Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Video Card upgrade for early 2008 MacPro II

I want to upgrade my two cards, (both ATI Radeon HD 2600 ) in my Mac Pro 3.1 (spec posted below) and found this thread, https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4816633?answerId=24010822022#24010822022 so rather than start a new one, I initially posted there, but on advice from The Hatter, I have created a seperate post too



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 about requiring extra 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 issue, just never looked at my PSU for so long. 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


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)


Philips 170B4:

Resolution: 1280 x 1024 @ 60 Hz

Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)




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)


HP L1950:

Resolution: 1280 x 1024 @ 60 Hz

Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)

Posted on Dec 4, 2013 7:23 AM

Reply
41 replies

Dec 4, 2013 8:28 AM in response to Neil Paisnel

RE: Mac Pro Replacement Graphics cards


1) Apple brand cards,

2) "sold in the Apple store" cards, and

3) "Mac Edition" cards ...


... show all the screens, including Boot up screens, Safe Mode, Installer, Recovery, debug screens, and Alt/Option boot screens. At this writing, these choices include:


1) Apple brand cards:

• Apple-firmware 5770, about US$250** works near full speed in every model Mac Pro, Drivers in 10.6.5

• Apple-firmware 5870, about US$450


2) "sold in the Apple store" cards

• NVIDIA Quadro 4000, about US$1200

• NVIDIA Quadro 5000, about US$2500


3) "Mac Edition" cards -- REQUIRE 10.8.3 or later:

• SAPPHIRE HD 7950 3GB GDDR5 MAC Edition, about US$480** Vendor recommends Mac Pro 4,1

• EVGA GTX 680 Mac Edition, about US$600


The cards above require no more than the provided two 6-pin aux power connectors provided in the Mac Pro through 2012 model. Aux cables may not be provided for third-party cards, but are readily available.


--------


If you are Meet ALL of these:

• running 10.8.3 or later AND

• don't care about "no boot screens" etc AND

• can re-wire or otherwise "work out" the power cabling, THEN:


You can use many more cards, even most "PC-only cards"


.

Dec 4, 2013 8:17 AM in response to Neil Paisnel

No brainer: Apple ATI 5770 $249


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


For those, SSDs on PCIe card will speed and improve performance and get around the SATA bus bottlenecks.


You also want 24GB or more but maybe a good SSD for the system and for scratch, another for graphic catalogues where L4 catalogue resides.


Last weekend could have saved a lot but Samsung 840 EVO are still good. 750GB SSD $425 (scratch) / 250GB (system) $160? Figure an SSD at 50% maximum use. The 500GB $330 (was $285) has been nice, take a pair and make a stripe RAID on one of the popular PCIe SSD cards from Sonnet (Tempo Pro SSD $275) or others, some are only $100.


The above does run into the need to use slot #2 PCIe slot to get best performance and avoid the 4x PCIe 1.1 slots 3&4.


If you want to get a CUDA enabled GTX 6xx/7xx even the GTX EVGA Mac Edition 680 ($599) and have 10.8.3+ www.barefeats.com has done extensive performance testing of all the GPU's Mac Pro in the last 9 months.


I would look at help threads on MacRumors (and they like to keep a single thread for anything related to the topic, different from here, and where the thread you began on was basically "closed".


http://forums.macrumors.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1

Dec 4, 2013 8:46 AM in response to Neil Paisnel

Great help, all the info I coul dneed by the look of it thanks


My Mactintosh HD is already SSD, and the other slots are already all full with 1 x 1TB and 2x 2TB SATA's. Even they are getting a bit tight for space..so have been looning at that too recently.


Disk 0 = Mac HD

Disk 1 = User folders

Disk 2 = Data / Import/ scratch

Disk 3 = Time Machine


Recently upped the RAM to 18Gb..wanted to go more but it means dumping old RAM as all slots are full...B****dy Apple store, when I bought it fitted it with a load of 1Gb or 2Gb sticks of RAM , despite me asking for all 4Gb's. So I have no spare slots left ..so woul dhave to dump RAM in order to buy more...budget a bit tight already ..so am stuck with 18 for now..


Thanks for the help

Dec 4, 2013 9:07 AM in response to Neil Paisnel

FBDIMMs in the last year on Amazon are much less expensive.


One place for SSDs is on a PCIe card instead.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0090IA3GY


Never pay for Apple RAM.


Scratch should be outer partition or dedicated. Hence an SSD on a PCIe card. And faster than even a WD Black 2TB.


TimeMachine is just one backup, handy, but sometimes you want a clone or 2nd method, and even a 2nd TimeMachine drive (used once a week perhaps).


Amazon sells the PNY Apple Quadro 4000 for $700 btw.

http://www.amazon.com/PNY-Quadro-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-VCQ4000MAC-PB/dp/B004CR S78O/


Mac Pro 8GB Kit

Komputerbay 8GB (2x 4GB) DDR2 667MHz ECC FB-DIMM 240 PIN

Dec 4, 2013 2:20 PM in response to The hatter

Umm..OK, so let me get this straight...are yyou saying then, that the new PCIe graphics cards have an further slot on them to allow fitting an SSD, but still, finding space inside the case would be difficult.


Edit...oh I see .looked at your links now .the SSD fits in the PCIe slot...would mean loosing one of my graphics cards...unless there is spare slots...not sure what is left . Will research that later.




As for backups..TM is only one strategy I use.


All my data files (the Data/import /HDD) is backed up to a external server (freeNAS) via Chronosync. Auto backup every night. The backup HDD on the FreenAS nox is mirrored to another similar sized, but different make and type of HDD.


Amazed at the price of the RAM..have to look again..Thanks

Dec 4, 2013 3:10 PM in response to Neil Paisnel

No I am not talking GPUs. PCIe cards designed to hold two SSDs. Sonnet Tempo Pro SSD for one. The investment can make a lot of difference in proper use and setup


www.macperformanceguide.com click on Topics to get the full upgrade tutorials.


The 5770 GPU is long and double-width (as most graphic cards that perform well and well designed).


You do have backup side taken care of. I would put a USB3 drive on top of the Mac Pro or something for TimeMachine.

Dec 5, 2013 12:23 AM in response to The hatter

Yes, sorry..I went back and edited my previous post.


I did realsie you were meaning the SSD to PCIe adapter cards after I followed the links.


My concern in the number of slots and back panel width to accept one of these cards as well as the two GPU cards.


Due to the workstation the Mac Pro is 'fitted' in, getting the side panel off is unfortunatly a major undertaking, un plugging the three screens, router, Apple TV, AV Amp, Sky Box, Prinyter, DVD player, slide scanner etc, in order to roll workstation forward to get to backpanel of the Mac to remove its plugs..so I can slide it forward out the workstation.

My editing station is also the living room of my small apartment, so i doubles as home media centre area as wel as work place.


But I do like the idea of these devices..the 4 HDD's are getting a bit limiting now, so to have two more would be great.


I'll pass on an external TM volume though. Too many items external already..this is why I have FreeNAS servers in the attic...did considrer building a third, I did see it was possible to create a TM volume on FreeNAS...But That would then mean another machine always powered on ...more money wasted in electricity. used to keep the BT server,backup server, Mac, laptop, Apple TV etc running 24/7..but not any more too much power drain.


In the pprocess of going through my photo and music archive now..deleting and down sampling a lot of un important music from Lossless to compressed formats.


Thanks for suggestions, enough leads now to get on with researrch


Neil

Dec 5, 2013 5:04 AM in response to Neil Paisnel

Do you have good airflow around the back side to allow the very hot exhaust somewhere to go besides back in the front side?


Sounds like a lot of stuff. Just hope that, well, a computer "cabinet" or hutch with the case inside is not a good design... I assume you are not, but just to be sure.


There is no 'fitting' as long as you have open PCIe slots, it can take those PCIe cards more t han easily as it is designed for such and more.


SSDs are fantastic for audio wtih their near-zero seeks and latency with highest I/O per second in the 50,000-100,000. Our "Black Friday" saw 750GB for $425, which is how much I paid for a drive in 1990 that was for then a huge upgrade and price improvement for 100-160MB drive.

Dec 5, 2013 5:40 AM in response to The hatter

Yes, it is fully open back and front..it sits in a desk unit, but to get to the cables on the back of it means moving the monitors to first allow you to lie across the dsktop to lean down the back to unplug the AV amp, to allow the desk to roll forward enough to get to the cables in the back of the Mac.



Yes, happy with plugging and slotting in new cards..have spent the last two weeks doing that with old Windows hardware building a workshop machine out of old scrap P4 kit.


it is just that I have no idea about space inside...only have the two ATI HD 2600 GPU cards no other plug in cards..but as outlined above, not in the mood to take the whole setup apart to check at the moment.


I have no idea how many PCIe slots these machines have. will there be space for a PCIe to SATA card as weel if I fit two double width GPU cards?

Looks like three from images I have found, and probably not able to support two double width cards. So that 'limits' options to single width GPU cards.



Have googled a few images of the inside, but not so clear how it would all work..wold I get two double width gpu cards plus the PCIe to SSD sata adapter?

Not that I know what cards to get yet..so may end up with single widnth any way..all in just getting ideas stages at moment.


I went over to mac Rumors and tried the Photoshop speed test..getting about 14 seconds, as it is



Have seen pictures of the extra SATAheaders, and cables on OWC for extending them to back panel, but that way does then mean extra boxes on the work station / desktop area

Dec 5, 2013 6:08 AM in response to Neil Paisnel

Would not be using one display per card. I have 4 displays here. Main one in centre..with two smaller ones either side, with the 4 being the Panasonic TV screen for video playback.


Wanto to stick to the DVI sockets on the cards, just do not need the hassle of extra adapters hanging down the back. all too copllex as it is.


Have just built up an 8 display system with a friend for share dealing/ futures trading..all with those ***** little new connectors...so have to have a bloody great bundle of adapters going from those micro connectors to the full size one that the screens need...just messy and it is bad enough as it is.


stll trying to find a decent image of the inside of the macine. actually looks like 4 slots would that be correct?

Dec 5, 2013 6:08 AM in response to Neil Paisnel

> I have no idea how many PCIe slots these machines have. will there be space for a PCIe to SATA card as weel if I fit two double width GPU cards?

Looks like three from images I have found, and probably not able to support two double width cards. So that 'limits' options to single width GPU cards.


A 5770 supports three monitors and the idea is to get rid of the 2600XT's, they are under-whelming. Poor choice and not well supported as you leave 10.6.8 behind. And definitely not for Windows use.


Rare to need two dual width GPUs, it is done but then you block one of the 4x slots.


The other trouble wtih two GPUs is there is only two 6-pin aux PCIe cables for power.


I thought you or another thread this week: 2 x 16x PCIe 2.0 slots, and 2 4x PCIe 1.1 slots (so not ideal for real performance cards but okay for a USB3 and SATA. Perfect for some SSDs in slot 3 & 4.


I use a 4-port SATA controller for external devices as needed. On a PC I use a USB3 Dock, and I like how it has a drive bay from the front that you can hot swap - like you would with floppy - and just pop in whatever I need. As well as 2-3 optical drive that could also hold more hard drives.


There are no good single width graphic cards made other than low end PC card and I think those are rather rare and no boot screen.

Dec 6, 2013 8:55 AM in response to Neil Paisnel

I think you may be able to install an Apple-firmware GT 120 card (two more ports, one slot wide, no aux cable required). These were an optional card in the 2009 model. I do not think these work in the 2006 or 2007 model.


Alternatively, you could install two 5770 cards (one aux cable each) but that would block slot 2.


The tech specs suggest the 2008 model has four PCI slots -- two PCIe-2 slots (one of which is double wide) and two PCIe 1 slots.


http://support.apple.com/kb/SP11

Dec 6, 2013 10:27 AM in response to Neil Paisnel

****, it is deperssing..just do not know.


I thought when I bought the mac, I did not go for the cheapest cards..sure I wen for a level or two up from the entry level cards...or did the Apple store screw me over again, like they did with the RAM and the Mac screen..ordered and paid for then..when I went to collect.."Oh sorry..that has been discontinued now, for an extra £750 we can get you the next size up..or a Samsung screen for the smae price"


I live on the island of Jersey...Apple don't help or support us at all over here..it is a case of We got your money now bugger off..cant use the iTunes store, order photos / products etc from iPhoto..we are part of the UK but they refuse to acknoledge we exist..only way we can gt to get an App store account is to have friends in other parts of the UK and use their details/. so i guess they screwd me over with the grpahics cards oo..knowing I would not be able to do anything once I got the machine home.


I am going to England next week, may do a hands on search in various stores in the UK and see what I can phyically see ..but for now going to leave it..far too complicated trying to upgrade. Plus I just have come back out form hospital appointment..arm still in plaster cast..will be still ib till new year..not worked since August..no earning money now till next february..throughly fed up..was looking forward to upgrading the Mac but now the expected return to work is not happening..

thanks for the help guys..sorry for wasting you time


😟

Video Card upgrade for early 2008 MacPro II

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.