dual gpu card

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dual gpu card

I am a musician running a Pro Tools 8 HD system which I cannot afford to update for now. It runs on a Mac Pro 5,1 under Snow Leopard with a Radeon 5770 HD card. I can also boot into Sierra from another drive to use recent music notation software – all working very well.

I'm getting to the point where I will need to update the latter option to at least Mojave for forthcoming notation upgrades and I believe the Radeon 5770 does not support beyond High Sierra. A second computer is also not an option.

Does anyone know whether I could add a second GPU card to the MacPro enabling it to boot into Mojave and use an HDMI switch for the monitors? I believe that the Mac would boot into Mojave providing there is a compatible card inside?

If anyone has any knowledge or experience it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Mac Pro

Posted on Oct 18, 2020 1:09 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 18, 2020 8:54 AM in response to hotfingers23

Then you may need to switch to a GT120 Mac-firmware card as your old-MacOS compatible card (that does not require aux power) plus a new card (all of which use at least ALL the aux power available in your Mac Pro.

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Answer 2

Oct 18, 2020 4:55 AM in response to hotfingers23

Replace the graphics card. You don't need the old one (or a switch).

Install macOS 10.14 Mojave on Mac Pro (Mid 2010) and Mac Pro (Mid 2012) - Apple Support

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Answer 3

hotfingers23 Author

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Oct 18, 2020 8:42 AM in response to Malcolm J. Rayfield

Thank you for you time in reply. I think perhaps I wasn't clear. I need to still be able to boot into Snow Leopard, hence the need for, potentially, 2 graphics cards. Those supporting recent OS updates will only work with OS10.8 onwards.

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Answer 4

hotfingers23 Author

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Oct 18, 2020 1:04 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thank you. I had thought I would use the old GPU which does not use those connectors. My query is whether, in principle, and power issues aside, I can use two GPU cards in the machine in this way. One, in effect, being used for each OS.

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Answer 5

hotfingers23 Author

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Oct 18, 2020 11:27 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

I'd not mentioned the powering issue as it didn't concern me, knowing that I could work around it. I simply asked about the principle of having two cards to facilitate dual-boot into 10.6 and 10.14 and I appreciate your reassurance on that. Thank you.

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Answer 6

hotfingers23 Author

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Oct 18, 2020 10:40 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

The MacPro has a processor update and power is not an issue. I just want to know whether there is any obvious reason not to have two GPUs installed so that I can boot from 10.6.8 and 10.14.

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Answer 7

Oct 18, 2020 11:42 AM in response to hotfingers23

Overall power may not be an issue, but aux power cords is definitely an issue. You have two little six-pin cords that supply aux power to your graphics cards. You said your 5770 uses one.

ANY new card you install will require at Least Both aux cords worth of power, and possibly more. there are no more connectors inside your Mac.

You only option that I can see is to substitute an older card that does Not require an aux power cord. Otherwise, you will need to disconnect the two aux power cord from your metal-capable card and re-install an older card whenever you want to switch.

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Answer 8

Oct 18, 2020 4:43 PM in response to hotfingers23

You have not mentioned having an old GPU that does not use any aux power cord. the 5770 uses one.

That is why I suggested the GT120, because it does not use any.

Yes the principle works, but as always, the devil is in the details.

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dual gpu card

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