Mac Pro :: Upgrade Video Card Vs Upgrade Entire System?
Jan 28, 2010
I am kicking around between upgrading video card in my 1st gen Mac Pro (2 x 2.66 dual core, 8gb ram) from 7300 Gt to ati 4870 vs. upgrading to a newer system altogether...
Newer MP has 2 x 2.66 quad cores, 12 gb ram with the 4870 card.) What kind of improved performance might I really expect or even notice when using photoshop, light video editing, 3d graphics.
I have not included costs because I want to focus on the performance boosts sans cost for the purpose of this discussion.
So I was given a first gen Mac Pro (2.66 dual dual-core "quad") which has taken a beating cosmetically, but hardware wise it's fine, just bulging caps on the video card: GeForce 7300GT.
This is going to be my testing and OS restore server once I get it up and going, assuming I can do that for less than the cost of a Mini Server.
On GSX the system is listed as "Ver3" so I assume that means it's a later revision that has the PCI-E 2.0 slots.
I need a new video card that will work with this system. Doesn't need to be anything special, I won't be gaming with it. Cheap is always good too. Mac OS X Server's going to cost $500, so if the price goes over $1,000 total, it's probably just cheaper to get a Mini Server. I already need to get an Airport and BT card which is about $150 total.
Apple's TSPS was completely useless at helping with this one, so hoping someone out there will maybe be a bit more helpful. So far I can only really pin down the GeForce 7300GT, GeForce 8800GT, Radeon HD 2600XT and Radeon HD 4870 as being compatible. None of which are very easy to find... At a reasonable price anyway.
So, looking for video cards compatible with Mac OS X, and the first gen Mac Pro. ATI or nVidia makes no difference, preferably sub-$150. I have searched in vain for some kind of list, and wouldn't be posting here if I had any luck, but if someone has better luck with Google than me,
Is it possiable to get a off-the-shelf video card for the 2008 MP? I've seen that the MP uses the same graphics card as other PC computers (i.e. PCI-E) or, do I have to get the Apple Nvidia 8800?
I really want a new MBP to replace my aging G5 but I can't quite afford it yet. Maybe by the end of the year.
In the meantime, I was thinking about doing some upgrades to try and get me through the rest of the year. RAM is pretty cheap, but what about a new video card?
I have a G5 single 1.8GHz (2.25 GB of memory) with a GeForce FX 5200 AGP card. I'm mostly concerned with CS3 and video playback.
Here's my options: ATI Radeon 9600 from Other World Computing? A card from eBay? (I've heard good things about applemacanix) A PC card and flash it? (Though I'd have to find a PC friend to do it, as I don't have another computer.)
Or do nothing and limp along until I get that MBP?
I've got a mac pro with it's shell/casing seriously dented. I dropped it. Thankfully, the insides are working just fine. Since I can't sell this thing, I decided to upgrade it instead. It's got 3.0ghz xeon processor, quad-core. It's used for gaming. I've got 7300 GT Nvidia vid cards in there (3 of them). I don't even know what it's used for. ROFL. 2GB RAM.So what I need to know is the following:
1.Other than the dreadfully heavy heavy Mac pro's standard casing, is there another case I can replace it with? What would be compatible? 2.I want to upgrade my RAM to the max. Is it 32GB or 64GB? What is the cheapest type of RAM I can purchase without losing much performance? 3.What is the latest video card I can use with my quad-core? which is compatible? 4. Is quad-core 3.0ghz xeon, a good computer you think? or shall I just forget the upgrade and spend the money to buy a 16 core or something, while I just need the pc for gaming?
The serial # appears to be: G8635343UPZ MODEL NO: A1186
I have a early 2008 15 inch macbook pro. I am wondering if I can upgrade the video card somehow. It doesnt appear to be one of the "diy" upgrades that are possible like RAM and Battery replacement, but can I bring it to an apple store and have it upgraded? I have a new videogame that appears to get slower when there are a lot of objects on the screen. I recently upgraded my RAM from 2GB to 4GB so i don't think it is my memory, and my processory is 2.4 GHz which according to the game specifications is fine. Â
I just upgraded my MacPro1,1 to OSX Lion. At the same time, I was having some problems with my video card and replaced it with a NVDA,Display-B. It seems to be the same as what I took out but am getting some screen artifacts as well as windows jumping and distorting.
I have a G4 PowerMac 400Mhz running OS 10.4.8. The graphics seem a bit slow at times and I was wondering if upgrading the video card from the current ATI 16MB to a GeForce2 32MB would help? I have 1GB of memory so I know I am good there.
pls be patient with my English, i'll try to do my best. Finally i decided last week to upgrade an old Powerpc G4 733 Quicksilver (model before 2002 vers.)
I changed combo with a good Pioneer dvr-112d. Now i'm asking u an indication: find a video card better than nvidia mx 32 installed with two important targets 1) Should support wide screen 1680x1850 2) should support core image tech in order to work better with last Tiger. reading around i'm sure fx5200 satisfy nr2 but doesn't support wide, ati like 9600 had big problems of compatibility with my G4 model. Pls could u point me to the right way ? wich is the best video card compatible with a 733 ghz quicksilver ?
About Hard disk, one more question , i have 128 gb limitation. I'm not gonna change the controller, is there any chance to mount a 7200rpm 16mb 250gb for my system ?
If anyone out there has ever seen "Tailspin" you know what i am talking about when i call my ibook, The Seaduck. it is already as souped up as I can afford to with 1.2gb of ram.in my system requirements I see it says Displays:Color LCDepth: 32-bit Color Is this the same thing as a video card?
I am trying to run CS3, and some things are extreemely jumpy. i am wondering if this is because of resolution or if I need a video card(CS3 requires a 16 bit video card), or maybe hard drive? (i have 30gb-9gb free).
i know the Seaduck can take a bigger hard drive, but i am not sure about video card.Also, i have the 12" model ibook, and htis makes me feel like I am trying to write my nome on a grain of rice when I work in flash so i am wondering if I can hook my computer up to a better monitor, if you have any recomendations, and what the implications of that would be.
I've got an iMac 27" late 2009 with these: Processor 2.66 GHz Intel Core i5 Memory 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3Â Graphics ATI Radeon HD 4850 512 MB and I would like to upgrade my "ATI Radeon HD 4850 512 MB" to something higher with 2 GB. My question is: is it possible? Like taking off the screen and display and replacing the old video card with a new one without any issues?
I have a 1st generation Mac Pro. It has 2 x 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors and 5GB 667 MHz Ram. I also have the Nvidia GeForce 8800GT graphics card. I use it primarily for heavy video editing and graphic editing (Final Cut Pro, Motion - and rest of Final Cut Studio, After Effects, Cinema 4D, etc). I'm trying to figure out if I need more Ram to help speed up my computer a bit more or do I need to upgrade entirely to one of the new Mac Pros? I guess bottom line is - I've noticed some lag time when working with a few pro apps at the same time and trying to figure out if I'll be okay with upgrading the Ram to handle the heavy loads or is the 1st Generation Mac Pros now so outdated that I need to upgrade entirely?
I downloaded the most recent safari upgrade for Leopard (Not Snow Leopard). Every time I try to use it, Safari hangs the entire computer before loading the home page and takes a minimum 10 minutes before I can do anything. I just get the Spinning Pinwheel of Death. I tried reinstalling it but that hasn't worked.
I would like to upgrade my 17" Powerbook G4 to wireless n, but I'd like to upgrade the internal airport extreme card instead of using a PC Card adapter.
Are there any options for this?Will this airport extreme card from early model MBPs work?
my specs: 17" pwrbk Hi-res 1.67 G4 late 2005 model: Powerbook 5,9
So basically, I bought a Mac Pro in mid 2007 with the following specs:
Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon 1GB (2 x 512MB) NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB SDRAM
Anyways, I have just started using it again and would like to use it to play WoW (probably via BootCamp) but the current graphics card is really insufficient.
So what I'm basically looking for is a graphics card that would run in a mid-07 Mac Pro with the 2x2.66GHZ Dual-Core Intel Xeon's (ram is not an issue, I can upgrade this as well) - that will allow me to play WoW on even good settings.
If I am going to install a new video card in my Mac Pro, I imagine the process will be simple on the Mac OS side, but what about windows in bootcamp? Will it recognise the new card on first boot? or do I have to go through dos or something? Apart from updating the drivers is there any other configuring that needs to be done?
I have a PowerPC G4 Mac and I would like to upgrade my graphics card. I am currently using a ATI Rage 128 Pro which is PCI based and has VGA and DVI output.
