Mac Pro 2009 video upgrade

[Pitagora]

Hi guys,
First of all I want salute you all, I am new on this forum.
Secondly I own a Mac Pro 2009 and I wanna upgrade the video card to a GeForce gtx 670 2gb VRAM and I want to know if this will fit in my Mac Pro and if I have drivers for both Mac OS and windows OS, I've read on other sites and it says that should be fine.
I know that if I put the gtx 670 I wouldn't be able to boot with apple logo, but if I keep the nvidia gt 120 will this allow me to boot with apple logo and if it do, how can I select in windows , or Mac OS which video card to enable for gaming, it would be automatically switch or I must do this manually?

Also what brand do you recommend me for gtx 670, I am undecided if I go for Evga, or to Asus, which offer better drivers support?

 

[Pitagora]

Nobody?

 

[zerb]

if i may direct you to this thread here, all of your questions should be answered

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1440150/

 

[Pitagora]

Thanks very much

 

[Enny5]

i have 2009 mac pro with gtx 550ti running on mountain lion latest with no problems at all just downloaded cuda drivers and no prob and i also got a power cable for the card.

 

[Pitagora]

I wanna buy a gtx 670, or maybe 680, as I read from the link below this will work properly if it has only 2 gb VRAM and I will not need a ups to power the card, but I want to know where can I find the drivers for it, as I seem nvidia doesn't have any drivers for Mac OS for gtx 670/680.

What can I do?

 

[gpzjock]

Read the linked thread again, follow the details more closely, the drivers are in Mac OS once you have done what it says. To switch GFX cards change which one your monitor is plugged into. The drivers supplied with the card you buy should install in Windows under Bootcamp just fine, if not then download the latest Windows version from the manufacturer or Nvidia.

 

[Pitagora]

These are the drivers which I need for the latest mountain lion version in order to work with gtx 670?

But I didn't find which manufacture should I choose for gtx 670 asus, Evga, gigabyte etc.?

 

[gpzjock]

From the linked thread:

"3) Where do I get the latest NVIDIA drivers?

Some people have complained about not being able to find the latest NVIDIA driver for a given OS release, so I'll just list them here for reference.

10.7.3 has 270.00.00f01
10.7.4 has 270.00.00f06
10.7.5 has 295.00.05f03
10.8.1 has 304.00.00f20
10.8.2 has 304.00.05f02

If you are using a PC card, it is recommended that you always run the latest driver from NVIDIA's site, even if the base OS version allows your card to work out of the box."

If you return to the thread the links will take you to the drivers. I can't make it any clearer.......

As for brand, that argument will run and run. I'd pick Asus, others would take Gigabyte or EVGA. Choose one, if it doesn't work return it and try again with another choice.

 

[Pitagora]

Thanks, I hope will work

 

[Pitagora]

If I will use a gtx 680 on my Mac Pro together with the nvidia gt 120 can I still see the boot screen with apple logo?

 

[xcodeSyn]

If I will use a gtx 680 on my Mac Pro together with the nvidia gt 120 can I still see the boot screen with apple logo?

Connect your monitor to the GT 120 card before start/restart, then you can see the apple boot screen and do whatever you like with it. Once you are on the desktop, you can switch the monitor connection back to your nVidia GTX card for serious work assuming you have only one monitor.

 

[Asgorath]

Connect your monitor to the GT 120 card before start/restart, then you can see the apple boot screen and do whatever you like with it. Once you are on the desktop, you can switch the monitor connection back to your nVidia GTX card for serious work assuming you have only one monitor.

What do you need the boot screen for, exactly? People seem really afraid of losing it in general, but in my personal experience, it's really not that big of a deal. Any time I need to switch into Boot Camp, I use the methods described in the FAQ thread. I've had to swap back to a GT 120 exactly two times in the last ~10 months or so (one to recover from a backup, one to install an SSD). You really, really, really don't need a boot screen in general -- and if you think you do, I'd be interested to know why, so I can update the FAQ thread with more details.

 

[Pitagora]

Thank you guys you were very hopefully.

 

[xcodeSyn]

You really, really, really don't need a boot screen in general -- and if you think you do, I'd be interested to know why, so I can update the FAQ thread with more details.

I totally agree with you that boot screen is not essential in most cases, and there is no need to update the already excellent FAQ. I answered the OP's question only because he had asked it several times and he seemed to be determined to stick to the old fashion way. Just by answering the question made me realize how inefficient it was.