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Options for Video Card in 2006 Mac Pro 1.1

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nick718

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 2, 2007
16
0
Hi Everyone,

Tonight the lackluster ATI 1900 that came in my Mac Pro 1.1 finally **** the bed. It has always run hot, ots of fan, so no surprise that it died. I need a new video card. I would like to buy a new Apple supported card, but I'd also like to avoid ATI because I've hard bad things. I am not opposed to flashing a PC video card, but not sure where to start or even if it is possible given that this Mac Pro is my only desktop machine.

So my questions are as follow:

1) Which OEM cards ar available for this model for purchase today (new).
2) Which PC NVIDIA cards will work in this model and can I flash them with just this machine?
3) If 2, where can I find instructions on how to do this?

I've been reading all night and have found no solid answers on my options here. I have also looked for a used 8800GT, but all of the ones on eBay seem to be flashed PC versions, so in that case, I'd rather save the money and od it myself.

Thanks a ton!
 
What bad things have you heard? ATI is extremely reliable - moreso for me than NVIDIA ever was.

As far as your NVIDIA options go, there's the 7300 GT, 8800 GT, GTX 285, and Quadro 4000. The first three are very hard to find, and the last one is expensive.
 
It's not so much that I've heard bad things as that this 1900 is the second one (first replaced by apple care, which is now over), so two dead cards makes me weary. The sad truth seems to be that ATI might be me only option. Apparently the 5770 works fine in the Mac Pro 1.1, are there any others ATIs that I can buy new that are a bit cheaper?
 
If the ATI 3870's still on the market, it might be worth a look.

I'm running one in my Mac Pro 1,1 and it's been fine. Got it from OWC a couple of years ago.

Prices might be right down there now.
 
I'm sporting an ATI 5770 in my Mac Pro 1,1 right now. Runs like a champ, easily handling everything I've thrown at it all the while staying very quiet. I think it's a solid card for the eldest of the Mac Pro line.
 
Forget about nVidia cards (they won't work) or older ATI (3870), your best options right now if probably the radeon HD 5770. The 5870 is quite expensive, and given your relatively weak CPU, if might be an overkill (unless you play games at 4k resolution).
 
Just recently I've put a flashed ATI4870 1GB into my 1,1 (using a custom EFI bios made from the original with the EFI part injected) and it works like a charm. Quite cheap too, less than $100 on local auction site. This GPU is well balanced with the computing power of my dual 2 GHz machine (runs Civ V in full details in 1080p no hiccups).
 
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