Major problems upgrading the graphics card in my 2006 Mac Pro.

Question

Major problems upgrading the graphics card in my 2006 Mac Pro.

I am trying to upgrade the OEM graphics card in my 2006 Mac Pro to an HD Radeon 4870 1 GB graphics card. I am having major problems. The previous owner is recommending that I uninstall my OS 10.7.5 and reinstall. I don't know how to do this. The Apple website has been no help with this issue. The previous owner has given me many procedures that I have never done before, including removing and re-setting my RAM, and using a Kext Troubleshooting app. Any suggestions that you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5), 1st gen 2006 Mac Pro

Posted on Jul 11, 2016 8:56 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 11, 2016 5:06 PM in response to kennethdjenkins

a 4870 with 1GB VRAM is not a genuine Mac card (those had only 512MB of VRAM). It is unlikely to show a picture until the login screen, if ever. Unless the vendor has a 100 percent guaranteed-to-work procedure to get this working, I recommend you return it for a refund -- it is not likely to work in your Mac.

A genuine Mac 5770 or 5870 is the best approach for a 2006 or 2007 Mac Pro, because they are known to work with everything except copyrighted movies, and your Mac is stuck in 32-bit Kernel and pre-10.7.5 MacOS.

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Answer 2

Jul 11, 2016 5:05 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Dear Grant: I understand that the upgrade is not genuine Apple certified, which adds what? 2,3,400 dollars to the product. There is an outfit in California on eBAY, who guarantees that the same card new will work, 100% feedback rating. I bought a used card to save some money. My man in Hong Kong says I have a flawed OS 10.7.5 (Lion), which may be possible, since I have been having little problems all over my computer ever since I installed it. I'm thinking about buying a restore disc. My other alternative is to drop this 2006 model out the window, and buy a later model which would let me upgrade four (4) operating systems. Apple doesn't give a lot of support to a product that's 10 years old. Sometimes, I feel like they deliberately advance their computers to make the old ones obsolete. Which is a game I can't afford to play. But, anyway, thanks very much for your answer. Truth to tell, I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do.

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Answer 3

lllaass

Level 10

210,519 points

Jul 12, 2016 6:20 AM in response to kennethdjenkins

Note the Apple is not longer sell the Snow Leopard install disk. Apple is no longer selling the download code for Lion too.

From the information you provided it appears that the Mac can with Lion. If that is the case that Lion installation is locked to the ID the purchased it. Thus, if you boot to Recovery

OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support

you will not be able to redownload Lion unless you enter the Apple ID originally used to download it.

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Answer 4

Jul 12, 2016 6:26 AM in response to lllaass

Thanks for your answer. A simple upgrade to my 2006 Mac Pro has been rendered virtually impossible by the "geniuses" at Apple. My goal was to upgrade my Mac Pro to a 2008 model, but I don't have the money to make a purchase like that. And besides, what incentive do I have to do business with a company that treats me like this?

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Answer 5

lllaass

Level 10

210,519 points

Jul 12, 2016 7:11 AM in response to kennethdjenkins

If yo do upgrade, get a 201o or newer Mac Pro. Those can be updated to Sierra.

Also the FB-DIMM memory in the 2006-2008 Mac Pros run hot and fail with time. The graphics card the originally came with the 2008 is also prone to failure.

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