'Modern' graphics card for Mac Pro 1,1

[gavinstubbs09]

Hello all!

Tomorrow my mother is going to go christmas shopping and she will be going to a Best Buy to get stuff for everyone (to a city a hour out, I live in the boonies) so the top of my mind is a Graphics card to retire my 7300GT. Due to the fact she doesn't want to order anything online (spoil surprises and whatnot) so I am asking if anyone has a off-the-shelf graphics card (nvidia or AMD) from Best Buy or something that works OOB with a 1,1?

I've done some looking and came across a GTX660 but I am worried about the EFI64 deal. I don't want to get a nice shiny card and not be able to use it without a 3,1!

 

[gavinstubbs09]

There's got to be someone with a 1,1 that has advice

 

[Rich.Cohen]

My Mac Pro 1,1 has an ATI Radeon HD 4870 in it in addition to the 7300 GT. But that card is more than 4 year old. It works fine with my 2560 X 1600 monitor. It probably wouldn't be very good for gaming.

 

[hwojtek]

I have a 4870 fitted in my 1,1 Pro (and happily run Mavericks). It's quite OK even for gaming, but do not expect to set all sliders to "maximum" and play in high def. I personally consider buying and flashing a 6870, which is much, much faster and besides being a better gaming solution, it allows for hardware GPU support in video editing.

 

[saint322]

Gavin,

Here is a link to a giant thread that will open your eyes to the life you can still get out of your 1,1. Browse and search a little to find more than all the information and possibilities you were looking for...

For example:

- You can flash your 1,1 to 2,1.

- You can (with 10.7.5 and current nvidia drivers) use several cheap PC cards out of the box.

- You can update to Mavericks (10.9).

- You should move to an SSD.

Happy hunting,

-Saint

 

[Lesser Evets]

I use a 5770 for 3 years now and it works well.

I'm not sure if there are better cards, since this computer is due to retire soon, but this one has performed excellently and was a great upgrade from the original.

 

[wildmac]

I would suggest getting something else that you can use out of the box, and get the video card yourself AFTER you do the updates and such. Something like a external HD that has TB so it has forward looking capability.