mandarcy

Q: Graphics Cards for Mac Pro

Hello,

 

I'm looking to buy a secondhand Mac Pro 5.1. I'm not clued up on graphics cards and there seems to be a range of cards that they come with, mainly these cards:

 

ATI RADEON 5770 1GB

ATI RADEON 5870 1GB

ATI Radeon HD4870 512mb

 

Geforce GTX 680 2gb MAC edition

GeForce GT 120 512 mb

 

Can anyone recommend any of these? Should I avoid any of them?

 

Thanks

Dave

Posted on Jul 25, 2016 5:59 AM

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Q: Graphics Cards for Mac Pro

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  • Helpful answers

  • by kaz-k,Helpful

    kaz-k kaz-k Jul 25, 2016 7:11 AM in response to mandarcy
    Level 5 (5,635 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 25, 2016 7:11 AM in response to mandarcy

    If you are hardcore gamer, I recommend Geforce GTX680, though if you're not, I recommend ATI RADEON 5770 or 5870.

  • by lllaass,Helpful

    lllaass lllaass Jul 25, 2016 7:11 AM in response to mandarcy
    Level 10 (187,938 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 25, 2016 7:11 AM in response to mandarcy

    It depends upon what you want to speed and what resolution monitor you want.

    You can get cards that support 4K and even 5K resolution.

    It also depends upon what apps you plan to use and if those apps use the graphics card for calculations.

    Adobe works better with Nvidia cards.

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

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

     

    These are good:

    Geforce GTX 680 2gb MAC edition

    ATI RADEON 5770 1GB

    ATI RADEON 5870 1GB

  • by mandarcy,

    mandarcy mandarcy Jul 25, 2016 7:17 AM in response to kaz-k
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 25, 2016 7:17 AM in response to kaz-k

    Hi, no I'm not a gamer but I do a lot of graphics, including video and some 3D work. I'm not heavy on the 3D yet but it is an area I've been developing in more and more.

  • by mandarcy,

    mandarcy mandarcy Jul 25, 2016 7:31 AM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 25, 2016 7:31 AM in response to lllaass

    Hi, it will be used for graphics work mainly, graphic design and photography in the main but increasingly video and some 3D work too. It sounds like I would be safe with any of those three then? I don't have a 4k monitor, just an Apple display, but I will want to upgrade that at some point.

     

    Regards

  • by JimmyCMPIT,

    JimmyCMPIT JimmyCMPIT Jul 25, 2016 7:37 AM in response to mandarcy
    Level 5 (6,973 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 25, 2016 7:37 AM in response to mandarcy

    Nvidia and AMD have been releasing a generation of cards to keep up with the demands of higher-resolution monitors, advancements in gaming, video production and 2D/3D design. The current generation of cards are commonly shipping with 4,6,8,12GB dedicated DDR5 RAM (expected later this year are cards that come with 16 and 32GB RAM).

     

    If you are looking for life expectancy from a 2GB card for professional work your return on investment may be lowered due to the design limitations of older cards and the current availability of these cards either from Apple or Apple providing aftermarket support for the previous generation of cards that currently ship with their computers.