High Sierra on ESXI 6.7 works but GTX970 not working, in profiler detected as "NVIDIA Chip Model"

[macmee]

screenshot of the issue: https://i.imgur.com/MLw2Cdy.jpg

1. my system is an Alienware x51 r3 with a 6700 i7 and gtx 970

2. running esxi 6.7

3. high sierra vm

4. latest NVidia drivers installed

5. "virtualization" enabled in BIOS and the GPU is set to being passthrough'd to the VM

problem:

I go to the web client for ESXi and start the VM, and it boots up but it's not using the gtx 970. After logging into MacOS and going to system profiler, it just shows the GPU as "NVIDIA Chip Model" and the NVIDIA system prefs pane doesn't show any devices connected at all.