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Video card problems 3,1

T

TundraBob

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 31, 2010
9
0
I am not a pro at Macs but most of the time manage to figure things out myself. However, I am dealing with an issue right now that I have read the forums, article, manuals, local shops (not too many here in Alaska) etc. and I feel like a lot of the advice is conflicting. I figured it was time to post and see if anyone has a straight forward answer. BTW - I use the MacPro for FinalCut Pro, interweb, and a couple of graphic intense games...

I have a Mac Pro 3,1 (early 2008) with a ATI Radeon HD2600 video card in it. I run two monitors, one out of of each DVI outlet. About a month ago one of the monitors stopped working and I thought it was going bad. I swapped the plugs in the video card and they both started working - for awhile. After a few days one of the monitors stopped working again - I switched plugs again and both monitors would work only if plugged into the left plug... This made me think that my problem was with the video card. I did experience some pixelation on a few graphic intensive programs. Last week I took the vodeo card out, cleaned things up inside the computer, and replaced the vdeo card in the slot just above the one where it was - in case it was a bad slot. It worked! I was able to use both monitors normally - for about 5 days. Now I am back to only one monitor and occasional pixelaiton of heavy graphic programs. Does this sound like a graphics card problem? I did notice that in the "About this Mac" that when I switched from the bottom video slot to the one above it the Bus went from a PCIx to PCI. It still works, but I am wondering it it is now in a PCI socket and if that is OK - it worked for awhile... and I still have video - on one monitor.

I went to the local computer store and they were ready to sell me the latest off the shelf video card. Luckily I decided to check it out first. It looks like you can not put a PC card in a Mac - right? - that is what they were trying to sell me. If I need to put a graphics card in I would like to upgrade it if I could. I see that there is a ATI Radeon 5770 and a 5870 now. From reading forums I have not been able to tell if either one would work. Some posts say "yes" and others "no." Some posts send me to dead links for reviews. So far it looks like the 5770 might work in my Mac, but probably not 5870. Can anyone say if either of these would work in my MacPro Tower 3,1?

Finally, the card I have now takes one video card plug slot (not sure exact terminology). I hear that most of the new ones take up two. Is that the difference between PCIe 1.0 and 2.0? Will the 5770 or 5780 fit in my one slot?

I appreciate any advice/help.

Thanks.
 
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Yes it sounds like a problem with the card.
No you cannot just put a pc card in a Mac (see flashing).
Yes 5770 and 5870 will work but not officially supported by apple.
Both cards are two slots tall but only use 1 slot.
 
There are no PCI-X slots on the Mac Pro. There certainly is PCI Express, though. :)

You can use both the 5770 and 5870, as stated, and you can also flash said cards if you want to try that, though it's harder.

PCIe 1.0 and 2.0 refer to the throughput of the slot - 2.0 is twice as fast as 1.0, though I don't think any card beside the 5970 (and perhaps not even that one) can saturate 1.0.
 
FYI
I have been running a ATI 5770 (bought from Apple) in my 3.1 MacPro and have no problems.
 
Hello all,

I was going to post a new topic, but saw this and it is related to my own trouble/problem ;)

I own a Mac Pro Quad Core 3.1 <which I got to replace my G5 which had crashed and Apple decided could not be fixed>. I had the vid card upgraded to the Nvidia 8800GT video card, It had to be replaced 3 months later, Apple would only go half on the cost of replacing the card, better then nothing I figured. So where I am 16 months later and my computer having vido issues once again...sigh....

I took into a service center and they confirmed that the card is toast. I am livid that I am about to have to replace a 2nd video card in 2 years. Is this a norm, do I have any recourse on getting some help from Apple on this? I really feel like I have been burned by Nvidia on this graphics card replacements.

So anyhow...I am done with the 8800 (that and it is increasingly difficult to find them new) so have been looking for a newer card to upgrade to.

Can I or should I get an ATI 4870 or 5770/5870? The 5870 looks great, but it is quite pricey for me (IM disabled, money is an issue as usual), so can I get by with the 4870? IT seems to be way better then the 8800 and will run WoW etc for me just fine.

Help/Comments would be greatly appreciated as I try to get something and get my computer back...it is quite hard not haven it when you live on it 24/7. Sigh...

Thanks!

Mike :apple:
 
MHenigan50 said:
Can I or should I get an ATI 4870 or 5770/5870? The 5870 looks great, but it is quite pricey for me (IM disabled, money is an issue as usual), so can I get by with the 4870? IT seems to be way better then the 8800 and will run WoW etc for me just fine.
Click to expand...

If you can get your hands on a 4870 and don't require the three display outputs the 5770 offers, get it. Considering the age of the card, there have to be some great deals out there.
If the 4870 and 5770 are the same price, though, I'd get the 5770. Although it's a little slower, it requires less energy, only a single additional power line and will certainly have the better driver support in the future (I already have some driver issues with my 4870 in OS X > 10.6.3).
 
Transporteur said:
If you can get your hands on a 4870 and don't require the three display outputs the 5770 offers, get it. Considering the age of the card, there have to be some great deals out there.
If the 4870 and 5770 are the same price, though, I'd get the 5770. Although it's a little slower, it requires less energy, only a single additional power line and will certainly have the better driver support in the future (I already have some driver issues with my 4870 in OS X > 10.6.3).
Click to expand...

Ok, I am only running an Apple 23 inch Cinema Display, nothing else. It's why I furred that the older card would be ok for me, one it's cheaper and it WILL be faster then the 8800 was.
 
I have a MacPro 4,1. The ATI 5770 is not officially supported by Apple. And they were right. Although the card works,
I got a severe problem with noise from the PCI expansion bay fan. (2000 rpm). I have an ATI Radeon 5870 installed now and this one is OK.
 
Last edited:
I appreciate all the help. The card I have seems to be getting worse by the hour - now the screen flashes blue for a second or two every so often...

I plan to go ahead and order the 5770 for my 3,1.

Thanks!
 
Update - cant get two monotors to work at the same time.

I went ahead and bought the 5770 from Apple and it came last week. I also bought a Mini Display Port to DVI adapter so I can use two monitors (my previous set-up with my old card). I took the old card out and installed the new one - no problems.

My plan is to use two monotors - one plugged into the DVI out > Dvi cable to monitor out and the another in the Mini Display > Mini Display Port adapter > DVI cable to monitor. However, after booting the computer up, the video only came up on one monitor. When I go into System Preferences it only gives me settings for one display and there is no "Detect Monitors" button like there was with my previous set-up. The cable to each monitor is a DVI cable. I have tried the following and I still can not get both monitors to work at the same time:

1. Booted up with each monitor separately in the DVI port to make sure they both work - and they both do.

2. Booted up each monitor separately connected to the Mini Display Port to make sure adapter is OK.

3. After boot up, plug in the second monitor to see if it will be recognized. Nothing.

Any hints as to what is happening here?

Am I missing something or is the card defective and just cant recognize two monitors plugged in at the same time???

Thanks for your help.
 
What size are the monitors? As I understand it, larger displays such as the 30" ACD require the Active Dual-link MDP-DVI adapter in order to work. For example, my Mac came with the ATI 4870 (now collecting dust in a box, since I installed the 5870), and it runs a 22" Dell via DVI, and a 30" ACD via Apple's $99 Active Dual-link DVI adapter plugged into the Mini Display Port. I could swap the two monitors at will without problems, and never had a single issue with neither the 4870 nor the 5870.
 
wonderspark said:
What size are the monitors? As I understand it, larger displays such as the 30" ACD require the Active Dual-link MDP-DVI adapter in order to work. For example, my Mac came with the ATI 4870 (now collecting dust in a box, since I installed the 5870), and it runs a 22" Dell via DVI, and a 30" ACD via Apple's $99 Active Dual-link DVI adapter plugged into the Mini Display Port. I could swap the two monitors at will without problems, and never had a single issue with neither the 4870 nor the 5870.
Click to expand...

One is a Dell 19" LCD and the other is a Dell 24" LCD.
 
Are you using at least 10.6.4?

If so try using the other displayport connection.

They both should work
 
What about resolution size? This is from Apple's support pages:

"The maximum resolution available when this display is connected to a single-link DVI port is 1280 x 800; you must connect the display to a dual-link DVI port to access the higher resolutions available to the display."
 
dimme said:
Are you using at least 10.6.4?

If so try using the other displayport connection.

They both should work
Click to expand...

I am using 10.5.8. I use Final Cut Studio 2 (FCP 6) and I have been a little leery of upgrading the OS when it has been so stable for me with this version.
 
Sorry, meant to post THIS info:

"A Macintosh with a Mini DisplayPort and dual-link DVI display. If you are using only displays that are not dual link at resolutions of 1920 x 1200 or lower, a dual link adapter is not necessary. The Mini Display Port to DVI adapter should address your needs."
 
wonderspark said:
What about resolution size? This is from Apple's support pages:

"The maximum resolution available when this display is connected to a single-link DVI port is 1280 x 800; you must connect the display to a dual-link DVI port to access the higher resolutions available to the display."
Click to expand...

Right now I am using the 24" Dell monitor - in System Preferences > Display it shows it as 1920 x 1200. As I mentioned before the other monitor (Dell 19) is on and does not recognize anything.
When I press the menu button on that monitor I get a message that reads:
"There is no signal coming form your Computer. Press any key on the keyboard or mouse to wake it or press the input button on your display to switch to another source."

I am using the computer right now and all they key punching I am doing does nothing to excite that monitor. I tried the different inputs with no go - I do have it connected right now to the DVI out with a DVI cable into the DVI input of the 19" monitor.

I really appreciate the input from everyone so quick - you have all really got me thinking here... I did a couple of days of searching the net and did not come up with much.
 
Another issue - probably related...

Besides the info that I have given above - a few minutes ago I fired up Final Cut Pro for the first time since I had the new graphics card installed. I received the following message:

• Final Cut Pro requires that your system have a Quartz Extreme capable video card.
• Final Cut Pro recommends that your system have 64 MB of VRAM; this system has only 0 MB of VRAM.

This might be related to my earlier issue above. When I got the new video card it did not come with any drivers or installation CD at all. Also the new card is supposed to have 1 GB or RAM (I think). So why isn't it recognizing it? Do I need to run some installer program?
 
I'm running out of ideas.

You verified both monitors work via DVI and MDP.
You have new 5770 in there.
You switched card slots. Hope you left card in an x16 lane slot...
Only other thing I can think of right now is to try the dual-link DVI adapter.
 
TundraBob said:
Besides the info that I have given above - a few minutes ago I fired up Final Cut Pro for the first time since I had the new graphics card installed. I received the following message:

• Final Cut Pro requires that your system have a Quartz Extreme capable video card.
• Final Cut Pro recommends that your system have 64 MB of VRAM; this system has only 0 MB of VRAM.

This might be related to my earlier issue above. When I got the new video card it did not come with any drivers or installation CD at all. Also the new card is supposed to have 1 GB or RAM (I think). So why isn't it recognizing it? Do I need to run some installer program?
Click to expand...
Hmm, I just installed my new card, no installing drivers or anything. Sorry I'm not helping much.
 
TundraBob said:
I am using 10.5.8. I use Final Cut Studio 2 (FCP 6) and I have been a little leery of upgrading the OS when it has been so stable for me with this version.
Click to expand...

The ATI 5770 requires at least 10.6.4.
You need to upgrade or get another card like the 8800 gt if you want to run 10.5.8
 
Thanks for the help. I am wondering if the FCP message might be a clue to what is going on. I just read a post that said someting about an Apple video update - when I found it - it looks like it is for an earlier OS version than what I have. I have not tried to install it - not sure if I should...

http://support.apple.com/downloads/Leopard_Graphics_Update_1_0

This is what About This Mac shows for me now when looking at the video card:

ATI Radeon HD 5770:
Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 5770
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 1024 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x68b8
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-C0160C-155
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.436
Displays:
Display:
Resolution: 1920 x 1200
Depth: 32-Bit Color
Core Image: Software
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Not Supported
Display Connector:
Display Connector:
 
Looks like dimme has your solution... upgrade to 10.6.4.
Or, I know the 4870 will work on 10.5.7 or later, so you could get one of those. I have my stock one (that originally shipped in my Mac from Apple) in a box. I'm not able to access the Marketplace forums on here yet, because I don't have 250 posts yet. When that happens (soon!), I could sell you mine.
 
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