2008 Mac Pro 3,1 Video Card Upgrade?

[MacDann]

I'm currently running this setup on my Mac Pro 3,1:

Dual 3.0 GHz quad core processors
32GB 667MHz DDR2 RAM
4 - 480GB OWC SSDs
ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024 MB RAM (flashed video BIOSm not a native Apple card)

I'm driving two 23" Cinema Displays with this setup. I'm considering upgrading to two 30" HD Cinema Displays, but I would like to keep my existing 23" ACDs for additional desktop real estate.

Can anyone recommend a video card that this machine could handle that could drive four displays, or would I need to add another video card, and if so, should I use the same model?

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

MacDann

 

[jbarley]

There are cards out there that will support 4 monitors on your MacPro3,1, MacVidCards lists several (all sold out) the equivalents might be found on ebay which would then need to be flashed.

 

[MacDann]

Thanks! I had totally forgotten about them. Looks like sort of a mashup of connections for four monitors with two DVI, an HDMI and a Display port. I see a handful of adapters in my future....

MacDann

 

[jbarley]

Thanks! I had totally forgotten about them. Looks like sort of a mashup of connections for four monitors with two DVI, an HDMI and a Display port. I see a handful of adapters in my future....

MacDann

I prefer to use adapter cables, find them to be a tad more compact.

 

[MacDann]

That’s what I was alluding to....

MacDann

 

[nigelbb]

There are cards out there that will support 4 monitors on your MacPro3,1, MacVidCards lists several (all sold out) the equivalents might be found on ebay which would then need to be flashed.

The GTX680 which you can flash yourself can run four monitors. 2xDVI 1xDP 1xHDMI

 

[Ben888]

The GTX680 which you can flash yourself can run four monitors. 2xDVI 1xDP 1xHDMI

That is a commonly used card it the 3,1 and the best with a boot screen and support from native drivers, as opposed to the Nvidia Web Drivers.
I run a GTX 670, which will not have a boot screen unless you solder on a bigger EEPROM chip and flash it with a custom ROM like MacVidCards does. It does, however, boot using Apple's native drivers. Mine is one without the modification for a boot screen. I just keep my old 8800 GT around for situations when a boot screen is needed and swap it in. My card has the same port configuration as the aforementioned GTX 680 has.

 

[nbtsf]

I'm running a NVIDIA GTX 780 3GB on my 3,1, with High Sierra. Will probably move to a new machine as I don't see any benefit in upgrading this machine to Mojave (would probably need a new card for Metal compatibility ).

The card has 4 video outs. I'm currently only using 2. It has been a great improvement in graphics speed.

I purchased mine on eBay. Mid $300s

Norbert

 

[tsialex]

I'm running a NVIDIA GTX 780 3GB on my 3,1, with High Sierra. Will probably move to a new machine as I don't see any benefit in upgrading this machine to Mojave (would probably need a new card for Metal compatibility ).

GTX 780, like other NVIDIA Kepler cards, supports METAL and have native support with Apple NVIDIA drivers of Mojave.

 

[Ben888]

GTX 780, like other NVIDIA Kepler cards, supports METAL and have native support with Apple NVIDIA drivers of Mojave.

My 670 (Also a Kepler card) is working well with Mojave, and they were going relatively cheaply on eBay when I looked out of curiosity recently. (Around $50)

 

[MP9600]

Ok, guys, just new here, and following this thread as I am on a MacPro 3.1 and want to upgrade the graphic card to 3GB or 4 GB. Bearing in mind in the next few months I will update to a MacPro5.1 and would want to transfer the card on it, what are my best options as I would want to edit, on Final Cut Pro, basic 4k footage - and i stress basic, as in short duration clips - .
And no, I cannot afford a brand new machine . Thanks in advance for any helpful advice

 

[tsialex]

Ok, guys, just new here, and following this thread as I am on a MacPro 3.1 and want to upgrade the graphic card to 3GB or 4 GB. Bearing in mind in the next few months I will update to a MacPro5.1 and would want to transfer the card on it, what are my best options as I would want to edit, on Final Cut Pro, basic 4k footage - and i stress basic, as in short duration clips - .
And no, I cannot afford a brand new machine . Thanks in advance for any helpful advice

Maybe it's better to wait to buy a GPU when you already have the MP5,1. MP3,1 won't work with AMD GPUs after Sierra, needing serious hacking*. For a MP5,1 the best cost benefit card with the possibility to enable hardware encoding for h264/HEVC, Sapphire AMD RX 580, won't work with MP3,1*.

*It's possible for advanced users to make it work, but most people can't. Check these threads and see if it's for you:

[HowTo] MP 3,1 Use AMD RX 580 for Mojave/Catalina and bootscreen (without flashing)
MP 1,1-5,1 MP3,1 (& others?) SSE 4.2 emulation (to enable AMD Metal driver)

 

[MP9600]

And what about the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 4 Go? It might be old to most but to me it would be a huge leap forward compared to the 1GB I have right now on my radeon 5770.
The GTX 680 will still work on both the 3.1 and 5.1? And still manage 4K well? The last point is for me the most important.
Also I see that MacVid Cards sells a NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Noir 6 Go GDDR 5, for what seems to me like a reasonable price. And supports 4k@60 on the DisplayPort?! That one I guess would be another viable option?
I am looking for the least fuss that would allow me to use it now on the MAC PRO 3.1 and move it in a couple of months to a 5.1.
Thanks again for your great advice!!

Maybe it's better to wait to buy a GPU when you already have the MP5,1. MP3,1 won't work with AMD GPUs after Sierra, needing serious hacking*. For a MP5,1 the best cost benefit card with the possibility to enable hardware encoding for h264/HEVC, Sapphire AMD RX 580, won't work with MP3,1*.

*It's possible for advanced users to make it work, but most people can't. Check these threads and see if it's for you:

[HowTo] MP 3,1 Use AMD RX 580 for Mojave/Catalina and bootscreen (without flashing)
MP 1,1-5,1 MP3,1 (& others?) SSE 4.2 emulation (to enable AMD Metal driver)

 

[tsialex]

And what about the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 4 Go? It might be old to most but to me it would be a huge leap forward compared to the 1GB I have right now on my radeon 5770.
The GTX 680 will still work on both the 3.1 and 5.1? And still manage 4K well? The last point is for me the most important.
Also I see that MacVid Cards sells a NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Noir 6 Go GDDR 5, for what seems to me like a reasonable price. And supports 4k@60 on the DisplayPort?! That one I guess would be another viable option?
I am looking for the least fuss that would allow me to use it now on the MAC PRO 3.1 and move it in a couple of months to a 5.1.
Thanks again for your great advice!!

NVIDIA GPUs don't have hardware encoding with macOS, just AMD Polaris/VEGA/VII/Navi.

GTX 680 works fine, but not for 4K, just 30Hz. I wouldn't buy one if I'm gonna buy a MP5,1.

 

[dc003]

@tsialex , I've been trying to get my 3,1 to Catalina using the dosdude patcher. According to his website, I should be able to do it and yet I can't seem to get a stable install. I've only gotten one install through 100% (through setup all the way to a desktop screen) but it crashes extremely frequently. I have one ssd mounted on a PCIe and another installed in a regular HD slot. For the other 49 failed installs of catalina, they fail either during the install process or install almost completely ("about a minute left") and then crash. However, the volumes are recognized as startup disks with 10.15. If I choose it as a startup disk or run the post-installs and do the same, I'll see the APFS fix and then the computer crashes and turns off. Any idea what could be the reason why?

 

[tsialex]

@tsialex , I've been trying to get my 3,1 to Catalina using the dosdude patcher. According to his website, I should be able to do it and yet I can't seem to get a stable install. I've only gotten one install through 100% (through setup all the way to a desktop screen) but it crashes extremely frequently. I have one ssd mounted on a PCIe and another installed in a regular HD slot. For the other 49 failed installs of catalina, they fail either during the install process or install almost completely ("about a minute left") and then crash. However, the volumes are recognized as startup disks with 10.15. If I choose it as a startup disk or run the post-installs and do the same, I'll see the APFS fix and then the computer crashes and turns off. Any idea what could be the reason why?
View attachment 968627

I've never used any dosdude hacked installs and I don't own a MP3,1 for a very very long time, sorry but I can't help you. One thing that I can tell is that your GPU is completely unsupported since High Sierra, your life will be easier with a more recent GPU like GTX 680 or any other Kepler NVIDIA GPU.

I recommend that you go to the Catalina Unsupported thread and ask about your problems there, it's the correct place to ask for help.

macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs

How to update Catalina Machine Support Video Card Support Pre-Metal AMD video cards (Radeon HD 6xxx series and older without acceleration, Radeon HD 4xxx series and older with acceleration.) Pre-Metal Nvidia video cards (GeForce 5xx series and older without acceleration, GeForce 3xx...

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