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

What Video Card for Mac Pro on Win 7

vcuares

vcuares

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 30, 2008
67
0
2.8 Octa Early 2008
2600XT


I have win 7 64bit installed. I would like to occasionally play games on that OS. I've recently bought a 30" monitor and my stock video card cant keep up at full resolution. I play LiveforSpeed and some occassianal FPS games.

Can't justify the 4870 or 285gtx exclusively for mac. Would buying a PC card be the solution, can it work? I don't mind booting up win 7 for occassional gaming as most games I'm interested in are for PC. What card do you suggest I buy at least?

Is flashing the 4870 or 285gtx a better solution? I'm technically inclined but I'm not really a hard core gamer so not much know how on the Video card scene.
 
CS good price on your GTX, I would get it but budget and amount of use wouldn't justify it for now.

I was thinking at the price range of $150.... I don't mind using the ones exclusively for PC. I'll just use the my old MAC video card for OS X.

I guess my question is, can I use a video card that is exclusively for PC (which is cheaper) whilst using it on Win 7 (or doing this is impossible unless it is flashable)? And what card would be the cheapest to drive a game in a 30" monitor (2560x1600)? I'm not looking for topline performance just OK performance.
 
Grab a 4870. Best bang/buck. Not sure how much the 4890s are, but the performance improvements are minimal.

If you're not concerned about running OS X on the card, then just buy one from a PC store. If you are concerned about running OS X using a 4870, be prepared to flash a PC one or fork over the $$ to Apple for a real Mac one.
 
lannister80, I'm getting close, thank you!

Just to make sure, If I'm not concerned with running OS X on it, I can use any PC video card I can buy right?

I guess you're saying, why not buy a 4870 for PC if you can flash it? Get the best of both worlds...
 
I've got the Apple 4870 in my Pro and I was really impressed when I tried gaming with this rig.

COD4 runs brilliant on 2560x1600. Settings are of course as high as possible.
Same with FarCry2.

That's pretty much every game I tried, but they are relatively new and run without issues on the 30".

BTW: The Mac card has only 512MB VRAM, a PC card with 1GB should do even better.
 
Yes, flashing is really the way to go, IMHO.

HOWEVER, flashing a 4870 is harder than it was a few months ago. The gist is that companies are starting to play "musical components" on the cards (there are many companies who make 4870s, all a bit different) and the ROMs that were working on some models don't work on the updated ones.

Basically, if you can find an XFX 4870 with a part number containing "ZDFC", grab it if at all possible. That's the one that works the best and has the highest-quality hardware.

There are other companies like PowerColor and Sapphire that make 4870s, but you can't run dual monitors on them. That works on the XFX and is essential to my setup, so I had to go XFX.

Check out the mega MEGA 4870 thread for more info.
 
Transporteur, very encouraging, just exactly what I wanted to hear in terms of how capable it is to drive 2560x1600 resolution.

lannister80/Cindori, yeah, I pretty much spent the last hour browsing the last quarter of the epic 4870 thread... and it was just mostly selective reading...including the "party" is almost over part...Need to read more and see if it is worth the hassle catching up with the party.
 
You're welcome.

What I forgot, the OS I use is Windows 7 Pro 64bit, the drivers for the graphic card are the latest that ATI offers.
 
If you're really nice, I bet Rominator will spoon-feed you a bit. :) I stopped paying close attention to the thread after mine got working...

But if dual monitors are not essential, you have many more options. Read the last 10 pages or so about Sapphire cards, I want to say there are those that will work with an existing ROM that are still being sold.
 
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