Mac Pro GPU Replacement

[MrAjarix]

Hey guys, I have just acquired a Mac Pro 2008 model which I believe has a Radeon HD 2600 XT inside it. The problem is that it will power on but then shows nothing on the display. My first bet is that the GPU has died or the ports on the GPU have died (tried with other monitors and will try with another cable). I found out that these three cards are compatible.

- Radeon HD 2600 XT
- GeForce 8800 GT
- Quadro FX 5600

I have found the first card on ebay for £22.95 however it came out of a Dell machine. The cheapest ad on ebay I saw which specifically stated it was for the Mac Pro was £62.80. They appear to be identical in appearance other than the Dell one looking a big smaller. Would ANY of these graphics cards work or did Apple have anything custom done with them that would make the others not compatible?

Apologies if this is a silly question but I am not very familiar with Macs in terms of whether they use standard parts etc.

 

[Razzerman]

Hello there, and welcome aboard.

Not a silly question, but you're right that your Mac Pro needs an apple card, or a flashed card that behaves as though it is an apple card.

This card works in your 2008 mac pro.

Bear in mind that it might not be the GPU, but possibly some other problem. I always start with the ram. Leave the bare minimum in and go from there.

Good luck!

 

[Hirakata]

This may help you...

http://www.macvidcards.com/i-want-the-best-graphics-card-for-my-mac-pro-where-do-i-start.html

 

[LorenK]

Actually, you don't need an Apple vid card as a graphics card for a 3,1 Mac Pro. If you use a non-Mac card, you will not get the start-up screen, and will have to be patient to wait for the desktop to appear, but it will. There are numerous threads in the forum on which cards are compatible with the 3,1, but you do not have to use an Apple or a flashed card as your gpu.

I would say that the best thing that you can do, once you get a screen back up, is to add an SSD as your start-up disc. Using a SSD as your start-up disc cuts the load time to a fraction, and with all of the other drive slots improves overall performance a lot.

Good luck and enjoy, my 3,1 is still going strong after 9 years of constant use, though I now use a 5,1 as my primary computer.

 

[MrAjarix]

Hello there, and welcome aboard.

Not a silly question, but you're right that your Mac Pro needs an apple card, or a flashed card that behaves as though it is an apple card.

This card works in your 2008 mac pro.

Bear in mind that it might not be the GPU, but possibly some other problem. I always start with the ram. Leave the bare minimum in and go from there.

Good luck!

I am pretty certain it is the Graphics card. I installed Snow Leopard today to test with another OS (i was using El Capitan). Once Snow Leopard was done installing, it rebooted itself as it should and then the audio for the intro video started playing from the speakers but there was no display. I did a hard reboot and then had display. Later, the semi-froze (first time it has done this) where i could move the mouse cursor around but not select anything. I rebooted and got no display but then after rebooting again everything worked...The freeze could indicate a RAM problem however this has only happened once and didnt happen on El Capitan.

 

[MrAjarix]

Actually, you don't need an Apple vid card as a graphics card for a 3,1 Mac Pro. If you use a non-Mac card, you will not get the start-up screen, and will have to be patient to wait for the desktop to appear, but it will. There are numerous threads in the forum on which cards are compatible with the 3,1, but you do not have to use an Apple or a flashed card as your gpu.

I would say that the best thing that you can do, once you get a screen back up, is to add an SSD as your start-up disc. Using a SSD as your start-up disc cuts the load time to a fraction, and with all of the other drive slots improves overall performance a lot.

Good luck and enjoy, my 3,1 is still going strong after 9 years of constant use, though I now use a 5,1 as my primary computer.

As for using a non-apple or flashed card, will the performance be the same? Will I be given the same drivers via software update and will I be able to see any display if i go into the boot selection via option key at start? I already have a PC that I built myself which has an SSD in it and I use that for everything where I need speed. This Mac Pro was obtained for free so I just want to get it up and running so that I have a Mac as well lol.

Furthermore, if I were to put a GPU in there that require 6 pin power or something, is there enough spare juice in the power supply of these things for that and how would I power it as I see no 6 or 8 pin power connectors anywhere (are they hidden somewhere?).

Thanks for your reply!