How compatible is the EVGA Nvidia GTX 970 graphics card?

hummey

Moving the card to slot 3 slows it down substantially, as slot 3 does not have the largest, widest connectors feature in slots 1 and 2 (bottom-most slots). That may fix the problems, but it is at a performance price.

I am looking at the EVGA GeForce GTX 970, and the card appears to have a 8 pin and a 6 pin power connector, does this require some sort of an adaptor? Or can you merely use a 6 pin cable inserted correctly?

Is anyone familiar with this card, does it work well, in a Mac Pro (have a 3.1 now, may go to a 5.1 down the road)

There are so many different versions of these cards, its hard to know what may or may not work. Is there a different version of this card that's preferred?

Thanks for any feedback..

>>Or can you merely use a 6 pin cable inserted correctly?

the standard 6-pin connection is expected to carry 75Watts. The eight-pin connection provides 150Watts. I don't think they are interchangeable.

>>There are so many different versions of these cards, its hard to know what may or may not work. Is there a different version of this card that's preferred?

look for one that has only two 6-pin connectors required. More than that will require extraordinary measure to get enough power.

Thanks Grant, still not very clear. specially when your making a PC card work in a Mac with or without getting it Flashed with EFI support.

I am still looking around and perhaps a GTX 960will meet my need, not looking for super speed card, want to support a couple HD displays and one 4K display at 60hz.

I know that a 970 will do that If I can find the right model, but its tough for me to spend $400 on a video card. Any thoughts on a 960, its about half the cost of a 970..?

Your question about the power cord is answered accurately. They come with the right connections. But the drivers for Nvidia boards are not included in the OS updates, and judging by the fact that I just now (Sept. 2016) found out the hard way, the drivers won't be included anytime soon. When I decided to install a GTX960, but use a Quadra5000 driver, I was informed that I would need to install a new driver if I decided to upgrade the OS, and would need to keep the old 5770/80/90 board (and cable) around for interim use: install OS upgrade; shut down and swap old board back into computer; restart until a new Quadra driver is available. On the other hand, if you line up all your ducks in advance, it can be a smooth transition. If I'm wrong-and I wish I were- then we're all home free, but that's the kind of goat rodeo you're going to go through if you unthinkingly grab the latest OS upgrade without a driver upgrade in hand. Everything goes black and stays that way.