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Are my Mac Pro GPU upgrade options really this slim?

J

JohnnyBates

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 19, 2010
5
0
I've got a Mac Pro from November 2006. It's been working fine all these years, until the video card died a few weeks ago. It was a GeForce 7300 GT which I run with dual 23" cinima displays.

Been researching what I should buy to replace the card and I'm getting frustrated by what seems to be a supreme lack of options. Is it really this difficult?

An Apple customer service rep told me that I could just buy any PCI graphics card, but a few minutes of research told me that was wrong and only specific video cards made for Macs will work in my computer.

So I'm checking out the Video Card Upgrades page and it seems my only options are:

  • ATI Radeon 2600: I'd have to jump through a lot of hoops to get this to work
  • GeForce 8800 GT: Can only seem to find it used.
  • Quadro FX 5600: Incredibly expensive
  • ATI Radeon HD3870: Not as much as the 5600, but still pretty expensive

What gives? I just want to find an affordable card with 2 dvi outputs (I consider the 3870 to be expensive). Is that going to happen?

I'm starting to think I might as well sell one of my displays, toss the Mac Pro's hard drives into a Drobo, buy a stand and use my MacBook Pro in clamshell mode. At least on that deal I'd make some money.
 
Thanks for the replies. The replacement options are still looking a little expensive in the ~ $300 range.
 
Or the 4890 flashing route... just read up on that a bit.
I'm gonna do that, too, as soon as I have some €150 left. ;)
 
JohnnyBates said:
[*]ATI Radeon 2600: I'd have to jump through a lot of hoops to get this to work
Click to expand...

What do you mean by jump through hoops?

Install & boot is all that is required.

ATI cards are unique in that so far all of them have worked in all of the Mac Pros.

FInd a used Mac 2600 on Ebay for like $80 and be done. (Gotta be a Mac Pro one...PC ones won't work unless flashed)

If you aren't doing any serious gaming, the 2600 is sufficient for everything else. Can even run 2 @ 30" displays if needed.
 
The Rominator said:
What do you mean by jump through hoops?

Install & boot is all that is required.

ATI cards are unique in that so far all of them have worked in all of the Mac Pros.
Click to expand...

I was referring to this note on the card from the MacRumors Video Card Upgrades page:

Note: Apple does not officially support HD2600 XT with older Mac Pro (Mid 2006). To run the card on versions older than the Mid 2007 revision, the Mac Pro must be cloned or imaged from an Aluminum iMac (Mid 2007) to obtain the Radeon HD 2600 drivers for Tiger.
Click to expand...
 
OP, look into the PC card flashing route. For the cost of Apple's 512MB 4870 you could basically buy two 1GB 4870s. I ran two XFX 1GB 4870s flashed in my 2006 Mac Pro for about nine months without issue. Worked great with crossfire in Windows. :D
 
Unless you get yourself a PC card an flash it there isn't going to be anything really cheap as an option.

The 2600 will work, leopard and snow leopard already have the drivers.

Flashed 4870 cards are available to buy if you don't want to pay apples full price, plus as you've got two 23" cinema displays you'll want two dvi ports anyway.
 
Mac Pro Video Card

I paid $160 for a used 4890. If you're worried about the flashing you can use the Injector option on ATI Flashing Tool to use the card with the stock ROM. Use the 4890 thread to select a card that is most likely to work with your Mac.
 
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