new HD graphics card for early mac pro 2008 and a new screen

Question

new HD graphics card for early mac pro 2008 and a new screen

Hi, I'm looking to upgrade my graphics card to HD and buy a new HD screen, I'm hoping you guys can help (I'm UK based)

I see (having done some searching on this forum) that operating systems seem to be important as well anything else.

So my set up is:

- OS X 10.8.5 (need to keep this for stability issues)

- Current card is ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256 MB

- The mac model is 3.1

Not sure if more info is needed on that stuff?

I currently run a Sony BRAVIA and have other devices hooked up to it - BluRay, Xbox. It would be great to get a new monitor too and to have enough connection to have all this still running as well as the mac. I am not sure if this is possible as I'm not sure how graphics cards these days connect to monitors.

Help on this would be great. I've been able to get this old beast to keep improving in performance and storage terms. This is the missing piece of the puzzle for me.

Posted on Feb 4, 2016 4:09 AM

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Answer 1

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lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Feb 7, 2016 1:21 PM in response to nickashmanmusic

User Tip: Mac Pro silver tower (2006-2012) Replacement Graphics cards

A lot of PC cards will work but you do not get a boot screen but you can use your old card if necessary

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1440150

This is a good listing of Mac-flashed cards. Not cheap

http://www.macvidcards.com/index.html

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Answer 2

Feb 4, 2016 9:32 AM in response to nickashmanmusic

One strength of the Mac is the ability to arrange your work on multiple displays. Most cards you install today will handle multiple displays easily, and without slowing down.

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Answer 3

Feb 7, 2016 1:21 PM in response to lllaass

Had a bit of a read of the non EFI cards thread. It looks complicated....

I'm basically wanting to upgrade my output from VGA to HD. Is there a best way to do this? My current display has HDMI. Can video cards connect to this? I want to upgrade my screen to so is there a particular display port I should be going with for the Mac connection? I'm wanting to also plug other devices in to the screen and possibly run dual screens for my mac (I use Logic Pro).

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Answer 4

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Feb 7, 2016 1:45 PM in response to nickashmanmusic

Yes, many cards have an HDMI output port. Y can also get a mini displayport>HDMI adopter.

Some users have problem with HDMI monitors/TVs, especially with resolutions greater than 1920x1200.

Best input is a monitor/TV with mini displayport or displayport input. These two connections are electrically identical and only differ in physical size.

Almost all cards can easily drive two monitors. Cards with three outputs can drive three monitors but yo may need one or two ACITIVE adopters.

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