I currently have a 2006 or 2007 Mac Pro that has not run mac since a year after I got it. I have been purely running windows and I'm getting kind of tired of not being able to play games because of my gpu. If I bought the ATI Radeon HD 5770, would it work perfectly on windows?
Running windows 7
Also, is there a better gpu that I should get other than the ATI Radeon HD 5770
Mac Pro, Windows 7
Most any card will do if you can live w/o the early boot screens.
What do you have now? Did you not upgrade to 8800GT when that was available? have the 7300GT (that would be horrid).
5770 from Apple $249 but you would be better served wtih 6870 PC card or dozens of GTX and AMD cards.
Probably netkas or other forums better suited.
Also if you focus on what game and what you expect would help. Then again, you can't get the full benefit of high end GPU out of PCIe 1.0.
I have 1,1 and used Windows mostly but ended up building a couple PCs to run Windows 7 and 8. And there you can build or buy a better suited setup for Windows or games.
have the 7300GT (that would be horrid).
Why is that so bad? I have been trying to explain to my mom that we should get a different gpu. Does that effect things like photoshop, firefox, or dreamweaver?
And yes, I do currently have the 7300GT.
I saw the 5770 on amazon for only $199.99.
Would using a pc card be hard to isntall?
I just figured out the Mac Pro is actually 2007, would the same thing apply?
I am more focused with things like video rendering and programming w/ java.
The 7300 was old back in 2006 already. It is for basic office stuff and 2D. It had 256MB video memory, not the 1GB of the 5770, or the 2GB of many now (Apple had trouble with anything more than 1.5GB for years).
I can't tell you what is best but for what you listed, check out MacVidCards, he has 6870 for Mac $225.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ATI-Radeon-6870-1-GB-for-Apple-Mac-Pro-/261288591074
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261264795049
http://www.ebay.com/usr/macvidcards
Some people keep the 7300 in another PCIe slot to use if needed to see what is happening early on but use a higher end card for use.
Only limit is try to find a card that does not need 8-pin aux power. You will have to buy one or two of the 6-pin cables to power a card which are only $12-15 each.
The only difference in 2007 2,1 was firmware support for 8-core 53xx processor. Identical in memory, graphics and everything else, though it req'd 10.4.9+ special build on OEM DVD (10.4.10 or above recommended).
If you don't have a pair of 5355's now you should, 8-core 2,.66GHz and then run better.
But building a PC with Core i7 4770 with mobo and the rest would be more useful and run better. Of course the brand new "Late 2013" Mac Pro "nMP" $4K would run Windows (8.1+ only which is what I use) just wonderfully and has the power you need for video and graphic editing, and 6 or 8-cores as well as 4-core
I really wonder if you want to keep the 2007. Okay. There are $25 2 x 2GB FBDIMMs now that are much better. $100 for 16GB. You need that. You should be running 64-bit of course and that was not easy or supported in these. Thermal fan control under Windows is pretty much totally lacking and a real concern of mine and using it under stress. One reason I left using it for Windows behind.
GPU and some RAM. And put Windows or any OS on a nice fast SSD makes a difference. But enabling AHCI should be done and I am not versed in how best to accomplish that. It does matter, especially with SSDs but for any hard drives.
Paragon Software has some good programs to manage and clone Windows to another drive if you need to or want a better system restore image and cloning software.
Some hobbyists are quick to jump on PC-only cards to save some money.
For me, the lack of Boot-up screens used in debugging, starting up, choosing which Operating System to run, Installing, Updating, Repairing, and doing offline maintenance are a non-Starter.
I recommend you go with the Apple-firmware 5770 at about US$250. Slight discounts (maybe US$5 off and/or free shipping) are avaliable online if you shop hard.
having a working 7300 can offset the need for another apple firmware gpu, too though if you don't mind it taking up a slot, it is a small low power single slot card
ATI Radeon HD 5770 for Mac Pro running only windows
