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

As far as i know, Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 Mac Edition and Geforce GTX680 Mac Edition should work in your MacPro, and is able to do 3840x2160 or 4K under Mac OSX 10.9 Mavericks.

Seems HD7950 and GTX680 support 4K, though it's Windows only at least right now.

The Quadro K5000 will do 4k(4096X2160) resolutions at 48Hz in 2008 Mac Pro

As for Bluray drive: Mac Pro(2008) internal SATA bluray drive repacement:

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac+Pro+Internal+SATA+Bluray+Drive+(Early+2008)+Repl acement/14147

As for connect HD TV to Mac Pro: You need to get DVI to HDMI converter( if your video card has mini display port, you need to get mini display to DVI adaptor as well.) to connect your Mac Pro to HD TV.

I've been using mini display port to DVI adaptor and DVI to HDMI cable to connect HD TV set to Mac Pro(early 2009 with HD5770 video card).

DVI-D can be converted from/to HDMI with only a cable (no active components) and works in either direction.

ATI Radeon 2600XT is capable 1080p resolution, so you don't need to get another card.

the number of problems and failures on 2600XTs, and poor support - you do know that 10.5.8 is not getting supported updates for security and to use oter programs?

For a 2008, I would at least go to 10.6.8.

Support for some GPUs mentioned require Mountain Lion or Mavericks - Apple doesn't offer drivers as standalone, so bundling them with the OS also means "no drivers for you" and vendors don't support a 6-7 yr old OS.

kaz-k wrote:

As far as i know, Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 Mac Edition and Geforce GTX680 Mac Edition should work in your MacPro, and is able to do 3840x2160 or 4K under Mac OSX 10.9 Mavericks.

At what refresh rate?

I also have a Mac Pro 2008. Running the same card. Just bought a Samsung 40in 1080. I do major photoshop work. How should I go about getting it to where the photos are not pixelated in everything I bring up. Do not want to invest in a new card. I have the normal DVI hook up on the back of the Mac and HDMI(DVI) hook up on the TV. But I/m still not getting the resolution I needto edit photos and I have a portfolio and a wedding to edit. Any suggestions?

Therer is a startling amount of misinformation in this thread.

For the life of me I never understand why people answer questions that they don't actually KNOW the answers too.

"I thought I read it somewhere" doesn't qualify.

With 10.9.2 there is now 4K at 60Hz support for 7950/70 cards via MDP.

So they can output fully supported 4K to an Asus or Sharp PQ-321. (The one Apple sells now)

I can't speak for Dell, LG, etc as I don't have one.

MANY cards with DP or MDP can do 4K at 30Hz in 10.9. The GTX680 is still limited to 30Hz in 10.9.2.

7950/70 and GTX680 can do 4K at 30Hz via HDMI in 10.9.

Again, I can only speak for Asus/Sharp 32" 4K displays because that is what I have to test with.

As far as making more pixels appear on an HD TV, it AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN. The Dual Link DVI ports on 2600XT are limited to 2560x1600 @ 60Hz. You may be able to use SwitchresX to slow refresh rate down to some absurd number and get to 4K but your mouse cursor will be skipping and jumping across the screen like a school girl.

A 4K display has literally 4 @ HD displays worth of pixels. Yes, you can fit 4 HD images onto a 4K display without overlap or pixel scrunching.

An HD display is 1920x1080. If your photos are larger than that, they won't fit without compressing pixels into a single pixel. Simple mathematic fact.

Can you put 5 gallons of water in a 3 gallon bucket? Nope.

With 10.9.2 there is now 4K at 60Hz support for 7950/70 cards via MDP.

Caution: There are some reports nearby that the new Driver in 10.9.2 is not working on certain 7950 Mac edition cards on a DisplayPort display.

EDIT: DPArt is hot on the trail. His early assement implicates the EFI/UEFI switch.

I'm not interetsed in 4K at all. I just want to go back to having something comparible to 1900x1200 I had with my 24 inch. Bu tI do know that with my current card I can't update iMovie to it's newest version. The card doesn't support it.

I have the normal DVI hook up on the back of the Mac and HDMI(DVI) hook up on the TV.

Single-Link DVI is good for displays up to about 1920 wide. To go wider, DVI addds a second set of data lines (three more pairs of wires) and is called Dual-Link DVI. Dual-Link DVI cables always have all the pins in the grid populated, Single Link DVI may have two columns of pins missing in the center of the Grid, or may not. If you are converting from Mini Displayport, the Dual-Link DVI adapter can cost US$100.

Most HDMI is only good for up to 1080p (1920 by 1080, non-interlaced).

on the 2600, BOTH ports are Dual-Link DVI.

Grant,

SO I need a Dual Link DVI cable or add the adapter in? Any recomendations?