Mac pro 1.1 video card upgrade

[dmania]

I'm running a Mac Pro 1.1 with the ATI Radeon X1900 XT graphics card (purchased with the computer when I bought it new), and was wondering if there is a newer/faster card out there that would be worth upgrading to, and compatible with my older system. Budget is around $300. My main uses of the system are Editing with Final Cut Pro, and I also play PC games on XP (through bootcamp).

I'm running OS 10.4.11

Specs:
Processor Name: Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
8 Gigs Ram

Thanks!

 

[COLGeek]

GPU upgrades for Mac's are not nearly as straight forward (as in widespread) as they are for PCs. First, you can only use GPUs specifically made to work with Macs (both officially and, for all practical purposes, reliably). Since your Mac Pro uses a PCI-E x16 GPU, you can find ($300 is not likely to be enough) compatible GPUs, but they are usually much more expensive than their PC counterparts.

If you can find one of these, it would be a good upgrade for you that you may find within your budget:
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-mac/hd3870-mac-pc/Pages/ati-radeon-hd-3800-mac.aspx

Apple now lists the HD 5XXX series as well:
http://www.apple.com/macpro/features/graphics.html

You likely won't find one of those (HD5XXX or HD4XXX) within your budget. The bottom line is that you can upgrade. Be sure to get a GPU designed for a Mac, stay away from PC GPUs that have been modified to work with a Mac. Those are often flakey and may not support all GPU functions.

Good luck!

 

[Timop]

However, if you are willing to risk it, buying the PC HD4870 for $120 then flashing the BIOS would be your best upgrade for the cheap.

Heres a pretty extensive guide: http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=7473867&postcount=886

 

[dmania]

GPU upgrades for Mac's are not nearly as straight forward (as in widespread) as they are for PCs. First, you can only use GPUs specifically made to work with Macs (both officially and, for all practical purposes, reliably). Since your Mac Pro uses a PCI-E x16 GPU, you can find ($300 is not likely to be enough) compatible GPUs, but they are usually much more expensive than their PC counterparts.

If you can find one of these, it would be a good upgrade for you that you may find within your budget:
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-mac/hd3870-mac-pc/Pages/ati-radeon-hd-3800-mac.aspx

Apple now lists the HD 5XXX series as well:
http://www.apple.com/macpro/features/graphics.html

You likely won't find one of those (HD5XXX or HD4XXX) within your budget. The bottom line is that you can upgrade. Be sure to get a GPU designed for a Mac, stay away from PC GPUs that have been modified to work with a Mac. Those are often flakey and may not support all GPU functions.

Good luck!

Thanks for the info!

 

[dmania]

However, if you are willing to risk it, buying the PC HD4870 for $120 then flashing the BIOS would be your best upgrade for the cheap.

Heres a pretty extensive guide: http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=7473867&postcount=886

Thanks!