The Pesky Power issue with pascal 1080ti and titan

5/16/2017

So, as much as I'd like to ship off a few dozen of these babies we've been holding off due to lingering apprehension about power. I sent some cards to Barefeats.com for testing. He got FANTASTIC results, but was able to replicate my power issue.

Specifically, using any of the 3 cards (1080Ti, Pascal Titan-X and Pascal Titan-Xp) and running the CUDA-Z benchmark isn't a problem...until you hit the "Heavy Load Test" button. Then, with the Titan cards you will almost ALWAYS have an immediate shutdown. (within 2 seconds). With the 1080Ti this will sometimes require upwards of a minute, but still MOST will eventually shut down the machine. Oddly, the former "Power Virus" known as Furmark can be run for any length of time with few, if any, shutdowns.

Even more perplexing is that Hardware Monitor shows LOWER numbers than with the 980Ti and Titan-X Maxwell. So the power draw must be a very fast spike, faster than the 1-2 seconds refresh for the sensors.

I was hoping the issue was my aging 4,1/5,1 which has tested MANY cards. But Rob has found same behavior and posts here and at Netkas have had a few other people report the issue. In addition, one customer has reported that a 1080Ti he received will shut down the machine playing UT. He tested in other high draw situations and found the card stable.

We have found a solution that was tested and confirmed working by Barefeats. A cable that connects power from a SATA drive makes the computer continue running no matter what. I have found no way to cause the power issue using this cable. Some may not like this additional cabling. Sadly, the only other choice is to stick with a 1070 or 1080 (or two) or use external power.

I look forward to your thoughts and experiences. In fact, most people may never run into this issue using the Dual 6 pins inside the machine, but I need to make everyone aware of this before they buy. For the few we have already shipped (less than a dozen) we will offer either the additional power cable or a full refund (no 10% restock).

86 Comments

Evan Kultangwatana

5/16/2017 04:21:46 am

Very interested still! I have a TitanXP ready for flashing.

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Seth Goldin

5/16/2017 07:34:47 am

Thanks for this information. What are the proper power cables that can supply external power?

Vern Klukas

5/16/2017 10:10:41 am

I'm waiting for the flashing service to be expanded to the Titan XP, and have already decided that I'm going to mod my 5,1 machine's power supply by tapping in two 8 pin PCIe plugs to the power supply leads going to the backplane board. The 5,1 power supply is more than adequate to drive the cards (950W), the only downside is the position of the tap before the backplane board means that the Mac can't monitor the power draw and won't ramp up the power supply fans. This will also mean I can keep my current card in the machine which is a bonus.

Yours
Vern

Jonathan

5/16/2017 01:57:43 pm

Vern,

How does your solution compare to the SATA cabling solution?

Also, does your solution require soldering or anything more than just "connecting"?

Vern Klukas

5/16/2017 02:23:04 pm

Certainly better if you have a drive on the end of the SATA plug.

Except for losing the power monitoring it's a better solution but it requires taking the machine apart to an extent and soldering or using tap crimps to add a harness of two 8 pin PCIe plugs. I'm doing a solution that used 12 GA wires to minimize the thickness of the cable going from the top of the case to the mid section, then splicing them into the two 8 pin plugs that use 16GA wire. But you could just run the 16GA wires right up to the top. Definitely nota plug and play, but I can dig up the link I got the idea from.

Yours
Vern

Yukon Dave

5/16/2017 04:29:15 pm

Below is a link to what has to be the best description of the 2qty PCI on board 6 pin power ports I have seen. What is great is the two AUX ports can support up to 150W each if a proper 6 pin to 8 pin cable is used. 75W comes from the PCI slot. No need to use a Y connector or SATA power.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-pro-4-1-and-5-1-pcie-aux-power.2035519/#post-24366927

Surrat

5/16/2017 09:17:20 pm

Dont forget the Pixlas mod thread. This mod is the best I know for getting full power to your vid card.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/pixlas-4-1-mac-pro-mod.1859652/

Post #19 is when my 2012 MP was equipped with it, at the time I only had a 680 mac edition, but now have a Titan Xp installed, and its working perfectly, I have never had a power off from anything I have done.

Taylor link

1/15/2018 06:21:48 pm

Wouldn't this be easier or am I missing something?

http://www.mazze-aderhold.com/the-2010-macpro-and-the-gtx-titan/

Mandril420

5/16/2017 05:12:21 pm

Another option is the EVGA Powerlink. Since the 8 pin pulls 150W and the 6 pin 75W on the GTX 1080Ti using an EVGA Powerlink should balance the power pulling from both PCI booster cables on the motherboard preventing any of them from going over 8.0A which is when the shutdown happens. It's basically pulling too much from the 8Pin side.

Mandril420

5/16/2017 05:45:27 pm

Just tried this on my GTX 1080Ti. It still shutdowns even with the EVGA Powerlink. Will stick with my Pixlas mod I guess. Btw what kind of cable are you guys using Macvidcards? Dual Sata to 6Pin and Dual 6Pin to 8Pin?

Marius

5/16/2017 06:00:44 pm

I think if one does plan to run 250w cards, getting additional power is highly recommended.
When I was having issues with shutdowns back with the 780, even using MSI Afterburner to limit power draw in windows, power draw still sometimes spiked for a second above 100%.
I now run my gpu's with an external power supply and never had issues since. The card can use all the power it requires. I'm just using a standard pc power supply. Just wired the cables through the pci-e sleds.
Maybe there is a way to make 2 power cables which balance the power draw between the 2 sockets, basically link the 2. Then, the 8 pin would pull the power from both sockets instead from only one.

Anyway, I'm good for any GPU. Just make a note that users my need to get additional power to run the cards properly.

Cheers,
Marius

Dave @ MVC link

5/16/2017 09:36:11 pm

Guys, matters not a bit that one guy thinks a PCIE cable in 4,1 can carry 150 Watts. Utter gibberish in this discussion. The 4,1/5,1 will shut down if 1080Ti or either of the Titan Pascal cards is run at full tilt using the Dual 6 pins. End of discussion. Please read the post again. We've sold fewer than ten of the cards, 2 customers have not written to say they are experiencing shut downs. That's better than 20% reporting trouble.

The cards will require more power for a stable and happy life. Period.

Andrew

5/19/2017 05:50:07 am

Hi!
Have you tried cards with Dual 8 Pin Power connectors?
For instance, any custom 1080Ti from ASUS/EVGA/MSI etc.

In my experience, it's matters how the card consume and pulls power from the two sockets. With one 6 and one 8 pin socket the reference card's power draw is uneven. This may cause overwhelming peaks for the Mac power trace which is used with the 8 pin socket.
The Mac shutdowns if the power draw higher than 120W on any of the mac's two power trace.

(It's also worth mentioning that the cable which is being used has to has all the 3 +12V Yellow wire in place.)

Theoretically, it has to work if the power consumption distributed evenly between the sockets.

I haven't had any problem with 2x8pin cards till this day. (I used 2 good quality mini6pin to 8 pin cables with HCS terminals)

If you can, give it a try...

Winston

12/16/2017 03:52:13 pm

FWIW, I just installed a 2x 8-pin card (EVGA 1080Ti FTW3) and am running power from the PCIe Aux via 2x 6-pin mini to 8-pin and unfortunately the Mac will shut down immediately during the heavy load test of Cuda-Z as described.

I've got iStat Menus installed which allows me to monitor the PCIe Aux power load (in amps) and I can see that the two power ports are under different loads. In running the geek bench OpenCL test, the power load doesn't exceed the 75W for either port. In running a GPU only video noise reducer, one of the power ports at a time may hover just above or below 75W.

I got a 2x 8-pin card specifically based on this suggestion, but alas it suffers the same problem.

JonathanH

8/11/2017 05:02:27 pm

We've purchased them and have experienced the issue (Titan X) but haven't reported it yet. Came here to see if there was anything we could do. I'll be looking at some of these solutions as well as an external power source.

Thanks.

MacDave

5/17/2017 09:42:16 am

I have a (Maxwell) GTX Titan X MVC-flashed card in my MacPro5,1. I am considering upgrading to a 1080 TI or Titan Xp. In the past 16 months, I have experienced one or two possible shutdowns due to the GPU.

I am very interested in connecting an external power supply to my MacPro5,1 (to the GPU). If anyone would provide a “nice” way to do this, including instructions and a parts list, I am willing to pay for the info.

I have considered getting an expansion chassis (~$3000) but I’d rather just buy a new computer than spend money on something like this. Since there are no suitable “newish” Mac towers available, I’d reluctantly buy a PC and run Linux on it, as most of my heavy-lifting applications have Linux versions now.

Anyone? Thanks!

Ben King

5/17/2017 11:08:12 am

Hi Dave

I have the Netstor NA255A PCIe 3.0 GPU Chassis with is about $2400 and well worth the money (although wish it was half the price!).

http://www.netstor.com.tw/product_info.aspx?SerID=6&Title=TurboBox&ArID=21&PID=PID_170324287237937

I run two TITAN X Maxwells that MacVidCards Flashed for me last year.

I will be adding a 1080ti Overclocked possibly two for Resolve and 3D work. This Chassis looks good - is quiet and shows no performance difference compared to the far more expensive Magma & Cubix options which are nigh on double the cost!

MacDave

5/17/2017 04:23:55 pm

Hey Ben,

Thanks for the suggested expansion box… I ordered one from B&H. It’s too bad that thing is so expensive. But, I figure that any new Mac Pro Apple releases next year is likely not going to have enough PCIe slots and the Netstor will help in that regard.

A few related questions:

- If I add another GPU to my current one (GTX Titan X maxwell), would it need to be flashed to run at full speed? By full speed I’m guessing PCIe v2, as that’s what the MacPro5,1 supports.

- If any GPUs _not_ being used for the OS GUI (no boot screen support needed), would they still need to be flashed to run at “full” speed?

Like you, I’m am looking to improve the performance of DaVinci Resolve Studio and some other applications that can use GPUs for general computations…

Thanks again!

Ben King

5/17/2017 11:02:52 am

I would always advocate running power from the SATA either from an HDD Drive bay, the Spare Optical (Molex on 3,1 and SATA on 4,1 & 5,1) or an external PSU.

I would suggest the ageing PSU in the MacPro's are best serve with the latter as it will extend the cycles of the internal PSU regardless of it being able to power the GPUs.

Best option all round is an external PCIe Chassis with dedicated PSU and more room and cooling but it's expensive - a half decent single GPU chassis start around $700 and the 4 slot version between $2000 and $4000+ and for that you can buy a whole new PC with several GPUs.

JLE67

5/17/2017 02:08:43 pm

For me, the Pixlas mod is the most elegant. The real difficulty is to found all needed parts perfectly adapted to the mod.

nikrox

5/17/2017 07:33:16 pm

Is it possible to draw power from the dual 6pin to single 8 pin and then run additional power from dual SATA 15pin to 8pin?
just trying to figure out how to get additional power without external power or modding the mac.
only other option ive found is this expansion but it only has a 300watt power supply-
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/846537-REG/Dynapower_USA_NA211A_DT_GPU_3_SLOT_PCIe_EXPANSION_ENC_PCIe_6_DESKTOP.html

Dave Key

5/19/2017 01:27:21 am

Mmm...
Fortunately, Macvidcards still continues selling 'big powerful' Pascal Nvidia cards despite their power issue.

I still have my flashed GTX 680 2GB that truly need a replacement in my 12-core 3.46Ghz MacPro 5,1.
I hope they'll soon add the new 2017 Pascal Titan Xp I'm waiting for instead that discontinued 2016 Pascal Titan X which is more expensive and less powerful than the GTX 1080Ti.
If they don't in a near future, I'll quickly have to buy the 1080Ti in their officiel EU distributor in UK (yeah, I'm from the 'Old Continent') because I don't like loosing my time by waiting for nothing.

Powering these cards isn't a problem for me because I've got an additional external PSU several months ago and in any case, I'll make the Pixas mod for a better elegant presentation (I already have all needed parts and tutorials).

Ben Ellis

5/19/2017 11:36:18 am

A bit of advise please...

I recently had a Maxwell Titan X flashed by MVC for use in my 8 core, 5,1 cMP. - I have 64 GB RAM and am running 10.12.5 with the correct driver from this site.

My primary use for this Machine is Video Editing with the latest versions of Premiere, After Effects, Media Encoder Etc. I'd also like to explore Resolve 14.

So, my Maxwell Titan X is now worth about exactly half of what I bought it for on eBay - that hapened almost the very next day Nvidia announced Pascal Drivers for the Mac.

What real world difference in performance might I expect if I "upgraded" to a Pascal card? I know both cards are already bottlenecked by PCI 2.0.

I do plan on getting a new Mac Pro whenever they come out (like a year or more away).

Opinions and buying advise welcome.

BTW: I'm already using an external power supply for the Titan as well as for a USB 3.1 card that happens to work on the mac. I did this out of an abundance of caution since EVERY drive bay has a drive (Including Both Optical Bays) and EVERY PCI slot is occupied. It's not a pretty sight. The cover is permantely off and the PSU sits on the carpet beside it - but it's under my desk and I don't care. I just need a large supply of dust off...

Eric

5/30/2018 08:21:45 pm

Hi,
A little off-topic, but would you mind telling us what your USB 3.1 card is, brand and model ?
I have an Innatek 7 ports that works well for USB keys, but doesn't work with 3.5" HDDs even though they draw power from an external power supply.
Thanks!

Mikael

5/23/2017 01:29:08 am

I'm having the described power issue with my Titan Maxwell card maybe once or every other week, usually when running Premiere or Resolve. Would this mod solve my problems. I have two MP 5.1 running the Titan X Maxwell, one bought from here and one bought from Mac Store UK.

JeffK link

5/23/2017 08:53:10 am

I was one of the lucky few to get one of the 1080ti's. I have not had the shutdown but i have not done a full stress test yet.. we work with a lot of very intense 3D apps and am afraid this might eventually be an issue.. How do i get this updated cabling?

Marmada

5/23/2017 11:39:40 am

So to be clear, with the 1080 (non Ti) the shutdown issue doesn't happen? So would I be able to do 2 1080s in the 5,1 and use the standard power? no mods?

JD_Fordyce

6/6/2017 01:14:29 am

I have this same question. Looking for the best GPU for my 2012 5,1. I want the 1080 ti but if it's too much for the PS then what is my next best option? 1080, 980 ti or can I do dual 1080s??? Reliability is more important to me than raw power.

David

6/6/2017 10:29:51 am

I cant answer the question about two cards, but I'm running one 1080 (EVGA SC) pushing the computer hard and have not had any issues with a ton of apps open, running Resolve including 4K footage, Lightroom etc.

I also benched it using Heaven at basically maximum settings, and various other GPU/CPU benchmarks and had no issues. Hope this helps.

wolfman

5/23/2017 05:14:56 pm

I'd like to thank MVC for their excellent service and keeping the classic Mac Pro community humming right along with the latest GPUs.

I appreciate the MVC GPUs for my video editing gigs.

On the topic of power shutdowns:
I've owned a MVC flashed Maxwell Titan since 2015.
The only time I've gotten power panics was when I was running four XP941 SSDs on a PCIe riser card from Amfeltec alongside the Titan. These PCIe SSDs use a lot of juice.

However, running 4x SanDisk Extreme Pros and an ATTO SAS card works just fine. Yes, it doesn't offer the same extreme transfer speeds, but it is plenty fast and super stable.

It's like tuning a car. You have to balance the components.

Running dual MVC 1070s now without any issues so far.

Geekbench 4.1 reports that only one 1070 already beats the old Maxwell Titan. Sadly the CL/GL test is buggy with Geekbench. Metal and Cuda benches work fine.

As to real life tests... Just a small experiment I have run with Adobe Media Encoder. Turning a 4 min. 1080p file into an MP4 for YouTube deployment:
Software Renderer (Dual 3.06 GHZ, 96 MB RAM): 1:48
Mercury Engine OpenGL (Single 1070) : 1:52
Mercury Engine Meta (Single 1070) : 1:51
Mercury Engine Cuda (Single 1070) : 1:51

Hope some of you will find this helpful and of interest.

RollTideBrad

5/26/2017 02:10:01 pm

I have sent an email to macvidcards about my 1080 ti issue with bootcamped windows. I want to share it with you and see if any of you experience the same issue as I do right now.

1080 ti works great in osx without any issue. However, the issue started when i use bootcamped windows 10 creator update. the video driver is preloaded as Microsoft Basic Display Adapter. When I try to hit driver update button. it found the new driver for 1080 ti from microsoft windows update. When it began installing the driver, the monitor went black screen and power button on the monitor blinked continuously as there is no signal detected.

I had to reboot into windows safe mode to remove the driver and went back to Microsoft Basic Display Adapter. It worked fine in normal mode. I have tried to download several drivers directly from nvidia.com with different versions:

382.33
382.05
381.89
381.65
378.92
378.78

It will go to black screen immediately as soon as the nvidia drivers are being installed. i even wait about 10 minutes, still no response coming from the monitor. I tried different monitor just to be sure and still no response.

However, on OSX side, it seems to be working flawlessly for 1080 ti.

I use bootcamped windows mainly to play games such as battlefield one and I cant right now because of black screen during the driver installing.

I have 2x 6 pin to 8 pin and sata to 6 pin on 1080 ti.

Any solution to this issue. Thanks!

Marius Jenzer

5/29/2017 11:25:14 am

Did you use DDU to remove the driver?

I suggest you boot into safe mode to remove all previous drivers and leftovers.
Also, after your system is stable, I suggest to disable automatic driver installs. This will prevent windows updating your drivers.

Surrat

6/4/2017 12:27:48 am

I have had this happen with my GTX 680 Mac Edition, and my non-flashed Titan Xp. It seems related to what port your using. When I got a 4k sony tv to use as a monitor, it only has HDMI inputs. Using HDMI works fine in Sierra, but Win10 black screens on boot if you load any display driver. If I use HDMI on the 680 it does the same thing, switching to DVI on the 680 stops it and allows the windows driver to work. The Titan Xp has no DVI, so I cant do anything. I also tried a display port to HDMI2.0 adapter, and it made no difference. I doubt MVC can fix this as it happens on a genuine 680 mac edition too. Probably some problem in the nvidia driver for windows.

beatnik link

5/30/2017 12:32:33 pm

Just installed my 1080Ti in Mac Pro 5,1 with 6 Core 3.33 Ghz. Latest Nvidia drivers.

I'm really happy in how easy this was. In less than 5 minutes I swapped out my GTX 780. I had to use a spare display port to DVI-D adapter. One came with the unit, I have two monitors. And I added a zip tie on the eSata power cable. Without any clip connection it seemed destined to fall off the eSata power connector. I just zipped the cable to the side of the removed drive bay for plugging it in the card.

PistolPete

6/11/2017 12:54:10 pm

I am really enjoying my new 1080 Ti in my 5,1. I have only had it for about two weeks, but I have had a few things happen and wanted to see if anyone else is experiencing similar issues.

1. Occsionally, when switching between different desktops and applications, and also when using quicklook to see image files on the fly, the screen or images being displayed will, for a brief second, have lines running across them horizontally and slightly flicker. Not a huge deal, but it could get annoying if you were someone doing those things constantly.

2. A more major issue has been starting up when the display is turned off. I have a Dell UltraSharp U2715H 27" and everything works great except for when the monitor's power is turned off before I press the on button on the computer. If that is the case, the monitor won't recognize a signal when I do turn it on, and the only solution has been to hard shut down. I have tried unplugging the mDP cable after the computer is on. I've also tried switching inputs on the monitor. So far, no dice.

3. The only other thing I have noticed so far was a complete shutdown when using Sketchup 2017 with Vray 3.0 and rendering in real time. I don't know if it was explicitly due to the rendering, but it hasn't happened except for that one time.

Any recommendations on the display or rendering issues would be much appreciated.

Thanks to Macvidcards for offering a great solution to pro users who really do need the latest technology.

Jason

6/19/2017 09:11:51 pm

Dell monitors and Macs can be hit or miss. I have an old Dell 2408 that I love for all of the ports, but it is a real pain on OSX, as it regularly flickers and will many times display static (like old tv style). It takes putting the display to sleep and awaking it to get it back, though sometimes take multiple tries to get it. So, I don't think I would look at the Mac as a sole cause, but rather the combination. The newer Dell monitors seem to be even more fickle and that was why we stopped purchasing them.

Executor

6/15/2017 05:07:03 pm

Any news on Titan Xp flashing services? I really need to get some cards flashed and I don't see the option to flash Titan Xp cards on the store front, I know it is possible since a store in the UK that appears to be affiliated to Macvidcards offers the Titan Xp.

Andy

6/16/2017 04:41:01 pm

Finally got time to install my 1080 Ti this week. I decided to give the standard mini 6-pin headers on the logic board a shot before using the additional SATA power cables and I'm happy to report no problems whatsoever with CUDA-Z (Heavy Load Test) or FurMark under either macOS 10.12.5 or Windows 10. No shutdowns, no stuttering, no funky lines - all perfect. Very, very impressed with the performance of this card. Warms the room nicely, too!

I used my original mini 6-pin to 6-pin and one of the included mini 6-pin to 8-pin cables, running the 6-to-8 cable to PCIe Boost B. Monitoring the current draw using the internal sensors, I see that while running FurMark the card draws about 5A from the PCIe socket, 6A from Boost A and 8A from Boost B - so about 228W on the 12V supply all in. All current values coarsely rounded up. As expected, there's a slight voltage drop on the 12V supply across the board under load, but only 0.1-0.2V, nothing unusual there.

Power usage was much lower running the CUDA load test; about 2A from the PCIe socket, 1A from Boost A and 4A from Boost B. However, I did notice that there were current demand spikes while running it - which lasted only a few seconds and then dropped back.

So, just a positive message that things seem to be working here!

Mark

7/21/2017 06:44:34 pm

What system are you using this with ? Hardware/software?

Andy

8/26/2017 06:01:42 am

Just spotted this question. It’s a genuine Mid-2012 MacPro5,1 with two 6-core X5690 (3.46GHz) CPUs and 32GB RAM over 6 sticks (8+4+4 per processor). I bought it towards the end of manufacture in 2013.

Runs macOS 10.12.6 and Windows 10, latest NVIDIA driver on both platforms. Still happy to report no issues running the 1080 Ti from the PCIe boost power ports using the 6-to-8 pin adapter - and this thing has really had some hammer now. I know I’ve spent an unreasonable amount on it over the past couple of years, but for what I need this thing just flies.

Jason

6/19/2017 09:14:05 pm

I really wish you would sell the cabling kit (sata) with the cards, especially considering the price. Or, if it needs to be additional, offer as an option. On the verge of pulling the trigger on a 1080TI, but need to know I am getting a working solution. I will make available a spare sata port on the optical side.

dave link

6/19/2017 09:16:24 pm

The cable kit is included with 1080Ti, of course

Why do you think it isn't?

Andy

6/20/2017 05:36:22 am

Just to clarify for Jason, a full cable kit was included with my 1080 Ti, which covered every option for powering the card.

Dave Key

6/21/2017 04:54:43 am

I suppose this cable kit will also be included with Titan Xp when this card will be available at order on the site (still not when writing these lines).

Heavyboots

6/21/2017 08:11:37 am

So, I'm the one that reported that UT was causing panic shutdowns. So far, nothing like that since installing the new cable, although I had to take an HD out of bay 3 and put it in an external dock. Good news and great card!

JLE67

6/23/2017 07:12:26 am

Hi,
just installed 1080Ti in two MP5,1 using the Pixlas mod because we need the 4 SATA connectors and we are in the power hungry situation with double 3.43 hexacores…
Quite simple in fact when you know where to buy the needed stuffs.
Very satisfied :-)

PistolPete

6/27/2017 07:58:22 pm

I have experienced another shutdown and would like to see if anyone can help or has at least experienced something similar. I am unable to interpret the crash log but the setup was the same as when it crashed on me early on in using the card a few weeks ago. Sketchup 2017 running with Vray conducting an interactive render (real time). Please advise.

heavyboots

7/11/2017 08:17:08 am

FWIW, have discovered the SATA fix is not 100% still. It seems much better than before, but I have now found one place in Deus Ex:Human Revolution that will reliably power down the computer if I look straight up at the trees with the light filtering through them. (Climbing out a manhole basically.)

ChrisKnight

7/11/2017 09:27:19 pm

Does the 1080 ti you sell include the SATA power adapter cable? The description says "2 Modular PCIe power cables" but doesn't indicate if one or both also connects to SATA.

JLE67

7/13/2017 01:47:06 pm

Yes it is included…

JParker

7/31/2017 11:12:06 am

Seriously considering a dedicated 1080 ti over the 1080 for a 4K Premiere/Resolve workflow--Currently on a 770 in a 5,1 that just isn't cutting it. I have an open SATA port in the 2nd optical drive, has anyone attempted/been successful powering a 1080 ti from the optical sata port for a video workflow?

Andy

8/1/2017 12:47:38 am

I'm still happpily using my 1080 Ti from the two standard mini 6-pin headers with a workload of Premiere and some Windows gaming. The system hasn't missed a beat over the past month, but this thread is evidence that not everybody is so lucky. I can't see you'll have any trouble running it with a feed from that optical drive 12V rail, but YMMV - just thought my experience might help you take the plunge!

JParker

8/1/2017 12:20:36 pm

Thanks Andy! That's good to hear. Are you using the Mac Vid Cards flashed version? I'd like to get a card with DVI on it since I'm still running Apple 30" cinemas and the MVC version is only DP/Hdmi. Considering sending in for flashing or trying it unflashed for a while.

Andy

8/2/2017 03:24:13 pm

Yes, bought my 1080 Ti straight from this site. If you're in the US the flashing service is cost-effective, but given the price of the cards in the UK, it wasn't much more for a flashed one shipped over, even with 20% tax thrown on top.

You could just use a DisplayPort to DVI-D dual-link adapter - that would be one way around it.

Jacob

8/24/2017 08:29:41 am

Couple Questions.

#1 Im looking at throwing a 1080ti into my MacPro5,1. I know it needs power from a Sata port. But does it also require power from the PCIe ports? or just the Sata?
And....if it only requires Power from the Sata, can I have dual Cards, one drawing power from the PCIe cables....and one drawing power from the Sata?

#2 Does this site ever have product? Everytime I come, it's Sold Out.

Trevor

8/25/2017 09:25:31 pm

Jacob wrote:

> #1 <snip> can I have dual Cards, one drawing power
> from the PCIe cables....and one drawing power from the
> Sata?

From reports here and on Bare Feats, you can have dual cards, but you will have to use an additional power supply for the second card. The internal power supply can support one when you attack all the right cables, but a second card is too much for the original power supply by itself.

> #2 Does this site ever have product? Everytime I
> come, it's Sold Out.

Yes, this site does sometimes have product. It is helpful to follow MacVidCards on Twitter--they tweet when product comes back in stock.

Jacob

8/25/2017 09:44:50 pm

Thanks for the info.
I attempted to put a 1080ti into my system yesterday......I was drawing power from both PCIe ports on the motherboard.....and One Sata port. Just clicked.

Do I need to draw power from both Optical bays, and both PCIe ports on the MoBo, to get it to work?

Mark

8/28/2017 09:07:28 am

Would very much like to have an invest in a 1080 TI card. Looks like it is pretty solid but not lots of posts. Can you tell me if things seem stable enough for Windows gaming in boot camp. Also Will this card still work in Windows and on the mac whenever MAC OSX drivers are finally released? If so I'm ready to jump on one!

Jacob

8/28/2017 09:30:39 am

Wish I could help. I've yet to be able to get it to work. I'd love to have a 1080ti card in my system as well. Might need to go to PC if Apple can't get they're shite together.

Saeed link

9/2/2017 09:30:01 pm

Here is the video of how I installed the 1080Ti in my Mac Pro 5,1

https://m.youtube.com/#/user/Saeedalamriphoto

Saeed link

9/2/2017 09:32:26 pm

I mean here is the direct link from YouTube

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=th8eeCdQhIk

Jacob

9/5/2017 10:12:47 am

Do the SATA ports for HardDrives...have more power than the Sata in the Optical bay?

Also, the card you referenced is 6pin, and an 8pin. The card I picked up...was 2 8pins.....

Side thought......do the 2010 MacPros, have a different power supply...than the 2012s?

Verne

10/14/2017 10:45:42 am

I ran the card for a week without problems with one PCIe cable from the motherboard and one from one of my SATA bays. I then ordered and installed the dual 6 pin to 8 pin adapter cable for one 8 pin slot in the card, and the SATA power cable for the other 8 pin slot - just like Saeed has in his video. Even though I think I'd be fine with just the one tap off the motherboard, I figured that for about $8 for the adapter cable, why not? So far so good. No issues.

Sepo

11/18/2017 02:28:12 pm

Hi
I am thinking to buy the EVGA 1080 ti ftw3. It has 2 8 pin connectors. Following advice here I gather the easiest way to connect would by Y cable 6pin to 8pin and SATA to 8pin.
The card does come with 2 sets of Y cables but I am slightly worried these are short.
My questions are:
1. Am I correct in my connection assumption ?
2. Recommendation for the correct cables? Forgive my ignorance but I am worried to buy wrong "quality" of cables.
Your help would be really appreciated.
Thank you

Fuad Kamal link

12/4/2017 07:41:24 pm

Could you provide (illustrated?) instructions for how to install the card + the extra power cable? Is there any wire cutting involved? Does it require one SATA slot to be empty?

William Shaw

12/27/2017 04:36:56 am

I was unable to get the GTX970 to work using the supplied 6 and 8 pin connectors attached to the logic board on a Pro 3,1 with four disk drives installed. I had to do a pretty substantial disk repair when the 970 not only failed to start but triggered a crash. Tried again recently with an external PSU powering the 970 and it worked first time with no problems. The card is fine but people should be aware that with a loaded older 3,1 system even the 970 can glitch over power. I can't exclude a problem with the logic board connectors, though had been running an older GTX 285 off both, a Quadro 4800 off one, for many years with no problems. I should add I love the card otherwise but the power budget issue might not be confined to 10-series and Titans with older and loaded Pros. I note the card was not on the list of those recommended for the 3,1 but went ahead as it did not need me to do the hack to get me to Sierra needed for Pascal cards.

Uli

2/28/2018 12:19:14 am

Hi
I tried two GTX 1080ti in a CUBIX connected to a Mac Pro 5.1 (mid 2010) under Sierra (10.12.6) and I always have immediate shut downs. Whereas with my 980ti everything works fine. Could there be a cabeling prolem in the CUBIX that I am not aware of?
Thanks.

John

3/23/2018 02:46:36 am

the Pixas mod direct off power supply cables provides the most reliable outcome.
Sata mod does not because Sata supply was never designed around the high loads drawn by GPS.

the PiXAs mod is best done using automotive crimps - at the current levels drawn by GPUs Very High Temperature solder needs to be used - regular solder melts at the temperatures that can be generated in cable joints at DC high currents especially if the joint is dry.
the longer the cable the bigger the cross section f the wire required. For a tidy Pixas mod you need 16 AWG, or 14 AWG. For supply to two cards 14AWG or 12 AWG is advised. Use the online American Wire Gauge caculator.
For lower power cards 225W or less using both the 6 pin headers on the motherboard is ok. but note the controller chips on these are known to fail and report incorrect current draws. be advised that shorter thicker 6 pin cables reduce the voltage drop over the distance from the power supply, thus reduce current draws, and improve reliability. shorter thicker cables reduce the effective mother board loads.

I have also discovered that poorly made cables suffer bad crimps at the plugs and can lead to mother board failures. it is a good idea to check continuity and the voltage out at the pugs to eliminate bad cables. I had one cable that appeared to work fine, but I discovered that due to one pin that was badly crimped the plug melted into a block of charcoal. and killed the motherboard.
the Mac Pro power supply has internal sensors that at used to ramp up the power supply fan so the Pixas mod wont kil the supply unless one exceeds the power supply limits. Even after 9 years a 4,1 or 5,1 MP power supply that is regularly cleaned will very easily handle 700 Watts and will rarely exceed 40 degrees Celsius even when ambient is at 32 degrees.

If you do the Pixas mod you will see that the 12v supply to the mother board is 6x 12 AWG. but the mother board traces are much much smaller. This is why the Pixas mod makes much more sense than any other option for reliability.

xauron

4/25/2018 07:21:17 am

But this problem is just with the cMP, right? No as eGPU, nor hackintosh problem, right?

Jason F Sanchez link

6/29/2018 04:02:10 am

I'd like to know if these will work with a hackintosh build?

Scott Kuehner

2/26/2019 05:26:33 am

I bought the "Low Power" - One 8-Pin MacVidCards' GTX-1070 8GB GDDR5 VRAM Card for my Hackintosh.

This card runs perfectly. In fact, I also installed an off the shelf EVGA GTX-1050 2GB GDDR5 VRAM Card as a Secondary Card. (I do scientific Number Crunching - CUDA Driver Required.) Both Cards perform FANTASTIC for Number Crunching on my Hackintosh.

I'm using a Corsair HX750i Platinum rated 750 Watt PSU.

I HIGHLY recommend the MacVidCards' GTX-1070. I'm sure that the 1080TI will also perform well for you on a Hackintosh with a proper PSU.

Synchro3

7/28/2018 09:49:41 am

Could you try the CUDA Heavy load test with an EVGA PowerLink installed?

Basically it balances the two 6 pins power draw, therefore shouldn't trigger the power draw protection on board. Much easier solution than Pixlas Mac Pro mod.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/which-gtx-1080-ti-fe-and-power-question-on-mp5-1.2053492/#post-24740425

https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-PowerLink-Support-Founders-600-PL-2816-LR/dp/B01MQ1YEYH/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493419066&sr=8-1&keywords=evga+powerlink

super smash flash 2 download link

12/16/2018 08:29:55 am

Hello! I just would like to give a huge thumbs up for the great info you have here on this post. I will be coming back to your blog for more soon.

Rob link

7/11/2019 10:10:03 am

what ended up being the solution to this problem. Is there a link?

Andy

7/12/2019 08:08:12 am

Just use an EVGA Powerlink and two normal mini-6-pin to 6-pin cables for the 1080 Ti. Feed in to the Powerlink on those and output using the 6-pin and 8-pin outputs included in the Powerlink box. Evens the load over the two logic board supplies and I've not had a single shutdown since I fitted mine over a year ago.

Rob link

7/24/2019 04:44:54 am

Hi Andy, I really appreciate this response. Sorry mine is so late. I have an EVGA Powerlink. It has two 8-pin inputs, and two 8-pin outputs. My 1080 Ti has one 6-pin input and one 8-pin input. Are you saying I need to take two 6-pin cables, plug them into my motherboard, input those into my Powerlink (leaving two of the pins empty on both 8-pin inputs). Then output a 6-pin from the Powerlink (leaving two of the Powerlink output pins empty), into the 6-pin input of the GPU. And output an 8-pin from the other Powerlink output, into the 8-pin input on the GPU?

Andy

7/24/2019 04:52:44 am

More or less, though your Powerlink should have come with replacement output connectors in the box. Take the 1080 Ti out of your machine, remove the cover from the Powerlink and loosen the bolts on the output connectors (the inputs are not changeable). Remove one 8-pin output and replace it with the supplied 6-pin output connector. Keep the bolts loose and make sure everything aligns with the GPU. Once you're happy, screw down the bolts, replace the Powerlink cover and connect the Powerlink to the Mac Pro logic board using two mini 6-pin to 6-pin cables. This will leave two connectors disconnected on each of the Powerlink 8-pin inputs - this is normal and you'll find you can only connect the 6-pin plugs in one position. Then put the GPU back in the Mac Pro and click the Powerlink into position.

Rob link

7/24/2019 05:07:50 am

Andy, I can't thank you enough my man. You saved me a lot of time reading through this long thread... which I have done quite a bit of. I just saw this link that Synchro3 posted (thanks Synchro3!)...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/which-gtx-1080-ti-fe-and-power-question-on-mp5-1.2053492/#post-24740425

The user Prince134 posted pics of exactly what you are suggesting. Thanks for your selfless help. Unfortunately I didn't see a 6-pin connector in my Powerlink box. I will check again here though. Regardless, I know what to do now. Can't thank you enough. All the best :)

Rob link

7/29/2019 12:06:06 pm

Well, I did exactly what we discussed and I've had the same issue with my GTX 1080 Ti. When I first got the card, I tried taking an HDD out of one of my drive bays and connecting an 8-pin to SATA adapter to it. That's when I first encountered the sudden shutdown, screen goes to black, issue. Next I tried a this solution...

http://www.mazze-aderhold.com/the-2010-macpro-and-the-gtx-titan/

...but sure enough, I had the same black screen sudden crash issue. I've now tried the Dual mini-6-pin, to the EVGA Powerlink and once again experienced the same shutdown issue. Anyone who comes up with another solution, please let me know. Would love to avoid these sudden shutdowns. They are killing my workflow. Regardless, Andy (and everyone else) thanks for the help.

Andy

7/31/2019 01:29:40 am

Ah, nuts, sorry it's not worked. Something must be just out of tolerance for your PSU; you using a lot of spinning drives in the machine? There must be something spiking the 12V supply beyond what it's happy providing. You could strip back components to the bare minimum and try again, but if this is machine you need for Getting Stuff Done I'd just resort to an external PSU and be done with it.

Rob link

7/24/2019 05:06:54 am

tom

10/16/2019 12:34:28 am

l woud like advice

Simon link

10/16/2019 04:28:08 am

Your information is really helpful to me, I am looking into this problem, thank you

Aaron

6/29/2020 06:23:38 am

Hey, ive been searching and searching for hours on the forums and this is the most valuable post ive found. ive just purchased the GTX1080ti with the Sata to 6 pin and the duel 6 pin to 8 pin.

before i install can some one just clarify that i run the Sata straight to the 6 pin of the card and...

The duel 6 to 8 pin i run to the card as well ? why is it split into two with an extra 6 pin. Just need some clarification before i attempt it. I cant seem to find any solid advice on how these are actually connected. thanks

Liam Santos link

1/9/2021 04:25:33 pm

Thanks greaat post

The Pesky Power issue with pascal 1080ti and titan

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