CyBrian Posted December 29, 2010 Share Posted December 29, 2010 So, I have a 2009 Nehalem Mac Pro. (Quad core 2.66 GHz with hyper threading). It's got the stock GeForce GT 120, which isn't all that good by any means. What would I need to do for a graphics card that I buy from, say, Newegg to work on here? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/241178-non-apple-graphics-cards-in-real-mac-pro/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacUser2525 Posted December 29, 2010 Share Posted December 29, 2010 So, I have a 2009 Nehalem Mac Pro. (Quad core 2.66 GHz with hyper threading). It's got the stock GeForce GT 120, which isn't all that good by any means. What would I need to do for a graphics card that I buy from, say, Newegg to work on here? You need a card that supports flashing with the Apple rom for it to work in it, you may want to look at netkas.org and macrumors.com they have several threads there on doing just this with the models they have had success with. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/241178-non-apple-graphics-cards-in-real-mac-pro/#findComment-1611181 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huckleberry Pie Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 You need a card that supports flashing with the Apple rom for it to work in it, you may want to look at netkas.org and macrumors.com they have several threads there on doing just this with the models they have had success with. So this means that the only crucial difference between an Nvidia card for beige-boxes and for Macs lie in the ROM/BIOS file for it? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/241178-non-apple-graphics-cards-in-real-mac-pro/#findComment-1611273 Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacUser2525 Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 So this means that the only crucial difference between an Nvidia card for beige-boxes and for Macs lie in the ROM/BIOS file for it? Yes that is pretty much it and the non-standard PCI-e 6 pin power connector on the Apple Cards if I remember it correctly you need adaptor cable for the connections on the logic board. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/241178-non-apple-graphics-cards-in-real-mac-pro/#findComment-1611637 Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyBrian Posted December 30, 2010 Author Share Posted December 30, 2010 Yes that is pretty much it and the non-standard PCI-e 6 pin power connector on the Apple Cards if I remember it correctly you need adaptor cable for the connections on the logic board. I'm pretty sure that Apple cards use a standard PCI-e connection, you just need pigtails that go to a smaller, separate connection on the motherboard. I bought a couple on eBay for like $5, though. I can't say for sure if the official cards do, though, because the GT 120 doesn't need any extra power. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/241178-non-apple-graphics-cards-in-real-mac-pro/#findComment-1611770 Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacUser2525 Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 I'm pretty sure that Apple cards use a standard PCI-e connection, you just need pigtails that go to a smaller, separate connection on the motherboard. I bought a couple on eBay for like $5, though. I can't say for sure if the official cards do, though, because the GT 120 doesn't need any extra power. Well that is a non-standard connection ... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/241178-non-apple-graphics-cards-in-real-mac-pro/#findComment-1611837 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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