Graphics Card Upgrade with 2008 MacPro?

Question

Hello: I have a sturdy, workhorse 2008 MacPro (6 gigs RAM). I need to confirm if I can/need to upgrade the graphics card that came with the original box. (Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 2600). Am buying a NEC PA271W-BK 27 monitor and X-rite ColorMunki, whose specs say I need "1024 x 768 or higher display resolution with 16-bit video card." (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/798928-REG/X_Rite_CMUNDIS_ColorMunki_Displ ay.html)
Thoughts? (Would prefer not to buy new MacPro yet, as this machine likely has at least another year). Thanks.

Answer 1

RE: Mac Pro silver tower (2006-2012) Replacement Graphics cards
1) Apple brand cards,
2) "sold in the Apple store" cards, and
3) "Mac Edition" cards ...
... show all the screens, including Boot up screens, Safe Mode, Installer, Recovery, debug screens, and Alt/Option boot screens. At this writing, these choices include:
1) Apple brand cards:
• Apple-firmware 5770, about US$250** works near full speed in every model Mac Pro, Drivers in 10.6.5 [BUT! This card has just been discontinued and is no longer available in the Apple Store, or at many Apple Resellers]
• Apple-firmware 5870, about US$450
2) "sold in the Apple store" cards
• NVIDIA Quadro 4000, about US$1200
• NVIDIA Quadro 5000, about US$2500
3) "Mac Edition" cards -- REQUIRE 10.8.3 or later:
• SAPPHIRE HD 7950 3GB GDDR5 MAC Edition, about US$480** Vendor recommends Mac Pro 4,1
• EVGA GTX 680 Mac Edition, about US$600
The cards above require no more than the provided two 6-pin aux power connectors provided in the Mac Pro through 2012 model. Aux cables may not be provided for third-party cards, but are readily available.
If you are Meet ALL of these:
• running 10.8.3 or later AND
• don't care about "no boot screens" etc AND
• can re-wire or otherwise "work out" the power cabling, THEN:
You can use many more cards, even most "PC-only cards"