Graphics card suggestions for Mac Pro 2,1

[msintros]

I'm currently using a 5770 card with my Mac Pro 2,1 (10.7.5).

It works pretty well, although I have recently started playing GTA V and, while the game does play, it doesn't play very well. The frame rate isn't usually too bad but as soon as weather starts (i.e. it rains) the graphics become very glitchy and there are other problems too, such as when looking inside a building outward, there are weird lines of blocks that appear, presumably from texture glitching or something. Strangely enough, the game itself tells me I only have 512MB of VRAM, when I should have 1GB.

Is there a card you would recommend that would be compatible with this model Mac that would be significantly more powerful? Ideally at least 2GB of VRAM and preferably less than $300 but I'm flexible. It's hard for me to figure out what will actually work on this computer. Thanks!

 

[MacVidCards]

The big problem is the age of your OS.

Back in the day of Lion, 1 GB was a decent amount.

Now of course, not so much.

If your card is an Apple one (2 @ MDP and 1 @ DVI) then maintaining the same level of ease of use is difficult. If you have been using a flashed card (until quite recently only has boot screens on VGA display) then you are used to compromises.

I believe that Nvidia cards from that era that work are limited to GTX5xx series.

Best of the best is a GTX580 with 3GB. Or you could do a GTX570 with 2.5 GB.

Neither of those cards will have boot screens in 1,1.

So you may want to get a cheapie card like 2600XT or GT120 that doesn't need power but can show EFI.

On the AMD front, the better cards really require a newer OS. A 7950 or 7970 would be ideal if you install 10.8 or later. (requires boot.efi mod)

Either of those cards has 3 GB of RAM and is immensely faster than a 5770.

If you aren't feeling bold, a 5870 would give you more oomph and not require newer OS. Still 1GB of RAM but a decent upgrade. New revelations at Netkas can net you a flashed card with working DVI for boot screens.

 

[msintros]

Thanks for your reply.

I'm pretty sure it's a Mac one, but I'm not 100% sure. Most of my gaming is on a Windows partition with Bootcamp, but obviously I do need the monitor to work in Mac Os as well.

The problem is I don't think my hardware will allow me to go past 10.7.5

 

[MacVidCards]

Thanks for your reply.

I'm pretty sure it's a Mac one, but I'm not 100% sure. Most of my gaming is on a Windows partition with Bootcamp, but obviously I do need the monitor to work in Mac Os as well.

The problem is I don't think my hardware will allow me to go past 10.7.5

Do some more research

I have one of the 1,1s here running Yosemite with ease.

There are 2 or more threads on this page alone about running newer OSs on 1,1 and 2,1.

 

[msintros]

Interesting. I guess I'm out of the loop.

My main concern with upgrading is that I use my Mac system for audio which has a lot of programs on it. I don't really look forward to what will happen if I upgrade and it "breaks" a program or plugin that I need and I have trouble resurrecting a particular project as a result.

So it looks like I should probably just consider the 5870 card if that's the best one without upgrading.

 

[netkas]

Lion can run early kepler cards, like gtx670/680

 

[msintros]

From doing a bit of reading it seems like the gtx670 won't give me boot screens, which I kind of like/need since I'm constantly swapping between Mac and Windows. Is that correct?

 

[MacVidCards]

From doing a bit of reading it seems like the gtx670 won't give me boot screens, which I kind of like/need since I'm constantly swapping between Mac and Windows. Is that correct?

Yes, as much as I prefer Nvidia the fact that 5770/5870/7950/70 give boot screens in 1,1 is a HUGE plus for them.

 

[msintros]

Thanks. I'm still pretty ignorant about a lot of this stuff, as you can tell. I am having to educate myself a little bit, as I don't even know what EFI is and things like that. Like I said I've mostly used my system for music production so getting into gaming more has forced me to look at aspects of my system I never needed to care about before. It's a bit overwhelming because there seems to be a lot of differing opinions and ways of doing things out there. Like I can research cards compatible with 10.7 but that doesn't necessarily mean it will work with MP 2,1 and vice versa, so I have to find guides from people that have both. And then there are other variables like internal power, external power, etc.

So am I right in assuming that if I get an actual Apple 5870 card that it should just be a plug-n-play deal where I don't have to do much work and get boot screens and all that? I imagine I'll probably need to download new drivers for the Windows system.