Mavericks vs El Capitan on 4,1 Mac Pro

[pb69]

Which is best to run on a 4,1 with a 5,1 firmware update? I wonder if since still using a GT 120 video card and El Capitan is the reason for lot's of graphics glitches: gray squares while scrolling menus, weird things showing while playing videos.
Would Mavericks be less taxing?

 

[kwikdeth]

that sounds more like the video card is on its way out, which, given that the 120 is fanless, is more a matter of when not if.
the GT120 is basically junk. its more or less a rebranded 9600GT, which is almost 10 year old technology at this point. the 120 was almost laughable for a "pro" level machine even when it was brand new. I'd consider an upgrade.

 

[pb69]

that sounds more like the video card is on its way out, which, given that the 120 is fanless, is more a matter of when not if.
the GT120 is basically junk. its more or less a rebranded 9600GT, which is almost 10 year old technology at this point. the 120 was almost laughable for a "pro" level machine even when it was brand new. I'd consider an upgrade.

I don't need the latest and greatest. Would a 5770 be an improvement?

 

[William Payne]

I am running Sierra on a GT120 with no issues. Ill be going to a pc card soon but the GT120 seems to work fine irrelevant of OS.

 

[h9826790]

that sounds more like the video card is on its way out, which, given that the 120 is fanless, is more a matter of when not if.
the GT120 is basically junk. its more or less a rebranded 9600GT, which is almost 10 year old technology at this point. the 120 was almost laughable for a "pro" level machine even when it was brand new. I'd consider an upgrade.

The GT120 is NOT fanless.

I agree that's way under power for almost any professional job. However, it's a good and reliable card to just drive the display. Lots of this card still works fine regardless its 10years old tech.

And I totally agree with you that OP's situation is OS version independent, but simply the graphic card is dying.

I don't need the latest and greatest. Would a 5770 be an improvement?

For your info, even my stock Apple 4870 works fine all the way from Leopard to Sierra (in fact, it works extremely well in desktop environment). The 5770 should be good for the current OS. The biggest downside of the 4870 (compare to my current 7950) is the power consumption at low demand. In desktop, 7950 only need ~15W, but the 4870 stay ~60W at idle. But both of them can display system UI smoothly. Anyway, the 5770 should only use ~18W during idle, not a bad choice for just light demand.

Also, by considering the mid level old AMD card is so cheap. You may still consider upgrade to some Metal supported card (HD7000 and newer). If you don't need boot screen. I may even consider some cheap new OOTB card like RX460.

Anyway, almost any card is a big upgrade from the GT120.