Mac Pro 1.1 - GTX 670 - El Capitan

If you will never be trying to run Mojave, but are running at least 10.6.5 (where their Drivers first appeared) the Apple-Firmware 5770 and 5870 are good cards, and may be available used from folks who replaced them with "Metal-compatible" cards. These are the stock and "upgrade" cards from the Mac Pro 2009.

These are very similar to the 4870 you borrowed. the 5770 requires only one aux power cord, the 5870 requires two like your 4870.

The NVIDIA GT120 was also shipped in the Mac Pro 2009, and is not a high-performance card, but does not require an aux power cord.

Hello evans-dev...

maybe I can help you. Usually when you install and try to use a non Mac video card in your Mac pro 1,1 you won't see anything until the video drivers load, so if you run into trouble, eg, you need the startup manager or the bootscreen you may be out of luck...... This is an nVidia card, and I know nVidia made a GTX 680 which I think is Mac compatible. The GTX 670 ?maybe

Could you flash this card ? That depends...about the only thing/way I know to flash it so that it'll work on Mac is nVflash which only works on PC's, windows or Dos, I believe. you'd have to check out netkas.org, or send your card in to someone for flashing, or borrow a spare PC for flashing the card-results not guaranteed. checking out xlr8yourmac.com might be fruitful as well.

You have the latest OS that you can get and put on this Mac Pro, which is good, as the later the OS, the better the support for video cards that are unknown. I'm assuming you're on a strict budget and don't want to spend a ton of money to upgrade the video card, just something that works

Yes--I do know a few GPU's that work natively with El Capitan, But.......

the oldest Mac Pro i've worked with was a Mac Pro 3,1, Quad Core. Can't say for sure if a video card which might work in a 3,1 will work in a 1,1... Of course, logic board/PCI-X slot speed is a problem. the Mac Pro original 2006 1,1 might have been speedy for its time, but now no. Due to the age of the machine new parts are very hard to get, and that goes for video cards as well. So, you're probably looking at some used pulls from a working Mac Pro 1,1

I don't know where to look for those, apart from ebay

john b

You are most welcome, evans_dev.

about the only card I know is the sapphire radeon 7950 mac version

unfortunately it’s pricey... I think El Capitan may have the same requirement

as goes for Sierra- a Metal capable video card. I don’t think the

1900 XT qualifies.

as for installing the nVidia software, all of it, and installing a gtx950 or a 750ti yess.. it should work

you should still check out xlr8yourmac.com just to be safe. They could give you more help then me. Support for them might already be in the OS

john b

Mmmm....ouch !! I see. Installation is pretty easy. You'd have to shut down your Mac Pro 1.1, disconnect the power cord, flip the latch at the back so that you could remove the side panel. The graphics card should be in the fastest or bottom slot. You'd also have to remove a plate with 2 thumbscrews at the back which holds your graphics card in there. You'd also have to disconnect the two power cables going to the card, Then just pull gently towards you and to the left, as the card has to go in at a slight angle. That's it. To install the card, just reverse the steps I mentioned and there you go. You'd also have to download and install the nVidia Mac driver software, all of it (it's on their website, under Quadro K5000 for some reason) . . I'd suggest seeing if you can find a used but working Mac video card on your local kijiji website, but that's comme-ci-comm-ca...iffy. Gosh, the X1900 XT....might be old but as long as it still works....You might want to give it a good dusting too. before installing it, and don't forget about the button battery behind the video card, it might be a small thing, but if it dies (and it will eventualy) it could cause you problems, especially with startup.

that's all I have to say. jb