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1st Gen MacPro (Dual 2.66GHz) video card options - help.

hugodrax said:
So The Apple stores carry the 4870's? That would be better than ordering it.
Click to expand...

Is there a differece between the 4870 sold at the apple store and the one available thru say Best Buy or other retailers at a lower cost? Is there a "Mac" vs "PC" version?

Thanks
 
Just to add,

I had the same setup as the OP. A quad core 2.66 1st Gen Mac Pro with a 7300, a 30" ACD and a 23" ACD. The 7300 drove the 30 inch at full res and the 23" at 1920. It was a little hiccupy doing anything graphic however.

I ordered the XFX 4870 from Newegg for 150.00 bucks. It has twice the DDR memory (1 gig to 512 for the Apple card), is 200.00 cheaper and has 2 DVI ports instead of a mini display (and another 100.00 for the mini display to dvi adapter)......

I ordered the power cables from shop.ati.com.

The flash process was relatively easy, there is a great step by step walk through out there (I just deleted the bookmark I had since I'm done with it.).

The only thing I did differently was I didn't install XP in bootcamp for the lone sake of backing up the rom on the card before I flashed it. I figured if it blew up, someone out there has the rom anyway.

I made the ultimate boot CD in VMWare, added the necessary files for flashing the card, plugged the card into slot 1 and the 7300 into slot 4.

I connected the 23" ACD to the 7300 and left the 30" unplugged, booted into DOS, flashed the card, powered down, plugged the 30" into the 4870 (and left the 23" in the 7300) and rebooted. No problems at all, the card is quiet as can be.

I didn't fully push it yet, but I ran glxgears which gave me a reading of about 4400 FPS on the 7300 when the window was on the 23" and 11000 FPS on the 4870 when it was on the 30".

Also, as an FYI from what I understand the XFX cards are the only PC 4870s that both DVI ports work after flashing. You get one single link DVI, one Dual link DVI and the card doesn't work with VGA adapters for some reason which is no big deal to me as I still have the 7300 sitting in there if need be.
 
Walk-through

bpd115 said:
The flash process was relatively easy, there is a great step by step walk through out there (I just deleted the bookmark I had since I'm done with it.).
Click to expand...

This is something I really am considering. I've had a good look through for the walk-through, I can't find it. Any support would be great - would you mind perhaps looking through your history to get it?

Many thanks,

F
 
Upgrade Question

I bet the answer to my question is already on this or another thread, but I'd really appreciate it if somebody reiterated it for me.

I'm planning to upgrade my 1st Generation MacPro (running Windows 7) to the GeForce 8800 GT card.

When I buy it on eBay, what else do I need to do to make it work? Download any upgrade or obtain any cd?

Also, how easy is it to manually replace it? Just take off the cover, unplug the old one, and plug in the new one?

Please just don't send me a link to another thread - if you could just explain it in a few sentences it would be really helpful.

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
FidusAchates said:
I bet the answer to my question is already on this or another thread, but I'd really appreciate it if somebody reiterated it for me.

I'm planning to upgrade my 1st Generation MacPro (running Vista) to the GeForce 8800 GT card.

When I buy it on eBay, what else do I need to do to make it work? Download any upgrade or obtain any cd?

Also, how easy is it to manually replace it? Just take off the cover, unplug the old one, and plug in the new one?

Please just don't send me a link to another thread - if you could just explain it in a few sentences it would be really helpful.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

i would buy the radeon 5770 from the apple store if i were you. as far as installing a card, as long as its the apple compatible card all you have to do is slide it into the pcie slot your old card was in and attack any power cables it has. if its not the mac card its alot harder and cannot be explained in a few sentences.
 
interslicer said:
i would buy the radeon 5770 from the apple store if i were you. as far as installing a card, as long as its the apple compatible card all you have to do is slide it into the pcie slot your old card was in and attack any power cables it has. if its not the mac card its alot harder and cannot be explained in a few sentences.
Click to expand...

I've found another, a lot cheaper version of the radeon 5770 on another site. (http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-577FLEX) Is it worth it to risk it, as it's not sold by apple, or is it better to dish out the cash for the surefire one?

Thanks again!
 
Its up to you, some people have bought PC versions, as the one you linked to, flashed them and they work fine for them, however down the road, with Lion, or updates, who knows? I bought a real Mac version 5770, it cost me close to retail price but I am happier knowing I have a proper card in my system. To each his own.
 
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