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

Where Can You Buy a New Video Card FAST?!

G

gregrp9

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 30, 2010
6
0
The graphics card (an 8800GT) went out in my 2008 Mac Pro this week and I'm in trouble. I would love a new 5870, 5770 or 4870 but it looks like these are all either not shipping yet or out of stock everywhere I search.

Flashing is not an option for me because (i) I can't boot my Mac Pro in any mode or OS to flash it (and don't have access to another computer where I could do this) and (ii) I am smart enough to recognize that I would find a way to screw it up.

Anyone know where I can get a new card this week? Surely there are dealers out there willing to take my money.

Best Regards,
Greg
 
alphaod

alphaod

macrumors Core
Feb 9, 2008
22,183
1,245
NYC
If you live near an Apple Store, you can call your local store to see if they sell the video cards.
 
N

Novablas

macrumors member
Jun 19, 2010
52
0
I was recently in the same boat as you, and my only option was eBay, but with that you run risk of getting a crappy card that has been overused or otherwise. In the end, I just sold my '06 Mac Pro for a cool $1800 and bought a 2010.

I've looked, and there is basically nowhere that will ship any of those cards to you for Macs quickly.
 
G

gregrp9

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 30, 2010
6
0
Just wanted to thank everyone for their replies. I think you have confirmed the conclusion I was coming to, which is that I'm screwed. :(

Already checked with the local Apple stores (all of them) and they don't have any of these cards. They can sell me another 8800GT, but it seems like such a waste to buy such an old card, though time constraints may drive me to it anyway.

I'm pretty sure newegg doesn't have any of these cards, and as I mentioned, I don't want to flash one for reasons discussed above.

In any event, I appreciate your responses and any others that might happen along. For now, I guess I'll just need to learn some patience or suck it up and get another 8800GT.

Best,
Greg
 
S

seek3r

macrumors 68020
Aug 16, 2010
2,248
3,203
gregrp9 said:
The graphics card (an 8800GT) went out in my 2008 Mac Pro this week and I'm in trouble. I would love a new 5870, 5770 or 4870 but it looks like these are all either not shipping yet or out of stock everywhere I search.

Flashing is not an option for me because (i) I can't boot my Mac Pro in any mode or OS to flash it (and don't have access to another computer where I could do this) and (ii) I am smart enough to recognize that I would find a way to screw it up.

Anyone know where I can get a new card this week? Surely there are dealers out there willing to take my money.

Best Regards,
Greg
Click to expand...

Welcome to my world :(

As far as I can tell they aren't available anywhere yet.
 
H

hollywood084

macrumors newbie
Sep 11, 2009
11
0
gregrp9 said:
Just wanted to thank everyone for their replies. I think you have confirmed the conclusion I was coming to, which is that I'm screwed. :(

Already checked with the local Apple stores (all of them) and they don't have any of these cards. They can sell me another 8800GT, but it seems like such a waste to buy such an old card, though time constraints may drive me to it anyway.

I'm pretty sure newegg doesn't have any of these cards, and as I mentioned, I don't want to flash one for reasons discussed above.

In any event, I appreciate your responses and any others that might happen along. For now, I guess I'll just need to learn some patience or suck it up and get another 8800GT.

Best,
Greg
Click to expand...

don't do it. You can get a 5770 when it comes out for $250. It's a much better card.
 
CaptainChunk

CaptainChunk

macrumors 68020
Apr 16, 2008
2,142
6
Phoenix, AZ
Apple still sells the GT120 for $150 (ships within 24 hours) and unless I'm wrong, I believe it works in 2008 MPs, despite what they say. However, it would be a significant downgrade from the 8800 GT (about a quarter of the processing power).
 
Y

Yukon Joe

macrumors member
Sep 1, 2010
37
0
Greg, I sympathize. I'm in the exact same boat - 2008 Mac Pro, dead 8800 GT. Only immediately available option is an underpowered GT 120, everything else on backorder.

So I'm resigned to waiting a month for a new vid card, trying to survive on an ancient Dell that was sitting unused in the corner, and being unable to access several important-but-not-critical files on the Mac.

Leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.
 
G

gregrp9

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 30, 2010
6
0
Again, thanks everyone for the replies and input. It looks like I'm not alone in my misery here. I was hopeful that when the Apple Store was down today it would magically pop back up with availability of the new cards (or even the 4870) but no such luck. What a shame.
 
iamcheerful

iamcheerful

macrumors 6502
Oct 3, 2008
259
0
If money is not a problem and you really must have it, buy the Mac Pro 2010 with the desired video card and sell the Mac Pro 2010 w/o a video card.
 
B

Bosma

macrumors newbie
Aug 10, 2010
8
0
Heh. My 8800GT on my 3,1 died this week, too. Luckily I had a friend with a backup HD 2600 who gave it to me to use until the new cards are shipping. I wonder if it's a clever scheme by Apple to make us buy the juicy new 5870s, because it's working.
 
CaptainChunk

CaptainChunk

macrumors 68020
Apr 16, 2008
2,142
6
Phoenix, AZ
Bosma said:
Heh. My 8800GT on my 3,1 died this week, too. Luckily I had a friend with a backup HD 2600 who gave it to me to use until the new cards are shipping. I wonder if it's a clever scheme by Apple to make us buy the juicy new 5870s, because it's working.
Click to expand...

No, it's more like a clever scheme to make you buy a whole new machine. :rolleyes:

And while the 5870 has been proven to work on 2008 machines, it's not officially supported by Apple, which means no customer support.

I upgraded to a flashed 8800 GT last year. My 2600 XT remains in the closet as a backup and for warranty purposes. G92-based GPUs in general haven't been very reliable, so I guess I'm prepared for its (perhaps inevitable) death.
 
Y

Yukon Joe

macrumors member
Sep 1, 2010
37
0
Bosma said:
Heh. My 8800GT on my 3,1 died this week, too. Luckily I had a friend with a backup HD 2600 who gave it to me to use until the new cards are shipping. I wonder if it's a clever scheme by Apple to make us buy the juicy new 5870s, because it's working.
Click to expand...

If anything it isn't working. I was already waiting for thr 5870 to come available, but as I am now in a near-emergency I ordered the cheaper 5770.
 
H

hollywood084

macrumors newbie
Sep 11, 2009
11
0
Yukon Joe said:
If anything it isn't working. I was already waiting for thr 5870 to come available, but as I am now in a near-emergency I ordered the cheaper 5770.
Click to expand...

Is that still shipping in 3-5 weeks? It's still better compared to the 8800gt so don't worry.
 
philipma1957

philipma1957

macrumors 603
Apr 13, 2010
6,367
251
Howell, New Jersey
I have a lot of part info for lots of macs.

sometimes great prices
sometimes bad prices, but this time it looks like your cards are in stock.

the seller at that link has sold to me about 6 or 7 times mostly for mac mini mods. always in good shape and pretty fast.
 
philipma1957

philipma1957

macrumors 603
Apr 13, 2010
6,367
251
Howell, New Jersey
he usually has oem parts shoot them an email.

like I said I am branching out from mac minis to mac pros he sold me all good oem mac mini parts. you would need to ask him.
 
Y

Yukon Joe

macrumors member
Sep 1, 2010
37
0
HAs anyone else ever heard of this company?

For them to have a brand new card you can't even buy from Apple does seem a little suspicious...

The 5770 is still there though - they say they have 5 in stock.
 
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