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mkerr64 · May 9, 2011, 07:09 PM

Hi there

I have the early 2009 Nehalem Mac Pro and i have the GT120 graphics card which is really slow.
I am running a 30" cinema display and i was wondering what my options are for graphics card. i know the ATI 5870 is compatible with but what other options do I have here?
I bought a nvidia gtx 560 ti, and it did not work. Does anyone know which other cards can be used? i just find it unreasonable to spend $450+ on a card which i can get for much less from a third party.
also, what is my fastest option?

Thank you

Mac Write · May 9, 2011, 07:34 PM

Unfortunately, you must get a Mac compatible card, and from Apple. 5870 is your best option. I have that car in my 2006 Mac Pro 1,1.

mkerr64 · 07:50 PM

Originally Posted by Mac Write

Unfortunately, you must get a Mac compatible card, and from Apple. 5870 is your best option. I have that car in my 2006 Mac Pro 1,1.

meaning you cant get a PC graphics card that is flashed? i've seen some around for $320ish, which seems like a bargain.
i've also read that some of the Nvidia GT 400 series do work.

i went to the genius bar and the person working there informed me to go to tigerdirect and get a graphics card there which is compatible with mac. they clearly informed me that their graphics cards are overpriced

Waragainstsleep · May 9, 2011, 08:43 PM

Questions about graphics cards go over the heads of many Apple sales people. You could go for the cheaper 5770 if you want to save a few bucks.

Have you tried your flashed card with the GT120 still installed? Supposedly most PC cards work after the OS has loaded but require a Mac card with a display hooked up to be present. Try putting the 120 in another slot and attaching another display if possible, see if you then get an image from your 560 after the OS is booted all the way. I have only read this, never tried it. Apparently some cards don't even need to be flashed for this trick to work. Many of the flashed ones also have issues like one port not working properly/at all.

Bottom line is if you want your card to work flawlessly, get a real Mac Card.

mkerr64 · May 9, 2011, 11:50 PM

the GTX 560 is not flashed strictly a pc card and the GT120 came with my Mac Pro
when i put the 560 in just a blackscreen appeared nothing else. i've already returned the card
others have already tried this but it didnt seems to work all that well with the 560
(tonymacx86 Forum &bull; View topic - NVIDIA GTX 560 Ti (Gigabyte 1GB GDDR5))

when you compare 5870 ($449) vs. top of the line GTX 560 ti ($230). quite a price difference..

Waragainstsleep · May 10, 2011, 04:57 AM

Yes there is a price difference. I'm not going to justify it, there isn't much point. If you can't get a PC card to work you'll just have to deal with it sadly.

mkerr64 · May 10, 2011, 08:23 AM

would you know which PC cards are compatible?

Leonard · May 10, 2011, 10:04 AM

You might want to start with this. The Golden Guide to Flashing Graphic Cards - MacRumors Forums

Or, reading the last post in that thread, go here http://forum.netkas.org/

Waragainstsleep · May 10, 2011, 10:30 AM

Netkas is the authority these days.

Leonard · May 10, 2011, 10:57 AM

Yeah, it took a little googling for me to find out where they are nowadays. I don't bother with flashed cards as I don't have the time to "tinker" with my Mac Pro.

Besides, the price of Mac video cards really doesn't phase me, I'm used to the price.

mkerr64 · May 10, 2011, 09:39 PM

based on a few readings it looks like lion may support such PC devices. i guess i can wait until june to find out and if not then ill have some annoyances with flashing it

reader50 · May 10, 2011, 10:14 PM

In the meantime, I've heard good things about this person. It's their ebay listing of preflashed cards, with compatibility notes on Mac models.

Big Mac · May 11, 2011, 03:23 AM

Originally Posted by mkerr64

based on a few readings it looks like lion may support such PC devices. i guess i can wait until june to find out and if not then ill have some annoyances with flashing it

Yeah, I was going to bring up that story about massively expanded graphics card driver support. It would be great for Mac Pro owners if Lion could bring out of the box PC graphics card compatibility. Perhaps that dream is too far fetched, though.

P · May 11, 2011, 06:17 AM

Depends. It would need EFI compatibility in the cards, but that should be coming anyway since all the P67 motherboards seem to be running some variant of UEFI. AMD at least seems to be working on this.

Waragainstsleep · May 11, 2011, 06:28 AM

Originally Posted by reader50

In the meantime, I've heard good things about this person. It's their ebay listing of preflashed cards, with compatibility notes on Mac models.

They look fairly pricey to me. If I was going to risk cheaper generic hardware which has then been hacked, I'd want a better saving.

mkerr64 · May 13, 2011, 11:13 PM

i guess ill see what Lion will entail and if not then i guess ill be looking for a flashed graphics card