01-31-2008, 03:02 PM

If I am planning on upgrading a Mac Pro to the nVidia Geforce 8800GT, does anyone know if that can support three displays at a time? I'm looking at two monitors and an HDTV as my setup. Just curious if it's the same as a PCs in that I'd need a second card, and if so, what kind of nVidia card as my second?

01-31-2008, 03:33 PM

Put the new card in the double-wide 16-lane PCI Express slot for two monitors

Use the old card and put it in a standard PCI Express slot to run a third monitor

for other cards you might want to use:

http://www.everymac.com/systems/appl...re-to-buy.html

01-31-2008, 04:43 PM

You will need two graphics cards to support 3 monitors. If you upgrade to the 8800 GT, you will not get the 2600 XT. You will need to purchase the second card on your own.
I would suggest the 2600 XT as the second card to display the TV. I can run videos on both my monitor and TV at the same on my Mac Pro and playback looks fine. The 2600 XT will be more than enough for the TV. Plus, adding a second 8800GT will run an extra $350.

02-02-2008, 10:55 AM

In the Apple store upgrading to that card is only $200 more, but I just realized that the monitors I have now are VGA inputs so unless I can find a cord to make them DVI it'd be kind of pointless for me to get a card with two DVI inputs.

Also, wouldn't using an ATI and nVidia card simultaneously not work?

02-02-2008, 11:04 AM

The Mac Pro comes with a DVI to VGA adapter. If you need extras, Best Buy sells them for $12. They can be found at any computer retailer. About the ATI nvidia think, I don't know. I will look into that.

02-02-2008, 11:15 AM

Does the quality degrade though if you use one of those adapters?

02-02-2008, 11:22 AM

That's a trick question. I don't know if the adapter itself will degrade the quality but the DVI connection has a higher picture quality than a VGA connection. I would assume there quality is no different than what you're seeing now. I've used one before and didn't see anything that bothered me in any way.

02-02-2008, 11:29 AM

I have one of those adapters hooked up to my current displays and always noticed a clear difference between the two. However, I never realized that the one with the adapter was the one with the better color quality and the one I always preferred to run games and stuff on.

02-02-2008, 11:35 AM

That's the thing, no two monitors are exactly alike, even same models. High end graphics monitors can display 99% of the Adobe RGB gamma but have real low refresh rates so they won't look good for a gamer. A gaming monitor won't have the color accuracy a professional would be looking for. If you do both, it's good you have one for each activity but you can't ever compare the evenly.

02-02-2008, 02:45 PM

Thanks Bry,

I do a lot of stuff with Adobe's Creative Suite and don't really have any problems with colors or anything. I do a little bit of gaming and they're fine for that too. Guess I just need to find a cheap 256 nVidia card as my second.

02-02-2008, 02:48 PM

If you're going to use OS X, you need to use a Mac compatible video card. You're limited to what Apple sells really.

02-02-2008, 03:11 PM

Well, I spoke to an Apple rep online and she said I would be able to install the 8800 GT and the HD 2600 XT in the Pro and they'd both work.

02-02-2008, 06:54 PM

Well that ought to shorten my search time considerably then

02-02-2008, 07:03 PM

I spoke with the Apple Genius about my situation today. I am thinking about adding a second graphics card to my Pro. I can't find anyone that sells them much cheaper than Apple. I was thinking if I can find a used x1900 XT or flash one myself, it'd run about $200 compared to a new 7300 GT which is $150 still. I asked if I could run the 7300 GT and the x1900 XT and he said it wasn't a problem.
Running and ATI and NVIDIA card shouldn't be a problem.