Which GPU? Mac Pro 1,1 + OS/X 10.8.x + 4K UltraHD

[rpseguin]

I have a Mac Pro 1,1 and 2,1 currently running 10.6.8 and I'd like to get them to run at least 10.7.x, but preferably 10.8.x.
Looking for suggestions on which inexpensive (<= $150) graphics card I should choose that does 4K UltraHD and is relatively quiet and can be run by the Mac Pro power supply.
I have a Seiki 39" 4K UltraHD (3840x2160) TV that I am intending to use as a monitor.

Suggestions?
Is going to 10.8.x worth it?
Has anybody managed to get the 10.8.x install to work from a single hard drive instead of requiring a small aux boot drive separate from the OS/X drive? If so, I would be happy to dedicate a big SSD to it instead of a small SSD for boot and another SSD for OS.


From my digging around, it looks like the Nvidia GT630 should do 4K UltraHD, but I am open to a more powerful card:
http://www.pinoytechblog.com/archives/introducing-the-new-nvidia-geforce-gt-630-with-384-cuda-cores

 

[jakesaunders27]

I have a Mac Pro 1,1 and 2,1 currently running 10.6.8 and I'd like to get them to run at least 10.7.x, but preferably 10.8.x.
Looking for suggestions on which inexpensive (<= $150) graphics card I should choose that does 4K UltraHD and is relatively quiet and can be run by the Mac Pro power supply.
I have a Seiki 39" 4K UltraHD (3840x2160) TV that I am intending to use as a monitor.

Suggestions?
Is going to 10.8.x worth it?
Has anybody managed to get the 10.8.x install to work from a single hard drive instead of requiring a small aux boot drive separate from the OS/X drive? If so, I would be happy to dedicate a big SSD to it instead of a small SSD for boot and another SSD for OS.

From my digging around, it looks like the Nvidia GT630 should do 4K UltraHD, but I am open to a more powerful card:
http://www.pinoytechblog.com/archives/introducing-the-new-nvidia-geforce-gt-630-with-384-cuda-cores

I'm not sure about the GPU but 10.8 wise your mac pros wont run it you would need to use MLPF or Chameleon, there are multiple threads on hear on how to do it, i have a 1,1 running 10.8.4 via MLPF and it works great. MLPF works with one hard drive you just have to partition it to start with then once the install is complete you can get rid of the install partitions.

Hope this helps

Jake

 

[rpseguin]

Thanks.
Is there a clearly written tutorial on MLPostFactor?

I am planning on hacking in Mountain Lion or Mavericks, but I am finding the MLPostFactor docs/tutorials to not be very clear and their website doesn't help matters...

It would be nice if there were a clearly written tutorial on how to do it... Would be really nice to be able to do the install from a USB drive as opposed to some weird partitioning of your boot drive.
I have a Mac Pro 1,1 and a 2,1 with blank SSDs (ie, NO OS/X yet) that I want to do it on. It would be super nice to be able to just boot from a USB drive to do the install instead of installing an old OS/X and then repartitioning, ...

Do you lose the install partition?
I am guessing that I keep the old graphics card in the machine until Mountain Lion or Mavericks are installed and then I swap in the new GPU after the installation is complete.

I'm not sure about the GPU but 10.8 wise your mac pros wont run it you would need to use MLPF or Chameleon, there are multiple threads on hear on how to do it, i have a 1,1 running 10.8.4 via MLPF and it works great. MLPF works with one hard drive you just have to partition it to start with then once the install is complete you can get rid of the install partitions.

Hope this helps

Jake

 

[jakesaunders27]

Thanks.
Is there a clearly written tutorial on MLPostFactor?

I am planning on hacking in Mountain Lion or Mavericks, but I am finding the MLPostFactor docs/tutorials to not be very clear and their website doesn't help matters...

It would be nice if there were a clearly written tutorial on how to do it... Would be really nice to be able to do the install from a USB drive as opposed to some weird partitioning of your boot drive.
I have a Mac Pro 1,1 and a 2,1 with blank SSDs (ie, NO OS/X yet) that I want to do it on. It would be super nice to be able to just boot from a USB drive to do the install instead of installing an old OS/X and then repartitioning, ...

Do you lose the install partition?
I am guessing that I keep the old graphics card in the machine until Mountain Lion or Mavericks are installed and then I swap in the new GPU after the installation is complete.

Okay for MLPostFactor you need a Mac to prepare the drives, as far as I'm aware you cant do it from a USB stick. I will write out the steps anyway for you.

Download MLPostFactor (if you haven't got it I can provide a link for you)
Next partition your drive you want to install ML on in half call 1 ML and 1 install.
Make sure the install for ML is in your applications folder (this is the bit which you need another Mac for)
Run MLPostFactor and set it to install to the install partition.
Restart your machine and hold alt select the install partition
Install ML as you would normally on the ML partition but before it restarts to finish the installation click the apple logo in the menu bar and tools i think it is and then MLPostFactor
Do the same that you did but this time set it to install MLPostFactor on the ML partition.
Restart and finish the installation (username passwords, icloud etc)
Your now running ML, now use disk utility to delete the install partition and extend ML to fill your drive.

Like I said I'm not sure about using a USB stick, but if you have an older supported OSX version i would install that using the disk or a USB stick and then use that OS to prepare your disk.

I would swap the GPU after install yes as the one you linked originally is a PC GPU right? And I think its ML that supports PC GPUs so after the install you should be good to go

Hope it helps

Jake