I would rebuild your ten year old Mac Pro 1,1 (2006). It's not too difficult and will survive even longer if you do, under load conditions. It's a rock solid Mac that will run non-high performance apps in El Cap with some modest upgrades. It would be better if you had OS X 10.10.5 Yosemite, as the latest OS X version will not be as. Make Offer - Apple 2008 Mac Pro 3,1 (2x Quad-Core Xeon 2.8 GHz) with El Capitan - DDA4 Apple iMac 24' Early 2009 C2D 2.66GHz 2GB 640GB HDD OS X 10.11 El Capitan $110.00.
- Best Gpus For Mac Pro 1.1 Yosemitee 10 10 5
- Best Gpus For Mac Pro 1.1 Yosemite 2017
- Best Graphics Card For Mac Pro 1 1
Feb 04, 2016 Get a 2009 Mac Pro 4,1 or later, for better processors, faster busses, faster PCIe slots, and better memory. The silver tower mac Pro has 75W available from each slot, and two 75W 6-pin aux connectors total. Many gamers are buying PCs that are way cheaper than the server-class Mac Pro silver tower with error-correcting memory. I want to upgrade my Mac Pro 2,1 to El Capitan. If I go for an HD 5770 gpu does it have to be a Mac specific card. Are there any other compatible GPUs. Nov 10, 2016 I explain and demonstrate how I use one EFI flashed GPU and one PC GPU to maintain full functionality of my Mac Pro. NOTE: I just discovered a way where you can boot into an older OS without.
The tables below list the OpenCL and OpenGL versions that Mac computers support.
Each GPU's hardware capabilities determine the version of OpenCL or OpenGL that's supported. Some GPUs don't support OpenCL and are noted with —. Some applications might have specific version requirements.
iMac
Model | GPU | OpenGL | OpenCL |
---|---|---|---|
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019) | Radeon Pro 570X Radeon Pro 575X Radeon Pro 580X Radeon Pro Vega 48 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019) | Radeon Pro 555X Radeon Pro 560X Radeon Pro Vega 20 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017) | Radeon Pro 570 Radeon Pro 575 Radeon Pro 580 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017) | Radeon Pro 555 Radeon Pro 560 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (21.5-inch, 2017) | Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015) | AMD Radeon R9 M380 AMD Radeon R9 M390 AMD Radeon R9 M395 AMD Radeon R9 M395X | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015) | Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2015) | Intel HD Graphics 6000 Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Mid 2015) | AMD Radeon R9 M290 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014) | AMD M290 AMD M295 AMD Radeon R9 M290 AMD Radeon R9 M295X | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2014) | Intel HD 5000 Graphics | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) | NVIDIA Geforce GT 755M NVIDIA Geforce GTX 775M NVIDIA Geforce GTX 780M | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013) | NVIDIA Geforce GT 750M Intel Iris Pro | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (21-inch, Early 2013) | Intel HD Graphics 4000 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (27-inch, Late 2012 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660MX NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX NVIDIA GeForce GT 680M | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (21-inch, Late 2012) | NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (21-inch, Late 2011) | ATI Radeon HD 6750M | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) | ATI Radeon HD 6770M ATI Radeon HD 6970M | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (21-inch, Mid 2011) | ATI Radeon HD 6750M ATI Radeon HD 6770M | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010) | ATI Radeon HD 5670 ATI Radeon HD 5750 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
iMac (21-inch, Mid 2010) | ATI Radeon HD 4670 ATI Radeon HD 5670 | 3.3 | 1.0 |
iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) | ATI Radeon HD 4670 ATI Radeon HD 4850 | 3.3 | 1.0 |
iMac (21-inch, Late 2009) | NVIDIA GeForce 9400M ATI Radeon HD 4670 | 3.3 | 1.0 |
iMac (20-inch, Late 2009) | NVIDIA GeForce 9400M | 3.3 | 1.0 |
iMac (24-inch, Early 2009) | NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 NVIDIA GeForce 9400M | 3.3 | 1.0 |
iMac (20-inch, Early 2009) | NVIDIA GeForce 9400M | 3.3 | 1.0 |
iMac (Early 2009) | ATI Radeon HD 4850 | 3.3 | 1.0 |
iMac (24-inch, Early 2008) | NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS | 3.3 | 1.0 |
iMac (20-inch, Early 2008) | ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro | 3.3 | -- |
iMac (24-inch, Mid 2007) | ATI Radeon HD 2400 ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro | 3.3 | -- |
iMac (20-inch, Mid 2007) | ATI Radeon HD 2400 ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro | 3.3 | -- |
iMac Pro
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![Pro Pro](/uploads/1/2/6/6/126601798/756714047.png)
Model | GPU | OpenGL | OpenCL |
---|---|---|---|
iMac Pro (2017) | Radeon Pro Vega 56 Radeon Pro Vega 64 Radeon Pro Vega 64X | 4.1 | 1.2 |
Mac mini
Model | GPU | OpenGL | OpenCL |
---|---|---|---|
Mac mini (2018) | Intel UHD Graphics 630 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
Mac mini (Late 2014) | Intel Iris Graphics Intel HD 5000 Graphics | 4.1 | 1.2 |
Mac mini (Mid 2012) | Intel HD 4000 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
Mac mini (Mid 2011) | Intel HD 3000 | 3.3 | -- |
Mac mini (Mid 2011) | AMD Radeon HD 6630 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
Mac mini (Early 2010) | NVIDIA GeForce 9400M | 3.3 | 1.0 |
Mac mini (Early 2009) | NVIDIA GeForce 9400M | 3.3 | 1.0 |
Mac Pro
Model | GPU | OpenGL | OpenCL |
---|---|---|---|
Mac Pro (2019) | Radeon Pro 580X MPX Module Radeon Pro Vega II MPX Module Radeon Pro Vega II Duo MPX Module | 4.1 | 1.2 |
Mac Pro (Late 2013) | AMD FirePro D300 AMD FirePro D500 AMD FirePro D700 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
Mac Pro (Mid 2012) | ATI Radeon HD 5770 ATI Radeon HD 5870 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
Mac Pro (Mid 2010) | ATI Radeon HD 5770 ATI Radeon HD 5870 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
Mac Pro (Early 2009) | NVIDIA Geforce GTX 285 NVIDIA Geforce Quadro FX 4800 NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 ATI Radeon HD 4870 | 3.3 | 1.0 |
Mac Pro (Early 2008) | NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT | 3.3 | 1.0 |
MacBook Pro
Model | GPU | OpenGL | OpenCL |
---|---|---|---|
MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) | Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (15-inch) | Intel UHD Graphics 630 Radeon Pro 555X with 4GB GDDR5 memory Radeon Pro 560X with 4GB GDDR5 memory Radeon Pro Vega 16 with 4GB HBM2 memory Radeon Pro Vega 20 with 4GB HBM2 memory | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) | Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018) | Intel UHD Graphics 630 Radeon Pro 555X with 4GB GDDR5 memory Radeon Pro 560X with 4GB GDDR5 memory Radeon Pro Vega 16 with 4GB HBM2 memory Radeon Pro Vega 20 with 4GB HBM2 memory | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) | Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017) | Intel HD Graphics 630 Radeon Pro 555 2GB VRAM Radeon Pro 560 4GB VRAM | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) | Intel Iris Plus Graphics 650 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) | Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016) | Intel HD Graphics 530 Radeon Pro 450 2GB VRAM Radeon Pro 455 2GB VRAM Radeon Pro 460 4GB VRAM | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) | Intel Iris Graphics 550 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) | Intel Iris Graphics 540 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) | Intel Iris Pro 5200 AMD Radeon R9 M370X | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) | Intel Iris Graphics 6100 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) | Intel Iris Pro Graphics NVIDIA Geforce GT 750M | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014) | Intel Iris Graphics | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013) | Intel Iris Pro Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013) | Intel Iris Graphics | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013) | NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2012) | NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012) | Intel HD Graphics 4000 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2011) | ATI Radeon HD 6770M | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011) | ATI Radeon HD 6750M ATI Radeon HD 6770M | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011) | Intel HD Graphics 3000 | 3.3 | -- |
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011) | ATI Radeon HD 6750M | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011) | ATI Radeon HD 6490M ATI Radeon HD 6750M | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011) | Intel HD Graphics 3000 | 3.3 | -- |
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010) | NVIDIA Geforce GT 330M | 3.3 | 1.0 |
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010) | NVIDIA Geforce GT 330M | 3.3 | 1.0 |
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010) | NVIDIA Geforce GT 320M | 3.3 | 1.0 |
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009) | NVIDIA GeForce 9400M | 3.3 | 1.0 |
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2008) | NVIDIA GeForce 9400M NVIDIA GeForce 9600M | 3.3 | 1.0 |
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008) | NVIDIA GeForce 9400M NVIDIA GeForce 9600M | 3.3 | 1.0 |
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2008) | NVIDIA Geforce 8600 | 3.3 | 1.0 |
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2008) | NVIDIA Geforce 8600 | 3.3 | 1.0 |
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2007) | NVIDIA Geforce 8600 | 3.3 | 1.0 |
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2007) | NVIDIA Geforce 8600 | 3.3 | 1.0 |
MacBook
Model | GPU | OpenGL | OpenCL |
---|---|---|---|
MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, 2017) | Intel HD Graphics 615 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2016) | Intel HD Graphics 515 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015) | Intel HD Graphics 5300 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook (Mid 2010) | NVIDIA GeForce 320M | 3.3 | 1.0 |
MacBook (Early 2009) | NVIDIA GeForce 9400M | 3.3 | 1.0 |
MacBook Air
Model | GPU | OpenGL | OpenCL |
---|---|---|---|
MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2019) | Intel UHD Graphics 617 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018) | Intel UHD Graphics 617 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Air (13-inch, 2016) | Intel HD Graphics 6000 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015) | Intel HD Graphics 6000 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2015) | Intel HD Graphics 6000 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013) | Intel HD Graphics 5000 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2013) | Intel HD Graphics 5000 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Air (Mid 2012) | Intel HD Graphics 4000 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
MacBook Air (Mid 2011) | Intel HD Graphics 3000 | 3.3 | -- |
MacBook Air (Late 2010) | NVIDIA GeForce 320M | 3.3 | 1.0 |
MacBook Air (Mid 2009) | NVIDIA GeForce 9400M | 3.3 | 1.0 |
Community member Julius Chan has sent us this handy guide to getting a 2006 Mac Pro to run the lastest Mac OS X Yosemite.
Here is his helpful guide.
Disclaimer
First of all, all of the below are regarded as hacks. If you end up with bricked Mac Pro, then it’s your own silly fault. None of this stuff is qualified. You’re building what I refer to as a “Frankenmac”.
History
Part of my day job is building Pro Tools rigs for high-end customers. They can afford the best, so I get to tinker with the latest Avid qualified hardware and software available: “iAshtray” Mac Pros, tank-like rack mounted Sonnet chassis, HDX or HD Native cards etc. All fully qualified, just the way I like it.
This is all jolly nice for my clients, but my own personal 2006 Mac Pro 1,1 with a Cinema display (purchased from a friend for a pittance) sits there languishing quite a few operating systems behind on OSX Lion 10.7.5 running Pro Tools 10.3.10 HD. Bugger…
I’d read that some very clever folk had managed to persuade an old Mac Pro to run Mountain Lion and then Mavericks, and searching the Interwebs, I did indeed find a number of solutions that seemed to require entering a lot of commands in Terminal, creating boot partitions and generally patting your head and chewing gum at the same time. So I decided to wait a wee while until I found a more elegant solution. The wait seems to have been worth it, as I now have my poor old machine running on OSX Yosemite 10.10.2 and Pro Tools 11.3.1
The main restriction for a 2006/7 Mac Pro is that it was designed to boot into a 32-bit environment, even though a lot of the internal hardware was 64-bit capable. The clever bunnies out there in the Wild World Webby, have managed to fool a Ye Olde Mac Pro to run in 64 bit EFI.
Things that you will need:
- A Mac Pro 1,1 or 2,1 Cheese grater desktop with OSX Lion 10.7.5 system drive
- 8GB USB drive
- A graphics card better than a GT120, I used a Radeon HD 5770, original mac version with its appropriate power cable. There are flashed PC cards out there, but they won’t display a boot screen. I like a boot screen, so I purchased a proper Apple card (2nd hand)
- We are sorry but the pre patched version of OSX Yosemite 10.10 is no longer available. It would appear that Apple have asked for it to be taken down.
- Either boot.efi file downloadable here. Black is a white Apple on a black background and Grey is the traditional Apple boot screen:
- Black: Sorry no longer available
- Grey: Sorry no longer available
- I chose the black screen as I dual boot into OSX Lion 10.8.5 or Yosemite 10.10.2. The black screen tells me instantly that I’m booting into Yosemite.
- A spare hard drive, mechanical or SSD for the new system drive. You could partition your old Lion drive, but I prefer to build on drive that’s minty fresh. If I stuff anything up, I can always boot back to my untouched Lion system drive. Contingency plan…
- A download of Yosemite 10.10.1 or 10.10.2 Combo updaters http://support.apple.com/kb/dl1786?locale=en_US
- A download of Diskmaker X http://liondiskmaker.com/
All of the above cost me around $200 US, I had a spare 1TB 7200 rpm SATA drive, USB drives are cheap and seem to breed like rabbits. They also seem to disappear down the black hole that guitar picks, iLok 2 lids and single socks end up.
Preparation
I’m going to assume that you’re booting from your old Lion system drive, so go ahead and download all the bits and bobs from the links above. Depending on your internet speed, this may take some time, so make a nice pot of tea. If you’re in Australia, as I am, you have plenty of time to make a nice batch of scones with jam and cream, thanks to our advanced network infrastructure.
Once you’ve finished downloading, place the files somewhere safe, it could be on a USB drive etc
I popped the files on one of my media drives temporarily so I could access them from my old system drive or my new system drive. (yet to be created, mwahhahaha)
Hardware Installation
Open up your Mac Pro, take the nasty GT120 graphics card out and pop in the ATI Radeon 5770. This card takes its power from the motherboard, so make sure you’ve got the correct power cable.
Best Gpus For Mac Pro 1.1 Yosemitee 10 10 5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUh0uvUHn68
Install your new system drive, but leave the Lion drive in for the moment. I usually put new, unformatted drives in bay 4… Just so I know…
Reboot your rig into OSX Lion and make sure the new graphics card is AOK. You could format your new system drive at this stage as well. Call it something like “Yosemite HD” or “Kevin” if you wish.
Double and triple check that you’re formatting the correct drive… (Doh) Bay 4, remember??
Software Installation
Open up Lion Diskmaker X and follow the instructions to create a bootable USB “special” Yosemite installer from the big Yosemite image you download before. This is the patched version of Yosemite.
Don’t install the Apple App store version as this does not have ze patch…
This can take some time, so be patient and do something useful for the planet, like knitting a vest for our wee penguins on Phillip Island.
- Install Yosemite from USB drive to your new “Yosemite HD” system drive. Bay 4, remember?? Hold down the Mac option key to choose your boot drive after start up chime.
- Install the boot.efi patch, I used the black version. Restart the mac, hold down the mac option key to choose your boot drive after start up chime You should now be able to boot into either OSX Lion or Yosemite 10.10 flat. Woo Hoo!
- Install either OSX 10.10.1 or 10.10.2 Combo updater
You’re done. I then optimise OSX Yosemite for Pro Tools, turning off mission control, notifications, silly kitten desktop pictures etc.
More Hardware Options
This not a job for the faint-hearted, but it’s still pretty easy to do if you like to get your hands dirty.
I replaced the old processors (dual cores) with SLAED Xeon 5355’s. EBay again, cost $80 US each.
This mod doubles the amount of processor cores giving a significant speed bump.
Videos here:
Conclusion
I now have the choice to boot into OSX Lion 10.7.5 with PT10.3.10 HD OR boot into OSX Yosemite 10.10.2 with PT11.3.1. As an added bonus, my processor cores have gone from 4 to 8 at 3GHz.The new graphics card no longer struggles like the old GT120 did.
Both the software and hardware changes, including the processor upgrades were done comfortably in an afternoon. Download times were about 7 days with our advanced Australian Internet speeds.
The main reason why I wanted PT11.x running was for the video engine and faster than real-time bounce as I have recently completed a filum project that required a whole bunch of stems.
I used PT10HD for the editing and mixing, then bumped over to PT11.3.1 for stem creation.
Next thing to do for the ye olde Mac is to find some more RAM and change the Yosemite system drive to an SSD. It seems that I should be able to get quite a few more years of life from a machine that officially could not run a 64 bit OS or applications. For a machine from 2006, this is pretty cool and I’ve managed to spend under $400 US to achieve it.
Best Gpus For Mac Pro 1.1 Yosemite 2017
Thanks
Best Graphics Card For Mac Pro 1 1
Don’t forget to offer up some shekels for the shareware products.