-
Need to replace my video card ASAP.
Hi. Haven’t been here in a long while. I’m looking for advice on upgrading my video card that will work with my fcp X system. I have a Mac Pro 3.1 early 2008. In 2012 I replaced the original graphics card with ATI Radeon HD 5770. Now after 4 years, the new card has failed so I’m looking for a replacement.. After much research, I am down to 3 possibilities. I know my machine is an old one but I am not in the market for buying the newest latest greatest. Are there any experienced video editors here that can offer their opinions on these? The first is the cheapest but functional option NVIDIA quadro fx 4800. The other 2 are hacked higher end video cards from macvideocards.com and come highly rated and recommended but are a bit pricier. I may or may not get a new system in a few years, but for now I’d like the option to continue editing on fcp X and start working with more 4K video on my own system rather than renting or borrowing. What I like about the hacked cards is they appear to be faster for rendering and output as well as working with 3D titles(based on the reviews I’ve read). Anyone here have an opinion or advice? Thanks in advance!
Here are the links.
https://www.amazon.com/PNY-DisplayPort-Profesional-Graphics-VCQFX4800MACX16-PB/dp/B0028N6YHU
https://www.macvidcards.com/store/p49/Nvidia_GTX_980_Ti_6_GB.html
4gb model of this one https://www.macvidcards.com/store/p78/Nvidia_GTX_960_2_GB_and_4_GB.html
MAC: 2 x 2.8 Quad Core Intel Xeon
Memory: 8GB 800 MHZ DDR2 FB-DIMM
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB
OS: Mac OS X 10.11.6 -
8 Replies
-
You might want to consider the ATI Radeon HD 5870 Mac Edition. It is original Apple equipment and it’s 2x as fast as your Radeon HD 5770 that it would be replacing. I have one in my 2008 Mac Pro and it works great with FCP X.
I also have a Sapphire HD 7950 Mac Edition in my 2010 Mac Pro but it is twice the price but not twice the performance so I would stick with the Radeon HD 5870 as the best price performer. The Sapphire HD 7950 does have 3GB of memory and is slightly faster but like I said, the price is very steep for what you get.
The NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 will probably be a lot slower than the 5770 you now have. You will be disappointed. It’s more in line with the GeForce GTX 280. No where near the powerful GTX 980 in your other link. I personally, would not get the hacked NVIDIA cards and stick with the original cards offered by Apple but that’s just me.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasstsoftware.com -
Thank you John. I will look at the Radeon as well. I was leaning toward the GTX 980 but I’m concerned about its stability with my setup. I have an ssd drive which should handle it ok. I just did not want to find myself needing another one before I’m ready to upgrade my system entirely.
MAC: 2 x 2.8 Quad Core Intel Xeon
Memory: 8GB 800 MHZ DDR2 FB-DIMM
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB
OS: Mac OS X 10.11.6 -
[Jacqueline Nauman] “I was leaning toward the GTX 980 but I’m concerned about its stability with my setup. “
This is why I stick with the cards that Apple originally offered. The Apple developers are testing with Apple hardware. If you add other hardware you might not get the same stability and performance.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasstsoftware.com -
[Jacqueline Nauman] “MAC: 2 x 2.8 Quad Core Intel Xeon
Memory: 8GB 800 MHZ DDR2 FB-DIMM
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB
OS: Mac OS X 10.11.6”I would also highly recommend adding RAM if you can. 8GB, even with an SSD, will slow you down a fair bit.
Doug Metz
Anode
-
Ok. Good info. I believe I have room for another 8gb of ram. Regarding the Radeon HD 5870, how does it hold up with 4K and long formats using fcpx? Some of the other cards I’ve looked at have complaints of timeline lags.
MAC: 2 x 2.8 Quad Core Intel Xeon
Memory: 8GB 800 MHZ DDR2 FB-DIMM
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB
OS: Mac OS X 10.11.6 -
[Jacqueline Nauman] “I believe I have room for another 8gb of ram.”
Yea, I have 16GB of RAM in my 2008 Mac Pro. The extra RAM does make a difference.
[Jacqueline Nauman] “Regarding the Radeon HD 5870, how does it hold up with 4K and long formats using fcpx? Some of the other cards I’ve looked at have complaints of timeline lags.”
I’m not editing 4K so I can’t give you first hand experience but the Radeon HD 5870 only has 1GB of VRAM and I believe 3GB is suggested to work with 4K so it might not perform as well as a newer card with more video memory.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasstsoftware.com -
Doh! I think I knew that. Getting overwhelmed with all the specs requirements. Thanks again!
MAC: 2 x 2.8 Quad Core Intel Xeon
Memory: 8GB 800 MHZ DDR2 FB-DIMM
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB
OS: Mac OS X 10.11.6 -
For what it’s worth. I have a 2009 Mac Pro. I got the MacVidCard 980Ti flashed for Mac. Bruce X test
in FCP X in about 25 seconds. More info on my blog at the following postshttps://alaskacameradude.blogspot.com/2015/07/macgyver-pro-upgrade.html
https://alaskacameradude.blogspot.com/2015/09/gpupgrade.html
https://alaskacameradude.blogspot.com/2016/07/macpro-upgrade-3.htmlAny questions, I’m happy to answer. Also I highly recommend the following Facebook
group for getting info on upgrading old ‘cheese grater’ Mac Pro’s:https://www.facebook.com/groups/Mac.Pro.Upgrade/
Gabe Strong
G-Force Productions
http://www.gforcevideo.com
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up