Now that the expert has confirmed that my OEM 5770 is going south, I need a card that is not so expansive. Also, I will have to get it from UK. I have looked around on eBay and saw used 5870s and Quadro fx 4800 and 5600. Can you please tell me whether they are still relevant. I can also get ati 7870 which claim to have boot screen but link speed will be 2.5 since they don't know the hardware mod. Your thoughts will be appreciated.
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GPU for a 5,1 on a budget
- Thread starter mostafiz28
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If you can live without a boot screen then a GTX570 PC card is the best bang for buck. I see them selling used on eBay UK for £50-60 (although one cheeky bugger is charging £19.99 shipping on top). There are pretty much the same performance as a GTX680 (maybe even better for CUDA).
When my 280 gets here I'll have a couple of PNY GTX 560's I'll sell for the equivalent of 35 euros each plus shipping.
No boot screen obviously
No boot screen obviously
"If you can live without a boot screen then..." pick a PC card equivalent of graphics cards that Apple has sold for it's Mac Pros. Apple used either the AMD/ATI or nVidia Reference Design models; thus, look for those cards that similar monitor outputs. I'd stay away from PC graphics cards that have the VGA connector.
I had a Gigabyte PC 5770 in my 2008 Mac Pro (3,1) until I purchased a Reference Design Sapphire 7950 (eBay) and had MacVidCards flash it. The PC Gigabyte 5770 worked great as does the flashed (better yet) 7950.
So, looking for an inexpensive, 1-2 year old PC graphics card - like a GTX 760 - will do you well for years to come, especially if you get it flashed.
I had a Gigabyte PC 5770 in my 2008 Mac Pro (3,1) until I purchased a Reference Design Sapphire 7950 (eBay) and had MacVidCards flash it. The PC Gigabyte 5770 worked great as does the flashed (better yet) 7950.
So, looking for an inexpensive, 1-2 year old PC graphics card - like a GTX 760 - will do you well for years to come, especially if you get it flashed.
I had problems with a (windows version) 5870 but a GTX 760 works great - I've kept an old GT120 in case I ever need the boot screen. The GTX 760 works with Apple included drivers but you can also download NVIDIA ones if you prefer for your apps - and its trivial to select which one you want.
After reading those replies, I looked around on ebay and noticed that you are right. I was only looking for Mac compatible cards which are costly, even a 5870 is around £200 if new but the pc counterparts seemed a lot cheaper. I will look to get a GTX 760 pc card. Although I was under the impression that ATI cards get better driver support.
They are relatively expensive compared to a PC GTX680 which can be flashed with the Mac Edition firmware if you really must have a boot screen. Even a PC GTX680 is expensive compared to a used PC GTX570 which offers similar performance.
I have a GT120 now.
I don't game, but I do reach limit when I watch youtube and have plenty of other tabs open.
Would like to get something that's plug and play and not require any power mods.
I don't game, but I do reach limit when I watch youtube and have plenty of other tabs open.
Would like to get something that's plug and play and not require any power mods.