Mac Pro 1.1 gain from upgrade video card?

[Macta]

Hi,

Currently I have a HD2600xt in my Mac Pro 1.1 (upgraded to 2.1 xeon X5365 - 10gb - 3x 2TB raid)
Would I be gaining a lot with a new graphic card like a gt120 or HD5770?

I use the mac for music (cubase - logic - wavelab) and sometimes when I open a real time analyzer (ex. nugen visualizer) the mouse pointer goes sluggish.
Also use sometimes photoshop and sketchup.
I don't game.

The fan of the HD2600xt is beginning to make more noise and I'm thinking I have to replaced it soon. (second time I have to replace the HD2600xt with a defect fan)
Though I replacement fan would be cheaper I was wondering if a new card would give me more?

thanks

 

[Tesselator]

If you don't game the noise issue is probably the best reason to upgrade. Of course you will see some performance enhancements with a beefier NVidia card but but nothing awe inspiring.

The busy pointer is probably the OS. What version are you on? You might wanna try turning off the Dynamic Pager which is the cause of about 75% of all the busy and laggy mouse pointers. To do so type:


sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.dynamic_pager.plist

followed by a reboot. You can turn it on again with

sudo launchctl load -wF /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.dynamic_pager.plist

 

[Macta]

Thanks!

My OS is snow leopard 10.6.8.

Noise is very important to me.

I also like to mention that I use a 30" Dell monitor.

I will try that 'dynamic pager' plist, thanks for the tip

 

[lucasfer899]

A 5770 or a 5870 should suit your needs nicely, as they are both very powerful, and very quiet.

 

[Sebct]

I think a 5770 would be great just for the reduction in noise. My external drives are more noisy than my Mac Pro 1,1!

 

[MacinJosh]

A 5770 or a 5870 should suit your needs nicely, as they are both very powerful, and very quiet.

I have the HD5770 (Apple's) and I can confirm it's very quiet and decent enough for gaming. I run Diablo III and Borderlands 2 at max settings with no probs. When gaming, fans do speed up but I can't distinguish the HD5770 fan from the chassis fans. When things are idling, can't hear to whole machine even though its on the desk beside me.

 

[lucasfer899]

I have the HD5770 (Apple's) and I can confirm it's very quiet and decent enough for gaming. I run Diablo III and Borderlands 2 at max settings with no probs. When gaming, fans do speed up but I can't distinguish the HD5770 fan from the chassis fans. When things are idling, can't hear to whole machine even though its on the desk beside me.

Confirms everything.

 

[Macta]

Thanks very much for the advice!!

I'm looking @ the 5770/5870 also looking @ XFX 6870 DF, would this be an option or to high risc?

 

[lucasfer899]

Thanks very much for the advice!!

I'm looking @ the 5770/5870 also looking @ XFX 6870 DF, would this be an option or to high risc?

Do not buy that 6870 for several reasons:
1) The 5870 is a better performer, why? Because it is the flagship card of 5xxx and the 6870, is the second tier down in the 6xxx series.
2) It exhausts into the case, the mac pro is designed for cards that exhaust out of their PCIe backplate. If you look in a mac pro, you can see that there is nowhere for heat from a GPU to be exhausted.
3) You'll get more support when you buy an Apple Branded card too.

But it's all up to you dude, I'm just dishing out the facts.

 

[666sheep]

OP: 5770 is more than enough for Cubase, PS and Sketchup. It's about 4 times faster than 2600XT.
5870 is overkill if you're not a gamer or heavy OpenGL/OpenCL user.

 

[monokakata]

I put a 5770 in my 1,1 and it worked well -- easily drove 27" and 24" monitors simutaneously.

 

[GermanyChris]

I bought the greatly overpriced Apple 5770 to replace a 4870 in my efforts to quell power use. I lost a little ego and much money by not spending $99 on new egg and flashing it but its nice to actually not have to do that. If you can stomach the price the Apple 5770 is the way to go. If you can't a 560 would be my recommendation.

 

[Macta]

Again, thanks for the reactions and good advice!!

I decided to look for the 5770

I post my findings when I have it (installed)

Cheers

 

[mactune]

Hi 5770 is relatively easy to flash - there are few good roms available.
I have done it in my MacPro and it works good.
Good luck hunting.

 

[Macta]

I have bought a 5770 mac version, i'm very happy, no sluggish screens and whisper quiet.

Thanks again for the advice!!

Cheers

 

[MacCurry]

Just ordered the Apple branded ATI 5770 upgrade for my Mac Pro 1,1 after reading this thread. I'm using a 30" Dell monitor and from all of my research I hope it works. The NVIDIA 8800 I was using died on me.