Failed getting my 8800GTX in my new Mac Pro!

keogh · 29 Jan 2008 at 19:04

Howdy,

Just tried plugging my 8800GTX PC graphics card into my Mac Pro and failed miserably.

Currently I dont have the PCI-E power cables as they are like gold dust in the UK, but I wanted to see if it would work. So I placed my PC next to my Mac Pro, and used the power from my PC PSU to the 8800GTX which was in my Mac Pro.

Well upon booting, the 8800GTX fans span, but I instantly got a VERY loud, uncomfortable siren/squelling noise. In the background I got the traditional Apple chime, but I got no output to my monitor? The graphics card, from what I could tell, was the one making the squel!

Just chuck the 8800GTX back in my pc and all is running fine now, so the card isn't borked... anyone have ideas?

Stupid question alert - but when I have the mac pro booted using the PCI-E power from the PSU in my PC, do I need to have my PC switched on? Obviosuly I have the power cord plugged into the socket, and the green LED is lit on my PC mobo, but does the actual PC need to be on to send the power to the graphics card? I assume not, and didn't try powering my PC!

ta!

keogh · 29 Jan 2008 at 19:10

ichabod crane said:
your power supply will need to be turned on surely?

Yeah the power supply is on, and sending power to the PC as the mobo light is lit, but does the actual PC need to be booted to send power to the cable? I'm not sure, I thought the power was always being sent regardless of the PC be switched on or not?

keogh · 29 Jan 2008 at 19:19

JG234 said:
Yeah, that squeeling noise is the card not getting enough power. That's what they do.

You must turn the other PC on, otherwise the PSU will just sit there on idle.

No, the other PC must be on.

That would explain it then, I'm not prepared to keep my PC on, so I'll just wait for the apple cables to be readily available!

cheers!

keogh · 29 Jan 2008 at 19:33

Concorde Rules said:
Or, you could do the PSU trip trick?

Paper clip in two of the main block holes = win

I thnk I'll wait for the cables, the thought of sticking paper clips in the PSU is somewhat frightning

keogh · 29 Jan 2008 at 19:57

The Asgard said:
If the mac pro is like the power mac you will need a different BIOS on the card. Unlike the PC I believe the Bios contains some sort of driver that Apple use to boot into the OS. Might have changed now?

Na I know it won't work in OS X, I was using it for boot camp and Vista. I won't even bother with trying it for OS X, it defintely wont work