Can 2008 Mac Pro run 4K or HD screens with the right video card?

At least once, you got the Displays control panel to acknowledge that the display was present. But it seemed to be stuck at TV-set resolutions.

You will get best results with DisplayPort (or Mini DisplayPort) inputs on the display, but you need to be very careful, as this display also has a DisplayPort OUTPUT that will look identical, but will not work.

What cables and adapters you are attempting to use?

I am able to get 3840x2160@30Hz with my non Mac firmware Radeon HD7950.

Is there a possibility that I might be able to get the same resolution at 60 Hz with Mac formware in the graphics card?

I do get 60 Hz refresh rate in BootCamp, using 64 bit Windows 7 Home Premium.

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An observation I made yesterday was that in BootCamp, when I'm able to get 3840x2160@60Hz on the Dell UP2414Q, I only get 1280x960 or someting like that on the LG W3000H that otherwise supports 3560x1600.

Would it be worth disconnecting the LG W3000H before I try the Dell with MST enabled in OS X?

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Be methodical. Test a new display by itself when possible.

Once you know it is working, you can check for "plays nice with others".

I guess that's as good recommendation.

Would it be reasonable to expect the video card Radeon HD7950 not to be able to support both the Dell at full resolution with 60 Hz and the LG at its native resolution? The Dell connected using mini displayport and the LG with dual-link dvi.

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If it can support one at those high resolutions, it will generally support several in a similar way. It puts very little additional load on the graphics card, and the ones that support those higher resolutions tend to have tons of display memory, so there is no shortage of resources on the card, except for one thing I will mention below.

The real problem is compatibility with the displays. Display makers have not had their preferred amount of time to tweak the displays for Mac Pro hi-res support at good refresh rates. In some cases, changing settings on the display itself (not on the Mac) is needed -- in other cases the display cannot currently be made to work at full resolution or full refresh rate.

The problem I alluded to above is power to run complex adapters. If you want to run more that TWO "legacy" displays, you need to use ACTIVE adapters, from about US$40. ["Legacy" in this context means other than DisplayPort family (Full size or Mini DisplayPort).] Dual-Link DVI (for displays over 1920 wide) always requires a very expensive Dual-Link DVI ACTIVE adapter with USB power input, about US$100.

With MST enabled and my LG detached, I still don't get any video on the Dell UP2414Q.

Would it be reasonable to expect that thos using Radeon HD7950 with Mac firmware could fare better in this respect, or is it likely that Apple has disabled MST support in OS X for older systems even if they're capable of handling it from a performance viewpoint?

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What I use is a dedicated dual-link dvi cable, as my current graphics card has such output.

Previously, I used a mini displayport to dual-link dvi adapter and that worked after replacing it due to buggy firmware that couldn't be user-replaced.

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A Classic Mac Pro can use GTX 9xx and handle 5k

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1850606

But I guess 4K monitors like the Dell UP2414Q cannot handle dual cables?

Would adding any parameters to NVRAM(how wouldI I even do that?) make it possible for me to get 3840x2160 working on my MacPro 4,1 system with Radeon 7950 3GB?

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Also, the GTX980 and a new 5K monitor comes in at a combined price that I might not find justifiable upgrading a system from early 2009. ;-)

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The 2009 can be upgraded to the hilt and do things a 2013 6,1 cannot do!

GTX / faster SSDs / 12-core 3.4GHz are possible on 4,1 (after flashing 5,1 firmware), newest AMD GPUs.

Which can be better cost/benefit ratio than 6,1 and having to invest in Thunderbolt and stuck with AMD.

There is a thread on 5k and AMD graphic cards though as to which Dell and other monitors work, in some cases monitor might need firmware I think.

Are there any benefits from just flashing 5,1 firmware without upgrading the hardware?

I don't really need more power; it'd just be nice to get 60 Hz refresh rate on the Dell monitor.

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These shortcomings are often caused by the display manufacturers' slow response to adding the needed features and tweaks to features.

There are several posts in the Mac Pro forums from Users who bought a few different models of Dell displays in particular, who have not been able to get them to work in a satisfactory way, despite the fact that they SHOULD work. A search for Dell and/or the specific model number should quickly turn these up for you. Some may have work-arounds.

The reason to upgrade the firmware are to support 1333MHz DDR3 memory speeds, to put a 6-core 36xx or 56xx processor in. Whether it helps or not with newest AMD and Nvidia cards I would not know without a lot of reading.

AMD R9 280X and others tested by Barefeats in 4k and 5k "shootout"

http://barefeats.com/mpt4k.html