i have a mac pro 3,1.

the stock card is a nvidia 8800gt/512

i want to also install the larger, more powerful ati radeon 5770/1024.

can i install both cards and have their joint graphics power?

is there such a thing as "joint graphics power"?

i am hoping to using the 5770 as part of a fcp7/fcpx/premiere pro cc edit station.

thanks in advance.

be well.

rob
smalltalk.productions

As far as I know you need a motherboard that supports it, you need identical GPU's and a bridge to connect the cards, for nvidia that's called SLI and for AMD Crossfire. The ati radeon 5770 is actually a quite slow card to todays' standards as it came out in 2009, on PassMark - G3D Mark it has a score of 1700 while the gtx980ti almost reaches 12000 points. You are better of getting just one more recent card.

You can install two different type graphics cards to support more monitors.
But I doubt if that configuration will boost your graphics computing power.

FCP 7 does not work well with 2 GFX cards, I can't answer for FCPX or PP.

The ATI is really needed for FCPX, the nVidia card chokes up with FCPX. I have not heard about programs spreading their processing over two user installed graphic cards. I'm sure it has been done. FCPX does that with the new MacPro dual graphic cards but those are Apple specific cards that they have programmed for.

Final Cut Pro X will take advantage of both graphics cards if they are identical and support Open CL.

Check out this thread on FCP.co FCP.co Forum :: Topic: Dual GPUs in old (Classic!) Mac Pros (1/3) (http://www.fcp.co/forum/4-final-cut-pro-x-fcpx/18806-dual-gpus-in-old-classic-mac-pros)

In my very limited experience and from research, I would rather have a single AMD 7950 instead of dual 5770s in terms of bang for buck for Final Cut Pro X.

Even better is a dual 7950 set up, but that is a different story as it requires an auxiliary power supply.

And just by coincidence, a PCI graphic card sale:
Search Results for garage.sale at MacSales.com (http://eshop.macsales.com/Search/?Ntk=Primary&Ns=P_Price%7c0&Ne=5000&N=5011&Ntt=garage.sale&Source=Clear16MarDD)

Are those prices for real? I see a used ati hd5770 for 259 dollar while you can still get this one new for 80 dollar.

noa-

sadly, the apple "approved" ati 5770 always has a pricing premium attached.

be well.

rob
smalltalk.productions

But it's a second hand card! and also a very slow one, what is it's new price then?

Around here there are no new 5770 cards, just used, starting around $150. Maybe less on eBay but at least this company tests the equipment and gives a guarantee. I paid quite a bit more for a new one years ago.

So if I understand it right is that if you want fcpx to use a graphic card in the best way it has to be one that Apple has modified themselves, hence the premium prices? If they made modifications, is that on driver level or hardware side?

PC versions of those AMD-ATI video cards will work fine on the Mac if you are running the more recent Macintosh Operating Systems. Please research first. The only caveat is that you won't have the grey apple boot screen.

There are people that flash the cards or sell modified cards (i.e. eBay or MacVidCards.com - Home (http://www.macvidcards.com)) that supports the grey apple boot screen.

So if I understand it right is that if you want fcpx to use a graphic card in the best way it has to be one that Apple has modified themselves, hence the premium prices? If they made modifications, is that on driver level or hardware side?
There are graphics cards that Apple has some sort of agreement with the manufacturer so that it is cooperative to the system software so you have Mac versions of the same card that is available for PCs that are essentially the same card. Over the years people have found that PC only cards can work or need some hacking to work with Mac programs. I saw some experiments with PC based cards in the early days of FCPX. The general conclusion was that it was more trouble then it was worth for FCPX although other programs such as AE or 3D modeling programs had some success. I have no idea where those web pages are now.

It's frustrating paying through the nose for older slower video cards because they're mac compatible. But such is life.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202239

Mac Pro Default Video Cards & Video Card Upgrades @ EveryMac.com (http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_pro/faq/mac-pro-default-graphics-cards-dvi-dual-link-mini-displayport.html)