Customer Reviews

Mac Pro ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB Video Card

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I went from using the Standard Nvidea 7300GT to this ATI Radeon X1900XT in my 2007 Mac Pro. Right away you can see improvements. Firstly, if you want to run two 30 inch monitors, problem solved. If you have Star Craft II (as I do) and want to put the graphical settings from Low, to Medium or High, this card will do it. And while at first I thought it wasn't a bit deal, I actually played the game again when the cut scene's had better visuals, and the backgrounds during game play moved, and everyone had their own unique deaths. I have also noticed improvements when scrolling through iphoto or lightroom, as the pictures that seem fuzzy when you quickly scan through or expand them, instantly update themselves. The card was very easy to install, you plug it in, and then plug in a little pin connector that is right next to it. At first I noticed the fan noise, as I went from no fan noise to a some noise. But, since that initial 10 seconds, I haven't heard it since. The fan keeps the card cool and runs at a very low constant, rather than a super high power, then off, then super high power, then off.

This video card is the one that shipped with my Mac Pro. It was really good 5 years ago. If you do a search, you'll see that this video card has a tendency to fail. Most people had to replace it within the first 2 years. I was lucky and it lasted 5 (hence the 2 stars). Other than that, it never was a great performer and now has completely crapped out on me. It is noisy and tends to get clogged up with dust very easily. This plugs up the heatsink and overheats the GPU. In order to completely clear out the dust, you have to completely take apart the card's plastic housing to the point where you've exposed the GPU. This means you must work in a static-free manner. A lot of upkeep for a video card (and probably why I was able to keep it alive this long)

If you're in the market to get a new video card, get the MC742ZM/A (http://www.amazon.com/Apple-ATI-Radeon-5770-MC742ZM/dp/B003Z6QH6M) instead. It's a little cheaper and has 1 gb of VRAM.

The service was perfect. I even was able to talk with the owner who made sure I could use the item with my computer.
Shiping and handling was excellent
Thank you