I just bought a Mac Pro 3.1 off eBay that was in very good condition for $200. it has dual Intel xeon 2.8ghz processors, 10 GB ram which I already plan to upgrade, 320 GB hard drive and the video card is a Raedon 2600 XT. its also running El Captain 10.11.5. I know nothing about video cards except that this one should probably be replaced or upgraded. I found a radeon HD7950 and a radeon HD 7970 on eBay, it says on both listings that they are intended for Mac. you can find the 7950 here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/192425916981 and the 7970 here:https://www.ebay.com/itm/192425916981 if you care to look. I am just wanting to know the better of the two. or is there a better option for cheaper? I bought this for a light gaming computer if that helps at all. P.S. I have found a pair of xeon 3.2ghz processors for $150. would I be able to notice a difference in performance if I upgrade the processors to the 3.2ghz? P.P.S.I know that both of the video cards cost more than I paid for the computer itself. I don't need it pointed out to me.
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Mac Pro 3.1 video card upgrades?
- Thread starter matt01burn101
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The CPU upgrade is not worth it IMO. If you want to put a new card in there then you’ll definitely be increasing the power draw and those 3.2 quads pull double the current of the 2.8s. You definitely will want an SSD for your OS drive. I bought a PCI SSD from macsales over a year ago now and it’s been amazing. As for vid cards, I got a gtx 770 from macvidcards and it’s been great for me and you won’t have to pay an arm and a leg for a discontinued or scarce Radeon that already has Mac firmware.
Ok so according to macvidcards website, they are out of stock of the gtx 770. I have how ever found several on the great god eBay. Would there be any difference in the ones sold by macvidcards and one off eBay?
In term of performance, 7970 is better (by a pretty good margin). However, it won't fit natively in a cMP because of the 6+8pin requirement.
The "fix" can be relatively simple, e.g. power the card by something like
dual mini 6 -> single 8 -> dual 6+2
In some case, even a direct mini 6 to 8pin can work, but not recommended in general.
Also, it seems you double post the 7950's link, but didn't post the 7970's link. So, can compare them.
The 7950 looks too expensive for me. I bought a brand new R9 280 (basically just a different name of the 7950) for just $150 more than 2 years ago. This card should not worth $300 nowadays.
Buy a normal PC Card, flash it by yourself is a much better choice. The flash procedure is very easy. The guide is here.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/help-overclocking-12-core-mac-pro.1762165/#post-19497121
fixrom script from Netkas forum
The reason try to avoid flashed 7950 / 7970 is mainly because
1) much more expensive for relatively simply extra work
2) lots of improperly flashed card out there
3) the card may not come with the original ROM (this is important if anything goes wrong)
The "fix" can be relatively simple, e.g. power the card by something like
dual mini 6 -> single 8 -> dual 6+2
In some case, even a direct mini 6 to 8pin can work, but not recommended in general.
Also, it seems you double post the 7950's link, but didn't post the 7970's link. So, can compare them.
The 7950 looks too expensive for me. I bought a brand new R9 280 (basically just a different name of the 7950) for just $150 more than 2 years ago. This card should not worth $300 nowadays.
Buy a normal PC Card, flash it by yourself is a much better choice. The flash procedure is very easy. The guide is here.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/help-overclocking-12-core-mac-pro.1762165/#post-19497121
fixrom script from Netkas forum
The reason try to avoid flashed 7950 / 7970 is mainly because
1) much more expensive for relatively simply extra work
2) lots of improperly flashed card out there
3) the card may not come with the original ROM (this is important if anything goes wrong)
I'm sure the ebay one will be unflashed unless it states otherwise. A lot (most) non-Pascal nvidia cards will work without being flashed but there are power considerations and you'll lose the EFI boot screen which matters to me but not to everyone.
Unless you're looking to drive multiple monitors and game heavily, a GTX680 might be overkill.
I currently run an ATI 5870 with 1GB of RAM on my 3,1 and it handles nearly everything I throw at it. I use it to drive two 23" ACDs and it's flashed so I get a boot screen. I bought it on eBay from someone who flashes regular PC cards and includes all the necessary cables/adapters with the card, which saved me some $$ from having to go out and source them myself. While this was a year or two ago, I seem to recall paying around $150 for the card.
That being said, I am planning on upgrading to 30" ACDs in a few weeks and keeping my existing 23" ACDs. As a result I'll have to upgrade my video card as well, since the 5870 won't handle four monitors. To accomplish this I'll go with a GTX680 as it can handle four monitors simultaneously. I haven't yet decided if I'll buy a flashed or unflashed card and do the flashing myself. Based on what I've seen in the current market, a flashed GTX680 is incrementally more than a plain PC version, so I may forego doing it myself and just buying one already flashed. One less thing I have to worry about.
From what I've seen in the last few weeks you can figure on paying $250+ for a used GTX680, depending on the memory size, vendor and whether or not it's flashed for a Mac. Be careful about the brand, as some of the third party cards don't have the same features of the actual NVIDIA cards.
MacDann
I currently run an ATI 5870 with 1GB of RAM on my 3,1 and it handles nearly everything I throw at it. I use it to drive two 23" ACDs and it's flashed so I get a boot screen. I bought it on eBay from someone who flashes regular PC cards and includes all the necessary cables/adapters with the card, which saved me some $$ from having to go out and source them myself. While this was a year or two ago, I seem to recall paying around $150 for the card.
That being said, I am planning on upgrading to 30" ACDs in a few weeks and keeping my existing 23" ACDs. As a result I'll have to upgrade my video card as well, since the 5870 won't handle four monitors. To accomplish this I'll go with a GTX680 as it can handle four monitors simultaneously. I haven't yet decided if I'll buy a flashed or unflashed card and do the flashing myself. Based on what I've seen in the current market, a flashed GTX680 is incrementally more than a plain PC version, so I may forego doing it myself and just buying one already flashed. One less thing I have to worry about.
From what I've seen in the last few weeks you can figure on paying $250+ for a used GTX680, depending on the memory size, vendor and whether or not it's flashed for a Mac. Be careful about the brand, as some of the third party cards don't have the same features of the actual NVIDIA cards.
MacDann
so why would the boot screen matter? does it play any critical role? what advantages are there to having the orginal boot screen?
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no, i dont plan on doing any exteme gaming with it. the most it will ever see is Kerbal Space Program, but thats if i bite the bullet and buy it. i may eventually run dual 21''+ monitors but thats it.
[doublepost=1516221846][/doublepost]how about this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/352248310880 its a nvidia 8800 GT, aand it says its ready to go into a mac pro 3.1. how would this compare to the 2600 XT thats in it now?
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Boot screen is critical for troubleshooting, and switching into other volumes if you want to boot from another hard drive/USB/optical/external drive.
If you're running the 3,1 with a stock Apple video card, try holding down the Option key as soon as you press the power button and don't let up until you get a gray screen with your startup volume on it. If you want to boot from another boot capable volume you would see it on this screen with your boot drive and be able to select it with your mouse.
MacDann
If you're running the 3,1 with a stock Apple video card, try holding down the Option key as soon as you press the power button and don't let up until you get a gray screen with your startup volume on it. If you want to boot from another boot capable volume you would see it on this screen with your boot drive and be able to select it with your mouse.
MacDann
oh i see ok. i should probably try to have the boot screen then. i havent received it yet, it ships friday and will probably be here around the 25th so i will try holding down the option key as soon as i get it.
This is a function of the Mac OS - it works on any Mac if you've got another one to try it out on just to see.
The alternative is to have to reinstall your old video card or run it along side the new one.
If you're not booting off other media or foresee a need, you don't have to worry about it. Just makes life a lot easier.
There are ways of getting around this, such as holding down the "C" key to boot from optical media, but you still don't have visibility for internal or external media.
MacDann
The alternative is to have to reinstall your old video card or run it along side the new one.
If you're not booting off other media or foresee a need, you don't have to worry about it. Just makes life a lot easier.
There are ways of getting around this, such as holding down the "C" key to boot from optical media, but you still don't have visibility for internal or external media.
MacDann
Do NOT buy a pair of 3.2ghz CPUs for that amount. You can get a pair for almost a third of that cost on eBay. These are the best (highest ghz/multiple cores) CPUs available for the 3,1:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-Qty...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
lets see, theres Robocraft, their reccomendations aff of steam are as follows:
OS: Mac OS X 10.7+
Processor: Intel Dual Core or better with SSE2 support or equivilent AMD family
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: Shader Model 3.0 Compatible GPU
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 1 GB available space
Additional Notes: Min resolution 1024x768
and world of warships:
10.10 or better
Processor (CPU):
Processor: Intel Core i5
Active Memory (RAM):
> 4 GB
*2.5 GB for configuration with integrated video
Graphics Card (GPU):
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT Intel HD 5000
IntelHD 3000 NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M
VRAM: 1024 MB
Minimal supported resolution - 1280*720 Screen resolution: 1920*1080
Audio Card:
Compatible with DirectX 9.0c
Free Space on Hard Drive:
32 GB
Internet Connection Speed:
1024 Kbps or higher
thats basically all the computer games i play.
OP, I was totally forget that the HD79xx card has power bug (driver level) on the 3,1.
My understanding is that never fixed by Apple. Your card may only able to perform at ~50% without any system mod (only software mod required). If you want to completely avoid that, better to go for the GTX680.
My understanding is that never fixed by Apple. Your card may only able to perform at ~50% without any system mod (only software mod required). If you want to completely avoid that, better to go for the GTX680.
Alright so I’m having some serious issues with this computer and I’m running out of options. its been running fantastic for 5 days now but Yesterday I was poking around on the internet when it decided to shut down. No biggie I thought I’ll just restart. Well I got to the Apple logo and the loading bar and it got about halfway across when it just went to a blank white screen. I forced it to shut down, and rebooted to disk utility and ran first aid all disks. They all checked out. So I tried to boot it normally again and same blank white screen. So I reinstalled OS X el captain overnight, and it’s still doing the blank white screen thing. So a couple minutes ago I held down CMD+S and booted into single user mode. I don’t know very much about computer commands in this format so i typed in “select startup disk” it replied with “syntax error near unexpected token disk”. Is this my problem? The syntax error? Also, the first time I booted into single user mode I told it to boot the system and that got me past the blank white screen and to my login, but as soon as I put my password in the beach ball started spinning and didn’t stop for 10 minutes, so I force shut it down and restated it and did the above where I got the syntax error. Any suggestions or is my computer gone for good? Thanks.
[doublepost=1517414969][/doublepost]Update: instead of trying to log into my account I tried the guest user account and it loaded fine. I’m starting to think it’s some program or app or something in my account that is causing the white screen.
[doublepost=1517417460][/doublepost]update 2: after logging into the guest account (again) I set system preferences so I would automatically be logged in to my account on start up. for some reason I thought this might force it to do something? I dunno. but now after I booted into single user mode and told it to boot the system, I now have the white screen with apple logo and load bar, but this time the load bar is about 1/8 of the way across and is stuck, I also have the mouse pointer on the screen now for some reason. also, if its any help, I can boot into safe mode just fine and get logged into my account fine, in safe mode. regular start up is still a no go with blank white screen halfway through loading.
[doublepost=1517414969][/doublepost]Update: instead of trying to log into my account I tried the guest user account and it loaded fine. I’m starting to think it’s some program or app or something in my account that is causing the white screen.
[doublepost=1517417460][/doublepost]update 2: after logging into the guest account (again) I set system preferences so I would automatically be logged in to my account on start up. for some reason I thought this might force it to do something? I dunno. but now after I booted into single user mode and told it to boot the system, I now have the white screen with apple logo and load bar, but this time the load bar is about 1/8 of the way across and is stuck, I also have the mouse pointer on the screen now for some reason. also, if its any help, I can boot into safe mode just fine and get logged into my account fine, in safe mode. regular start up is still a no go with blank white screen halfway through loading.
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update 3: I'm deleting my main admin account and starting over. if this doesn't work I don't know what will.
what GPU are you currently using? if NVIDIA, did you install web drivers?
are you trying to do any 3,1>5,1 hacks?
did you attempt to disable everything in startup yet? clear LaunchAgents in System, LaunchAgents in User, LaunchDaemons, and StartupItems... or at least move them to another folder and then restart.
are you trying to do any 3,1>5,1 hacks?
did you attempt to disable everything in startup yet? clear LaunchAgents in System, LaunchAgents in User, LaunchDaemons, and StartupItems... or at least move them to another folder and then restart.
I haven’t done any upgrades to the computer yet; everything is still stock. I don't know too much about Macs so I will look up how to to all of that and see if it works.
ok so overnight it has gotten worse. I did find some info that said that erasing "Macintosh HD" was a good option. so I did that last night and now when I boot it up it goes straight to disk utility. I can't get it to boot into safe mode either and it doesn't even try to boot up normally. when I go to "startup disk" in disk utility, nothing is listed. also, when I go into the window to download a new copy of OSX, Macintosh HD is the only available drive to download it to. there is another one listed, "recovery HD" but it says that that drive is locked. does anyone know what comes next?