Any nVidia card supported by mac ?

Yes provided you have a later OSX version (Yosemeite is one such version) but some cards do require additional drivers. For details see:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1440150

Frequently Asked Questions About NVIDIA PC (non-EFI) Graphics Cards - MacRumors Forums

For newer i.e. better Nvidia cards you first need to make sure your Mac is running Yosemite - preferably 10.10.5. This has some support built-in for Nvidia cards enough for the Mac to boot and run. However if the card is a PC one without Mac firmware then you will not see anything until it has finished booting nor will you be able to do pre-boot things like holding down the Option key to select an alternate boot drive.

You can also optionally install Nvidia's own drivers which are newer and better than Apple's and are needed to add support for CUDA as used by some software e.g. Adobe After Effects. and also to support the newest and best Nvidia cards e.g. the GTX 980.

The GTX 980 is currently the best Nvidia card for the Mac Pro and also only needs 2 x 6pin PCIe cables which is all the Mac Pro has. The GTX 980 Ti needs 1 x 6pin plus 1 x 8pin which exceeds the Mac Pro built-in power and you would therefore need an additional power supply for that card which is possible to do.

have a look here ... http://www.macvidcards.com/store/c2/Nvidia_GPUs.html ... they have a lot of mac-patched video cards.

my choice has been the gtx 980 ti. Works perfect in my mp 2010.

greetings from germany

Chris

ciardogs wrote:

I have 10.10

What about the wattage?

apple says that the pci power things have a max of 300 watts

all of the 900 series say they need 400 watts

Make sure you upgrade to 10.10.5 if you are only on 10.10.

I suspect the reference to needing 400 watts is that the computer needs to have a PSU of at least that capacity so that it can both provide the power needed for the GTX 980 or GTX 970 and still have enough power left for the rest of the computer. The Mac Pro has a 980w power supply.

The GTX 980 or GTX 970 require 2 x 6pin PCIe cables this means they need no more than 75w + (2 x 75w) = 225w

The GTX 980 Ti requires 1 x 6pin PCIe cable plus 1 x 8pin PCIe cable this means it needs up to 75w + 75w + 150w = 300w

The Mac Pro can only provide the standard PCIe slot power of 75w plus up to two 6pin PCIe cables, so the Mac Pro can safely power the GTX 980 and GTX 970 but not the GTX 980 Ti. For the GTX 980 Ti you would require an additional power supply. This can either be fitted internally in the optical bay area by removing the DVD drive, or by connecting it externally and routing the cable through an empty PCIe slot opening.

See http://www.macvidcards.com/store/p42/Nvidia_GTX_980_4_GB.html

and http://www.macvidcards.com/store/p45/Nvidia_GTX_970_4_GB.html

and also http://www.macvidcards.com/do-i-need-an-additional-power-supply.html

@John: are you sure the gtx 980 ti needs extra power supply? macvidcards writes in their product description that it doesnt need extra power supply, and that the two 6pin cables are enough.

And the technical specifications at nvidia say it uses 250 w:

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-980-ti/specifications

greetings from germany

Chris

MacVidCards specs list the GTX 980 TI as coming with a 6pin cable and an 8pin cable. If a video card comes with an 8pin cable then that means the manufacturer thinks it might need more than the 75w of a 6pin cable. As I detailed 75w + 75w + 150w = up to 300w. If Nvidia says it needs 250w then that is more than the 225w that officially is possible via 2 x 6pin cables plus the PCIe slot itself which as per my previous reply is only 225w.

Since 250w is only slightly more than 225w and since the video card will not be running full blast most of the time MacVidCards are probably right in saying that it will work without a problem. However it is as explained above officially exceeding the capacity. What might in theory happen is that it tries drawing 250w and this being over the limit might burn out the connection on the Mac Pro logic board, it is however very unlikely to happen for this small difference.

What you will need is to get an 8pin to 6pin adapter since the Mac Pro has no 8pin connectors. Something like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/kenable-Express-Graphics-Power-Adapter-y/dp/B00APNIYKU/ You will then need to get a second 6pin PCIe cable like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-pci-e-video-922-7128-922-8446/dp/B002NPZSQ6/

Actually you might need two of those 6pin cables i.e. the second item I listed. PCs use a slightly different PCIe connector to what Apple use, if the card comes with a PC style 6pin cable then it will not fit. If your buying the card from MacVidCards ask them what they supply, if your buying it elsewhere it will only have PC style cables.

Note: For the 8pin adapter as above, the way that will work is you use a standard Apple style 6pin cable, connect it to the 8pin adapter and then the adapter plugs in to the 8pin socket on the video card.

How about a replacement card by any manufacturer that doesn't require a separate power cable? It doesn't need to have 3 GB of memory. Just a card that maybe is a step above the original card. Mine is an ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT.

At some point Apple system upgrades may require a better video card. So what to do? I'm not going to buy a new MacPro. If my card dies does Apple have a replacement card?

A GT 120. It has 512 MB of memory. I think a card with greater memory will require external power.

http://www.macvidcards.com/store/c2/Nvidia_GPUs.html

Any replacement card that does not need a power cable is if anything likely to be a lower performing video card. As Illaass says the GT 120 is such an example. Even a basic level card like the Radeon HD 5870 needs a single 6pin PCIe power lead.

Performance is not solely tied to the amount of memory a card has but typically a higher performing card also has more memory. If you are using Apple's Final Cut Pro X then an AMD card i.e. a Radeon card is the best choice, if your using Adobe applications like After Effects, Premier, PhotoShop, etc. then an Nvidia card is the better choice.