Mac Pro 1,1 10.9.2 (Tiamo) Graphic Card Suggestions

[Tutor]

I know there are entire threads about NVIDIA graphic cards (PC), but I wanted to hear from MacPro1,1 or 2,1 (2006-2008) owners who recently patched their boot.efi with Tiamo's solution and are running 10.9.2 and use an upgraded Graphics Card. Unfortunately my box still has the stock NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 9 MB and lack of OS support makes the flickering unbearable (particularly with Mail.app and Safari.app)

Could some kind soul post which (cheap) card to get, preferably because they have it working in their rig already?

This is not for gaming or graphics intensive stuff, just Mavericks Desktop and your occasional full screen video.

Thanks

Edit: This is the official list by Apple I believe
Edit: Similar post on MacRumors
Edit: List of working cards in MacPro1,1

• ATI Radeon HD 7950 (flashed)
• SAPPHIRE HD 7950 3GB GDDR5 MAC Edition
• ATI Radeon 4870 flashed
• ATI Radeon 5770 Mac Edition
• NVIDIA GTX 660
• NVIDIA 8800 GT Mac

Consider the GT 640 for about $110 from here [ http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=04G-P4-2647-KR ] (if you care nothing about CUDA - that's where the video card acts as a data processor or behaves like your CPU for parallel processing compute functions). The GT 640 doesn't require any electrical power aside from that provided by the slot into which you'll install it. It has 4 gigs of vram. I have seven GT 640s and they're great for non-compute chores, such as video viewing.

If you want CUDA compute capability -
If you act fast, you can get a new GTX 480 from Compeve for $195 from here - http://www.ebay.com/itm/nVidia-GeFo...766?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item35d3236876 . It should satisfy your stated needs and it's an excellent CUDA card for the price. The only currently available CUDA cards that are faster than it are (fastest first):
1) GTX Titan Black Edition - ~$1K
2) GTX 780 Ti - ~$700
3) GTX 690 / 4G - ~$1K
4) GTX Titan SC / 6G - >$800
5) GTX 590C - used $300-400
6) GTX Titan (reference design) >$800
7) GTX 780 >$400 and
8) maybe depending on configuration - GTX 770 > $300.

Caveats: With the cards I've listed you'll not get a boot screen and the GTX480 will run warmer than most cards, but they're made to run on the warmer side. All of the other cards that I've listed, other than the GTX 590, will run cooler than the GTX 480. Make sure that you have a 6 and an 8 pin power source, but none are needed for the GT 640.

 

[jamgold]

Picked up a GIGABYTE GV-N650OC-2GI GeForce GTX 650 and it works just fine, make sure you have the PCIe power cable. All 2 GB of VRAM is recognized by CUDA at least.

Thanks very much for all the suggestions.

I thought EFI boot was very important to me, so I ordered a cheap ($99) GT8800 from eBay, but it was dead on arrival (I had it checked in a repair store). The guy claimed it worked, so I sent it back for a replacement, but he just sent me back the same card. So two weeks in I am asking for my money back. I will just go for one of the suggested new cards and move my existing GeForce 7300GT into another slot.

 

[Earl Urly]

That card I mentioned was on sale for $129 at Micro Center if theres one near you or if you wanted online.

 

[Earl Urly]

Okay, the PNY Performance Edition GTX 660 works just fine too. Specifically, this one:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0096JZYZC/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

Working in a MacPro 1,1 running Mavericks 10.9.2 and Tiamo mod right out of the box. Using built-in 10.9.2 drivers and latest CUDA, 5.5.47.

No EFI screens. Kicks the **** out of the 650 I mentioned in an earlier post. CUDA is screaming along compared to the 8800GT, guess having 800 more cores helps.

Might be a good midrange pick as you can get it NIB from Amazon for $187, probably even lower on eBay if you want used.

Will run Ungine Heaven and OpenCL benchmarks when I get a chance.

Edit: Can't answer any questions other than very general ones about the previous GTX 650 card because I took it back to get the GTX 660.

 

[star-affinity]

Okay, the PNY Performance Edition GTX 660 works just fine too. Specifically, this one:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0096JZYZC/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

Working in a MacPro 1,1 running Mavericks 10.9.2 and Tiamo mod right out of the box. Using built-in 10.9.2 drivers and latest CUDA, 5.5.47.

No EFI screens. Kicks the **** out of the 650 I mentioned in an earlier post. CUDA is screaming along compared to the 8800GT, guess having 800 more cores helps.

Might be a good midrange pick as you can get it NIB from Amazon for $187, probably even lower on eBay if you want used.

Will run Ungine Heaven and OpenCL benchmarks when I get a chance.

Edit: Can't answer any questions other than very general ones about the previous GTX 650 card because I took it back to get the GTX 660.

I'm wondering if there really is a point in putting a graphics card such as GTX 660 in a MacPro1,1.
I mean, are the rest of the computer components really fast enough to feed the graphics card?

 

[Robert Davies]

I'm wondering if there really is a point in putting a graphics card such as GTX 660 in a MacPro1,1.
I mean, are the rest of the computer components really fast enough to feed the graphics card?

More than capable.

 

[star-affinity]

More than capable.

Okay, that's great then.

Which graphics card would you say is the limit when the rest of the components become the bottleneck, or are there none at the moment?

I mean a fast CPU and that the other components that feeds the graphics card are fast makes a big difference on how well the graphics perform. Right?

 

[Robert Davies]

Okay, that's great then.

Which graphics card would you say is the limit when the rest of the components become the bottleneck, or are there none at the moment?

I mean a fast CPU and that the other components that feeds the graphics card are fast makes a big difference on how well the graphics perform. Right?

When the card is matched to it's task properly, I do not believe there is a card that's 'too fast' for the 1,1 - whether or not it makes economic sense for you is another matter entirely.

eg

MacVidCards found during benchmark testing that the 1,1 was one of the faster options when testing the 7950.

Tutor uses 1,1s extensively in his Octane Render work with some seriously heavy duty cards.

Because the Mac Pros are designed to be able to be on 24/7 and at or near full capacity that entire time, when you get beyond the basic level of pushing pixels around the screen, there are so many factors beyond 'how fast is my card' and how fast is my Mac Pro to consider - Is CUDA a primary requirement? Is better OpenCL a need?

 

[Earl Urly]

Here's a uninformed statement, I run the same BOINC project (Einstein@Home) on a Mac Pro 5,1 with an ATI 5770, Mavericks, 32 GB RAM, and a Tiamo-enabled Mac Pro 1,1 with the GTX 660, Mavericks, with 4 GB. The 5,1 is using the built-in OpenCL driver and the 1,1 is using the latest CUDA, v.5.5.47.

The 1,1 is beating the 5,1 in terms of average work done, and it's only been on there for a couple of days at least!

YMMV, though, and I'm just lucky the guys who program Einstein@Home even bothered with CUDA for their project, some projects don't take advantage of it. CUDA's also had more time to be refined, though.

 

[HuntingPudel]

I'm considering the Sapphire 7950 for my 1,1. I currently have a 5770 Mac Edition in it. Does anyone know if the 7950 is a significant seat of the pants improvement (something more than 20%) on average over the 5770 in a 1,1?

 

[Robert Davies]

I'm considering the Sapphire 7950 for my 1,1. I currently have a 5770 Mac Edition in it. Does anyone know if the 7950 is a significant seat of the pants improvement (something more than 20%) on average over the 5770 in a 1,1?

My experience of a 5870 gives nearly that kind of a boost over a 5770, so I'd have to guess that a 7950 would be a further significant boost again over the 5870.

 

[star-affinity]

When the card is matched to it's task properly, I do not believe there is a card that's 'too fast' for the 1,1 - whether or not it makes economic sense for you is another matter entirely.

eg

MacVidCards found during benchmark testing that the 1,1 was one of the faster options when testing the 7950.

Tutor uses 1,1s extensively in his Octane Render work with some seriously heavy duty cards.

Because the Mac Pros are designed to be able to be on 24/7 and at or near full capacity that entire time, when you get beyond the basic level of pushing pixels around the screen, there are so many factors beyond 'how fast is my card' and how fast is my Mac Pro to consider - Is CUDA a primary requirement? Is better OpenCL a need?

I see the point! Thanks for the info and clarification! I guess it definitely depends on what you use the graphics card for. But it's good to know that it still can benefit a MacPro1,1 to have newer cards!

 

[javimontero]

I'm considering the Sapphire 7950 for my 1,1. I currently have a 5770 Mac Edition in it. Does anyone know if the 7950 is a significant seat of the pants improvement (something more than 20%) on average over the 5770 in a 1,1?

Hi,

Go to this thread and see post #14.
Quoting:"The 1,1 MP is almost fast as the nMP with dual GPU ! and beat the 5,1 with single GPU ! Rominator has see similar result on netkas with a 7950"

In fact that sounds so incredible for me that I am ordering a 7950 to confirm that.

Javi Montero

 

[fhenry]

Hi,

Go to this thread and see post #14.
Quoting:"The 1,1 MP is almost fast as the nMP with dual GPU ! and beat the 5,1 with single GPU ! Rominator has see similar result on netkas with a 7950"

In fact that sounds so incredible for me that I am ordering a 7950 to confirm that.

Javi Montero

only for open cl test, with open gl and games it still good but performed less than in a 5,1 mp

 

[HuntingPudel]

Hi,

Go to this thread and see post #14.
Quoting:"The 1,1 MP is almost fast as the nMP with dual GPU ! and beat the 5,1 with single GPU ! Rominator has see similar result on netkas with a 7950"

In fact that sounds so incredible for me that I am ordering a 7950 to confirm that.

Javi Montero

Well, since OWC has a small discount for MacWorld and they're offering a small trade-in on my 5770, I might as well go for it. Thanks for the info and the link.

 

[javimontero]

only for open cl test, with open gl and games it still good but performed less than in a 5,1 mp

Maybe, but does is not the part that impress me. The fact that this card in mp1,1 is almost as fast as the new MP with double GPU.... that is the point!.

Javi

 

[HuntingPudel]

Maybe, but does is not the part that impress me. The fact that this card in mp1,1 is almost as fast as the new MP with double GPU.... that is the point!.

Javi

The point I believe was that OpenCL performance approached the nMP range. Graphic performance in a 1,1 is not as good as the 5,1. Maybe I'm all wet here, but that's what I thought I read.

 

[m3nt0r]

5570 differences

Mac Pro 1,1 running 10.7.5 that I want to take to 10.9.2. The first step for me appears to be upgrading the video card. In reading through this thread and others I have determined that the 5770 is probably the best card for me. Obviously if I buy the 5770 for Mac I get boot screen and it should work just. If I buy a PC one that was flashed, is there any functionality that will be missed? Finally if I buy a PC one will it work just not provide boot?

 

[Earl Urly]

If you buy a PC nVidia card it will work with 10.8.5 and up, but you won't get any video until the login screen.

EFI boot select screens will work with properly flashed nVidia and ATI cards.

Keep your old card in until you boost the 1,1 to 10.8.5 or 10.9.x then switch in a PC card after successfully booting from 10.8.5/10.9.1. This only holds true for PC nVidia 5XX and 6XX cards so far as I know, I believe the made-for-PC ATI's just plain won't work unless they get Mac flashed or if they're Mac specific out of the box.

 

[HuntingPudel]

Well, I ordered the Sapphire 7950 over the weekend from OWC and it's on a truck on the way to my house. It's kind of like Christmas!

 

[michael_aos]

FYI, the Apple ATI Radeon HD 5770 Graphics Upgrade Kit MC742ZM/A for my 2006 Mac Pro 1,1 was $249+tax back on 12/6/2010.
--

 

[128keaton]

Cheapest is ASUS GT 210.
Downside is no EFI boot.

 

[HuntingPudel]

FYI, the Apple ATI Radeon HD 5770 Graphics Upgrade Kit MC742ZM/A for my 2006 Mac Pro 1,1 was $249+tax back on 12/6/2010.
--

That's about what I paid for mine a couple months earlier. I bought it through Amazon.

 

[HuntingPudel]

Got my Sapphire HD7950 today. The instructions said that the card shipped with the firmware switch in the EFI position, so I didn't mess with it. No boot screen, System Info denoted it as a Radeon 7xxx. Opened the case back up, looked at the switch. It was set in the wrong position. Flipped it to the correct position, started up, and all was good. Card defaulted to 2560x1600 on my Acer X243W connected through the DVI port. Not sure with my old eyes that I like it set that high. LOL.

Now all I have to do is get off my butt and send my Apple 5770 back to OWC for the trade-in deal.

 

[jamgold]

Finally got a card

Went to Fry's and picked up an ASUS GT-640. Apart from seconds that turned to an eternity during boot (and not seeing what was going on) I now have a snappy desktop and all the Apple applications (iPhoto etc) work as well now (before they didn't show the actual content).

Thank you Tiamo