Mac is freezing up: does this pic mean I need a new video card?

[C(-)ris]

That list is missing the best card. Get the Apple Radeon 5770 1GB. It does require 10.6.8 to work. That is the best bang for the buck for Mac Pro tower at $250. A

nd yes, you need a new video card.

EDIT: To GB. Yes,

[archipirata]

I also suggest the ATI 5770 if you need a replacement. Just be sure you get the Mac flavor and not the standard PC version.

[timg]

C(-)ris wrote:
That list is missing the best card. Get the Apple Radeon 5770 1TB. It does require 10.6.8 to work. That is the best bang for the buck for Mac Pro tower at $250. A

nd yes, you need a new video card.

1TB?? Wow, that must have some awesome performance!!

Either that or you meant 1GB ...

[RAMd®d]

Have you zapped the PRAM?

And this is just a WAG that somebody knowledgeable could debunk:

My buddy's G4 iMac had some weird video artifacts, far worse than yours. They exactly mirrored those of my Cube's video card, down to the square of contrasting artifacts that replaced the cursor. My Cube's card had bad caps.

I replaced his PRAM battery and all was good as new.

The current PRAM info is different, but zapping it *might* help, maybe?

[DRR]

I've posted on MP video card problems before. First thing you need to do is blow all the dust bunnies out of the video card. Dust will clog cooling and cause the card to overheat, leading to exactly what you are describing. The other thing that can happen is that the age of the machine, can cause the heatsink to become loose - the thermal paste starts to dry out and the GPU can't transfer heat efficiently to the heatsink.

Do those first, before investigating a replacement card.

Here is my response to BillMac which in his case at least, worked:
http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1...sg-1285203

[tuqqer]

These are aweseome tips, gang. Many thanks for them. Checking them all out...

[Wailer]

mattkime wrote:
hm, i wonder if you could use remote desktop without the video card installed.

Yes. Try this first even with the video card. If you still have issues then it's not the video card.

[Forrest]

In addition to DRR's recommendation - I would also check the fan on the video card. I've replaced quite a few video card fans that either stopped working or got very noisy - they only seem to last 2-3 years. A fan will run you $5-$20

[AllGold]

bazookaman wrote:
The best thing about the MacPro is you can just buy a new video card. Cheap. No muss. No fuss.

Easy to replace but cheap it aint. In fact genuine Apple cards are downright scary expensive. This, for example: http://www.dvwarehouse.com/Video-Card-NV...34677.html&pltid=8cddb35607cf7580cc12ede1f594b642 is about $188 overpriced. The only cheap option is a PC card flashed to work with a Mac.

I agree with the everyone else on checking for dust and bad fans.

[tuqqer]

UPDATE: For those following this thread, the issue was fixed by simply changing the tiny PRAM battery! I couldn't believe that this would cause such a radical video issue, but it did. I was thinking broken hardware, having to replace all sorts of cards, but nope, just the PRAM battery.

Thanks for the tip, RAMd®d.