Video Card Upgrade...

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Level 1

4 points

Video Card Upgrade...

**** there, thank you in advance for your help.

I have MacPro/10.6.8/2 x 3 GHz dual-core Intel Xeon. Memory: 5 GB 667 MHz DDr2 FB-DIMM.

I have been using it for editing using FCP, and some graphic work using Photoshop. I finally gonna upgrade to snow leopard then Lion, however, I want your expertise on where to start. What should I upgrade in addition to my video card? How about upgrading the memory? to what level? It seems I can upgrade it to 16 GB. I plan to use LED monitor in addition to my 30 inch apple monitor for editing with the new FCP X, which video card is the best for this? Thank you again.

G5, MacBook pro, MacPro, Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Mar 24, 2013 11:45 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Mar 25, 2013 1:32 AM in response to yihalema

FCP-X you need ATI 5770. Your FBDIMMs could do better with at least $59 4x2GB

There is no 16GB limit. 4GB DIMMs work but get more expensive.

ATI Radeon 5770

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

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-ATI-Radeon-5770-MC742ZM/dp/B003Z6QH6M

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

2x2GB FBDIMM DDR2 667MHz @ $29

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

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Answer 2

yihalema Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 25, 2013 11:44 PM in response to The hatter

Thank you, The hatter, I just ordered the items. Btw, how do I know what year my MacPro came out? I have Mac Pro Raid Card, does that matter on upgrading it? On the Memory slots I see two 512 MB DDR2 FB-DIMM, two 2 GB DDR2 FB-DIMM and four Empty memory slots, is it necessory to upgrade the 512 MBs or just fill the empty ones? Thank you.

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Answer 3

yihalema Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 26, 2013 12:30 AM in response to The hatter

Hi again, do you or anyone have any idea if this card work with my MacPro, thanks.

AMD ATI Radeon SAPPHIRE HD 5870 1GB GDDR5 Video Graphics Card

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Answer 4

The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Mar 26, 2013 1:30 AM in response to yihalema

2006 1, 1 1333mhz fsb 667mhz fbdimm EFI32 1.1

http://www.apple.com/support/macpro

About this mac - system profile "Mac Pro 1, 1"

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Answer 5

Mar 26, 2013 8:37 AM in response to yihalema

Not that one. It has only PC-BIOS firmware. It will not show a picture under Mac OS X.

The cards you want are genuine Apple or "Mac Edition" or (if you are adventurous and willing to "do your homework", carefully selected aftermarket-flashed cards.)

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Answer 6

yihalema Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 27, 2013 11:53 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thank you, I will go with ATI 5770. I know It is a little pricy, however, do I get what the price worth in video quality or speed if I switch to ATI 5870?

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Answer 7

The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Mar 27, 2013 12:08 PM in response to yihalema

The 5870 is cost prohibitive and you don't get much if any improvement due to the older Mac Pro 1,1 or 2,1's PCIe 1.1 architecture and limited bandwidth.

Normally you would, but then you would have more choices and be able to use new AMD and nVidia cards. Which if I were you, I would be saving as much as you can so that you can move up to Ivy Bridge-E's when new Xeon's drop, which Intel has pushed out fiurther to fall. But having gone from Mac Pro 1,1 to 2009-era 4-core to PC with 3.4GHz Ivy Bridge... even an iMac today would do what you want better.

Take a look at the graphic performance of the iMacs in this:

Both top GPUs in the 'late 2012' iMac (675MX and 680MX) are faster than all the best "Apple Blessed" Mac Pro GPUs like the Radeon HD 5870 and Quadro 4000 in all but one test featured here. There are faster "abynormal" GPUs being run by "mad scientists" but this article does not include the "un-blessed." But more on those later.

2. The GeForce GT 650M in the Retina MacBook Pro beat the GTX 285 in two tests and tied or beat the Quadro 4000 in three tests. The 650M is also used in the 21.5" iMac with 2.9GHz Core i5.

http://www.barefeats.com/wst10gx.html

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Answer 8

Mar 27, 2013 6:51 PM in response to The hatter

The hatter wrote:

The 5870 is cost prohibitive and you don't get much if any improvement due to the older Mac Pro 1,1 or 2,1's PCIe 1.1 architecture and limited bandwidth.

Not according to the guy here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4910248?tstart=50

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