Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Upgrading old Mac Pro to 8800 GT graphics?

pipomolo42 said:
Otherwise, the unlucky tester might just have to replace his Logic Board (which costs something like 500 $) ...
Click to expand...

I sincerely hope that a replacement motherboard for the mac pros costs that much. why? because the 5000V equivalent in PC form costs about that much, however, this being a mac, it will be rare and most likely, for no legitimate reason, more expensive.

with that said, im gonna search on ebay and see how much one would cost if even available.
 
jemo07 said:
potentially not, if it really messes up you basically would end up with a 3k doorstop.
Click to expand...
I just tried the rescue CD procedure, and it simply gave me a long beep, then a reboot (without even bothering to check the CD) ...

And a 15 MB file in the EFI partition ... I don't know why 15 MB, as the EFI firmware is only 2MB ...

So, there is probably some mechanism that might prevent the rescue procedure from working if a checksum is not wrong, a flag is not set, or something else ...
 
Frozonecold said:
I wonder if there are other changes apple made, like subtle case changes or power-supply changes, that would prevent this upgrade from working.
Click to expand...
The power supply is a different wattage/output wires, the memory controller slots are different, and the memory is different.
i guess it could be possible for like 1-1.5k to do an upgrade to a 2008.
 
pipomolo42 said:
I just tried the rescue CD procedure, and it simply gave me a long beep, then a reboot (without even bothering to check the CD) ...

And a 15 MB file in the EFI partition ... I don't know why 15 MB, as the EFI firmware is only 2MB ...

So, there is probably some mechanism that might prevent the rescue procedure from working if a checksum is not wrong, a flag is not set, or something else ...
Click to expand...

The Apple Support page on this has a note on the bottom that says it will NOT apply the restore if there isn't a problem. Obviously there is no problem with your EFI right now, so running the rescue CD won't do anything productive.
 
MacFanBoyIIe said:
The Apple Support page on this has a note on the bottom that says it will NOT apply the restore if there isn't a problem. Obviously there is no problem with your EFI right now, so running the rescue CD won't do anything productive.
Click to expand...
Well, it's not because they *say* it that it's necessarily true ;)
 
My neighbor got me started on Mac, I think he was a little jealous when to his surprise I got a (non-upgradeable 04/20/07 Mac Pro) My point is, he's not waiting for a new graphics card, he uses his Mac's for work, and plays his games on a PS3 that is modded. I don't want a $3500.00 game box, for the price of a new card, gammers could follow my neighbor's footsteps. I mean, whats the point of getting a 8800 gt when it won't be compatable with the 64 bit EFI machines. Sooner or later, we all are going to want the newest machine.
I plan on keeping my 2007 Mac pro 1.1, and I am 2/3 on my way to a new one.
I'm not rich...........just a carpenter. By the time this card has been tested by "us", it will be a brick.............:apple:
 
knome said:
The power supply is a different wattage/output wires, the memory controller slots are different, and the memory is different.
i guess it could be possible for like 1-1.5k to do an upgrade to a 2008.
Click to expand...

PSU shouldnt matter as long as it delivers the enough to power all components inside.

RAM is still FB-DIMM, only faster, most likely slower FB-DIMMS would be downclocked (this is true on regular single CPU PC motherboards)

With that said, the processors from a 2006 mac pro might still work on that 2008 mac pro motherboard, seeing how they use the same socket.
 
I thought about these recent posts also. I read these and similar threads and found out the Harpertown will NOT work in older Mac Pro's. Don't really know if this means an "inferior" chip like our current Mac's would work in the new motherboard. It all boils down to these Mac's we have now, aren't worth trying to make them into today's technology. I thought about getting a pair of 2.66 ghz Clovertown quads. Last I looked, they were around $700.00 a piece at NewEgg.
Then say goodby to the 2 years left on my AppleCare..............
 
I was thinking the exact same thing. Spending 1400 bucks on a pair of Clovertowns you might as well get a new MP.

dreamof3d said:
I thought about these recent posts also. I read these and similar threads and found out the Harpertown will NOT work in older Mac Pro's. Don't really know if this means an "inferior" chip like our current Mac's would work in the new motherboard. It all boils down to these Mac's we have now, aren't worth trying to make them into today's technology. I thought about getting a pair of 2.66 ghz Clovertown quads. Last I looked, they were around $700.00 a piece at NewEgg.
Then say goodby to the 2 years left on my AppleCare..............
Click to expand...
 
I thought about upgrading my old 4 core Mac Pro to 8 cores, too. When I saw the prices for Xeons, I just decided to sell the Mac Pro (for $2000) and buy a new one (for $2750 - $150 rebate).
 
I would part with mine for that maybe. Did u sell it outright yourself. The Bozo's at OnDisk offered me $1100.00 for mine, I paid $3200.00, but like it or not, our 1 year old machines will never be a new Mac Pro unless you replace everything inside almost. At that cost....forget it. Sad but true
 
ungraphic said:
PSU shouldnt matter as long as it delivers the enough to power all components inside.

RAM is still FB-DIMM, only faster, most likely slower FB-DIMMS would be downclocked (this is true on regular single CPU PC motherboards)

With that said, the processors from a 2006 mac pro might still work on that 2008 mac pro motherboard, seeing how they use the same socket.
Click to expand...

no they don't use the same socket. The socket in ours is 771 the new nonbuttrapinglyexpensive one is socket 775.

EDIT: i'm confused they switched sockets and it looks like they switched back....
 
Mac Pros have always had 771 sockets.

Old generation motherboards do not support current generation processors, although they are pin-compatible.

It's probably due to the same 32 bit/64bit EFI issues that are pissing everyone off regarding the 8800GT debacle.

Have I missed anything of note?
 
Yea, I remember a thread where they put the new Harpertown in a version 1.1 Mac like mine and it wouldn't even boot. I'm no geek on Mac, 1 year newbie unless you consider my Apple II from grade school, but one would think a simple firmware upgrade could fix this mess. My ati card was all messed up booting into windoz or linux with vertical bars, and all kinds of crazy crap. Apple told me (10 months ago) it was out of their hands because my machine worked on mac. I accidentally found the firmware patch a month ago, and haven't had an ati x1900 problem since.

I wont even buy the 8800gt if you can't install it in the new 8 core when I get the money together. Seems like if what I hear is true........It would be a waste of money unless your happy lagging behind in cpu power, and plan on keeping these Macs we have for a while.
 
dreamof3d said:
I would part with mine for that maybe. Did u sell it outright yourself. The Bozo's at OnDisk offered me $1100.00 for mine, I paid $3200.00, but like it or not, our 1 year old machines will never be a new Mac Pro unless you replace everything inside almost. At that cost....forget it. Sad but true
Click to expand...

Man that makes me want to sell my mac pro on my sig and just pocket the money and just use a mbp all together...
 
knome said:
no they don't use the same socket. The socket in ours is 771 the new nonbuttrapinglyexpensive one is socket 775.

EDIT: i'm confused they switched sockets and it looks like they switched back....
Click to expand...

Socket 771 is for all current Xeon Processors. Socket 775 is for all standard Core 2 Duo and Quad processors in a single processor configuration.

To be honest, i dont see any reason why the first gen macs cant just have the motherboard swapped with everything else remaining as is.
 
WTH is it?

Nvidia's CEO promised the retail version of the 8800GT after so many 1st Generation Mac Pro owners forcefully protested. It is obvious Apple doesn't want anyone to upgrade "the immensely upgradable Mac Pro". Truth is there is little available to upgrade, Apple expects everyone to upgrade the entire Mac Pro itself.

So Nvidia, where the hell is the retail 8800GT?!
 
Voltaic said:
Apple expects everyone to upgrade the entire Mac Pro itself.
Click to expand...

Steve's plan from the get-go. Why else do you think that the Mac 512k was an all-in-one?

Calm down. You'll either get it or you won't. By the time you don't get it, enough people will have bought Nehalem or Penryn Mac Pros that an updated card for the original will be rendered moot due to a lack of market.

Dystopic fate, but it sounds about right.
 
I'm being creative with my Mac Pro. I have been using it as a door stop, a jack stand for my car and I'm gonna use it as a snow sled next winter. I even slapped an 'Intel Inside' sticker on it. :D

Now all my friends want a old POS Mac Pro. haha
 
Too Much!

Yo, this thread is way too long to try and read!

I skimmed through and things aren't looking good.

Can somebody summarize it quick? Basically, I have a quad-core 3 GHz Mac Pro from the first generation of them and I am dying to get rid of my 7300GT and smack in an 8800GTS.
But from what I am seeing nobody is sure about the possibility of this...

CAN IT HAPPEN!?!?!?


PS- I have 5 GB of Ram in my machine, am I screwing myself by having an uneven number?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back