3,1 Early 2008 Video Question

[Username Here]

My beloved MacPro took a dump the other night..Before dying the characters on the screen got jumbled and the screen flickered..It will only reboot with the line going about half way then the characters go nuts again and it overall freezes...I believe it has a GeForce 8800 GT, which was replaced by Apple many years ago when still under warranty...Do you think its the video card or motherboard...?? Im (im)patiently waiting to replace it, but nothing yet on the horizon...I'm using a Dell now with Win-10...Gawd I hate it....

 

[LarrikinAus]

Pull the card out and see if it boots - a Mac Pro can boot without a video card in it.

 

[filmak]

First suspect is the 8800. Famous for failing, first hand experience.

 

[gpzjock]

Congratulations on getting a 8800GT to last 8 years, many of them died long before that when the joints on the PCB dried out from constant heat up, cool down, repeat use. Desperate owners would try to remelt/rejoin the solder on the board by "baking" it in an oven. Not a recommended fix if you don't know exactly what you are up to. I wouldn't buy a secondhand 8800GT for the same reason.

A far better idea would be to buy a much more recent GFX card, if you are on El Capitan then this is an easier fix.

If you are on an older OS, any of the following should work all the way back to Lion:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ATi-Radeo...571324?hash=item4aed67a03c:g:3QwAAOSw0vBUe2J2

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ATi-Radeo...379214?hash=item3ac4f3404e:g:MhQAAOSwvg9XUX~F

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-Mac...739314?hash=item33b0837cf2:g:JP4AAOSwoydWpQUG

 

[Username Here]

Congratulations on getting a 8800GT to last 8 years, many of them died long before that when the joints on the PCB dried out from constant heat up, cool down, repeat use. Desperate owners would try to remelt/rejoin the solder on the board by "baking" it in an oven. Not a recommended fix if you don't know exactly what you are up to. I wouldn't buy a secondhand 8800GT for the same reason.

A far better idea would be to buy a much more recent GFX card, if you are on El Capitan then this is an easier fix.

If you are on an older OS, any of the following should work all the way back to Lion:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ATi-Radeo...571324?hash=item4aed67a03c:g:3QwAAOSw0vBUe2J2

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ATi-Radeo...379214?hash=item3ac4f3404e:g:MhQAAOSwvg9XUX~F

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-Mac...739314?hash=item33b0837cf2:g:JP4AAOSwoydWpQUG

Thanks all.....I will see if it boots without it....I am (was) on El Capitan as well....and will definitely look into your suggestions...Thanks again !!!