which GPU gtx650/650ti or 660 for 2008 MP

[orph]

hi have a 2008 macpro 8x2.8ghz and for the festive session I'm finally upgrading the GPU from a gt120.
iv been looking at the GTX 650/ti & the GTX660.

i understand that almost any GPU will be a massive step up for me from my old GT120 so the GTX650 (or the 650ti) may be all i need but as the price of the GTX660 has drooped to about £150 it seems tempting.

its the first time iv ever looked at buying a GPU so all the brands seem a bit confusing, EVGA is mentioned on the Nvidia sticky so is that the best brand to buy? the MSI, Asus & gigabyte cards also seem to be at the same price level are they all the same relay?

also ill need a power cable, is this one correct? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300942796599

i think ill be buying from amazon uk unless you can recommend somewhere better/cheeper.

thanks for all help

 

[ybz90]

Generally speaking, reference cards all work well. Non-reference boards may work, but depending on the model, it could be gamble.

That is the cable you want. Few people sell it though (for the record, it's mini-PCIe power to PCIe power) but I get them usually from Amazon too thanks to Prime.

If you can stretch you budget, get a GTX660. I would recommend a 670 as far as bang for buck, but those are hard to find now at good prices, which is too bad.

 

[MacGamver]

I have the same MacPro, and I got an EVGA 650ti 2GB Superclocked. It's a massive step up from my gt8800. I got it for the price, but I'd probably get a 660 since the prices often get pretty close with good sales. The thing to look out for is features. One that I inadvertently learned after the fact. There are MANY brands and models in the same family of cards. Look for the Open GL, OpenCL versions, and other technologies such as FXAA and TXAA. Hope that helps.

 

[tigerintank]

have the same model - recent gift from a relative as a unit with problems and no longer used.

turns out that the original video card was causing odd power issues. with a borrowed Mac card i upgraded to mavericks and installed a new Asus 650 ti boost.

Chose Asus as i'm not used to noisy PCs and it had good reviews as far as noise goes.

Chose a 650 and nothing faster as I wasn't totally sure if the MP would be ok, so didn't want to invest too much.

Turns out it's fine and as someone who doesn't really need a high performance MP i think it'll last me a couple of years.

Only thing I wasn't sure about was whether I would be able to flash the card - not looking possible from what I've read so far. Suspect for the next OS upgrade (10.10) I'll need to borrow a supported graphics card again.

 

[orph]

thanks for the tip ybz90 about the cable name, only problem with buying it on amazon uk seems to cost more in postage for no resin, this one looks like the same as the one on ebay http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B002NPZSQ6/ref=dp_olp_new? even the same shop but postage is higher, the 'mac pro' version is £8.98 with postage and free postage on ebay so ~~ odd.
unless you can point me to a cheeper one

nice to here from GTX650ti owners the GTX650 was where i started, only £80 on amazon and no power cables needed but the GTX650ti is so close in price to the GTX660 at the mo it's less interesting for me.
the EVGA gtx660 SC was on sale at £135 which is so close to the 650TI it's kind of pointless (i assume the price came down now the gtx760 is out) kind of kicking myself i did not pick it up then as now it's gone back up to £150.


ps lucky you tigerintank well cool to get a mac pro for the price of a GPU

 

[tigerintank]

ps lucky you tigerintank well cool to get a mac pro for the price of a GPU

yes it does feel a bit like christmas has come early

i did buy a bottle of single malt in return at the time & also offered to pay some cash once I'd proved it was ok, but the offer was refused.

 

[orph]

well the single malt make's it even, better some one you know using it than some one you dont and your that lucky guy.
so how well dose the GTX650ti work, is it nice and super fast must be like a new life for the mac like night and day.

i picked up mine recently from a guy who had been doing dance music (eww he was bad) only had osx10.5 and 2GB of ram + the original drive (and one drive bay with mangled screws).
now it's got 10GB of ram and a 2TB drive it's shooting thro video in a way that makes me smile from ear to ear, i can only gess how fast it will be with a new GPU. been having fun with the super speed of final cut X (compared to 7) and just cant wait to get my teeth in to cuda and adobe apps & may even try playing a game

thanks for the help

 

[Gav Mack]

650Ti works fine, I stuck my son's in my 3,1 and apart from no boot screen worked great.

Struggles a bit with heavy duty games at 1680x1050 but as an all round card its great value.

The used 680 I bought for under $300 on ebay monsters everything at 1920x1200.

Cheap UK PCIe power cable supplier:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290779934656?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Same as amazon. Ordered a pair at 4pm from ebay arrived next morning.

 

[tigerintank]

well the single malt make's it even, better some one you know using it than some one you dont and your that lucky guy.
so how well dose the GTX650ti work, is it nice and super fast must be like a new life for the mac like night and day.

i picked up mine recently from a guy who had been doing dance music (eww he was bad) only had osx10.5 and 2GB of ram + the original drive (and one drive bay with mangled screws).
now it's got 10GB of ram and a 2TB drive it's shooting thro video in a way that makes me smile from ear to ear, i can only gess how fast it will be with a new GPU. been having fun with the super speed of final cut X (compared to 7) and just cant wait to get my teeth in to cuda and adobe apps & may even try playing a game

thanks for the help

I don't think I've really stressed it yet tbh. In day to day use i can't really tell the difference between it and my rmbp.

In contrast it sounds like you're using yours properly

I do wish i could flash the 650 though - so will keep my eye out for posts on this board in case someone finds something.

 

[orph]

relay like all the help/replies as it's my first time buying a GPU

id relay like to hear what brand card you all got and if you know what the difference is? if there is one.
found a chart of GPU warrant info http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18231329
(EVGA & Gigabyte score well)

im split between the EVGA brand card and the Gigabyte brand card.
-the EVGA is recommended on the sticky and the SC edition is cheeper than the standard on amazon which is nice but not a huge boost.
-the Gigabyte card is cheeper and bigger fans, size matters
well twin bigger fans so cooler and i assume less noise but recycled air

 

[gpzjock]

I like Asus branded GTX cards for their 3 year warranty and high quality finish.
I currently have a Palit Jetstream 4 GB GTX770 which is good but the first one died after only 3 months.
For AMD cards Sapphire is my fave brand, I have had 2 4870s and 1 5870 from them and they are all still running well having been used daily for the last 4-5 years.

 

[Gav Mack]

relay like all the help/replies as it's my first time buying a GPU

id relay like to hear what brand card you all got and if you know what the difference is? if there is one.
found a chart of GPU warrant info http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18231329
(EVGA & Gigabyte score well)

im split between the EVGA brand card and the Gigabyte brand card.
-the EVGA is recommended on the sticky and the SC edition is cheeper than the standard on amazon which is nice but not a huge boost.
-the Gigabyte card is cheeper and bigger fans, size matters
well twin bigger fans so cooler and i assume less noise but recycled air

The used EVGA 680 I bought used off eBay was identical in appearance to the mac edition card and was unregistered for the 3 year warranty. Seller offered 14 day return option. Flashed the mac EFI bios and registered it myself. £200 delivered for the card and just under £10 for a new pair of power cables. Runs much, much quieter than the 8800gt and even with Premiere or my sons games have I not heard the fan go full blast on it so far.

 

[orph]

hay sory to be so slow to reply, been busy.
got a evga gt660 ftw acx (got to love long product names)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/EVGA-GeForc...9692228&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=evga+gt+660+acx
seems to be working well, much much much faster than my old card

some tests i ran;
Cinebench R15 - gt120 - openGL 12.40fps Gt660 34fps (istat says its not maxing the GPU)
Heaven benchmark 'basic' - GT120 9fps GT660 55fps
valley benchmark 'basic' - GT120 8fps GT660 33fps
luxMark v2.0 GPU teset 'sala' - GT120 37 GT660 512

with the basic heaven/valley benchmark istat says the GPU is not being fully stressed so may not be giving correct results, dont know why

 

[Boomhowler]

hay sory to be so slow to reply, been busy.
got a evga gt660 ftw acx (got to love long product names)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/EVGA-GeForc...9692228&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=evga+gt+660+acx
seems to be working well, much much much faster than my old card

some tests i ran;
Cinebench R15 - gt120 - openGL 12.40fps Gt660 34fps (istat says its not maxing the GPU)
Heaven benchmark 'basic' - GT120 9fps GT660 55fps
valley benchmark 'basic' - GT120 8fps GT660 33fps
luxMark v2.0 GPU teset 'sala' - GT120 37 GT660 512

with the basic heaven/valley benchmark istat says the GPU is not being fully stressed so may not be giving correct results, dont know why

IIRC, the unigine benchmarks are pretty CPU limited so it will stress the CPU alot as well. Anyway, this benchmark is true for your whole machine, and pretty decent