Fastest GPU for Mac Pro 4.1

[yelmarb]

I currently run an Nvidia Quadro 4000 which works well with Premiere but is not working well with my 3D software.

I really need something that will work well with both programs and ideally be powered from the Mac Pro's PSU. Can the GTX 580 do this or does it need to be run from an external PSU? Is the GTX 680 better still? Do they have to be flashed with some Mac guru's code to work on a Mac?

GPU's for Macs seem like a black art now so any help would be hugely appreciated.

 

[DanielCoffey]

Have a look at the big sticky thread on this forum. I would suspect you will need a 570 or 580 for that kind of work.

The 580s tend to need extra power from a 5.25" bay psu but if you go to the trouble of fitting a good secondary psu, you might be able to utilise a pair of 580s.

Also see Macvidcards'' vendor page for 5xx cards that have a proper OSX EFI rom installed.

 

[sarthak]

670 / 680 sounds like a great option. Significant upgrade over the Q4000. Doesn't even need external PSU and no modifications required on Mountain Lion with latest CUDA driver.

 

[nigelbb]

The fastest CUDA card for Premiere Pro is the GTX570. It works out of the box in Mountain Lion but works even better with the Nvidia drivers which you probably already are using for the Quadra 4000. Get a used one of eBay for less than $200 or equivalent in local currency. You don't see the Mac boot screen with a PC card although it is possible to buy a version with hacked firmware & an EFI chip that does show the boot screen but I don't miss it as my old Mac Pro 3,1 boots so fast with an SSD now.

 

[DanielCoffey]

At the moment, the 6xx cards are more effective for gamers than graphics pros . The 5xx cards are the ones that you would want for Premier Pro.