Mac Pro Graphics Card

[Shooshie]

I need help, and I need it rather quickly.
My graphic card died in my 2012 Mac Pro; I suspect an electrical storm last night got it before I managed to get it unplugged, or possibly a spike today got it; I don't know. Maybe it was just its time. it IS 4 years old this month.

I don't know what kind of GPU the 2012 Mac Pro uses. Everyone I call wants me to take my computer in and leave it for days. Can't you just get a GPU and put it in? Aren't there various kinds of cards available? Everyone I call acts like they can ONLY sell me the exact GPU that's in it, because they are authorized Apple service centers. What's up with all this?

Has anyone done this? If so, do you know what to get? Where to get it?

Thank,
Shoosh

[Robert Randolph]

Everything you need to know is here:

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/m ... yport.html

[mikehalloran]

Yes, you have plenty of choices.

There are also the PC versions that are flashed by resellers to work with the Mac Pro. You'll find these and system pulls all over ebay by searching for video card Mac Pro

[greg328]

I think I have my original video card from my 3.1 Mac pro in a box- I switched to a different card (5770? I forget..).
Would that be of use to you? Please PM me if you need it.
Greg
Houston

Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk

[Shooshie]

Thanks everyone! I used the same site that Robert posted and found what I needed, then ordered a lightly used one from Amazon. It will be here tomorrow. (Free one day shipping; how does THAT work?)

At this point I'm just hoping that there's not something in the motherboard that caused it to go out. Apple wouldn't look at it; at 4 years old, it's not their baby anymore. The companies they recommended all acted very strange about it, saying they'd have to keep my computer for a few days and test things, and that there was only one video card that would work, and you couldn't get it because they don't make cards that work for Macs, and all sorts of things. It reminded me of the old days when "Macs don't work on the internet," or "you can't read CDs on a Mac," or "they don't make DVD players for Macs," or "IDE hard drives don't work on Macs..." and on and on. I heard every one of those things from stores that sold Macs. One of them was on the list that I called today, and they still act like Macs are made from string and pasta, and nothing works with them. The PC wars die hard, don't they?

So, with a little luck I'll be back in the saddle tomorrow. I had to cancel a session today, and presumably the one tomorrow until I get things working, at least, which is the first time in my life that I ever canceled work because of hardware failure. (I always have backups or other avenues, but not now) Wait... I take that back. I lost a day in the studio in Hollywood back in 1991, because of a key-disk failure for DP. MOTU Fed-Exed me another key disk which was there the next day, but there wasn't a thing we could do about the ones that failed. One had failed a few days before, and the other one failed while booting up for a session. Long time ago, and I vowed right then never to lose another day of work because of some stupid hardware failure. Oh well... I guess I've now broken that vow.

Thanks again to all who responded. It's so nice to have people who know stuff around here.

Shooshie

[mikehalloran]

Used ones abound because the gamers want the highest performance versions and then there are the recyclers.

Don't be surprised if you get a kernal panic the first time you boot after installing the new card—I've even had that happen after upgrading RAM. I've never understood why.

If it happens a second time, there's a problem.

[Shooshie]

Used ones abound because the gamers want the highest performance versions and then there are the recyclers.

Don't be surprised if you get a kernal panic the first time you boot after installing the new card—I've even had that happen after upgrading RAM. I've never understood why.

If it happens a second time, there's a problem.

If that happens, and continues to happen, I'll consider it a sign from the mighty universe that the denizens of Jupiter have been disturbed by that Jovian spacecraft, and that they are dictating from afar that it's time for me to take the bite and get a whole new system. (Jovian Master of the Universe are like that, you know. Always trying to get you to upgrade!)

OS X has been so slow since installing El Capitan, that it's almost unusable for certain things. For example, I have some pinball games that I enjoy, but now there is a lag between hitting the buttons and seeing the flippers move. By the time the flippers react, the ball is long gone, usually down the hole. We'll see.

Shooshie

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I night a new 2013 trash can a while back and apparently LOTS of them had bad graphics cards. Mine was replaced. I was told I only needed to replace the "lower" card and the "upper" card was ok.

This may not apply to you, Shoosh, but I thought it might be worth mentioning.

[rickorick]

My machine is close to yours, it's a 6 core. It uses an ATI Radeon 5870. I think you can find them all over. Look inside to see if you can tell what you have. I know you already ordered one but it can't hurt to look around.

[Phil O]

I'm having some video glitches on my old MacPro 1,1 (2006). Like you, Shoosh, I'm not sure if it's video card or mother board. I saw this:

https://www.usedmac.com/products/apple- ... xeon-28ghz

...and for the money, I just might go for it.

If you find that the video card doesn't solve your problem, they have some 2012 models as well, but a lot more money.

http://www.usedmac.com/products/index.p ... ry&path=39

Don't know how you feel about used. Just a thought.

Phil

[Shooshie]

Thanks again everyone!

I'm back. It was the GPU, and the Radeon 5770 from Amazon did the trick. Sure got here in a hurry. I ordered it less than 24 hours ago, and it got here from California.

If anyone does the same thing, let me clue you into a little trick I figured out: to get the GPU card out, you'll find your way hindered by a metal pole that obviously swings, but seems to be locked into position. It holds the GPU's circuit board in place by way of a hook carved into the board. To get the pole to release, you will find a button on... (give you three guesses)... the fan! Yes, the fan to the left of the GPU has a little white button on the housing. Push it and slide the whole housing to the left. It takes the pole with it, releasing the GPU. It didn't take long to figure out, but better if you know before you get there.

One more thing: if you are having GPU troubles, if you can find your manual, it tells you the model of GPU that you have. That really was all I needed, I guess, but I figured I'd be getting some updated model. Turns out for the 2012 Mac Pro, this is possibly the only model they made for it, and finding one means finding a used one, preferably a "lightly" used one from Amazon. Amazon happened to have one "fulfilled by Amazon," which to me meant expediency and probably good service if I needed to return it. It was in the middle of the price range, probably the $250 range. (I could look it up, but I'm lazy right now)

I think I was lucky; it looked like a graphics problem, and the monitor lit up with another Mac, so it was a good call. However, I'm seeing something that could imply that the GPU went bad for a reason, and the new one may follow suit. I'll post about it in a moment. For now, this problem is resolved.

Shoosh

[Shooshie]

Question for Mike or anyone who knows: while I was vacuuming everything out before putting it all back together, I noticed on the CPU circuit board, below the right-side CPU housing/heat-sink/fan, it appears that some kind of liquid spilled out on the board and dried. I wasn't aware of the heat-sinks being liquid cooled, but that may be the case. I no longer have temperature gauges (those went away with El Capitan, I think, or maybe Yosemite), so I can't tell if its ability to cool has been compromised. Maybe you know a Terminal command for that. But have you seen that before? Any idea what it is? If not liquid coolant, maybe that stuff you put between the CPU and its base. Either way, I can't imagine that it bodes well for the life of the machine. Maybe that has something to do with the spinning wheels I've been getting, and the sluggish response to everything.

It occurs to me that it could be some kind of liquid that I spilled, or possibly a cat sprayed it. (our old male cat went through a period, but I thought we knew all his places and cleaned them up and protected them) At first, I thought it would not be possible for liquid to get into it, since the thing is sealed up so well, but really, the fan blows directly back to the CPU, and its own fan would have directed it internally, at which point it would have dripped out the bottom or back. No telling what it might be. It could have been years ago. But if you've seen it before, it's probably something else.

Shooshie

[mikehalloran]

Heat is the mortal enemy of all such devices. Was the fan working properly? Was the card contaminated by dust? Is the card 4 years old and it was just its time?

Liquid... lubricant from the fan motor, perhaps. An outside contaminant more likely. Probably connected.

[Shooshie]

If the fan wasn't working, I think it would have told me by now. (smell, sound, or maybe just frying my GPU!!!) Best I can tell, everything is working. I'm going to check the net for a terminal command for temp readings and get back to you on that.