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Mac 1,1 Video Card Upgrade - Worth Doing?

brenden

brenden

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 14, 2009
114
1
Florida, USA
I have a Mac Pro 1,1 2.66Ghz with the 5150. I just ordered a pair of Xeon 2.66 5355's. The system has 8Gig memory, and an 256GB SSD, with a 7300GT graphics card.

I mainly use the system for internet browsing, Video Rendering, iTunes, Large Data Mgmt..

How much of an improvement in performance will dropping a Radeon 5770 into the system? I understand it will allow me to use additional monitors but im really just wondering if its with the $250 from a pure performance aspect.
 
Yes, you will see an improvement.

The main one being that the 7300s were problematic for :apple:.

Mine lasted less than 90 days before it died.
 
I have the same Pro.
If I were to upgrade the video card, I would go with a GTX5xx or 6xx to get the open cl/gl. I have a 430 and it has basic open cl/gl and seems to render 3D and video and PS CS5 runs smoother
 
cal6n said:
Short version: GTX 6XX requires Mountain Lion.

Long version: Read the sticky.
Click to expand...

I apologize cal6, you are correct, the GTX6xx needs ML, so to run one he would need a windows partition or bootload ML. My fault, I have been thinking about doing something similar with mine. I'm just not sure I want to go that far yet, and if I do, I may just build a hackintosh.
 
TheEasterBunny said:
I apologize cal6, you are correct, the GTX6xx needs ML, so to run one he would need a windows partition or bootload ML. My fault, I have been thinking about doing something similar with mine. I'm just not sure I want to go that far yet, and if I do, I may just build a hackintosh.
Click to expand...

The 570 or 580 will work in Lion tho?

Assuming I supply the power however it's needed.
 
TheEasterBunny said:
I apologize cal6, you are correct, the GTX6xx needs ML, so to run one he would need a windows partition or bootload ML. My fault, I have been thinking about doing something similar with mine. I'm just not sure I want to go that far yet, and if I do, I may just build a hackintosh.
Click to expand...

I tried to install Mountain Lion onto my 2,1 in the fairly early days of the hack. I hit a 4GB RAM limit, extremely long boot times and very laggy performance overall. That's why I sold it and put a 2009/2010 hybrid together.

Best. Decision. Ever.

Tesselator said:
The 570 or 580 will work in Lion tho?

Assuming I supply the power however it's needed.
Click to expand...

That's my understanding. I believe NVidia's web drivers are advised in this case.
 
Based on the tasks you will be doing, I think you're good with the Radeon 5770HD. The 7300GT is not too good a card as it usually breaks down due to its weak capacitor and lack of built in fan. :)
 
cal6n said:
That's my understanding. I believe NVidia's web drivers are advised in this case.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

Well, I guess that decides it for me then. Now just to pick between the 570 or 580 (wondering about 590??? - currently no absorbed information about that model). As I think I would always like to be able to boot into Lion or sell the machine in a more natural state (Lion).

Dang it too that 680 was looking so sweet! :p
 
The difference is light and day. The 7300 is a terrible card.

I've got a video on my youtube (92JMFL) of an ATI 6870 working out of the box on a 1,1. Haven't had any problems with it at all. Such an improvement!
 
Tesselator said:
Thanks!

Well, I guess that decides it for me then. Now just to pick between the 570 or 580 (wondering about 590??? - currently no absorbed information about that model). As I think I would always like to be able to boot into Lion or sell the machine in a more natural state (Lion).

Dang it too that 680 was looking so sweet! :p
Click to expand...

I know that there have been a plethora of postings regarding the total power requirements of the 580 and I really don't want to start another debate here. ;)

However, I'd just like to state that I wouldn't install a card that exceeds the 225W design cap without an additional power supply.
 
cal6n said:
However, I'd just like to state that I wouldn't install a card that exceeds the 225W design cap without an additional power supply.
Click to expand...

Me neither! With all 6 internal SATA ports populated and powered it does present a slight challenge tho. But I like challenges, they give something to do with my free time. :D
 
Why someone would get such a high end power hungry card for a 2006 Mac Pro is beyond me. The video card costs more than their old Mac Pro. It's overkill. Get something older that's a big improvement and cheaper. Or get a newer Mac Pro.
 
tjlazer said:
Why someone would get such a high end power hungry card for a 2006 Mac Pro is beyond me. The video card costs more than their old Mac Pro. It's overkill. Get something older that's a big improvement and cheaper. Or get a newer Mac Pro.
Click to expand...

Well a 580 here is only $200 max and I see quite a few selling for around $150. The 570's go for between $100 and $150. So that doesn't seem like such big investment to me. A 580 in a MP1,1 for example, will indeed be faster than a 550 in a MP1,1 or any of the previous cards so it's not useless to upgrade the MP1,1 as high as possible.

And also to note is that the MP1,1 with x5365 or x5355 isn't all that much slower than a MP5,1 six-core. The 5.1 zippyness factor over the MP1,1 is maybe a factor of 1.8 or so. 2013 or 2014 may bring a mac I feel is worth upgrading to - or may bring 4,1 slash 5,1 prices down enough to go there but currently for what I'm doing there's no reason or need to upgrade to a newer mac.
 
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Tesselator said:
Well a 580 here is only $200 max and I see quite a few selling for around $150. The 570's go for between $100 and $150. So that doesn't seem like such big investment to me. A 580 in a MP1,1 for example, will indeed be faster than a 550 in a MP1,1 or any of the previous cards so it's not useless to upgrade the MP1,1 as high as possible.
Click to expand...

I agree with your first point. Even PCIe 1 at 16x speed allows GTX 5XX series cards room to breath. However...

And also to note is that the MP1,1 with x5365 or x5355 isn't all that much slower than a MP5,1 six-core. The 5.1 zippyness factor over the MP1,1 is maybe a factor of 1.8 or so. 2013 or 2014 may bring a mac I feel is worth upgrading to - or may bring 4,1 slash 5,1 prices down enough to go there but currently for what I'm doing there's no reason or need to upgrade to a newer mac.
Click to expand...

I can't agree with your second point. Having moved from an octo 3.0 GHz 2,1 to a 4,1/5,1 hex 3.33 GHz hybrid, the difference is frankly staggering. A much greater improvement than I was expecting.
 
cal6n said:
I can't agree with your second point. Having moved from an octo 3.0 GHz 2,1 to a 4,1/5,1 hex 3.33 GHz hybrid, the difference is frankly staggering. A much greater improvement than I was expecting.
Click to expand...

Yeah, a 1.8x to 2.0x zippiness increase feels nice huh?! ;)
 
Tesselator said:
Well a 580 here is only $200 max and I see quite a few selling for around $150. The 570's go for between $100 and $150. So that doesn't seem like such big investment to me. A 580 in a MP1,1 for example, will indeed be faster than a 550 in a MP1,1 or any of the previous cards so it's not useless to upgrade the MP1,1 as high as possible.

And also to note is that the MP1,1 with x5365 or x5355 isn't all that much slower than a MP5,1 six-core. The 5.1 zippyness factor over the MP1,1 is maybe a factor of 1.8 or so. 2013 or 2014 may bring a mac I feel is worth upgrading to - or may bring 4,1 slash 5,1 prices down enough to go there but currently for what I'm doing there's no reason or need to upgrade to a newer mac.
Click to expand...

Over kill?

Besides people seem to forget when a newer Mac is needed, all those cards and drives can actually be moved too, it's not like they have to be thrown out with bathwater...
 
TheEasterBunny said:
Over kill?

Besides people seem to forget when a newer Mac is needed, all those cards and drives can actually be moved too, it's not like they have to be thrown out with bathwater...
Click to expand...

Yup, "newer Mac" or even (OMG!!!) a pee-cee... :eek:

I wonder if the 680 would work with the MP1,1 transformed into a Windows PC actually... Hmmm...
 
Tesselator said:
Yup, "newer Mac" or even (OMG!!!) a pee-cee... :eek:

I wonder if the 680 would work with the MP1,1 transformed into a Windows PC actually... Hmmm...
Click to expand...

My understanding is that it is a driver/support issue within Mac OS, not a hardware one (other than the PCIe1.0 vs. 2.0 thing)
Unless you mean a Mac 680 working in windows (bootcamp) I wonder too in that case

OMG, almost forgot the power connector thing too! But that's just a soldering iron or extra PSU away from a fix
 
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