Questions about Mid-2010 Mac Pro graphics card upgrades

Hey guys and gals, so I've been searching the web for any PCI-E Mac and Windows Compatible graphics cards. I currently have the stock ATI Radeon 5770. From the sites and resources I've found, I'm set on the EVGA GTX680 Mac Edition but I also heard about the different cards you can use if you "flash" them. I have a few questions: 1. Are there any more recent lists with compatible cards 2. is flashing worth it and how difficult is it. I am moderately tech savey. 3. what websites are trustworthy besides OWC and Newegg.
Thanks

User Tip: Mac Pro silver tower (2006-2012) Replacement Graphics cards

Similar Messages

Mid 2010 Macbook Pro Graphic Card(GT 330M) Temporary Fix

Have seen lot of Posts regarding this issue to which i found a temporary fix and thought might be helpfull to someone else
I am with a Mid 2010 Macbook Pro
2.66 i7
4gb ram
Nvidia Geforce gt 330m / Intel HD Graphics(228 mb)
Lion 10.7.2
its been above 4 years my mb was working fine untill i decided to do a clean install of Mountain Lion and started facing this Crash Issues,
within this week i tryed to reinstall snow leopard and lion and tryed to overcome this crash issue but noting worked(couldnt reinstall snow bcaz it wouldnt boot for me)
Havent taken it to a showroom or repair centre since i already figured that this issue is due to the nvidia graphic card that came with this mb(but planing to once i save enuf money for a new repair)
for now i am on 10.7.2(lion) and my fix to this issue is gfxCardStatus 2.2.1(the new version of gfx does automatic switching for me which gives me no control)
Bfore this when ever i opend Logic Pro the gfx status automatically moved to Discrete which after a while lead to black screen and a force restart,so i came across this fix and its been working well for me
how to ;-
1 - install gfxCardStatus 2.2.1(google it for download link)
2 - switch energy saver in system prefs to battery saver and select Intergrated Mode in gfcardstatus from the menu bar
Note ;-
- after restart the defualt in gfx bcomes dynamic switching and while selecting Intergrated mode the screen will have white lines and garbled issue.
3 - so bfore restart i quit gfx and uninstall it(move it to trash n empty)
4 - after restart the gfx menu dosent come up on bar so i reinstall it from a extrnal usb or drive or redownload it from internet and install it back n repeat set 2 from how to notes.
Now repeating this process when i open Logic Pro the gfx stays on Intergrated Only allowing me to finish my projects with full concentration and without any black screen or force restarts.
Hope this works well for some one out there.

Spill Cleaning
Some liquid has just spilled into your Mac. What should you do?
Do
Immediately shut down the computer and unplug the power cord.
Remove the computer's battery (if you can)
Disconnect any peripherals (printers, iPods, scanners, cameras, etc.)
Lay the computer upside down on paper towels to get as much liquid as possible to drip out.
Note what was spilled on your Mac.
Bring the computer into an Apple store or AASP as soon as possible.
Don't
Don't try to turn it back on. Liquids can help electrical current move about the components of your Mac in destructive ways.
Don't shake the computer (this will only spread the liquid around).
Don't use a hair dryer on it (even at a low setting a hair dryer will damage sensitive components).

1st Gen Mac Pro - Graphics card upgrade options?

Hi guys,
I have the 1st gen Mac Pro with 2 x 3GHz dual core xeons and a Radeon X1900 graphics card. I have wanted to upgrade to a new card for a while, however, I can't find any that apple say are compatible. I wanted to upgrade to a 5870 but on apples website it said this wasn't compatible with the first gen.
What is the limiting factor here? Is it the software or hardware?
What is the best card I can get for my machine?
Please help!
Thanks Guys
Tom

Your post has been added to a thread regarding Mac Pro Xeon Tower computers. These have nothing in common with your MacBook Pro.
To get an answer that is meaningful, you need to post on the MacBook Pro forums, here:
http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=190

Best Video card for Mid 2010 Mac Pro

I'm currently running a Mid 2010 Mac Pro with a 5870 video card in it. I feel that it's bottlenecking processes, and want to upgrade it. I'm not looking to upgrade the computer itself, but want to get the fastest video card that I can.
Looking for suggestions, and links if possible to what you know works.
Thanks!

Why do you a) need a "fast" video card, and b) think it is the bottleneck (it might)?
Maybe you need dual AMD's and a 2nd 5870 (with the addition of 2nd 450W PSU to drive it).
This: July 25th, 2014 -- GeForce GTX 780 6G: Mac Pro Tower 'Sweet Spot'?
Do you have some SSDs for system and scratch? that often is where you can attack a bottleneck and improve performance.
Graphics can need as much RAM as possible. Dual or single cpu? many are choosing to install one or two faster cpus of the 3.4GHz variety to help.

Mid 2010 Mac Pro 10.6.4 Does Not Log In

This is both a MacPro question and an Avid ProTools question...first I need to get the Mac working again and then come up with a longer term ProTool solution....
I am at a new job where I am currently running ProTools 8 using a Digidesign 003 on a Mid 2010 Mac Pro running OS 10.6.4. There are two user accounts, and only one (the adminsitrator account) is marginally functional. It runs extremely slowly (five minutes to launch GarageBand) and the application icons in the dock do not display correctly. When attempting to log into the other account, after a few minutes a blue screen comes up and then it returns back to the log in screen.
I know that the computer would be compatabile with Mavericks OS 10.9, but I know that 10.9 is not reccomended for any Avid Product (even newer versions of ProTools).
How can I make the computer operational while still running OS 10.6? Do I need to upgrade to a newer OS and take on the expense of upgrading to a newer version of ProTools? What about compatability with the 003?

it shipped with an OEM DVD of special build of 10.6.4 but you really need 10.6.8+ at least, or 10.8.5. Depends on if your apps still rely on older PowerPC and Rosetta.
Software Update would have to be turned off it you are not already on 10.6.8 plus all the security updates and new Safari update and others.
I like to have a safety net, clone your system, take the clone off line, then make updates and changes. And have two such backup working clone systems handy. In some cases you can just partition one drive to do that.
Sounds like other issues. Invest in a 250GB or 500GB SSD for t he system. PCIe SSD card and SSD(s) for scratch and media libraries.
Make sure it has 24-48GB RAM.
ATI 5770 drivers really need 10.6.8.

Full backup ( ~ 1 TB ) using external HD - speed USB vs. Firewire vs. eSATA - what are relative speeds - how to install eSATA on mid-2010 Mac Pro desktop ( dual hex-core processors)_

    Hi All,
     I'm trying to resume regular scheduled Full backup ( ~ 1 TB ) of drives using external HD (to allow off-site redundant backup storage) .
     What are relative speeds of USB vs. Firewire vs. eSATA ?
     I suspect eSATA connection may be considerably faster … how to install eSATA on mid-2010 Mac Pro desktop ( dual hex-core processors)?
      ( The quicker and easier backup protocol is, the more likely one is to use it to backup on a routine repetitive basis.)
Thanks

Jim Bogy wrote:
...I suspect eSATA connection may be considerably faster … how to install eSATA on mid-2010 Mac Pro desktop ( dual hex-core processors)?
      ( The quicker and easier backup protocol is, the more likely one is to use it to backup on a routine repetitive basis.)
Adding a USB 3.0+eSATA PCIe card, which The hatter mentions, is the best solution that I've found. See http://eshop.macsales.com/item/CalDigit/FASTA6GU3/. The card is not cheap, but the USB 3.0 works flawlessly (which can't be assumed; ask me how I know) and the eSATA connection allows booting from the connected drive. Grant Bennet-Alder's point about HD speed is important to consider; in addition, the size of the individual files being backed up and where on the backup disk they're going will affect overall transfer speed. For example, using the USB 3.0 connection on that CalDigit card going to a Toshiba 3TB external, the transfer rate for a big file (say a virtual machine file) from an internal SSD boot drive was about 145 MB/sec while a bunch of little files might drop to 30 MB/sec and both rates decrease as an inner partition on the external is used. All told, a nearly 700 GB backup took under 1.5 hours. Using a HD as the source added almost an extra hour, though a WD external was used for that. Using a WD green drive plugged into this http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/FWU3ES2HDK/ with an eSATA connection took about 2.5 hours also, but that was bootable whereas the USB 3.0 connection is not.
Another point to consider is that USB 3.0 is ubiquitous on PC's now so there's lots of price competition for externals; not so much for eSATA externals.

Does anyone know how to access the sound software on a Mid 2010 Mac Pro? I have a Logitech Z906 5.1 surround system with fiber optic in and out, I only seem to be able to get stereo and simulated 5.1 sound .

A mid 2010 Mac Pro, trying to get 5.1 surround out of the onboard sound software using fiber optic out connected to a Logitech Z906 5.1 speaker sys. with fiber optic in and out, all I get is stereo and simulated 5.1 sound out of the speakers. In utilities, Audio Midi Setup I can't get the Mac to see the Logitech speakers for 5.1 speaker configuration. Without being made to feel like a dummy, does anyone have a solution? Thanks, Carl

Hello John, I figured it was a signal issue. All the speakers fire and the sound is great. I was running the speakers thru a Dell PC with a Creative X-Fi Elite Pro, THX Certified, 7.1 soundcard using a fiber optic from the Mac Pro to the Z906's, it worked great until the Dell died!!! When I bought the soundcard from Creative I also bought the GigaWorks S750, THX Certified, 700 watt, 7.1 speaker system, used the speakers for 11 years and then the woofer/amp said "I QUIT" Creative quit making the speaker system and the sound card. The satellite speakers from the Creative GigaWorks speaker system still sound great (rated at 78 watt each) and are a little better speaker than the one's that came with the Z906 and the wattage from the 906 is sufficient to drive the satellites without any distortion. Thank you for addressing my issue, you confirmed what I suspected all along, just needed to hear it from someone with the same setup.
One last question, I purchased a Diamond Multimedia USB Soundcard, can't use the fiber optic(not supported by Mac) but the green, tan and black RCA's plug in and produces adequetly. When you plug your 906's into the Mac Pro using the fiber optic how do you set your speaker configuration? When I plug into the mac pro with fiber optic the 'Audio Midi Setup' does not seem to see the 5.1 configuration. Any thoughts there?
Carl

Mid 2010 Mac Pro boot camp recognizing 1.86GB RAM

I have a mid 2010 Mac Pro w/ 6GB RAM and a dedicated video card. Win7 32-bit is boot camped on it. I know 32-bit Windows can only use 3.75GB of RAM. However, this Mac Pro is only seeing 1.86GB.
Since this is Win7, no boot.ini is available for /3GB switch and editbcd /set increaseuserva 3072 did nothing, even after clearing out the variable and resetting it to 3072.
I came across a post saying UEFI/BIOS for Mac Pros cannot see more than 1.86GB RAM in a Windows 32-bit environment. Is this true? It was only the one post and I forgot where I saw it. If not, how do I resolve this issue? If not, that's fine. I can format and install Win7 64-bit if needed. I want to confirm 64-bit Win7 will recognize more than 1.86GB of RAM. Any input?
Thank you.

64 bit Windows will see and use all your ram.

Mid 2010 Mac Pro - Thunderbolt External Hard Drive

For Christmas my family gave me a 2T Little Big Disk thunderbolt external drive. I have a mid 2010 Mac Pro which doesn't have a thunderbolt port. Is there a PCI card I can use to connect the drive to my Mac Pro?

Those "adapters" are standard HBA. Like ATTO and others.
eSATA/USB
CalDigit FASTA-6GU3 2 port USB 3.0 & 2 Port eSATA 6Gb/s host adapter
PCIe Bus Extender
Sonnet Express Bus Extender PCIe 2.0
SAS/SATA
ATTO ExpressSAS H680 Adapter
ATTO ExpressSAS H6F0 Adapter
ATTO ExpressSAS H644 Adapter
ATTO ExpressSAS R680 RAID Adapter(2)
Firmtek Seritek/e6G 2 Port eSATA PCI Express (PCIe) Serial ATA Adapter
Newer Technology MAXPower eSATA 6G PCIe 2.0 Controller Card
Newer Technology MAXPower RAID mini-SAS 6G-1e1i Controller Card(3)
Newer Technology MAXPower RAID mini-SAS 6G-2e Controller Card(3)
Sonnet Tempo SATA 6Gb Pro 2-port
Sonnet Tempo SATA 6Gb Pro 4-port
Sonnet 6Gb/s SAS/SATA RAID Controller(2)

Wake up problems - mid 2010 Mac Pro - dual hex core OS X

Mid- 2010 Mac Pro desktop (dual hexcore) running Mountain Lion OS X version 10.7.5 will often refuse to awaken properly after being left alone for a few hours.
Will not respond to wireless mouse or wireless keyboard and sometimes not to USB mouse or keyboard ... requiring a "hold in the power button until it powers off, then push power button to restart."
Also, often notice fan on (can hear it) when computer has been "asleep" and shouldn't be requiring much fanning (to my way of thinking.
Nice machine - MacBeast, I call it - but with these persistent, though sporadic issues.

That 10.7.x is Lion, not 10.8.2 ML but that is minor probably.
What about strip your beast down to bare tacs hardware adn clean system and resetting SMC?
I would not be surprised BT wireless problem as well.

Problems with EFI Firmware Update to 1.5 for mid 2010 Mac Pro, and sleep issues

Hello to the community, I have run into an annoying issue.
I need to update the EFI firmware on my 8 core mid-2010 Mac Pro. I downloaded the EFI update from the apple website from here : http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1321
But everytime I download it, as I click to install, it gives me the message:
Alert
This software is not supported on your system.
But clearly this is the correct EFI for my computer. I tried burning the Firmware restoration onto a CD from here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1320
But the computer did not respond the way it said it should (with the 3 flashes/beeps etc.) and have the optical drive open for the CD.
So I'm completely stuck.
*Also my Mac Pro had issues with sleep, when I put it to sleep, sometimes when I try to bring it back, it restarts itself, and other times, it just turns itself on and the monitor screen remains black, so I have to hit the power button to turn it off then back on again. This only happnens when the computer has been put to sleep for a slightly extended period of time, roughly 20mins +, sometimes longer. I was trying to solve this problem by first updating the firmware because I think it could be related to that, but I've had this problem with the firmware so I couldn't find out. This is actually the bigger problem for me because it will affect my work. I am currently using an iMac while I fix up this mac pro.
I'm a music composer so I've upgraded many aspects of my system due to work. I have a 1TB Samsung 840 evo SSD, 2 seagate 2 TB HDD, and 1 WD 1TB HD (the original one in the mac pro), along with 32 GB of RAM. So my only problems are the firmaware and the weird activity when the computer is put to sleep.
Some help would be greatly appreciated!
I'm running OS X Mavericks 10.9.2
mid-2010 Mac Pro
8 core processor (2 X 2.4gHz)

According to this article, your EFI firmware is up to date:
Computer
Model identifier
EFI Boot ROM version
SMC version
Mac Pro
Mac Pro (Late 2013)
MacPro6,1
MP61.0116.B04 (EFI 2.0)
2.20f18 (SMC 2.0)
Mac Pro (Mid 2010)
MacPro5,1
MP51.007F.B03 (EFI 1.5)
Mac Pro (Early 2009)
MacPro4,1
MP41.0081.B07 (EFI 1.4)
Mac Pro (Early 2008)
MacPro3,1
MP31.006C.B05 (EFI 1.3)
Mac Pro (8-core)
MacPro2,1
MP21.007F.B06 (EFI 1.2)
1.15f3 (SMC 1.1)
Mac Pro (Original)
MacPro1,1
MP11.005C.B08 (EFI 1.2)
1.7f10 (SMC 1.1)
EFI and SMC firmware updates for Intel-based Macs

10.7.3 USB Lockup on mid-2010 Mac Pro

Hello,
I updated my mid-2010 Mac Pro to update 10.7.3 this morning. Since then, I have had three occasions today, each one worse than the previous, where all USB devices connected just locked up completely and were totally unresponsive.
This includes my keyboard, mouse, and video camera. Those are the only devices that are connected to this computer.
One at a time I have tried disconnecting and reconnecting each device with no success. Interestingly on a couple of occasions, my keyboard would stop working but the mouse daisy chained out of the keyboard worked without any issues.
The most recent incident absolutely everything locked up and the only option I had was to do a hard reset of the computer. When I logged back in I quickly enabled the Bluetooth support and grabbed my wireless keyboard and mouse so that I can work.
Has anyone else encountered this yet? I know there aren't that many Mac Pro users any more.
In the meantime, Time Machine is performing a full backup and I think I will downgrade back to 10.7.2.
I wish I could go back to 10.6.8 but since this Mac Pro shipped with 10.7.2, it will not accept an earlier version of OS X. :-(

Wow, Same issue here on my Early 2008 Mac Pro. After 10.7.3 update, my USB ports have been behaving erratically. The problem actually seems to be getting progressively worse too.
From what Ive gathered so fat, it seems almost as if the ports are now underpowered. Plugging a keyboard directly into the USB port seems to work indefinitely. As soon as I add other devices to same port, the new device won't work.
My first assumption was that my USB hub was shot, but then I tried the ports on the back of my Cinema Display and they were all jacked up too.
I tried plugging another keyboard directly into the front USB port but That didn't work either, as it seems there was no power for it due to the other devices plugged into the back. I unplugged everything but the front keyboard and it still didn't work until I restarted it.
Extremely hard to troubleshoot how this issue is behaving. Like I said, erratic is probably best description.
This is the worst bug I've personally experienced after an update to an OS since I've been using Macs on System 7.
I really hope Apple fixes this ASAP.

Has anyone tried a 4GB HDD in a Mid 2010 Mac Pro?

Has anyone tried a 4GB HDD in a Mid 2010 Mac Pro? I've read that you could go as high as 3GB with no problems although not supported. With the prices of HDD's dropping, I'd like to add more storage to my system, either internally of externally, but I'd like to get a couple of 4GB drives, and was wondering if anyone has used that combination with a Mid 2010 Mac Pro 8 core.

Drives as large as 16TB are directly supported in Mac OS X and behave well when formatted with GUID partition Table -- the default after 10.4.4.
There is a Bug in the Erase function in Disk Utility from 10.8.4, that is unresolved at this writing. Drives over 2.2TB, once erased with this software as an Internal Drive, the drive cannot be further partitioned or erased by that same software. A fix in 10.9.3 or later is anticipated, but not guaranteed. Older versions work fine. External enclosures with Large Drive support work fine.
Western Digital in particular (and others may soon follow) has also shortened the depth of the mounting holes on certain large drives -- the holes adjacent to the platters -- to allow for the addition of an extra platter on certain large drives. A washer may be required to reduce the effective length the drive mounting screw penetrates into the drive.

Mavericks on mid 2010 MAC Pro really slow. Can I do anything to speed it up?

Mavericks OS X 10.9.2 on mid 2010 MAC Pro really slow. Can I do anything to speed it up?

do a clean install and re-install needed apps, lots of posts where in place upgrades are slow for unknown reasons

Mac Pro Graphics Cards

I am using an early Mac Pro 3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon with an NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT Graphics Card. I am thinking of upgrading my monitor to a 24" model with high resolution.
Can anyone give me advice on whether I need, or could benefit from, a new Graphics Card?
Any advice would be most appreciated.
YAGOM

The NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT graphics card has one dual-link DVI port that can handle a display up to 2560 x 1600, and one single-link DVI port that can handle up to 1920 x 1200, so unless you need more graphics speed, such as for games, you don't need a new graphics card.
Note: there is currently no way to use the new Apple 24" LED display with any Mac Pro graphics card.

Questions about Mid-2010 Mac Pro graphics card upgrades

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for