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Most powerful slot-powered GPU?
Which single-slot, slot-powered GPU will power a 23" ~ 30" screen to reasonable levels? No gaming, but regular applications, etc. I need to set up a Windows-heavy Mac Pro and an HD5870 won't cut it - and I don't want to deal with things like external PSU's, drive-bay taps, etc.
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As far as I know you're looking at the Radeon 6670 in terms of the king of the slot powered GPUs in terms of 3D rendering...but this is not your question. When thinking about display resolution you're really looking more at the memory of the card than anything else. With a 30" display you're looking at a resolution of 2650 x 1600, which has heavy graphics requirements. It is generally suggested you get a card with 2GB of onboard memory that supports dual link DVI technology. This narrows the field significantly. I know you said you wanted a slot powered card, but if that were the case we'd actually narrow the field to nothing. I am assuming you plan on replacing the 5870 with the new card so moving up to a 6870, which has the same power requirements, etc. would be painless. Newegg has a fantastic deal on one currently (bit.ly/vfs6eg) at $169 after rebate.
If you're not replacing the 5870 and are still looking to go with a slot powered card to compliment it for a multiple monitor setup I highly suggest the GeForce 520 or the Radeon 6450, which have both performed stunningly in my home theater builds. Dual link DVI is still rather important here, so I'd go with the following card (bit.ly/v6kAlv)
Let me know if you have additional questions or concerns, I hope I wasn't too far off the mark with my answers.
If you're not replacing the 5870 and are still looking to go with a slot powered card to compliment it for a multiple monitor setup I highly suggest the GeForce 520 or the Radeon 6450, which have both performed stunningly in my home theater builds. Dual link DVI is still rather important here, so I'd go with the following card (bit.ly/v6kAlv)
Let me know if you have additional questions or concerns, I hope I wasn't too far off the mark with my answers.
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@candrae, I think you've covered the bases and have no quibble with your recommendations, but just wanted to comment that I've been driving a 30" monitor at 2560x1600 with 1GB of graphics memory for something like 18 months now and have yet to encounter a business app that chokes it. One catch -- it's a Windows machine (with EVGA GTX 560Ti graphics). You also have me wondering what an extra gig of graphics memory would bring to the party...
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Just to be clear, I'm not looking for the slot-powered card to work in Windows. I'm looking for it to work in OS X. The non-OS X compatible Windows card will be taking up both PCI-E power headers.
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