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I'm having a heck of a time trying to help a friend with a Mac Pro so I've come here for some assistance!
I'm dealing with a 2006 Mac Pro with the 2X 2.66GHz Xeon Processors, 2GB DDR2, 250GB HDD, and a Nvidia 7300.
It was brought to me with the problem being that when booting the system would usually make all the appropriate noises but not make it to the login screen, and eventually just end up with a seriously strobing screen going on. I cleaned a mess of dust out of it and I've gotten it to occasionally hit the login screen but there are artifacts or pixelizations on the screen. I can move the cursor to the password box but never actually type anything and it would either revert to the 'panic as the disco' flashing screen mode or just taunt me with a spinning rainbow.
At this point I'm leaning towards a failing video card but I figure what the heck I'll try to reinstall the OS clean and see what happens.
I've got OS X 10.4.7 install disks so I started with those. The installation appears to have been a success (at least it tells me that things went smoothly), the system restarts, and I'm no better than I was to begin with, again leading me to believe that I'm dealing with a video card that has been fried.
Since it looks like I'll need to replace the video card anyway I'd like to go to an updated one and upgrade the OS at the same time if possible. It looks like getting 10.8 to run happily is more trouble than it's worth for what I need so I'm leaning towards 10.7. I'm seeing that 10.7 supports most ATI 5XXX and 6XXX cards to begin with so I'm thinking a 5770 would fit the bill if I can still find one. Would trying to use a PC 5770 to save on costs be worthwhile here? And then what do I need to get a card that needs a 6 pin connector its juice?
If I install a 5770 will I then be able to boot from 10.7 install media and have everything work? I tried a handful of video cards I have laying around and none of them would even give me anything on the display, and I don't think 10.4.7 will support a 5770. Or am I going to need to find some sort of intermidiate card to get an install of 10.4.7 going long enough to update it to 10.6 so I have the support for the 5770, then install the card, then jump to 10.7? I'd really appreciate any information you could provide because I'm pretty darn technical but I don't have much Mac time.
Thanks!
Edit -
I'm still going round and round on this one in my head but I guess what I really need to know is this - if I purchase the Apple 5770 and install it into this Mac Pro in place of the 7300 would I then be able to boot from 10.7 install media and install Lion correctly?
I'm dealing with a 2006 Mac Pro with the 2X 2.66GHz Xeon Processors, 2GB DDR2, 250GB HDD, and a Nvidia 7300.
It was brought to me with the problem being that when booting the system would usually make all the appropriate noises but not make it to the login screen, and eventually just end up with a seriously strobing screen going on. I cleaned a mess of dust out of it and I've gotten it to occasionally hit the login screen but there are artifacts or pixelizations on the screen. I can move the cursor to the password box but never actually type anything and it would either revert to the 'panic as the disco' flashing screen mode or just taunt me with a spinning rainbow.
At this point I'm leaning towards a failing video card but I figure what the heck I'll try to reinstall the OS clean and see what happens.
I've got OS X 10.4.7 install disks so I started with those. The installation appears to have been a success (at least it tells me that things went smoothly), the system restarts, and I'm no better than I was to begin with, again leading me to believe that I'm dealing with a video card that has been fried.
Since it looks like I'll need to replace the video card anyway I'd like to go to an updated one and upgrade the OS at the same time if possible. It looks like getting 10.8 to run happily is more trouble than it's worth for what I need so I'm leaning towards 10.7. I'm seeing that 10.7 supports most ATI 5XXX and 6XXX cards to begin with so I'm thinking a 5770 would fit the bill if I can still find one. Would trying to use a PC 5770 to save on costs be worthwhile here? And then what do I need to get a card that needs a 6 pin connector its juice?
If I install a 5770 will I then be able to boot from 10.7 install media and have everything work? I tried a handful of video cards I have laying around and none of them would even give me anything on the display, and I don't think 10.4.7 will support a 5770. Or am I going to need to find some sort of intermidiate card to get an install of 10.4.7 going long enough to update it to 10.6 so I have the support for the 5770, then install the card, then jump to 10.7? I'd really appreciate any information you could provide because I'm pretty darn technical but I don't have much Mac time.
Thanks!
Edit -
I'm still going round and round on this one in my head but I guess what I really need to know is this - if I purchase the Apple 5770 and install it into this Mac Pro in place of the 7300 would I then be able to boot from 10.7 install media and install Lion correctly?