Silver Tower Mac Pro Q&A - Updated May 28, 2013

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How many PCI slots of what type are provided by the Mac Pro models? How do you install a PCIe card in the Mac Pro?

All Mac Pro models support PCIe (PCI Express) cards, but the type of cards supported varies, particularly between early and later systems. The installation procedure varies, too.

Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (Mac Pro)

Identification Help

If you're not sure which Mac Pro you have, several lines share the A1186Model Number so this identifier is insufficient for the purpose of ensuring PCIe card compatibility. The A1289 model number is sufficient to identify the 'Early 2009,' 'Mid-2010' and 'Mid-2012' Mac Pro lines, which share the same PCIe slots.

However, each Mac Pro series can be identified uniquely externally by EMC Number and 'close enough' to an exact match to determine PCIe compatibility by the Model Identifier in software. In turn, each model can be uniquely identified via model identifier and one or more secondary identifiers (like processor speed and/or processor type).

The EMC number is located on the rear of the system in small type. To locate the model identifier in software, select 'About This Mac' under the Apple Menu on your computer and click the 'More Info..' button. If the Mac Pro is running OS X 'Lion' (10.7) or later, click the 'System Report' button after clicking 'More Info..' as well.

A full chart of the Mac Pro lines, corresponding identifiers, and PCIe compatibility is provided below.

EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Lookup feature -- as well as the EveryMac app -- also can identify these systems by their Serial Numbers. More details about identifiers are provided in EveryMac.com's Mac Identification section.

Supported PCIe Card Types

The original Mac Pro models have four PCIe 1.0 expansion slots with one double-wide 16-lane PCI Express slot occupied by a NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT in the default configuration, and three full-length PCI Express slots open.

The 'Early 2008' Mac Pro models have two PCIe 2.0 and two PCIe 1.0 expansion slots, with one double-wide 16-lane PCIe 2.0 slot occupied by an ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT in the default configuration. This leaves one 16-lane PCIe 2.0 slot and two four-lane PCIe slots open.

The 'Early 2009,' 'Mid-2010,' and 'Mid-2012' Mac Pro models have four full-length PCI Express (PCIe) 2.0 expansion slots, two x16 slots and two x4 slots. In the default configurations, one PCIe 2.0 x16 slot is occupied by the graphics card. There is a 300W combined maximum for all PCI Express slots in these models as well.

These details are easiest to visualize as a chart (for simplicity, the Server models have been omitted, but they have the same PCIe support as the 'regular' models):

PCIe Card Installation Instructions

To add a PCIe card to the Mac Pro models, site sponsor Other World Computing provides helpful step-by-step videos of the simple procedure.

Mac Pro PCIe Card Installation Video
Original (2006 & 2007) & Early 2008 (A1186)

Mac Pro PCIe Card Installation Video
Early 2009, Mid-2010 & Mid-2012 (A1289)

After watching these videos, it should be clear that installing a PCIe card in all Mac Pro models is simple. However, if you do not feel comfortable -- or have the time -- to perform the installation yourself, hiring a professional never is a bad idea.

PCIe Card Purchase Options

In addition to providing helpful upgrade videos, Other World Computing sells a variety of PCIe cards as well as other upgrades -- for all of the Mac Pro models.

Popular PCIe card upgrades from OWC include USB 3.0 cards, higher performance video cards, eSATA controllers, and PCIe cards equipped with fast SSDs, although other upgrade options are available, too.

Also see:

• What are the default graphics cards provided with each Mac Pro? What Mac Pro compatible video cards are available for purchase later? Which video cards have which ports?
• How does the original Mac Pro allocate lanes for the PCIe bus? What configurations are possible?
• How do you upgrade the hard drives in the Mac Pro to SSDs? What SSD options are available? Which SSD configuration provides the fastest performance?

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