Mac Pro Video Card

[alc126]

Hi:

My video card blew out on my older Mac (2007? - Not sure since I bought it off craigs list) The current video card is a MacPro Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT 256MB GDDR.

The people at the Apple store told me they would over charge me $400 and that I should buy my own video card, but Fry's is telling me they don't sell Mac compatible PCI-Express Cards.

My blown out card does not have a fan on it and it's thinner than the kind Fry's sells. I don't know enough about video cards to know if Fry's knows what they're talking about.

So - can I get any PCI-E video card - which is what The Apple Store suggests?
Or, can I only use the MacPro Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT 256MB GDDR?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Gaily

 

[MrCheeto]

Any PCI-E graphics card will work if there are mac drivers and if the card has a Mac compatible ROM.

This means if you bought a PC version of your card, you could flash it to the Mac Pro but you will need Windows to do so and it could ruin the card.

OtherWorldComputing sells Mac compatible cards.

 

[Hellhammer]

You can buy e.g. ATI 4870 or nVidia GT120 from Apple Store and replace it yourself. Replacing GPU is very simple task to do and you save money as well.

 

[Hmac]

First, you need to know what Mac Pro you have. Go under the menu on your computer and look at "About This Mac". Then click on "more info".

I suspect that your best possiblity is going to be the Apple version ATI 4870. Although Apple says differently on the web page, it will work fine in a 1,1 Mac Pro.

You other option is to buy a PC version 4870. You'll save about $150, but you'll have to re-flash the ROM. There are many discussions about that process here. You can read them by doing a search. Here is the Mroogle search result.



Note...If you buy the card from a reseller like B&H Photo, you will at least not be charged sales tax (unless you live in New York).

 

[alc126]

Thanks everyone

Much appreciated.

 

[xparaparafreakx]

Fry's sells one Mac Pro card, EVGA GTX 285. However I do not know if it works on your Mac Pro.