Video Card upgrade for early 2008 MacPro

Defect in the card, not lack of OS and support.

Heat? PSU? there is one guy on MacRumors that can't get anything to work in his.

Even the AMD Mac Edition 7950 works but needs 10.8.3

Did you ever try 10.8.3? And I have read a lot of problems with 3,1's but usually not with 5770 or with 10.6.8 usually Lion or ML.

And... did you: try a clean install / strip all other hardware changes / SMC Reset

Your panics could be software, RAM, 3rd party extensions and drivers or apps. Not 5770 from Apple.

I use 5770 on my 1,1 running 10.7.5 too btw.

Tried clean install, even replaced hard drive. took out all ram, extra cards, extra drives, etc.

did this myself then the apple guys did it all over again.

the apple guys tried several of the same cards and always the same issue.

they are now putting in a geforce 8800 gt.

it wasn't just causing kernel panics. at the end the card would short out and i'd get a big giant Zap effect on the screen and everything would die.

anyway, i posted cause i brought the card based on all the positive feedback on apple's site and just thought i should put my experience in. had i read something bad i wouldn't have purchased it. I could have saved some money and time. the only good part is because apple has all that good stuff on their site (even the mac salesman on the phone told me it would work) they are doing all repairs free

According to this article, the issue with the 5770 should be limited to playing copy-protected movies:

Mac Pro: Using ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics card with Mac Pro released before 2010

sounds more like cables and PSU which some have gone and replaced on their own.

Trouble iwth the card almost unheard of. There were at least 3 early on revisions and issues

the drivers were also less than acceptable until 10.6.7

Glad though how they handle repairs and the rest.

Also, going forward, a good solid 900W/1500VA UPS like Cyberpower SMART series is a good solid investment.

The other issue, just what card does Apple sell for us? and why no 10.6.5 that could be included with the ATI 5770... otherwise it is almost impossible to do a clean install w/o Lion as the only 10.6.5+ installer was the Lion + 10.6.8 $69 flash drive. That is another catch-22.

Hard to know how many 5770s sold and will be 3 yrs come around Sept-Oct where they had them for upgrade (not available early on due to restraint filling all the 2010 orders).

didn't use this computer for movies.

it was being used mainly for photoshop cs5 and final cut 7 work

Hi,

very interesting post. I have the same computer MAc Pro Early 2008 2x2,8 GHz Quad-Core 12 GB RAM and just bought an Nvidia Gigabyte Geforce GTX660 OC version. The problem is it comes with a power cable for a PC and can't find the right one. I've seen some tutorials that show 2 PCIe cables but the video card has only 1 plug, while the motherboard has 2 (6 Pin). I'm afraid of buying a wrong cable and burn the video card.

Any help? Thanks a lot.

And we have posted links of the right cables found on Amazon on OWC Macsales.

They are easy to find.

http://www.amazon.com/PCIe-Power-Cable-nVidia-Video/dp/B002UR1654/

OK, so a few months along the road...what is the news on the cards.

I am thinking I want to upgrade my two cards, (both ATI Radeon HD 2600 ) and found this thread, so rather than start a new one, thought better to post here.

I watch the occassional Photoshop instructional video, but really use the Apple TV for any real films .

Don't play any games, so guess I do not need all the fancy 2D renderiing cards??? or do I. That is totally unknown to me if better 3D perfromance specs make any difference to Photo editing performance.

Main use is with Lightroom 4 and Photoshop CS6..very occassionally (like 3 or 4 times a year) iMovie or Final Cut

Having read here that some cards don't display on boot..I don't want that . I would like full compatibility, even if that means not getting the latest and greaest card..any improvement would be good.

From what I read, I just have PCIe 1 is that correct?

Does it make any difference if my 'Main' work sreen runs off Slot 1 or Slot2

I see links above to power leads...does my Mac Pro have extra leads on the PSU that just need an adapter..or is soldering of new connectors needed...either way no isue, just never looked...and how the machine is positioned..it is a major job to get the side off.

Thanks

Here is the system spec

Model Name: Mac Pro

Model Identifier: MacPro3,1

Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon

Processor Speed: 3 GHz

Number Of Processors: 2

Total Number Of Cores: 8

L2 Cache (per processor): 12 MB

Memory: 18 GB

Bus Speed: 1.6 GHz

Boot ROM Version: MP31.006C.B05

SMC Version (system): 1.25f4

Serial Number (system): C*********L

Hardware UUID: *****************

Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 2600

Type: GPU

Bus: PCIe

Slot: Slot-2

PCIe Lane Width: x16

VRAM (Total): 256 MB

Vendor: ATI (0x1002)

Device ID: 0x9588

Revision ID: 0x0000

ROM Revision: 113-B1480A-252

EFI Driver Version: 01.00.252

Displays:

PANASONIC-TV:

Resolution: 1600 x 900 @ 60 Hz

Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)

Mirror: Off

Online: Yes

Rotation: Supported

Television: Yes

Philips 170B4:

Resolution: 1280 x 1024 @ 60 Hz

Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)

Display Serial Number: HD 009304

Mirror: Off

Online: Yes

Rotation: Supported

Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 2600

Type: GPU

Bus: PCIe

Slot: Slot-1

PCIe Lane Width: x16

VRAM (Total): 256 MB

Vendor: ATI (0x1002)

Device ID: 0x9588

Revision ID: 0x0000

ROM Revision: 113-B1480A-252

EFI Driver Version: 01.00.252

Displays:

SyncMaster:

Resolution: 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz

Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)

Display Serial Number: HS2Q909613

Main Display: Yes

Mirror: Off

Online: Yes

Rotation: Supported

Television: Yes

HP L1950:

Resolution: 1280 x 1024 @ 60 Hz

Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)

Display Serial Number: CNC837Q5J8

Mirror: Off

Online: Yes

Rotation: Supported

<Personal Information Edited by Host>

Very confusing when you hijack a thread with your own concerns that should go into a new thread. Also never post on any web site serial number to your system.

strange that..After I copied the Mac info..I highlighted all the serial number info and thought I deleted it. Umm..odd..but I see a mod has removed it so all good now as the forum does not allow to go back and edit posts.

As I said, I did think of starting a new thread, but since it was the same Mac pro model..3.1 and the question was the same, I thought it better to not create a seperate thread and using this thread people who have already this may get e-mail info that this thread has been updated and come back and offer advice as to what the state of play was with their machines after upgrade.

But different forums, different ideas..on the electric vehicle forums I use very regularly, we are encouraged to do exacly what I did here, so any future search for that topic brings up one thread rather than multiple...but different froums, different ideas.

But as you have suggested, I have started a new thread

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5631866

Thanks for the advice

Neil

Hi, just to mention that I 've also tried to upgrade to the 5770 HD in an early 2008 MacPro configuration.

I 've switch back to the old card. Basically, the mains button was no longer responding. And when it did, after a sufficiantly long enough push, the fans where blaring at maximum level. This ment constent SMC reset procedure.

It may be a defectous card, may be not. Apple here in France won't take it back under warranty, since it is officially not supported for early 2008 MacPro.

Here's the configuration : OSX 10.9, 2x2.8GHz Quad-core Xeon, MacPro3,1 , 16 GB 800 MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM RAM, 4 x 1TB HDD

Tens of thousands of people since Oct 2010 have installed the 5770 in a 3,1 (and 2006 /7 and Early 2009), and in all those 3 yrs few issues, but...

constent SMC reset procedure.

It is never a good idea and should only be done sparingly. Zap the PRAM/NVRAM from cold start is fine. Probably another issue, whether PSU or something else. Or a defective card (there was a run of bad batch cards it seemed with people needing to return 5770 even twice to get one that worked, but that was early on.

To reset SMC though, not just unplug it briefly, but also all cables and devices, then press the power button for 10 seconds, then reconnect just kb/mouse and monitor.

Check the PCIe slot for being clear and clean, and that the proper 6-pin aux power cable going to the card and motherboard are working.

I have the 5770 in my 2006 1,1 like many many users.

The OEM 2600XT was on a warranty exchange program, is not a good card and not a candidate for Mavericks at all. I would go back to 10.8.5 also for another round of OS X updates.

Maybe the AMD Mac Edition 7950 would satisfy your graphic needs.

FBDIMMs also have a history of failure over years, have gotten cheaper and much better. And need to insure that they are at least showing under 70*C, lower than originally but the newer FBDIMMs run more like 59-64*C. Here in the states they are $40 for 4GB.

Thanks for your quick answer and advice.

The OEM 2600XT is working fine so far, and I'm trying to get service for the 5770 anyway.

Mainly working with audio and Logic Pro X. PCIe slot seems to be clean, since OEM 2600XT is running presently on that same slot. As for the 6-pin aux power cable, I have no way to check if its working or not.

I just saw this thread my 5770 has been working fine since early 2012 then it just started having graphics glitches a few moments ago. Was going to order another from apple but its not available anymore? Maybe out of stock?

Mac Pro 3,1

3.2 x 2

Going to play it safe for a while and not stress the video card out until I have a replacement.

Last time I checked, B&H Photo had them in stock.