What is the best Video Card I can get for an Early 2009 Mac Pro?

I have a feeling that you aren't understanding the central point.

A GTX780 (or 680 or 660 or 770 or 760, ad nauseam) has what is called a DisplayPort. It is EXACTLY 100% the SAME EXACT THING as MDP that goes into the first round of LED Apple displays.

DisplayPort is the BIG version and MINIDisplayPort is the SMALL version that Apple used.

You just need to go from big to small.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200691

The DP port of those Nvidia cards is already capable of running up to 4K at 30Hz and sometime after 10.9.2 drops will even be able to do 4K at 60Hz. It has plenty of bandwidth for 2560x1400.

So, you are kind of like Dorothy, you've been wearing the Ruby Slippers the whole time, you just didn't know about them.

You can verify this by looking at what ships with Mac K5000.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133486

Look at the pix and specs, it includes the very same adapters.

Click on the reviews at Newegg, that particular model has been getting reviewed since 2010. Pretty sure I got my first one when 5870 came out, around then.

More than likely you got bad advice from someone.

This is exactly why I brought this out, people don't always get good advice on internet. Frequently as a result of well meaning but not fully informed posters. We all just need to help each other when we see a topic we have relevant info on.

I also have an Atloona that is DL DVI to MDP, works well but always nicer to not double process the signal. It is usually a more stable image from the real DP port than a DVI that has been bumped up.

So what's the synopsis? I have an early 2009 Quad core with

ATI Radeon HD 4870 512 MB. I have two Cinema displays. And I'm looking for an economocal upgrade that will allow me to run both screens at full resolution. I use this Mac for AE and Maya work.

User Tip: Mac Pro silver tower (2006-2012) Replacement Graphics cards

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Sigh; sorry to be so stupid in all of this...but I am. I've been scanning the posts here and on the internet in general.. and have failed to reach a conclusion.

I have a late 2009 Mac Pro 4,1 and need to upgrade my card... but need to run 10.6.8 for the foreseeable future. I have the "stock" GeForce GT 120... but would like to upgrade the card to boost the Adobe CS6 stuff, along with the Cinema 4D and other things I have. In reviewing this thread... I'm looking to purchasing a GTX 570 2mb style card... but don't know whether that's going to work for me! OWC says the "Mac Edition" GTX 670 only works with OS 10.8.x ... so I'm afraid I'm be-fuddled! (wink)

PLEASE let me know whether the previous recommendations of the GTX 570 card will work without overheating and with more ancient OS? Please?

The user tip I posted above show which-goes-with-which.

If you are satying with 10.6.8, and want Boot-up and Debug screens, you need an offical Apple 5770 (very hard to find since discontinued) or offical Apple 5870.

From NVIDIA there is the Quadro 4000 or GTX285. Those are the official supported cards. If you want more power, a flashed GTX470 would be a better choice.

The GTX570 requires 10.7.3

Hey DPArt-

Should NVIDIA GTX285 1GB be added to that user tip as an additional "Mac Edition" card?

It does not appear to be available new from top-line vendors.

Grant Bennet-Alder: THANK YOU for the kind reply; I had read thru these posts... but mis-understood the usage of "Mac Pro Silver Tower (2006-2012)". (okay, okay... it was a "duhhhhhhhhh" moment for me!)

Sigh... this kinda *****! I have all this great software (CS6, Cinema 4D, etc)... yet need to also access legacy files under 10.6.8 (okay... I'm a Freehand person... I admit it!)

I guess it's time to venture forth and start "dual/multi-booting" into 10.7x and 10.8x when I'm doing the CS6/4-D stuff.

So I guess my next question is: can I use both -- one of the newer graphics cards (like the GTX 680) --- AND --- my old "NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 -- so that I can still function in 10.6.8 ... yet gleen the new benefits of CUDA for newer OS? (may seem like a stupid question... but I'm SUCH a newbie!).

Thanks for all of the assistance! BTW: I've already had two additional OS partitions laid out for upgrading to newer OS from 10.6.8.... and even installed the CS6 software onto a completely separate drive so that I can simply "migrate" my 10.6.8 OS onto the new OS partitions... yet ensure that all the partitions point to the CS6 software without duplicating the CS6 suite. THUS.... I'm hopeful that I can run multiple graphics cards to bridge the gap between my ancient 10.6.8 needs and those needs best fulfilled by more modern systems! (grin)

thanks, ~j

Many cards that don't have drivers will CRASH in older OS's and vice versa.

Sometimes the EFI will allow one screen to work but it is not working normally, all rendering will be done by CPU so movements will be jerky, etc. So, best case scenario, a powerful card in 10.9 might be reduced to feeble, single display performance in 10.6.8. The GT120 is NOT powerful and would allow use of 10.6.8 but any app that requires GPU grunt to render would find it of little help.

Believe it or not, a Mac EFI flashed GTX480 might be best solution, it would have boot screens and CUDA/OpenCl in 10.6.8 as well as 10.8-10.9.

If you wish to stick with "official" cards, the Mac Quadro 4000 and Mac GTX285 have drivers in 10.6.8, as does the Mac 5870. It is crucial that you clarify that cards are Mac EFI versions. A PC one will be cheaper but in 10.6.8 they are of little use.

DPArt: Thank You and Grant Bennet-Alder SO MUCH for such awesome guidance! I was struggling to come up with a smart solution... and you've guided me there. My needs/experience doesn't justify the cost of something like the Quadro yet... so I wanted something that could boost performance... but work with all OS. Again... thank you so much for simplifying my options... and taking the sting out of learning! -jay

You can use a GTX 680 FTW 4GB edition in your mac pro early 2009. I am and i have EFI boot, and quad monitor support. Best card ever for the Mac Pro IMHO.

Link : http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1603260&highlight=gtx+680

If you try using the nvflash you get a pcie mismatch error you will have to use the method here from the cmd prompt.

Link 2 : http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1603260&highlight=gtx+680&page=4

In link 2 go to post number 95 for a step by step using the cmd prompt if you get pcie mismatch error.

Hope this helps, it isn't hard and you will have you EFI boot screen.