Use a PC GeForce 8800 GT in a Mac Pro Rev2

2. Preparation 1/2

First, we need to find an appropriate PC GF8800 GT with its famous green PCB. There are 2 additional requirements: the cards must sport 512MB and use DDR3 VRAM. As one can not really open all boxes, one has to first select PC GF8800 GT based on VRAM specifications, then afterwards try to get an idea of the color of the PCB. We selected a model branded by Jetway, as the packaging allowed us to directly see the PCB color.

This card costs us less than 200€, and below the photo illustrates the difference between the Apple Mac Edition GF8800 GT (top) and the Jetway model (bottom).

The Jetway card is based on the last reference card from NVidia concerning the cooling system, with a larger fan, and is in consequence more silent than the Mac Edition. There are also differences on the printed circuitry for the video output.

As the GeForce 8800 GT requires 120W, the PCIExpress slot can not feed it and one will need to get additional power from an external connector. As the one provided with the PC GF8800 GT is not compatible with the Mac Pro, we had to make one from 2 PC connectors (shown below), cutting the wires right below the Molex plug (the one on the top), and then soldered them properly before covering the junction with heat shrink tubing.