Graphic Card Update for Mac Pro 2006

[shadowfayre]

A friend of mine has the 2006 Mac Pro (MacPro1.1 Dual-Core 2.66) and has the Nvidia 7300GT. He is looking to upgrade his video card. What options are there which I can suggest? ATI 2400 Pro? Unforunately, the new 4870 Apple released states it is only for the 2008 Mac Pro. I am not sure why that is since his machine has PCIe but I am sure Apple has there reasons. 🙄

Thanks.

(oh yeah, this does not need to be limited to "Apple Store" installs.)

 

[vendettabass]

pretty sure you can put the 8800GT that was introduced with the 2008 MP's in there, don't quote me on that though!

 

[NATO]

Yeah, there's a special version of the 8800GT available from Apple specifically for the 2006 model, that's the latest official card that is compatible 🙂

 

[ghoztman]

this one

It works a treat.

 

[shadowfayre]

Thanks. I Wonder why the ATI 4870 is not compatible. Is it a power limitation or it is just Apple not telling us all the details.

Also, is it just the ROM that is preventing me from purchasing this same card elsewhere? 200+ bucks seems very pricey for a card that old (considering I recently purchased the 4870 for the PC for 259)

 

[Scottsdale]

Thanks. I Wonder why the ATI 4870 is not compatible. Is it a power limitation or it is just Apple not telling us all the details.

How about Apple wanting Mac Pro users to upgrade every couple of releases... that would be my best "guess."

 

[dmw007]

this one

It works a treat.

The 8800 GT would be an excellent choice for your friend to upgrade to. Another excellent choice would be to consider the ATI Radeon 3870 from OWC. 🙂

He could check out some of the following links from barefeats.com to help determine which card would best meet his needs. 🙂

- Call of Duty 4 on Mac Pro GeForce vs Radeon Mac OS X vs Vista
- CORE IMAGE SAVIOR: Radeon HD 3870 Mac & PC Edition
- MAC GAME SHOOTOUT: Radeon HD 3870 Mac & PC Edition versus GeForce 8800 GT and others
- PC Only Gaming: Radeon HD 3870 Mac & PC Edition versus GeForce 8800 GT

Hope that helps! 🙂

 

[chrisj2110]

I think you guessed right....

How about Apple wanting Mac Pro users to upgrade every couple of releases... that would be my best "guess."

I think that sadly sums it up. Its sad really. Im thinking of going linux next time Apple denies me something (A new feature etc), Or hackintosh as I said somewhere here before. 🙁

 

[MRiOS]

Actually this kind of discussion has been happening over in the Mac Pro forum and so far, through testing, it has been found that the latest ATI Radeon HD 5770 and the 5870 both work in the 2006 Mac Pro. (see link: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1002692/)

I've got a 2.66 Mac Pro from 2006 myself and I'm thinking of upgrading my NVidea 7300 GT to the ATI Radeon Hd 5770 in a couple months. This gives plenty of time for thorough testing and to find if this is a truly viable upgrade path.

 

[Giuly]

Yeah, there's a special version of the 8800GT available from Apple specifically for the 2006 model, that's the latest official card that is compatible 🙂

The Radeon HD 5870 from the Mid-2010 MacPro was tested inside the MacPro1,1, and it works fine.

 

[orr27]

Mac pro 2006 3GHZ ver.1.1

I have a Mac pro 2006 3GHZ ver.1.1 with an ATY,RadeonX1900 when playing games the monitor shut down and only restarting brings it back and the system is out of whack. Would a new video card solve this problem? As an aside the baby runs real hot. In the summer it can raise the temp in the 10 x10 ft room to 80%.