After installing 10.9.3 my Mac Pro 2013 doesn't see the third display

Does anybody know what to do... My Mac Pro 2013 has 3 displays, with thunderbolt adapter each. After upgrading to 10.9.3 one display (of 3) is always "abcsent". I attached displays to different buses, changed thunderbolt inputs — nothing helps. The configuration of displays changes, but always one of them (every time not the same) is black... Who knows what to do? Thank you in advance!

The following steps have been reported to solve the problem. Probably not all are necessary.
1. Reset the System Management Controller.
2. Reset the PRAM.
3. Install the Combo updater.

Similar Messages

Where can I buy the Mac Pro 2013 motherboard? Just the motherboard

So where can I buy JUST the Mac pro 2013 motherboard? If you can, please link it.
Thanks!

This is a User-to-User help site.
Helpers get their rewards by helping.
I know some good solutions to a lot of problems with Mac Pros. And other readers know a whole lot more solutions.
I do not know of any problem that can be solved by replacing these boards in a nearly-new Mac Pro. The processor board is sold as a bare board, with no processors or heatsinks. It takes an hour of trained technician time just to install the processors and heat sinks, and you MUST get the correct parts or it will not work. If your technique is not correct, the processor(s) will self destruct when you power them up.
The mainboard does not include the SATA connectors, which are actually on a wiring harness that is attached from behind.
What problem are you trying to solve here?

After installing 10.8.3 on Mac Pro, finder stops responding after 7-8 hours

A week or two ago I installed the 10.8.3 update to my Mac Pro at work. Ever since, towards the end of every work day, after 7-8 hours of continuous work, the finder will just stop responding. I am usually alerted to this by trying to open a new file, only it won't open. I am then unable to restart or **** down and am forced to do a hard shut down to turn off the machine. Upon starting up the machine again, I do a permissions repair, then restart again. Then everything will work fine for another 7-8 hours. If I leave my machine on overnight, it won't work when I arrive for work in the morning, and I'll have to repeat the process above.
I have tried running the free Maintenance software from Titanium Software, and that has not solved the problem. I was also concerned about font issues, so I ran the free version of FontDoctor, and it reported a bunch of things to fix. But I do not want to spend the $70 on the full version if that's not going to fix the problem.
I spoke with an IT guy I work with, and he said it might be worth dealing with the hassle until the 10.8.4 update arrives.
Any other suggestions?

Back up all data.
Launch the Font Book application and validate all fonts. You must select the fonts in order to validate them. See the built-in help and the support article linked below for instructions. If Font Book finds any issues, resolve them, then boot in safe mode* (by holding down the shift key at the startup chime) to rebuild the font caches. Boot again as usual and test.
Mac 101: Font Book
*Note: If FileVault is enabled under OS X 10.7 or later, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t boot in safe mode. In that case only, after running Font Book, launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Drag or copy — do not type — the following line into the Terminal window, then press return:
sudo atsutil databases -remove
You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. After running the command, reboot as usual.

After installing os x onto my mac pro i cant open up preview or photo booth anymore. i cant open any of my digital files of my school books. Any ideas as to fix this?

after installing osx onto my macbook pro it no longer opens up preview or photobooth. preview is needed to view my textbooks for school.

Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar.
Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then try the action that you're having trouble with again. Select any messages that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message (command-V).
When posting a log extract, be selective. In most cases, a few dozen lines are more than enough.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Important: Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

Problem installing vista/xp on a mac pro, installers don't see bootcamp

hello there!
recently, a video post production studio i work for purchased a new penryn-based mac pro (2x3.0 ghz, 6gb ram, nvidia 8800gtx).
yesterday i wanted to install vista onto it to be able to help other windows machines in the studio with 3d studio max rendering jobs (8 cores should do wonders for that), but i ran into a weird obstacle.
this mac has 5 internal sata drives - one (320gb) for the system, and 4 disks (750gb each) in raid0 set (just a temporary setup until the studio purchases a fiber optic card with external disks). the DVD drive is an IDE one.
this is the first time i'm setting up windows on a mac, so i could be doing something wrong, even though i doubt it - it seems very straightforward.
so i created a 32gb partition on the system disk (the only one that's not in raid) using boot camp assistant, and started vista sp1 x64 install (boot camp recognized the install dvd).
after a reboot, vista started it's setup routine. everything was fine until it reached the part where i should select the destination partition for vista. this is the weird part: vista installer sees all 4 750gig drives from the raid, but it doesn't see my system drive (320gig) which has Macintosh HD and BOOTCAMP partitions on it. vista even sees any usb drives connected.
doesn't seem logical, as all sata drives are on the same controller (at least that's what leopard system profiler says).
i thought it had something to do with the fact i'm trying to install 64bit vista, so i tried with windows xp sp2 (x86), but the same thing happened.
i searched all over, but couldn't find anyone with the same problem.
any thoughts?
Message was edited by: recircle_admin

This thread says it all - and then some
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7150748&#7150748
I would pull all the drives except your boot drive. Makes it easier.
32GB is pretty small actually for Vista x64. And the SP1 patch process can temporarily use another 10GB. Also, you are running off the slow inner tracks of your drive, which is half performance of outer tracks.
Most people opt for stock 2.8GHz Penryn - not a huge benefit from going with 3GHz, but that is beside the point.
Always good to disconnect any device during the install except what you have to use (keyboard, mouse) which can interfere.
You MUST reformat the 32GB from FAT to NTFS before you can install. That is where most people stop. You have to DELETE and then CREATE that BOOTCAMP 32GB (Advanced Options) before you can proceed with installation.
You don't want 32-bit version if you want to access more than 1.9GB RAM.
Lots of threads here in BootCamp, in Mac Pro Discussion, and MacRumors Windows on Mac.
http://forums.macrumors.com/forumdisplay.php?f=86

Mac pro (2013) fails to see usb 3.0 connected drives in boot selection screen

Hi,
I am using the late MacPro and have three drives attached via an USB 3.0 hub (Anker Uspeed USB 3.0 7 Port Hub).
The hub has a VIA VL812 chipset with the latest firmware update (9081) - I have verified this.
My problem is, when I enter the boot device selection screen (by pressing the alt-key during startup) none of the drives is recognized.
When I plug any drive directly into one of the four USB 3.0 ports of the MacPro, thereby bypassing the hub, it becomes visible and I can use it to boot.
AFTER the boot process, when OS X has finished loading, everything works fine. I have used two of the drives to backup several GBs of data from my main drives (connected via Thunderbolt) with no issues.
Is anybody able to connect drives through a USB 3.0 hub and use them in the boot selection screen? Which USB hub do you have?
Thanks
Martin

Got the latest firmware?
Computer
Model identifier
EFI Boot ROM version
SMC version
Mac Pro
Mac Pro (Late 2013)
MacPro6,1
MP61.0116.B04 (EFI 2.0)
2.20f18 (SMC 2.0)

Why after installing Snow Leopard my system(Mac Pro 15) is very slow and every time I download updates it crashes?

TThis what shows on the log with errors.....
5/28/11 1:32:50 PM com.apple.launchd[1] *** launchd[1] has started up. ***
5/28/11 1:33:08 PM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.bsd.dirhelper) Throttling respawn: Will start in 5 seconds
5/28/11 1:33:09 PM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.smb.sharepoints[25]) Exited with exit code: 71
5/28/11 1:33:10 PM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.bsd.dirhelper) Throttling respawn: Will start in 3 seconds
5/28/11 1:33:26 PM com.apple.service_helper[92] launchctl: Error unloading: com.apple.backupd-auto
5/28/11 1:33:26 PM com.apple.service_helper[92] launchctl: Error unloading: com.apple.backupd-wake
5/28/11 1:33:26 PM com.apple.service_helper[92] launchctl: Error unloading: com.apple.backupd-attach
5/28/11 1:33:27 PM com.apple.fontd[85] FODBCheck: foRec->annexNumber != kInvalidAnnexNumber (0)
5/28/11 1:33:29 PM com.apple.fontd[85] FODBCheck: foRec->annexNumber != kInvalidAnnexNumber (0)
5/28/11 1:35:45 PM com.apple.coreservicesd[48] ThrottleProcessIO: throttling disk i/o
5/28/11 1:35:50 PM com.apple.service_helper[125] org.ntp.ntpd: Already loaded
5/28/11 1:37:53 PM com.apple.coreservicesd[48] ThrottleProcessIO: throttling disk i/o
5/28/11 1:38:16 PM [0x0-0x5005].com.apple.IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] Sat May 28 13:38:16 new-host-2.home IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] <Warning>: CGSLookupServerPort: _CGSSessionDeathWatchPort(gSessionPort) returns -308
5/28/11 1:38:16 PM [0x0-0x5005].com.apple.IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] Sat May 28 13:38:16 new-host-2.home IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] <Error>: (ipc/send) invalid destination port: CGSColorProfileCreateWithColorProfileID: Cannot resolve color profile id(2)
5/28/11 1:38:16 PM [0x0-0x5005].com.apple.IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] Sat May 28 13:38:16 new-host-2.home IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: Set a breakpoint @ CGErrorBreakpoint() to catch errors as they are logged.
5/28/11 1:38:16 PM [0x0-0x5005].com.apple.IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] Sat May 28 13:38:16 new-host-2.home IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] <Error>: (ipc/send) invalid destination port: CGSColorProfileCreateWithColorProfileID: Cannot resolve color profile id(2)
5/28/11 1:38:16 PM [0x0-0x5005].com.apple.IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] Sat May 28 13:38:16 new-host-2.home IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] <Error>: (ipc/send) invalid destination port: CGSColorProfileCreateWithColorProfileID: Cannot resolve color profile id(2)
5/28/11 1:38:16 PM [0x0-0x5005].com.apple.IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] Sat May 28 13:38:16 new-host-2.home IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] <Error>: (ipc/send) invalid destination port: CGSColorProfileCreateWithColorProfileID: Cannot resolve color profile id(2)
5/28/11 1:38:16 PM [0x0-0x5005].com.apple.IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] Sat May 28 13:38:16 new-host-2.home IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] <Error>: (ipc/send) invalid destination port: CGSColorProfileCreateWithColorProfileID: Cannot resolve color profile id(2)
5/28/11 1:38:16 PM [0x0-0x5005].com.apple.IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] Sat May 28 13:38:16 new-host-2.home IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] <Error>: (ipc/send) invalid destination port: CGSColorProfileCreateWithColorProfileID: Cannot resolve color profile id(2)
5/28/11 1:38:16 PM [0x0-0x5005].com.apple.IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] Sat May 28 13:38:16 new-host-2.home IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] <Error>: (ipc/send) invalid destination port: CGSColorProfileCreateWithColorProfileID: Cannot resolve color profile id(2)
5/28/11 1:38:16 PM [0x0-0x5005].com.apple.IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] Sat May 28 13:38:16 new-host-2.home IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] <Error>: (ipc/send) invalid destination port: CGSColorProfileCreateWithColorProfileID: Cannot resolve color profile id(2)
5/28/11 1:38:16 PM [0x0-0x5005].com.apple.IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] Sat May 28 13:38:16 new-host-2.home IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] <Error>: (ipc/send) invalid destination port: CGSColorProfileCreateWithColorProfileID: Cannot resolve color profile id(2)
5/28/11 1:38:16 PM [0x0-0x5005].com.apple.IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] Sat May 28 13:38:16 new-host-2.home IncompatibleAppDisplay[169] <Error>: (ipc/send) invalid destination port: CGSColorProfileCreateWithColorProfileID: Cannot resolve color profile id(2)

I refer you to the TM expert
http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/14.html
As a extra precaution I would copy the user file folders of Music, Documents, Pictures etc to another external drive and disconnect, just in case.
Always maintain TWO backups of your data at all times, since your messing with one, you need another until your back at two again.

I installed Aperture on my new mac but it doesn't see my Aperture Library

is there a way to point the app to a previously created Library?
It exists on an external drive because it is too big for my internal hard drive but I can find no command or option to open an existing library... just import my 30,000 photos all over again... and they won't fit. I found a post that concerned merging 2 libraries and I had hoped that would be the solution but the menu items mentioned aren't available to me (I'm using Aperture 1.5). When I chose "File / Import --" my only option is to import a project not the library ...it stays grayed out.
Any ideas anyone?
thanks!

thanks Tony,
I clicked on the Library and that did it .. (I never found the "switch libraries" menu item) but this worked great ...
but just to give a complete solution ... I was looking for a option to use 2 screens and decided to look in the Preferences file and at the top was an option to designate a library .. to point to one. I guess I needed to look a little harder... thanks for your time and help,
ana

Why mac pro 2013 not supporting illustrator GPU rendering

Here, all nvidia cards supporting this:
http://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/kb/gpu-performance-preview-improvements.html
now I'm thinking, that buying the new mac pro 2013 maybe wasn't the best idea... Apple put in AMD GPu's, that is fine by me, but come on, give us some more support for them! Normal windows PC (for 800€) with nvidia GPU is faster at rendering in Illustrator, than my workstation mac (3500+€)! Really? O.o
And story doesn't end here. I was reading one article about GPU usage in this new mac pro and then I tested it myself. Only one GPU is used and the other is barely touched! And this goes for Maya, photoshop, illustrator and other adobe programs. I was shocked, that I discovered I have one GPU to warm up my room and only one actually doing all the work.
Ok I understand, that also software developers needs to support stuff and write their software to actually use GPU's, but adobe creative suite is one of examples, where software is actually capable of using GPU via openCL and in some cases even CUDA from nvidia.
And there is one more thing: new mac pro, has 2 identical AMD GPU's inside, which can work in crossfire configuration under windows in bootcamp, but not in OS X. Sometimes I even play some games on my mac and sometimes I'm testing them (I'm artist, but I also like to develop and test some games in my free time) and it's kinda a shame, that I can run games with better performance under windows in bootcamp.
When I bought this computer I thought this is going to rock and sweep up with all my previous machines. Well in practice it is much of unused potential and great room warmer. It's kinda sad, that on my girlfriend's PC I can play games with better frames and details on GF 660GTX than on my mac pro... I know I know, mac's aren't for gaming, but hey, sometimes it is good to get my mind on rest and blow up some enemies!
I'm not saying mac pro isn't great product, which is (very great). But support to use all computer capabilities is very limited and Apple should kick developers in their back side and push them to start developing things to use GPU's more.
I'm also not expecting Apple to jump on their feet and fix problems overnight. No, just start thinking of adding more support and things that would make our computers much more used and not only good decoration on desk. First would be a good steep adding crossfire support to OS X. That might even help at rendering some 3D scenes?
Next step would probably be better cooperation with software developers, like Adobe , Autodesk,... If adobe made good support for GPU rendering in Illustrator, aim that we get that support soon as well. I'm sometimes having a lot of paths and objects and rendering goes pretty slow then.
I'm also thinking about that AMD choice Apple made wasn't so good when you see that Nvidia puts much more effort into supporting more and more stuff, while AMD is sitting idle not even updating their drivers anymore.
Oh and one more thing: Can we please, please, please, please, preeeeeetty please get 10-bit output support on OS X? It's kinda sad, having good mac workstation with 10-bit capable monitor (dell UP2414Q) and no support for it, while other PC workstations all support it... Photoshop is working much better on OS X and here I have much better integration and everything and I really love working in Photoshop running on OS X, but some basic things are missing and I'm really asking myself sometimes: was that good decision? Photoshop was first written for macs and in 2014 there is much better support for adobe software on windows than on OS X. Where went wrong?
Don't take me wrong and think I'm just ranting here without any good reason, but think: buying very expensive computer that is supposed to make creative work easy and painless is actually just on paper. In reality computer potential is pretty much unused and that makes me thinking if I would be much better buying iMac instead of mac pro...
TL;DR: I wish for some more support from Apple for their new expensive mac pro's 2013. They are great piece of equipment, but equivalent PC's running windows are surpassing them in this department, specially when GPU's are involved. Now I would like to point this out to Apple, so I don't know where to write so they will read so I first wrote that here. I hope someone from Apple reads this and give us some feedback on those missing things or maybe I get direction where to write to Apple so I get maybe some response from them(?):
-not enough GPU support for creative software (adobe suite, autodesk,...) - nvidia + windows offering much more for less money?
-no crossfire support on OS X. Any particular reason for that?
-no 10-bit support for 10-bit displays. Why not? Hardware is capable, why software isn't?
-lack of openCL software out there. Apple isn't doing much to get more support or developers just too lazy to put more effort into this? GPGPU isn't the future as some companies are trying to convince us?

Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:
All displays are supported by one GPU -- the display GPU. The second GPU is reserved for un-interrupted GPU computing and has no Display output Hardware.
Anandtech has a discussion of this in his review of the late 2013 Mac Pro.
Under OS X the situation is a bit more complicated. There is no system-wide CrossFire X equivalent that will automatically split up rendering tasks across both GPUs.
By default, one GPU is setup for display duties while the other is used exclusively for GPU compute workloads. GPUs are notoriously bad at context switching, which can severely limit compute performance if the GPU also has to deal with the rendering workloads associated with display in a modern OS. NVIDIA sought to address a similar problem with their Maximus technology, combining Quadro and Tesla cards into a single system for display and compute.
from section 9:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7603/mac-pro-review-late-2013/9
Another problem here: on windows bootcamp crossfire IS working, but not in OS X. As I wrote, sometimes it would be better to get more rendering power than computing power (actually at current state of GPU computing software, computing GPU isn't working very much if at all). It would be nice to have an option to switch on and off crossfire so we could use more rendering power when needed.
Also not all people are doing video rendering on their computers. What about 3D modelling and 2D work in photosohp? And maybe people like me are occasionally wish to play some games on their mac?
You linked me GPU usage from one program (probably adobe after effects or premiere pro or apple final cut X?), that is probably one of the only pieces of software that actually uses both GPU's under OS X. I made same experiment with software I use and I even tested some software I don't use but it is advertised it is "optimized" for mac pro like pixelmator.
And guess what? Second GPU is 99% time idle. Even when some stuff is using openCL in Photoshop, stuff is still computed on rendering GPU and not on computing one, which makes computing GPU just a good room warmer as I wrote before. Wouldn't be better to at least use second GPU for something than heating air?

My wifi is very slow after installing mountain lion on my Mac book pro

My wifi is very very slow after installing mountain lion on my MacBook pro.
What can I do?

Ha ha, I misread that as "My wife is very slow after installing mountain lion on my Mac book pro"
BTW on my MBPro (late 2009 with max RAM) Mountain Lion runs very well with no slowing down.

After installing windows 7 on my macbook pro, i cannot access my mac

After installing windows 7 on my macbook pro late 2011, when I try to access the mac side of the computer it just stays in "thinking" mode and will not open up the mac. Windows side opens and works ok.
I only know enough to try to uninstall windows 7 then hopefully open the mac and possibly reinstall the windows 7.
PROBLEM: I only know how to uninstall windows 7 from the mac side (in the bootcamp) BUT cannot access it??
Any help. Thank you
<Edited By Host>

Hi craig1045,
It is possible that the file system for the volume containing the Mac operating system, or the OS itself has become damaged. I suggest that you follow the steps in this article to try to repair them -
A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start your Mac
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440
Specifically -
If your installation of OS X needs repair
If you don't see your startup disk displayed in Startup Manager, or if you see a prohibitory symbol (⊘) appear, your startup drive may need directory repair, or OS X may need to be reinstalled.
If you only see a disk named "Recovery HD" in Startup Manager, select it instead. You can also start from OS X Recovery by holding down Command and R on the keyboard at startup.
From the Utilities menu, choose Disk Utility.
In the Disk Utility window that appears, select your startup disk (usually named "Macintosh HD") from the left side of the Disk Utility window.
Click the First Aid tab.
Click Repair Disk to verify and repair any issues with your OS X startup disk.
After repairing the disk, try to start up normally.
If none of these steps resolve the issue, start from OS X Recovery and reinstall OS X.
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Brett L

Trying to install Windows 7 on my mac pro

Trying to install Windows 7 on my mac pro. I'm running 10.6, I have boot camp 3.04 and after I partition and install the disc (using 32bit) it restarts automatically and freezes on a black screen. I have updated my software so what should I do? Thanks.

A., Use 64-bit for sure. You have too much RAM and hardware and VRAM
B. Put Windows 7 Pro 64-bit SP1, you have a dual processor you need Pro.
C. A dedicated drive for Windows.
D. At least 50GB
E. most important, pull all drives out and leave in just the drive Windows will install onto.

Where can high-power video cards be installed on a first-gen Mac Pro?

I have a first-gen Mac Pro with a Radeon X1900 XT in Slot-1 and a Geforce 7300 GT in Slot-4. The x1900 XT powers a 30" monitor and the 7300GT powers 2 x 20" monitors. The 7300GT card died and is being replaced with an 8800 GT.
Now it seems fairly obvious that for gaming the 8800 GT is superior to my X1900 XT. Ideally I'd like to just throw my new 8800 GT in Slot-1 and use it for my 30" monitor and then run the 2 20's off the X1900 XT in Slot-4. The problem with that is that the x1900 XT is a huge card and physically won't fit in Slot-4 because it runs in to the hard drives above it.
*Now, on to the questions / clarification:*
_Question 1_: Is the first-gen Mac Pro the same as the new Mac Pro in that high-power cards can only be used in Slot-1 and Slot-2? If so, why does it come in the standard configuration of:
Slot-1: x16
Slot-2: x1
Slot-3: x1
Slot-4: x8
It would seem that Apple purposely did this so you would run 2 high-power cards in Slot-1 and Slot-4 and keep them away from each other for heat reasons. The new Mac Pro has x16 bandwidth on Slot-1 and Slot-2 and it would make sense why they say to only install high-power cards in Slot-1 and Slot-2 for it.
_Question 2_: PCI-e configurations. There are a few ways I could tweak the configuration of the expansion slots to make this setup work. I'm curious as to which you would think is best:
*Option 1 (default PCI-e config, only works if a high-power card can be installed in slot 4):*
Slot-1: x16 - Radeon X1900 XT - 2 x 20" monitors for minor tasks / programs
Slot-2: x1
Slot-3: x1
Slot-4: x8 - GeForce 8800 GT - 30" monitor for major tasks / gaming
Now, the first issue is can the 8800 even run in Slot-4 due to the supposed power problem? If so, would there be a difference in performance for gaming at x8? I know this is backwards because you'd want the "primary" card to run on x16 but that's just not possible with this PCI-e configuration. If there is a difference in performance would an 8800 GT at x8 still run significantly faster in games than an X1900 XT a x16? I'd think so, but that's assuming the x8 isn't a real bottleneck.
*Option 2 (the only solution if the cards have to be installed in the first 2 slots):*
Slot-1: x8 - GeForce 8800 GT - 30" monitor for major tasks / gaming
Slot-2: x8 - Radeon X1900 XT - 2 x 20" monitors for minor tasks / programs
Slot-3: x4
Slot-4: x4
You still have the issue of the 8800 only running at x8 (if it even makes a difference, not sure). The benefit I see here is that instead of the X1900 XT dumping all of it's heat in to the 8800 GT (since heat rises) you have the 8800 GT on the bottom where it might run cooler. The X1900 XT would then also be limited to x8 but it's not even being used for gaming so it wouldn't matter at all. The X1900 XT is huge and would cover up Slot-3 but I don't use the other 2 slots so I don't mind.
*Option 3 (only works if Slot-3 can actually power an X1900 XT):*
Slot-1: x16 - GeForce 8800 GT - 30" monitor for major tasks / gaming
Slot-2: x1
Slot-3: x4 - Radeon X1900 XT - 2 x 20" monitors for minor tasks / programs
Slot-4: x4
This seems ideal only because this is the only setup that can get the 8800 to run at x16. The issue now is can Slot-3 run a high-power card? The card doesn't really NEED the power since it's just for running basic apps and not gaming. Again, the X1900 would cover up Slot-4 but it's not being used so no worries there.
*At the end of the day, the most important thing to figure out is:* where can high-power cards be installed in a first-gen mac pro? Once we know that we can figure out Question 2. The instructions that come with the 8800 GT say it can be installed in any of the 4 slots, but I don't know if I really believe that.
Thanks in advance for your help!

Thanks for your help, I think we've beat this horse to death :P. I'm glad I got it all figured out though.
Now the only question is if the gaming performance of the 8800 is actually enough better than the X1900 to warrant making it my "primary" video card. As long as Adobe CS3 apps don't rely on core image like some of the Apple Pro apps do I think it will be fine. If they do I'd have to probably just stick with the X1900 since I use CS3 every single day and only play video games once a week if I'm lucky.
What are your thoughts on the X1900 vs the 8800 GT for CS3?
Edit: This just occurred to me... Since I'm going to have to run them as x8, x8, x4, x4 there isn't really going to be a "primary" card since neither will be at 16x. I guess I could technically just plug my 30" monitor in to either one of them depending on what I feel like doing. If I'm going to play a game I just plug in to the 8800 and if I'm working I plug in to the 1900. The computer is up on the desk so moving the monitor from one card to the other takes about 10 seconds. I could just plug 1 20" monitor in to each so there's always a free DVI port on either one.
It's not the most elegant but I guess it would be a good compromise if I wanted the "best" performance in either situation. I realize the Radeon 3870 is probably the best of both worlds but I really don't want the noise. I already modified my 1900 with this after 6 months of listening to the lawn mower that was the stock 1900 cooler: http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=147
I'm just hoping the 8800 isn't too loud .

After installing iPhone Configutilities in my Mac, Personal Hotspot using USB is not working! Please help, I am using 10.7 Lion OS

After installing iPhone Configutilities in my Mac, Personal Hotspot using USB is not working! Please help, I am using 10.7 Lion OS

Did you talk to your carrier?

I am having a problem with very slow start up after expanding RAM on my 2009 Mac Pro.

I am having a problem with very slow start up after expanding RAM on my 2009 Mac Pro (8 Core 2.93GHz). When I run the Mac Pro with 2 x 2Gb RAM it takes 4 seconds before the gray screen, chime and spinning wheel appear.However when I expand the RAM to 20GB the grey screen and chimes appear after a long 20+ second black screen.
The RAM modules are paored 2 x 4GB Crucial CT51272BA1339.M18FMR and 6 x 2GB SAMSUNG M391B5673FH0-CH9, all DDR3 ECC.
Reading articles on the internet, I thought it may be damaged RAM modules, but I have completed memtest and all are okay. I have tried changing the pairs around and if I use any paired 2 modules the Mac Pro starts normally, only when I try running more than 2 modules the delayed start up happens. (black screen 20 Seconds)
I also have tried PRAM and SMU resets after changing the RAM setups, and the issues always occurs when I have more than 2 modules. As you can see I have 6 SAMSUNG modules and even with identical modules the issue happens, when increasing the RAM to more than 2 modules.
The Mac Pro runs fine after the start up screen and can see all the modules, but has anyone else come across this issue, or have any ideas as to why my Mac Pro is taking 20 seconds to start up with 20 GB RAM?

Hi there. Thanks for your comments.
I have tried all the different combinations of RAM setup, and as stated in my initial topic, the Mac Pro boot up time only slows when I have more that 2 modules. Where I place these does not seem to make a difference.
I have taken the Mac Pro to an Apple Reseller technician yesterday and they where not able to find any RAM errors. Apparently the boot up time is within Apple's acceptable parameters for this set up.
Could anyone that is running a Mac Pro 2009 with more that 4 modules of RAM, please let me know if the boot up time is normal. ( the time it takes from pressing the power button to seeing the gray screen around 16 - 20 seconds)
Or is anyone else having the same issues?
thanks for your responce

After installing 10.9.3 my Mac Pro 2013 doesn't see the third display

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