graphics card upgrade Mac Pro 1.1 late 2007

First there is no such thing as can't use more than 512 so stay away from who/where you read that.

You should get 5770 or later, getting a good CUDA card is next to impossible, otherwise I'd advise on GTX 570 w/ 2.5GB VRAM as those only support EFI64 and 10.8.2 which is a no-go.

The 8800 (mine still works) have a tendency to fail and cost almost as much as 5770.

Buy an SSD. Everyone does, I have it on all 4 systems. Keep just the OS there.

Use 1-2TB drives for your data.

Consider 8-core upgrade with 5355 Xeon if you need to double your bench scores.

OS X had trouble with more than 2GB VRAM, and that is the only restriction and it was an OS bug, not limited to yours or anyones.

All the other posters are correct. I have a Mac Pro 1,1 with an ATI 5770 card (with 1 Gb VRAM) and 28 Gb DDR RAM. What really made my desktop fly was getting an SSD for the startup drive and applications. Read my post here on that. Until Apple comes out with truly new Mac Pros, I'm holding onto this baby so as not to **** away over $3 grand on what they are currently offering. Tim Cook said sometime this year, but with their attention on the iwatch, who knows?

Samsung 840 240GB SSD

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Series-120GB-internal-MZ-7TD120BW/dp/B009NHAF06/

Consider how cheap a pair of 5355s are today, very doable to go to 8-cores

ATI Radeon 5770

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC742ZM/A

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/726537-REG/Apple_MC742ZM_A_ATI_Radeon_HD_5 770.html

How To Install and Remove Memory Mac Pro

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4433

http://www.amazon.com/BUFFERED-PC2-5300-FB-DIMM-APPLE-Memory/dp/B002ORUUAC/

Hardware Monitor

http://www.bresink.com/osx/HardwareMonitor.html

UPS

http://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP1500PFCLCD-Compatible-1500VA-Tower/dp/B00429N 19W/

It ought to be "zippier" I guess. I have a Mac Pro early 2008, so it's no spring chicken

but..you are running twin 20" Apple cinema displays (oh, you lucky man).So, yet, it ought to. Also, and I should mention this only in passing, get enough Ram. the Max display is 2560x1600, something like that, so yes, I'd go for it in a minute

just my opinion

JB

Until Apple comes out with truly new Mac Pros, I'm holding onto this baby so as not to **** away over $3 grand on what they are currently offering.

I wonder why they added ****. The word I used was "throw." I think. But it wasn't a bad word. Wierd.

Be sure to put the Adobe apps on the SSD! It will truly scream! Also, what kind of monitor do you have? The ATI 5770 has two Mini DisplayPorts and one dual-link DVI port. If you have the latest Apple LED monitor you'll be fine. And most monitors in the last five years have DVI ports. Some even have Mini DisplayPorts. Jst make sure as you might need an adapter!

I have seen this Komputerbay stuff before, and have read one or two negative reviews (as well as positive). So what's the score there - why so cheap?...BC

It's the conversion rate. One Euro is equal to about US$1.30. The US dollar is very weak and the Euro isn't. So while you pay more, in equivalent prices it's about the same. We also don't have a VAT tax or online sales tax. Yet. Give our administration a few more years as rumor has it they want to institute an across-the-board online tax and divvy up the proceeds to the States.

The 5770 I've seen on eBay has two DVI ports and one HDMI which suits me perfectly as I run two Apple cinema 20" displays (DVI)...BC

Do you have a link for that? That sounds like the PC version of the card.

That's about US$181. They sell new in the US for about US$249. Note in the picture has a wire in it. There should already be a wire from the previous card that you can simply unplug from the old card, take out the card, put in the new card, and plug in the cable into the new card. If your old card doesn't have a power wire, use the one they give you. There's a slot on the motherboard where you can plug it in. If memory serves me, it should have one (the old card). Hope this helps!

I was surprised when I bougtht their FBDIMMs but they are top tier, well made and run cooler. (about time!) So $32 for 2x2GB is not a fluke or misprint or "junk gray market" memory.

On the video card I would be more selective and careful. Want or need that early boot screen? fork over for a geniume Apple card.

SSD is an older SATA II, then by all means try the $100+ Samsung 840.

Heavy CS6 with LARGE files may need to max out RAM and storage, someone with access to some server grade FBDIMMs actually was able to get some 4x8GB FBDIMMs, worked so they stuck in another 32GB and is running fine --- on a 2008 3,1 of all things! otherwise I woudl get either the "what where they thinking??" 2013 "cylinder thing" or pick up a 2010 Special $1800 and upgrade it on your own (6-core, 48GB, PCIe SSDs for booting and scratch).

2008 users CAN use other GPU if they have 10.8.3+ besides the 5770. Check

http://www.barefeats.com which did half a dozen reports in last 3 months.