Mac Pro First Generation Gtx 660 Installation Repair Guide

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

12

Time Required

                          2 hours            

Sections

3

• Case
• 2 steps
• GPU (Graphics Card)
• 3 steps
• Graphics Card
• 7 steps

Flags

2

In Progress

This guide is a work in progress. Reload periodically to see the latest changes!

Member-Contributed Guide

An awesome member of our community made this guide. It is not managed by iFixit staff.

• BackMac Pro 2006-2008 (First Generation)

• Full Screen

• Options

• History

• Save to Favorites

• Download PDF

• Edit

• Translate

• Get Shareable Link

• Embed This Guide

• Notify Me of Changes

• Stop Notifications

Introduction

What you need

Step 1

              Case Panel               

• Lift the lever to unlock the case.

Lift the lever to unlock the case.

1024

Step 2

• Remove the side panel of the Mac Pro.
• Discharge any static electricity by touching a grounded surface prior to working on any internal components.

Remove the side panel of the Mac Pro.

Discharge any static electricity by touching a grounded surface prior to working on any internal components.

Step 3

              GPU (Graphics Card)               

• Locate the graphics card in the open panel side of your Mac Pro.

Locate the graphics card in the open panel side of your Mac Pro.

Step 4

• Unscrew the two thumb screws by twisting counterclockwise using your fingers until the slide lock is released.
• Remove the slide lock.

Unscrew the two thumb screws by twisting counterclockwise using your fingers until the slide lock is released.

Remove the slide lock.

Step 5

• Push up on the clip directly behind the graphics card to release it from its slot.
• Slide the graphics card out of the slot using both hands by firmly holding the corners of the top of the card as shown.
• Handle the card only by its edges. Don’t touch any exposed components or connectors.

Push up on the clip directly behind the graphics card to release it from its slot.

Slide the graphics card out of the slot using both hands by firmly holding the corners of the top of the card as shown.

Handle the card only by its edges. Don’t touch any exposed components or connectors.

Step 6

              Unplug Your Machine               

• Unplug your Mac Pro completely (USB Devices, Keyboard and mouse, Monitor, and of course power)

Unplug your Mac Pro completely (USB Devices, Keyboard and mouse, Monitor, and of course power)

Step 7

              Opening the Mac Pro               

• Then open your Mac Pro by releasing the latch on the back of the machine, it should look like the picture, if you have trouble releasing this latch, use as much force as possible, it takes strength to work on this machine.

Then open your Mac Pro by releasing the latch on the back of the machine, it should look like the picture, if you have trouble releasing this latch, use as much force as possible, it takes strength to work on this machine.

Step 8

              What your machine should look like               

• Your Mac Pro should look something like this. If not then look for another guide or use this one as a helper for any 2nd gen Mac Pro’s but the process is very similar for PowerMac G5 machines (minus the software task) sorry for the stock photo

Your Mac Pro should look something like this. If not then look for another guide or use this one as a helper for any 2nd gen Mac Pro’s but the process is very similar for PowerMac G5 machines (minus the software task) sorry for the stock photo

Step 9

              Removing your Current GPU               

• In order to remove your current GPU, look for the PCI Cover located above the GPU to the back
• Remove the two Screws holding the GPU in place
• For Users with current Radeons: Remove the power connector from the board as shown in picture 2, you shouldn’t need the PCI Power Adapter that you bought unless your GPU Uses 2 connectors
• After removing the pci cover and the power connector (Radeon users), go ahead and pull the tab as shown in picture 3 away from your current GPU and lift out your GPU

In order to remove your current GPU, look for the PCI Cover located above the GPU to the back

Remove the two Screws holding the GPU in place

For Users with current Radeons: Remove the power connector from the board as shown in picture 2, you shouldn’t need the PCI Power Adapter that you bought unless your GPU Uses 2 connectors

After removing the pci cover and the power connector (Radeon users), go ahead and pull the tab as shown in picture 3 away from your current GPU and lift out your GPU

Step 10

              Inserting Your New GTX 660               

• Get your GTX 660 and insert it into the first PCI slot (the one your last GPU was in)
• Go ahead and plug in your PCI Power connector into the PCI power outputs on the motherboard
• Then plug the PCI Power Cable into the GPU, you should only need one if you bought the ASUS one

Get your GTX 660 and insert it into the first PCI slot (the one your last GPU was in)

Go ahead and plug in your PCI Power connector into the PCI power outputs on the motherboard

Then plug the PCI Power Cable into the GPU, you should only need one if you bought the ASUS one

Step 11

              Powering the machine on after instalation               

• Plug the machine into power, monitor, keyboard and mouse, leave the machine open just in case.
• Go ahead and press the power button on the front of the machine
• You may see a black screen or a “no signal” message on the monitor due to your graphics card being made for PC, give your mac pro max 5 mins to boot.

Plug the machine into power, monitor, keyboard and mouse, leave the machine open just in case.

Go ahead and press the power button on the front of the machine

You may see a black screen or a “no signal” message on the monitor due to your graphics card being made for PC, give your mac pro max 5 mins to boot.

Step 12

              Installing Graphics Drivers               

• If everything goes well, you should be able to see your login screen, go ahead and login, if you don;t have graphics acceleration, go ahead and download the nVidia web drivers, you can do it through a usb by using another mac or do it through your Mac Pro, it may just be a pain in the butt to use.

If everything goes well, you should be able to see your login screen, go ahead and login, if you don;t have graphics acceleration, go ahead and download the nVidia web drivers, you can do it through a usb by using another mac or do it through your Mac Pro, it may just be a pain in the butt to use.

Your Mac Pro (Running OS X 10.8.5 or above) should be recognizing your new GTX 660, when the PCI Express utility pops up (or open it manually by searching in spotlight “PCI Utility”), make sure to get your GTX 660 to the highest possible speed (8x or 16x), your GTX 660 should be in PCI Slot 1 unless otherwise. If you have an extra card in your PCI Slot(s), try to use the PCI Utility to make both cards run at 8x speeds, but is reccomended to only have the GTX 660 in the PCI bay’s so you can run it at the max speed it can go. The example used in this guide is my very own Mac Pro 1,1 (2.66 gHz D Core Xeon’s, 12GB DDR2 Ram, (now) GTX 660 By Asus, and a 1TB HDD 5200RPM) Running Mac OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 (Update Pending) this guide should work in any first generation esk Mac Pro (2006-2008) but should also work in 2009-2012 but not sure completely because i dont own one personally.

Cancel: I did not complete this guide.

                                                                                      3 other people completed this guide.                                             

Author

                                      with 1 other contributor 

                    Jackson Thiesen                     

Member since: 12/13/2017

235 Reputation

                                      1 Guide authored                  



                       Badges:
                       4







                                                        +1 more badge                           

Team

                       Jackson's Computer Repair                        

                                                  Member of Jackson's Computer Repair 



                    Business                     


                                            1 Member                     


                                            1 Guide authored                     

Óscar Da Vila Martín - Jan 11, 2023

Reply

What graphics are compatible