Mac Pro 1,1 10.9.2 (Tiamo) Graphic Card Suggestions

[londonbizzare]

So I got an Mac Pro 1.1 which I upgraded to Mac Pro 2.1 running Yosemite (Pike). I see people had some luck with PC versions of GTX 660. So I thought I would get one on ebay. However I noticed there was different flavors of this GFX card and I am unsure if it matters or not. There is GTX 660ti, GTX 660SC, and GTX 660FTW does anyone know if any of these will work in my Mac Pro? I do understand I wont see the boot loader screen. Any help would be great. thank you.

**UPDATE** I accidentally put GTX 600 before but I meant to say GTX 660.

 

[Hennesie2000]

So I got an Mac Pro 1.1 which I upgraded to Mac Pro 2.1 running Yosemite (Pike). I see people had some luck with PC versions of GTX 600. So I thought I would get one on ebay. However I noticed there was different flavors of this GFX card and I am unsure if it matters or not. There is GTX 600ti, GTX 600SC, and GTX 600FTW does anyone know if any of these will work in my Mac Pro? I do under stand I wont see the boot loader screen. Any help would be great. thank you.

The only card I would avoid is the GTX 650ti, that card has issues for some hackintoshers. The ti cards are not the same as the base card. Something like a SSC or FTW is the same as the base card but overclocked from the factory via the vbios. I personally run a GT 610 in a hackintosh and OS X pairs well with it.

 

[owbp]

@666Sheep @Fl0r!an I wasn't aware that there is a 32bit EFI! Sounds promising. I'll work through the linked thread, thank you.

Edit: Found the 6850_EBC and flashed right away. System Information now shows the card properly in the PCI section. Thanks again!

Sorry for digging the old post and going off topic, but I'm trying to flash Sapphire 6850 (2 DVI, HDMI, DP) for the last week and the only result is i get is same as original BIOS, up until this morning when i found this post, followed the link to "radeon port mapping" and after download of 6850_EBC that i found in that topic and on Russian forum i get unstable OS (OS X logging out and Windows restarting) and vram of 58721280 MB.

I just need to confirm that either i really don't know how to follow online instructions or this particular card is the problem.

 

[Sko]

...I just need to confirm that either i really don't know how to follow online instructions or this particular card is the problem.

I guess something went wrong when adding the efi part to the rom.

I remember when merging the roms the block count was shown incorrectly and the resulting file did not show two roms. I tried with block count 128 and all went well. This is just from memory, the number could be different. I suppose I just picked the greatest.

 

[owbp]

That's what I'm trying to figure out too.
ROMs are identical after flashing. Ill try with blocknum 128 this time.

Did you use 6850.fi.rom from "Make your own Radeon..." or "Radeon port mapping" topics?

I have to do something before i get a new card, because after yesterdays adventure of 58TB of vRAM, FCPX started rebooting OS on background rendering and i have to finish that project soon.

Edit: I've bricked it, this will be long night...

 

[Sko]

Did you use 6850.fi.rom from "Make your own Radeon..." or "Radeon port mapping" topics?

I don't know exactly if it was in those threads, but it was on netkas for sure, I think it was named 6850_EBC.efi.

Ups, here it is.

 

[owbp]

One more thing.
Since I already have soldered pins on bios chip, could you upload yours working EFI bios, just to try it before I put everything back as it was?

 

[Sko]

Of course.

 

[owbp]

Thank you so much for your help.
It did work but there is still 58TB of vram. So i'll probably go back to stock bios. Also, Mac freezes in FCPX with this rom. With stock bios it was "just" restarting OS every now and then while rendering.
Ill try to live with this one until i get another GPU.

EDIT: But in 10.6.8 everything reports OK? Any idea?

 

[Sko]

EDIT: But in 10.6.8 everything reports OK? Any idea?

No, not really. Did you try NVRAM and SMC reset?

 

[owbp]

Yes, few times...
Never mind, i can't say that i didn't try (and in the process didn't sleep for days, destroyed partition map on Data/Bootcamp HDD, bricked the card two times and what else not...)

Thanks once again!

 

[jtitteri]

I successfully installed Mavericks 10.9.5 on my 1,1 Mac Pro using the SFOTT tool (http://oemden.com/sixty-four-on-thirty-two-sfott/).

Since then I purchased an ATI HD 5770 looking for a graphics card that would give me a boot screen. I installed the card (took extra care to make sure the power cable was seated properly in the socket on the logic board). With the card installed, I get a kernel panic during boot. The screen will flash white for a second, and then restart the boot process in an infinite loop.

Any ideas? Should I just do a fresh install of Mavericks?

 

[londonbizzare]

**UPDATE** I accidentally put GTX 600 before but I meant to say GTX 660. since I didnt see a bump button here I am re-posting.

So I got an Mac Pro 1.1 which I upgraded to Mac Pro 2.1 running Yosemite (Pike). I see people had some luck with PC versions of GTX 660. So I thought I would get one on ebay. However I noticed there was different flavors of this GFX card and I am unsure if it matters or not. There is GTX 660ti, GTX 660SC, and GTX 660FTW does anyone know if any of these will work in my Mac Pro? I do understand I wont see the boot loader screen. Any help would be great. thank you.

 

[Adrian Neculai]

Good afternoon,
Regarding your post:

I just recently upgraded to Nvidia and am running a flashed 8800gt for boots screens and a GTX760

You are using 2 monitors? How you can use both cards?
Thank you, have a nice day!

 

[star-affinity]

So I got an Mac Pro 1.1 which I upgraded to Mac Pro 2.1 running Yosemite (Pike). I see people had some luck with PC versions of GTX 660. So I thought I would get one on ebay. However I noticed there was different flavors of this GFX card and I am unsure if it matters or not. There is GTX 660ti, GTX 660SC, and GTX 660FTW does anyone know if any of these will work in my Mac Pro? I do understand I wont see the boot loader screen. Any help would be great. thank you.

It should't matter which one of these you get, no. As long as the power supply can handle it, which I'm pretty sure it does.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

**UPDATE** I accidentally put GTX 600 before but I meant to say GTX 660. since I didnt see a bump button here I am re-posting.

So I got an Mac Pro 1.1 which I upgraded to Mac Pro 2.1 running Yosemite (Pike). I see people had some luck with PC versions of GTX 660. So I thought I would get one on ebay. However I noticed there was different flavors of this GFX card and I am unsure if it matters or not. There is GTX 660ti, GTX 660SC, and GTX 660FTW does anyone know if any of these will work in my Mac Pro? I do understand I wont see the boot loader screen. Any help would be great. thank you.

Sorry to reply to an old post - Perhaps you've already made a decision on the GPU; but, in case you haven't yet decided: I got a GTX 660 OC for my Mac Pro, and it works just fine (albeit a better performer in Windows, due to the fact that the card isn't flashed). In fact, the GTX 660 is a recommended card for these things. That being said, I heard (but can't quite confirm) that the 'Ti' version of the GTX 660 has issues. I'm not sure what's true, but I decided to avoid it just in case. I ended up going with my 'OC' (which is, I believe, the same as an 'SC'), which has the better, ASUS CUII cooler on it. Note that you need a [single] power cable for your card.

Of course, if you want a more beefy card, I hear that the GTX 960 also works fine - just like the GTX 660 does. You can get one now for around $200. Pretty sure it, too, uses a single power cable to run.

Anyway, my GTX 660 is still going strong. Had it in my 1,1 and then transferred it to my later 4,1 Mac Pro - no issues. It's a pretty good performer for its age. Overall, I did notice that, as a non-flashed card, 'Stacks' in Mac OSX El Cap - WITH transparency enabled - is slightly laggy, but all other animations are fine. I like transparency off, though, because it induces unnecessary graphical stress. As for in native Windows, it seems to do very well with the games I play. I'm able to max out almost every single option in Grand Theft Auto V, and I get acceptable frame-rates.

 

[prusso]

Has anyone had difficulties with 7950 and bootcamp?

I purchased a flashed 7950 to replace my 5770. Works great on the Mac side. A bit faster and the only consequence is the fan running all the time.
If I try to boot in to Windows I only get a black screen.

I tried updating the drivers in Windows while using my 5770, but that did not help.

 

[owbp]

@prusso , The only problem i have with mine is that Windows 10 (64bit) won't wake monitor after sleep. In Win7 i had no problems with it.

7950, any GPU for that matter, doesn't need drivers to get you into windows, it will just show as VGA adapter and with wrong resolution. Btw, you know that HD7000 series doesn't use the same drivers as HD5000 and HD6000 series?

Does it show something if you flip the BIOS switch (next to crossfire bridge) to the other position?

It would be great if you could extract that EFI ROM and upload it here for us to see.

 

[jondoe1021]

I'm simply trying to use an old Mac Pro 1,1 as a (headless) server. I've added 32gb of memory and some ssd's. I was able to upgrade it to El Capitan however now it runs insanely slow. Ive checked the memory and I'm convinced it is the Nvidia Quadro FX 4500 (that i got from Apple awhile back). Oddly, the video card works perfect with Lion. When i originally upgraded to El Capitan, it wouldn't boot due to kernel panics. Somehow i got around that by flash the pram several times.

My question are:
- Can i somehow flash my current video card to work? If so, can someone provide steps for doing this on a Nvidia Quadro fx 4500?
- If i were to purchase a video card, which is the cheapest you recommend for using it as a server?
- Could it be something else (other than video card)?


I also am strongly considering reverting back to Lion, but i would have to purchase Lion from the Apple store (which also sucks). Im trying to determine what is the fastest solution to get back up and running.

 

[devon807]

I'm simply trying to use an old Mac Pro 1,1 as a (headless) server. I've added 32gb of memory and some ssd's. I was able to upgrade it to El Capitan however now it runs insanely slow. Ive checked the memory and I'm convinced it is the Nvidia Quadro FX 4500 (that i got from Apple awhile back). Oddly, the video card works perfect with Lion. When i originally upgraded to El Capitan, it wouldn't boot due to kernel panics. Somehow i got around that by flash the pram several times.

My question are:
- Can i somehow flash my current video card to work? If so, can someone provide steps for doing this on a Nvidia Quadro fx 4500?
- If i were to purchase a video card, which is the cheapest you recommend for using it as a server?
- Could it be something else (other than video card)?


I also am strongly considering reverting back to Lion, but i would have to purchase Lion from the Apple store (which also sucks). Im trying to determine what is the fastest solution to get back up and running.

What are you going to be using the sever for? You don't need to flash the Quadro as it already is a Apple card. In terms of getting a new graphics card, do you need a boot screen? If so a Apple GT120 would suffice as a basic "no frills" card perfect for a server, and you would get boot screens. The issue you are most likely experiencing is that the FX 4500 does not fully support hardware accelerated video past Mountain Lion, causing screen tearing and overall very slow UI lag. The GT 120 will remedy this since the card is still supported. You could also go for a radeon 5770 but those are a lot more expensive.

 

[jondoe1021]

What are you going to be using the sever for? You don't need to flash the Quadro as it already is a Apple card. In terms of getting a new graphics card, do you need a boot screen? If so a Apple GT120 would suffice as a basic "no frills" card perfect for a server, and you would get boot screens. The issue you are most likely experiencing is that the FX 4500 does not fully support hardware accelerated video past Mountain Lion, causing screen tearing and overall very slow UI lag. The GT 120 will remedy this since the card is still supported. You could also go for a radeon 5770 but those are a lot more expensive.

Thanks for the response however i have some questions. When you asked if i need a "boot screen", what do you mean? I wish i could run this without a video card but i dont think thats an option. Also thanks for the recommendation however i also have another question about that. Ideally, id like to go to my local fry's electronics http://www.frys.com/search?search_t...ery_string=graphic+card&nearbyStoreName=false or Best Buy http://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchp...rue&iht=y&usc=All+Categories&ks=960&keys=keys and pick a video card up today. They have so many cards so how i do i know which one would work in my mac pro? Ideally looking for the cheapest to get it up and running and i don't need anything fancy. Im essentially using it for a hypervisor and i wish i could just install linux (or windows) just to get it up a running but I'm sure those have their caveats because of apple drivers and such.

 

[d3vCr0w]

I know there are entire threads about NVIDIA graphic cards (PC), but I wanted to hear from MacPro1,1 or 2,1 (2006-2008) owners who recently patched their boot.efi with Tiamo's solution and are running 10.9.2 and use an upgraded Graphics Card. Unfortunately my box still has the stock NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 9 MB and lack of OS support makes the flickering unbearable (particularly with Mail.app and Safari.app)

Could some kind soul post which (cheap) card to get, preferably because they have it working in their rig already?

This is not for gaming or graphics intensive stuff, just Mavericks Desktop and your occasional full screen video.

Thanks

Edit: This is the official list by Apple I believe
Edit: Similar post on MacRumors
Edit: List of working cards in MacPro1,1

• ATI Radeon HD 7950 (flashed)
• SAPPHIRE HD 7950 3GB GDDR5 MAC Edition
• ATI Radeon 5770 Mac Edition
• NVIDIA GTX 660
• NVIDIA 8800 GT Mac

UPDATE: I got a NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 2048 MB (unflashed) and it works fine
UPDATE: it worked in Mavericks (tiamo), and it works in Yosemite (pike)

Hi, I just purchased a GeForce GT 640 2GB for my Mac Pro 1.1, it works when I boot to 10.7 Lion, but It doesn't work when I boot to Mavericks. I installed Mavericks on a different Hard Drive using the boot.efi method mentioned here. Do you know what might be wrong?

 

[Agentgfunk]

I have a major question regarding upgrading graphics cards on a Mac Pro 1,1.

I've been working on this all day, with no help from anyone.

I need the power cable for a Radeon 5770 from VisionTek which I guess is just a more generic manufacturer than ATI. Everything I've read said a generic knock off will still work all the same and I acquired this PCIe card for only 20 bucks on eBay.

The power cable is (I suppose) supposed to come in the Mac Pro but I guess whoever owned this computer before me took it out purposely.

I have pictures of the connections which I will post as well, even though I'm sure you guys don't need that and will be able to just tell me.

I've seen many versions of this power cable online and am left stumped as to which one to buy. Every third party business/cable retailer I've called today either doesn't know what they're doing or has said this cable needs to be special made by Apple because every single graphics card will require a slightly different power supply on the Mac Pro end of the connector.

Is this so?

How has anyone been able to achieve this Mac Pro 1,1 upgrade, if so?

I'm hoping someone will reply and help me out on this.

Extremely desperate to solve this problem.
[doublepost=1508279354][/doublepost]By the way, I apologize for the fact that this is in a very inappropriate place in this forum. I realize a very specific question like this probably deserves its own thread since it's SO specific, but this forum won't let me start a thread of my own (it said I have insufficient privileges). Sorry about that.

 

[devon807]

I have a major question regarding upgrading graphics cards on a Mac Pro 1,1.

I've been working on this all day, with no help from anyone.

I need the power cable for a Radeon 5770 from VisionTek which I guess is just a more generic manufacturer than ATI. Everything I've read said a generic knock off will still work all the same and I acquired this PCIe card for only 20 bucks on eBay.

The power cable is (I suppose) supposed to come in the Mac Pro but I guess whoever owned this computer before me took it out purposely.

I have pictures of the connections which I will post as well, even though I'm sure you guys don't need that and will be able to just tell me.

I've seen many versions of this power cable online and am left stumped as to which one to buy. Every third party business/cable retailer I've called today either doesn't know what they're doing or has said this cable needs to be special made by Apple because every single graphics card will require a slightly different power supply on the Mac Pro end of the connector.

Is this so?

How has anyone been able to achieve this Mac Pro 1,1 upgrade, if so?

I'm hoping someone will reply and help me out on this.

Extremely desperate to solve this problem.
[doublepost=1508279354][/doublepost]By the way, I apologize for the fact that this is in a very inappropriate place in this forum. I realize a very specific question like this probably deserves its own thread since it's SO specific, but this forum won't let me start a thread of my own (it said I have insufficient privileges). Sorry about that.

Those connectors are mini 6-pin connectors (that are on the mac pro) and on the 5770 that is a regular 6-pin connector. You need a mini 6pin to 6 pin connector found here

 

[Agentgfunk]

Those connectors are mini 6-pin connectors (that are on the mac pro) and on the 5770 that is a regular 6-pin connector. You need a mini 6pin to 6 pin connector found here

Thank you!! Finally someone who has given me a specific answer.

And just to be clear, you're sure I only require ONE of the power ports that are in line with each other on the Mac Pro? The only reason I’m asking to clarify is because the guys I called at Micro Center seemed to think it would require both ports on the Mac Pro to power the one port on th

Those connectors are mini 6-pin connectors (that are on the mac pro) and on the 5770 that is a regular 6-pin connector. You need a mini 6pin to 6 pin connector found here

Nice. Thanks for the info. I do have a question though. Obviously, the 8 pin larger connection, goes in the graphics card end, but and obviously two of the pins will stick out of one side because the connection on the graphics card is 6 pins. Does it matter which side they stick out?