MP 1,1-5,1 Mac Pro 2008 - teach me about video cards

[belzoid]

Setup
Mac Pro 2008. Believe its 3,1
Need: replace video card
Current card is an ATI XFX Radeon HD 5775
This card was running two 30" Apple Cinema Displays

Background
After a couple of years one monitor started losing its video feed. The fan started becoming louder.
My work is mostly graphics, photoshop editing, some video editing, and some gaming (WOT).
Eventually the card no longer sent any video to either monitor and the card's fan was racing at max all the time.

Bought a replacement 5775. The card is seated properly, one monitor connected, no USB connected.
No joy. Moved card to 2 other PCIe slots. Tried second monitor. No video signal still.

The replacement card was claimed to have been tested.

Questions -
1. 5775 video card specific question: are cards mac or PC specific?
2. How do I ascertain a video card is Mac compatible? (Some eBay sellers are just unloading gear and can't answer.)
3. I hear references to drivers and firmware. When does those become an interest with regards to a video card on a Mac?
4. Does the video card affect the ability of the Mac Pro 2008 to run OS versions? (With the 5775 latest OS i can get is El Capitan.)
5. Explain what flashing a card does and under what circumstances would it be done?
6. Video card capabilities limited to size of monitor if any?
7. What video cards can I upgrade this MP 2008 with? And how is that determined?
8. One upgrade possibility(?) is for the XFX ATI Radeon HD5870 1GB DDR5, but this requires two power cables. What would this second cable be called if I needed to order that part?
9. Prefer card under $100, run 2 - 30" Cinema Displays.
10. Would it be possible to run 3 - 30" displays? If so how would that be done.
11. Can that roaring fan video card be fixed with new thermal paste applied to it?

This workhorse has been amazingly useful and still functional after 14 years.
Just need to keep it going until the next Mac Pro release when i can finally upgrade!

 

[Macschrauber]

GPU Compatibility List for cMP

Content: 1. Summary 2. Information on common GPUs that can be used in cMP 3. GPU power consumption 4. Color compatibility 5. Flashing nuances 6. What to choose? 7. Useful links. 1. Summary 1.1. There are 50+ GPU types that are compatible with cMP (classic MacPro = Mac Pro 1.1-5.1/...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[AlexMaximus]

Setup
Mac Pro 2008. Believe its 3,1
Need: replace video card
Current card is an ATI XFX Radeon HD 5775
This card was running two 30" Apple Cinema Displays

Background
After a couple of years one monitor started losing its video feed. The fan started becoming louder.
My work is mostly graphics, photoshop editing, some video editing, and some gaming (WOT).
Eventually the card no longer sent any video to either monitor and the card's fan was racing at max all the time.

Bought a replacement 5775. The card is seated properly, one monitor connected, no USB connected.
No joy. Moved card to 2 other PCIe slots. Tried second monitor. No video signal still.

The replacement card was claimed to have been tested.

Questions -
1. 5775 video card specific question: are cards mac or PC specific?
2. How do I ascertain a video card is Mac compatible? (Some eBay sellers are just unloading gear and can't answer.)
3. I hear references to drivers and firmware. When does those become an interest with regards to a video card on a Mac?
4. Does the video card affect the ability of the Mac Pro 2008 to run OS versions? (With the 5775 latest OS i can get is El Capitan.)
5. Explain what flashing a card does and under what circumstances would it be done?
6. Video card capabilities limited to size of monitor if any?
7. What video cards can I upgrade this MP 2008 with? And how is that determined?
8. One upgrade possibility(?) is for the XFX ATI Radeon HD5870 1GB DDR5, but this requires two power cables. What would this second cable be called if I needed to order that part?
9. Prefer card under $100, run 2 - 30" Cinema Displays.
10. Would it be possible to run 3 - 30" displays? If so how would that be done.
11. Can that roaring fan video card be fixed with new thermal paste applied to it?

This workhorse has been amazingly useful and still functional after 14 years.
Just need to keep it going until the next Mac Pro release when i can finally upgrade!

1: You will need a Mac specific card that has a Mac EFI rom. Either Mac original or flashed version from an expert.
2: You can use all 4.1/5.1 production gpus that have been available as well as all Mac edition facelift special cards that came later (iMac used GPUs that have been flashed) as well as AMD 480/ 560/570/580 Pulse for Metal compatibility for Catalina. (some with additional power cable mod)
3: You can go with production models till High Sierra. For newer OSX such as Mojave and Catalina you will need a chipset emulator hack for the MP 3,1.
4: Yes as described in 3
5:It puts a Mac Rom on the original PC rom and overwrites it for boot screen capability (ALT key at start to choose boot HDD)
6: Video Ram
7: I am only familiar with 5.1 MP. For your 3.1 you will need to read link above. Rule of thumb, avoid NVIDIA cards for Mojave and above. The PNY Mac Edition Quadro K5000 seems to be the exception to this rule.
8: Mac Pro Mini-6-pin cable I believe.
9: If the machine shall be repurposed to a younger family member or friend, a good card shall be used..
10: Possible, but not advisable. A second card should be used for the 3rd card because of adapter cable problems.
(Video cards are available that can run 3 monitors but come at a cost. Look up AMD Radeon Pro Models of that era)
Some lesser cards can do 3 monitors with only two on display ports and on on HMI port with possible changed resolution
11: Its simple, thermal past doesn't cost the world, give it a try and see if it helps.

Overview on the 3.1:

How to flash:

MP 3.1. Upgrade Examples:

Power cable mods:

RX570 GPU Mod:

 

[belzoid]

1: You will need a Mac specific card that has a Mac EFI rom. Either Mac original or flashed version from an expert.
2: You can use all 4.1/5.1 production gpus that have been available as well as all Mac edition facelift special cards that came later (iMac used GPUs that have been flashed) as well as AMD 480/ 560/570/580 Pulse for Metal compatibility for Catalina. (some with additional power cable mod)
3: You can go with production models till High Sierra. For newer OSX such as Mojave and Catalina you will need the 144.xyz boot rom for Metal.
4: Yes as described in 3
5:It puts a Mac Rom on the original PC rom and overwrites it for boot screen capability (ALT key at start to choose boot HDD)
6: Video Ram
7: I am only familiar with 5.1 MP. For your 3.1 you will need to read link above. Rule of thumb, avoid NVIDIA cards for Mojave and above. The PNY Mac Edition Quadro K5000 seems to be the exception to this rule.
8: Mac Pro Mini-6-pin cable I believe.
9: If the machine shall be repurposed to a younger family member or friend, a good card shall be used..
10: Possible, but not advisable. A second card should be used for the 3rd card because of adapter cable problems.
(Video cards are available that can run 3 monitors but come at a cost. Look up AMD Radeon Pro Models of that era)
Some lesser cards can do 3 monitors with only two on display ports and on on HMI port with possible changed resolution
11: Its simple, thermal past doesn't cost the world, give it a try and see if it helps.

Overview on the 3.1:

How to flash:

MP 3.1. Upgrade Examples:

Power cable mods:

RX570 GPU Mod:

Thanks for the information. So much info packed into them it's taking a while to absorb all of it.

 

[belzoid]

1: You will need a Mac specific card that has a Mac EFI rom. Either Mac original or flashed version from an expert.
2: You can use all 4.1/5.1 production gpus that have been available as well as all Mac edition facelift special cards that came later (iMac used GPUs that have been flashed) as well as AMD 480/ 560/570/580 Pulse for Metal compatibility for Catalina. (some with additional power cable mod)
3: You can go with production models till High Sierra. For newer OSX such as Mojave and Catalina you will need the 144.xyz boot rom for Metal.
4: Yes as described in 3
5:It puts a Mac Rom on the original PC rom and overwrites it for boot screen capability (ALT key at start to choose boot HDD)
6: Video Ram
7: I am only familiar with 5.1 MP. For your 3.1 you will need to read link above. Rule of thumb, avoid NVIDIA cards for Mojave and above. The PNY Mac Edition Quadro K5000 seems to be the exception to this rule.
8: Mac Pro Mini-6-pin cable I believe.
9: If the machine shall be repurposed to a younger family member or friend, a good card shall be used..
10: Possible, but not advisable. A second card should be used for the 3rd card because of adapter cable problems.
(Video cards are available that can run 3 monitors but come at a cost. Look up AMD Radeon Pro Models of that era)
Some lesser cards can do 3 monitors with only two on display ports and on on HMI port with possible changed resolution
11: Its simple, thermal past doesn't cost the world, give it a try and see if it helps.

Overview on the 3.1:

How to flash:

MP 3.1. Upgrade Examples:

Power cable mods:

RX570 GPU Mod:

What are ways of telling if a video card is Mac compatible?

I ordered a Nvidia Radeon 5775 to replace a dead one same type. Fan worked but only got a black screen. Could this be a PC card that is not compatible with the Mac? Or a failed video card? How can anyone tell if a card is Mac or PC compatible? Some eBay listings say so but others the sellers couldn't tell me one way or the other.

 

[belzoid]

Another video card question:
One port out of two is not delivering a video signal.

I ordered a GeForce GTX680 after reading it would allow later OS versions that capped out at El Capitan with the 5775.

The card works with this 2008 Mac Pro on El Capitan. But....
Discovered that only one of the two cable ports will deliver a video signal to the monitor. The top port does not work. Why might that be? Does the About Mac info reveal anything?

Explain the following data on the video card:
The card info shows
Display Controller on Slot-1 Driver Installed YES
and
NVDA, Parent on Driver Installed NO

I need both ports to function, what can I do short of returning the card?
What can I do to make sure if I order another both ports will work?