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Mac Pro Early 2008 Graphics Card Upgrade.

33Ledjent33

33Ledjent33

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 6, 2015
12
0
Hello!

I own Mac Pro early 2008 / 8-core xeon beast. It is an amazing computer, but I would love to upgrade the graphics card. I am looking for a compatible card that would display the boot screen at the start but most importantly will drive the LG 34UM95-P 34 inch ultrawide monitor with the resolution of 3440x1440.

I am using this computer for the music production and i really need a lot of visual space to make my workflow faster and easier. I really want to get this monitor, but first of all - I need to upgrade the graphics card.
 
33Ledjent33 said:
Hello!

I own Mac Pro early 2008 / 8-core xeon beast. It is an amazing computer, but I would love to upgrade the graphics card. I am looking for a compatible card that would display the boot screen at the start but most importantly will drive the LG 34UM95-P 34 inch ultrawide monitor with the resolution of 3440x1440.

I am using this computer for the music production and i really need a lot of visual space to make my workflow faster and easier. I really want to get this monitor, but first of all - I need to upgrade the graphics card.
Click to expand...

Get a GTX 750. Will work straight out of the box with OS X and supports up to 4096x2160 resolution;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121855&cm_re=gtx_750-_-14-121-855-_-Product
 
33Ledjent33 said:
I am looking for a compatible card that would display the boot screen at the start but most importantly will drive the LG 34UM95-P 34 inch ultrawide monitor with the resolution of 3440x1440.
Click to expand...

DIY options are quite limited here (=> some HD 7xxx, R9 Radeons), and I'm not even sure any of them can display the bootscreen on such a screen (never tried). Easiest option would be a Maxwell based card from MVC I guess.

bladerunner2000 said:
Get a GTX 750. Will work straight out of the box with OS X and supports up to 4096x2160 resolution;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121855&cm_re=gtx_750-_-14-121-855-_-Product
Click to expand...

Tripple bad advice:
  • Will not work OOB without WebDrivers
  • Does not offer bootscreens he asked for
  • Has no DisplayPort (HDMI will be a PITA in OS X at this resolution)
 
Last edited:
Fl0r!an said:
DIY options are quite limited here (=> some HD 7xxx, R9 Radeons), and I'm not even sure any of them can display the bootscreen on such a screen (never tried). Easiest option would be a Maxwell based card from MVC I guess.



Tripple bad advice:
  • Will not work OOB without WebDrivers
  • Does not offer bootscreens he asked for
  • Has no DisplayPort (HDMI will be a PITA in OS X at this resolution)
Click to expand...
I see that there's big problem with the boot screen. Is the boot screen really important or is it mainly for switching between systems if you have more than one hard drive? I'm asking cause I'm kinda new in this whole Mac world. :) Thank you for the advise. Could you explain me what do I need to look for or be careful with? And what's going on with the Maxwell based cards and the MVC thing.
 
Fl0r!an said:
DIY options are quite limited here (=> some HD 7xxx, R9 Radeons), and I'm not even sure any of them can display the bootscreen on such a screen (never tried). Easiest option would be a Maxwell based card from MVC I guess.



Tripple bad advice:
  • Will not work OOB without WebDrivers
  • Does not offer bootscreens he asked for
  • Has no DisplayPort (HDMI will be a PITA in OS X at this resolution)
Click to expand...
AMD Radeon R9 280X What do you think? http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-Radeon-...ple-Mac-Pro-2008-2012-7950-7970-/141315172102 It says that's compatible and stuff. And one more question - does the card with lower resolution will be able to drive 3440x1440 monitor?
 
Fl0r!an said:
Tripple bad advice:
  • Will not work OOB without WebDrivers
  • Does not offer bootscreens he asked for
  • Has no DisplayPort (HDMI will be a PITA in OS X at this resolution)
Click to expand...

GTX 660 will for sure work with OS X 10.9.x OOB and probably with older OS X;

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-660/specifications

3 - 3840x2160 at 30Hz or 4096x2160 at 24Hz supported over HDMI. 4096x2160 (including 3840x2160) at 60Hz supported over Displayport. Support for 4k tiled MST displays requires 326.19 driver or later.
Click to expand...

The ASUS GTX 660 SC Direct CU has display port as well (ive got it, runs great, pretty good gaming card as well for its age).
 
Last edited:
GT 750M is Kepler, while GTX 750 is Maxwell (=> Web Drivers). A small mistake while performing an OS X update on an unflashed Maxwell card will render the machine useless untill you swap the card out or do some other tricks, so I wouldn't consider this "no big deal". Things are easier on a Hackintosh here.

One has to judge on his own if boot screens are important to him or not. Beside seeing the gray Apple it also allows you to easily switch operation systems, see if anything is wrong during bootup or enter single user mode. AMD cards will also be reported correctly while Nvidia cards gain PCIE 2.0.

But I'm not sure if any of the available options (besides MacVidCards Maxwell cards) will be able to display a bootscreen @ 3440x1440. Some HD 7xxx/R9 cards seem to be able to display a 4K bootscreen while others are not.
Currently I have some flashed cards here (e.g. R9 280 & GTX 760), but no screen beyond 2560x1600 for testing, so I'd wait for someone with more experience to comment on this high-resolution bootscreen thing.
 
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On my GTX 680, I can get boot screen in 3840x2160@30Hz via HDMI. It will not, however, give boot screen at 3840x2160@60Hz via DisplayPort.

Handy for when a boot screen is absolutely needed. You can switch cable connections after booting to regain 60Hz refresh.
 
pastrychef said:
On my GTX 680, I can get boot screen in 3840x2160@30Hz via HDMI. It will not, however, give boot screen at 3840x2160@60Hz via DisplayPort.

Handy for when a boot screen is absolutely needed. You can switch cable connections after booting to regain 60Hz refresh.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your respond :) I am actually thinking about getting GTX 970. 680 us a bit too expensive and too hard to find for sale in the UK atm.
 
My 7950 / R9 280 also able to show boot screen at 3840x2160 @30Hz via HDMI.

However, my 4K TV is a bit old, do not have 4K 60HZ input, so unable to test it.
 
filmak said:
I have installed a gtx 970, a few weeks ago, on my MP 2008 and it works really good, with the nvidia web drivers of course.
It's a very nice card.
Click to expand...

Great to know my friend thank you! :) Could you tell me what make of gtx 970 you have? I was thinkingabout Asus Strix because of the 0dB fan noise which is basically perfect for music production, but the only issue is the single 8-pin connector do you know of it's able to power the card with a single 8 pin?
 
Due to the low TDP of that card, even a single 6 pin mini-PCIE connector -> 8pin PCIE connector might be sufficient. To be safe, you'd have to use a 2x 6 pin -> 1x 8 pin adapter.

Just for sake of completeness: The card seems to be extremely oversized for your needs, and it won't work without the Web Drivers (same as the GTX 750 above).

Btw, the HDMI seems to be sufficient to drive this card at 3440x1440 @ 60Hz, so bootscreens are possible I guess: GTX-285: Can it drive a 3440x1440 monitor?
Setting the display to DP 1.1 might also work.
 
Last edited:
33Ledjent33 said:
Great to know my friend thank you! :) Could you tell me what make of gtx 970 you have? I was thinkingabout Asus Strix because of the 0dB fan noise which is basically perfect for music production, but the only issue is the single 8-pin connector do you know of it's able to power the card with a single 8 pin?
Click to expand...


:) Welcome, glad I could be of help.
I have bought a Palit gtx 970 jet stream 4gb http://www.palit.biz/palit/vgapro.php?id=2407 and till now I'm very pleased as it it is incredibly quiet, by the way it's not used for gaming, and it's quieter than he old 5770 I had previously installed.
The good thing is that it draws power from 2 X 6 pin cables so it's a nice match for the MP without any adapters.

My mistake was that I haven't noticed before buying it that it has a 2 1/2 slot height, the MP has room for a 2 slot height one, so I said for now goodbye to an additional pcie slot.

Regarding your question : Yes, you can power the card by using a 2x6 pin to single 8 pin adapter.

Please also check these threads :
someone is already using your chosen strix without any problems:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/question-about-gpu-power.1861513/#post-20919472

and confirms it works real good after months in post 3 of this thread:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-in-an-old-macpro-2008.1894008/#post-21489680


As a second option you could also look for an EVGA 970, which seems to be very good and quiet, with 2 x 6 pin for better load balance and a 2 slot height.
 
33Ledjent33 said:
I see that there's big problem with the boot screen. Is the boot screen really important or is it mainly for switching between systems if you have more than one hard drive? I'm asking cause I'm kinda new in this whole Mac world. :) Thank you for the advise. Could you explain me what do I need to look for or be careful with? And what's going on with the Maxwell based cards and the MVC thing.
Click to expand...

Bootscreen is mostly irrelevant. If you run bootcamp for Windows, the bootcamp software in windows and startup disk in System preferences in OS X allow you to switch easily, it's very hard to get stuck in either OS.

If you're wanting to access any of the recovery options or do a fresh install you're going to need bootscreens but what I do is just keep my ATi 2600 to hand as it's easy to swap it in on those rare occasions I do need to see what's going on.
 
Hi everyone,
I own Mac Pro early 2008 / 8-core xeon, OSX 10.10.5. I need to instal Motion 5 but it tells me that my graphic card is not supporting. I need to upgrade. I am doing loads of full HD video editing(no gaming,no windows on it) and I am running 2x23inch screens full hd. Can you please help me with an advice.

Many Thanks
Raul
 
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