MP 1,1-5,1 cMP classicMacPro 1,1 CHEAP gpu upgrade plan

[gifo]

Hello everyone,
i just got a classic mac pro i very good cosmetic conditions, i'm still trying to install snow leopard on it but i'm having some issues.
anyway i was planning to give it a little upgrade (since it's still in the original conditions) by putting a small ssd (that i already own) some gigs of ram (that i already own, FBB ddr2), wifi card (already ordered) bt card (15 euros are to much) and above all a usable GPU.
i've looked around and it seems that the two best options OOTB are hd5770 and 8800GT, still i'm not able to find them at a very low price.
by very low, i mean VERY low since it's a side project that i plan to gift to a friend with no particular needings in terms of power or such, and since i'm planning to full upgrade a dual socket 5,1 to use as daily machine.
so, other than the two above, am i missing some other cards that MIGHT work with full efi support that i could buy for like 20 euros? i would really appreciate an hdmi or mDP output (that's why i am a little concerned about the 8800gt).
thanks in advance

 

[ssgbryan]

Won't find much of anything at 20 Euros. The GT 120s are incredibly unreliable, and the 8800 are junk.

That being said......

If you have at least 10.8.3 or later installed..........

Don't have 10.8.3 installed on the 1,1?

Check ebay - there are of folks that sell hard drives preconfigured for up to 10.11 to run on a 1,1 or 2,1 ($15USD or there abouts). Plug the HD in and bob's your uncle. Back to video cards....

Check for a GT 740. Comes in a 4Gb config and can be had off of Ebay for $49USD. It will use the Nvidia web driver.

Another cheap upgrade to consider - replace the CPUs. A pair of Low power quad core Xeons (L5335 @ $5USD) 4 cores, 4 threads running @ 2.35Ghz will give you an 8 core/8 thread machine.

 

[gifo]

Won't find much of anything at 20 Euros. The GT 120s are incredibly unreliable, and the 8800 are junk.

That being said......

If you have at least 10.8.3 or later installed..........

Don't have 10.8.3 installed on the 1,1?

Check ebay - there are of folks that sell hard drives preconfigured for up to 10.11 to run on a 1,1 or 2,1 ($15USD or there abouts). Plug the HD in and bob's your uncle. Back to video cards....

Check for a GT 740. Comes in a 4Gb config and can be had off of Ebay for $49USD. It will use the Nvidia web driver.

Another cheap upgrade to consider - replace the CPUs. A pair of Low power quad core Xeons (L5335 @ $5USD) 4 cores, 4 threads running @ 2.35Ghz will give you an 8 core/8 thread machine.

hey, thanks for the reply. i'm not getting the hard drive bit. what do you mean?
the gt 740 has full efi support at boot?

 

[ssgbryan]

The 1,1 can't officially go beyond 10.7. The fix is pretty trivial, but for folks that are uncomfortable with the process (we have several threads on it here), the drive would require no work on your part.

 

[Macschrauber]

Check out for an Apple HD5770, with dvi and two mini display ports.

Thats the ony gpu what fill your needs. With luck you can find one in the 50 Euro price range.

Others are not compatible or provide no boot screen on efi32 Macs.

Or a PC 5770, a day or two fiddling with flashing yourself. If you have fun with it you can go that way.

 

[gifo]

The 1,1 can't officially go beyond 10.7. The fix is pretty trivial, but for folks that are uncomfortable with the process (we have several threads on it here), the drive would require no work on your part.

yeah, i know that, but i just wanted to go "vanilla" so up to lion as far as i can remember.
but no way i'm going to buy a "precooked" drive to go beyond that limit, the process is still in my "comfort zone".

Check out for an Apple HD5770, with dvi and two mini display ports.

Thats the ony gpu what fill your needs. With luck you can find one in the 50 Euro price range.

Others are not compatible or provide no boot screen on efi32 Macs.

Or a PC 5770, a day or two fiddling with flashing yourself. If you have fun with it you can go that way.

yeah, i was looking for an xfx hd5770 and how to flash it, even this process is in my comfort zone.
still it's hard to find a very cheap one of those, it's easier to find 5870 for a lower price (in my area at least) but i don't know if that card is flashable (and also needs a second power cable if i recall correctly).

so my question might be:

which is the cheapest card to go with that has native macpro support OR can be flashed without soldering mods?
i thought i wanted an hdmi out, but i'll probably buy a conveter from dvi maybe.

 

[Macschrauber]

There is no 100% solution, some cards have 64 k roms, some 5870 will give only dvi-vga bootscreen or dont work on all ports if flashed. Also 5870 will need two pci power cables (about 5 Eur each).

Some will not fit into slot 1 because they are too big or the backside heatsink screws are too long.

I build my systems in the low cost range, but gambling with the cheapest stuff available is not sparing money. You will buy more parts until you set up.

Mac Pro 1.1 is very ancient now. So I think not too much people here have recent buying hints.

 

[gifo]

There is no 100% solution, some cards have 64 k roms, some 5870 will give only dvi-vga bootscreen or dont work on all ports if flashed. Also 5870 will need two pci power cables (about 5 Eur each).

Some will not fit into slot 1 because they are too big or the backside heatsink screws are too long.

I build my systems in the low cost range, but gambling with the cheapest stuff available is not sparing money. You will buy more parts until you set up.

Mac Pro 1.1 is very ancient now. So I think not too much people here have recent buying hints.

thanks, i suppose that a 5770 is the "best" choice then...