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MP 1,1-5,1 Video Card issue

F

flynnyfalcon

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 14, 2012
5
1
Hi all,


Please excuse any ignorance I'm about to show. I've been a long time out of the loop when it comes to Mac Pro's. Mine has been in storage for some time now and a lot of the terminology I've seen when researching my issue doesn't come naturally any more, but I would love some guidance if possible.

I’m wanting to give my old 2008 3,1 Mac Pro a small boost in performance. My machine currently has a Gainward GTX 580 1.5gb vid card, which while working now, was the reason I put the Mac in storage as it was sporadically failing on me.

So I've purchased a video card which I believe is compatible, a Gigabyte GTX 680 OC Windforce 4gb. Once installed, the fans spin but the video never fires up. I have tried both DVI ports. The card is not flashed and am aware boot screens won't show.

I updated to the latest OSX the Mac Pro will natively support (El Capitan), updated to the latest video drivers but still nothing.

The video card has 1x 6pin and 1x 8pin power socket, I currently only have 2x 6pin power cables, but many resources have said 2x 6pin should be ok. Is this true?

So where have I gone wrong? Is the card not compatible?
 
Last edited:
F

flynnyfalcon

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 14, 2012
5
1
Also, if you're inclined, what are the best bang for buck upgrades on these old beasts? I'm a photographer so it's main use is retouching. SSD's? PCIe SSD's? Exchange the memory?

Current Specs
RAM = 16gb (8x 2gb)
HDD = 4x 1tb 7200 rpm
Vid Card = Gainward GTX 580 1.5gb / Gigabyte GTX 680 OC Windforce 4gb
OSX = El Capitan
 
h9826790

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,656
8,587
Hong Kong
flynnyfalcon said:
Hi all,


Please excuse any ignorance I'm about to show. I've been a long time out of the loop when it comes to Mac Pro's. Mine has been in storage for some time now and a lot of the terminology I've seen when researching my issue doesn't come naturally any more, but I would love some guidance if possible.

I’m wanting to give my old 2008 3,1 Mac Pro a small boost in performance. My machine currently has a Gainward GTX 580 1.5gb vid card, which while working now, was the reason I put the Mac in storage as it was sporadically failing on me.

So I've purchased a video card which I believe is compatible, a Gigabyte GTX 680 OC Windforce 4gb. Once installed, the fans spin but the video never fires up. I have tried both DVI ports. The card is not flashed and am aware boot screens won't show.

I updated to the latest OSX the Mac Pro will natively support (El Capitan), updated to the latest video drivers but still nothing.

The video card has 1x 6pin and 1x 8pin power socket, I currently only have 2x 6pin power cables, but many resources have said 2x 6pin should be ok. Is this true?

So where have I gone wrong? Is the card not compatible?
Click to expand...
You should power the card properly. If there is a 8pin, get a 8pin cable.

The card may work with a 6 to 8pin cable, but doesn't mean that you can leave 2 of the 8 pin open (unless the manual clearly says that's optional).
 
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