatever you do, skip 7.3 as it was first Universal Binary release and very buggy.

Leopard was a stopgap solution during PPC-Intel transition. Sure, it introduced new features such as Time Machine, but it was not really good for PPC and not really good for Intel. But if you go there, you want to be using PT 7.4.2 not PT8.0, and there is zero chance of getting heat to work on PPC as it was released in PT 8.1.1 which requires Intel.

[albee1952]

Thanks for that, I did manage to find specs on the early Mac Pro's and off the wall is correct that all Mac Pro's have PCIe slots. The cards I have are in long black slots and have long contact strips, so I guess that makes them PCIx. I see now why the chassis was not being used as it has shorter white slots(probably PCIe x16?). Not short like the blades on the PCIe cards I have seen, but the cards I have will not fit the chassis(and the chassis card that goes in the tower will not fit the G5 slots either). I guess this leaves me finding another G5 or a suitable(and old) Windows 7 PC that can take the cards and run PT 10HD. Anyone remember a good mobo for that vintage of PC?

Also, do my PCIx cards fit in standard PCI slots(thinking about a PC)?

[JFreak]

PC's are a bit tricky about cards. HD cards are full length, so the slots need to be physically capable of taking full length card. Maybe you would be more happy with old Magma PCIX-to-PCIe chassis/card, if you like Mac Pro better? Or simply just work with you have and install what I told you.

Which license verions you have by the way? Or have you not yet bought one? If you do not have old license, then my best bet would be trying to find 7.2 license second hand from fleebay and just install Tiger to your G5.

[JFreak]

I mean... if you don't have and cannot find 7.2 or 7.4.2 or 8.0 license you can forget about that G5 PowerMac

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by JFreak

I mean... if you don't have and cannot find 7.2 or 7.4.2 or 8.0 license you can forget about that G5 PowerMac

I see, I thought the G5 could go to Leopard and it looked like that combo would work with PT10. I suppose somebody must have an older HD license if I am stuck with a G5. Trying to keep my cash outlay as small as possible on this. I read some posts about a Jetway motherboard that had 4 PCI slots and those can be found on eBay with a quad CPU for a bargain(less than a used G5) and I have case/graphics and PSU in a closet. I'm just a bit out of my wheelhouse on this older stuff

[hurdy gurdy]

If you decide to go there, let me know because if interested I could probably help out with a 7.2 or 7.4 HD license for a fair price.

Len B.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by albee1952

I see, I thought the G5 could go to Leopard and it looked like that combo would work with PT10. I suppose somebody must have an older HD license if I am stuck with a G5. Trying to keep my cash outlay as small as possible on this. I read some posts about a Jetway motherboard that had 4 PCI slots and those can be found on eBay with a quad CPU for a bargain(less than a used G5) and I have case/graphics and PSU in a closet. I'm just a bit out of my wheelhouse on this older stuff

No, PT10 requires Snow Leopard, as in Intel-only. PT has been Intel-only since 8.1.1 so highest you can install to that computer would be 8.0cs3 but your experience will be much better on 7.2.1 (Tiger) or 7.4.2 (first Leopard release, but if you can, skip Leopard altogether).