I have a "Early 2008" Mac Pro (MacPro3,1) which has a NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT in it (the mid-range choice at the time). Unfortunately, it only has 512 MB of VRAM, and that's getting to be more and more of a restriction. The rest of the computer still meets all my needs (or can be upgraded), so it's time to replace the card.
I am looking for something gaming focused, although I'm not expecting (or looking for) something that can render the latest twitch-based FPS on SuperUltraHigh quality at 120 FPS. I just want something that can handle the "High" quality settings for moderately recent (e.g. 2014) games at a reasonably smooth speed. Example games would include Civ V, The Talos Principle, and Wolfenstein: The New Order (with Bootcamp).
That said, I don't know enough about relative performance of cards to know what a good buy for that would be, or even how to define a requirement. So here's the rest of my requirements:
- Support for the standard Mac boot screens (either natively or via a flashing service)
- Price under $1000. If it needs to be flashed, that needs to be included in the price.
- Support for 2+ monitors. Specific outputs don't matter, although at least one DVI port would be nice. (I'm buying a new monitor at the same time, and can get a adapter as needed for the other.)
- Compatible with the limitations of my computer (PCIe 2.0 x16, 225W max draw)
- Quiet under non-gaming usage (i.e. not significantly louder than the computer's own fans)
- Works under Windows (via Bootcamp) as well.
Nice-to-haves include:
- Price under $500.
- Relatively quiet while gaming (shouldn't be so loud as to be heard in the next room)
- No known compatibility issues with Parallels Desktop
I'm currently considering the GeForce GTX680 Mac Edition, but I don't know if that meets all of my performance or noise requirements. Any support for buying it or alternative recommendations would be appreciated.
