upgrade Graphic card

[offtheroad]

I have an early 2009 Mac Pro 2.66 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon and NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 I bought a new NEC MultiSyne P242W display and getting a snowy screen sometimes on start up If it is the care whats the next one up for a Mac. I'm on a budget. I'm a graphic designer Fine Art Photographer.

 

[xcodeSyn]

I'm on a budget. I'm a graphic designer Fine Art Photographer.

You probably need to read the first page of the NVIDIA FAQ thread to decide what kind of card you prefer. As long as you are running OS X 10.8 or later, you could consider a GT 640 or GTX 650 as the minimum depending on your actual needs and budget. For these older models, you can search eBay for some better deals.

 

[Check 6]

I read the suggested FAQ on Nivida and have a question. In the thread it states "not officially" approved for mac, would that include the GTX680 card that is advertised as "GTX680 for Mac"

 

[xcodeSyn]

In the thread it states "not officially" approved for mac, would that include the GTX680 card that is advertised as "GTX680 for Mac"

"Not officially" approved for Mac only means the video card doesn't come with Mac EFI in the ROM so it won't show the grey Apple screen when booting and no boot menu when using Option boot. This link has the official GTX680 for Mac by EVGA and the package clearly shows "Mac Edition". I see no reason to buy an official Mac Edition unless you can get it very cheap.

The advertised GTX680 for Mac may not necessarily be the official EVGA version and could be just a PC card flashed with Mac EFI but behaving exactly like the official edition. Since EVGA alone sold probably more than 10 different GTX680 models in the past, the only way to identify the Mac Edition is its product number: 02G-P4-3682-KR as mentioned in the link.

 

[DougTheImpaler]

You can also get a Mac EFI version of the GT 640 from MacVidCards.com. $180 is more than just the regular card, but if you ever run into an unbootable system, the EFI can come in handy. Or else hang onto your GT 120 in case you need it, and just get the regular GT 640 for under $100.

 

[Macsonic]

I have an early 2009 Mac Pro 2.66 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon and NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 I bought a new NEC MultiSyne P242W display and getting a snowy screen sometimes on start up If it is the care whats the next one up for a Mac. I'm on a budget. I'm a graphic designer Fine Art Photographer.

You may also look into Nvidia 660gtx. A user here installed an unflashed 660gtx on his Mac Pro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TImpXtGYhGE For graphic design and photography another option is an older Radeon 5770 HD or Nvidia 285gtx which are priced lower.

 

[Macsonic]

I read the suggested FAQ on Nivida and have a question. In the thread it states "not officially" approved for mac, would that include the GTX680 card that is advertised as "GTX680 for Mac"

I had a chance to use an unflashed Nvidia 680gtx in a client's office and it's performance is just the same as the Mac Edition 680gtx. Xcodesync is correct that the only difference is the EFI rom and could be a flashed PC Windows card. Unless I am mistaken, maybe partly the reason why Mac edition cards costs more is there is a licensing fee to be paid also to Apple like using the Apple logo.

 

[MIKX]

I had an ATI (Apple EFI) X1900XT in my 2007. 2.1 MP.

Now I have an MSI (unflashed) R5770 HAWK 1 Gig which works OOTB in 10.6.8, 10.9.5, no boot screen. I paid about US$54 for it. Oddly enough it won't boot up in Lion. But I hate Lion so no problem.

Everything works perfectly. It is dead silent with TWO fans and comes factory overclocked.

( I kept the X1900XT for the rare occasion that I need a boot screen.).

I use it with DVI to HDMI and it also works with DVI to VGA adaptor.
I haven't bothered to check HDMI-HDMI yet.

Here's one on Amazon for $79.99
http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Graphics-Card-R5770-Hawk/dp/B0037YSSXW