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2009/2010 Mac Pro + 6870 Questions

A

Avenger

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 20, 2007
825
186
I've read a few threads about upgrading a Mac Pro with a ATI 6870 card and flashing it. I have a few lingering questions.

1. What current bugs and issues are there with a flashed 6870 on a 2009/2010 Mac Pro (assume 2009 was updated with 2010 EFI). I initially read about steam issues, dvd player not working, etc.. But it seems flashing the card fixes most of these problems. What are the issues remaining on the OS X and Windows 7 side of things?

2. On a 2010 Mac Pro, does Audio over HDMI work in both Mac OS X and Windows 7 with the 6870 card? I know it works for 5770 and 5870. Does it still work with a 6870?
 
The top DVI port doesn't work after flashing and in my 2009 Mac Pro, both the Sapphire 6870 and the XFX 6870 Dual Fan cause the PCI-E fan (the fan in the card area, not the fan on the graphics card) to spin at high rpm, making my Mac Pro very noisy. However, as soon as you stress the card the fan speed will slow down to normal speeds.

It's quite annoying, but I avoid it by always putting my Mac Pro to sleep. It will only rev up on a clean boot.
 
Let me explain what happens and what does not happen with the fan:

- On a power up (clean boot), the PCI-E fan will rev to up around 1500 rpm, making it quite noisy.
- The fan will stay noisy and will not slow down by itself, you'll have to stress the machine in some way or another.
- The fan will slow down slowly once it reaches around 2000 rpm (that's why you'll need to stress the machine).
- After/during a reboot, the fan will stay quiet.
- Booting into Windows will keep the fan quiet and rebooting back to Mac OS X also keeps it quiet.
- Putting you Mac to sleep and waking it up will also keep it quiet.

:)
 
Hello,

Thanks for the details.

Two more questions: are you running 10.6, or 10.7 on the Mac side?

And would putting the Mac immediately to sleep after power up slow down the fans?

Thanks

Loa
 
Last edited:
Besides the fan issue, are you guys experiencing any software related problems since you upgraded (crashing, hanging, etc. on any applications)?
 
Loa said:
Hello,

Thanks for the details.

Two more questions: are you running 10.6, or 10.7 on the Mac side?

And would putting the Mac immediately to sleep after power up slow down the fans?

Thanks

Loa
Click to expand...
10.6.8 right now, but it also happens in Lion. But if you put the Mac to sleep while the fan is making noise, it will be noisy again upon wakeup. You will have to stress the machine first to get rid of the fan noise.

@Avenger;
I have no problems with my flashed 6870, everything works fine. :)
 
G-Force said:
@Avenger;
I have no problems with my flashed 6870, everything works fine. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. You didn't happen to upgrade your 2009's EFI firmware to the 2010? I'm still trying to find out if audio over mdp and HDMI is supported with the 6970 on the 2010 mac pro.
 
Nope, sorry haven't upgraded my firmware. I also don't use HDMI so I can't comment on that either.
 
Would I still have to flash the card even if I run Windows 7 through Boot Camp on my Mac Pro?
 
Pörsödil said:
Would I still have to flash the card even if I run Windows 7 through Boot Camp on my Mac Pro?
Click to expand...

I don't think you have to flash it if you only use bootcamp. The main bugs before flashing have to do with OS X applications. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

Question to all about bootcamp 6870 drivers. Can you use the full drivers from the ATI site or do you have to use the ones that come with bootcamp? Thanks...
 
The Catalyst drivers from the AMD website work great, use those. I don't think my 6870 was working with only the Boot Camp drivers.
 
G-Force said:
The Catalyst drivers from the AMD website work great, use those. I don't think my 6870 was working with only the Boot Camp drivers.
Click to expand...

Did you follow a similar workflow to this one in order to modify the firmware on the card?:

1. Windows - Backup firmware with gpu-z
2. OS X- Use Zeus 2.8 to add EFI to firmware file.
3. Windows - Use ATI win flash to flash the modified firmware back to the card.

Or did you use another tool? Thanks...
 
1. Yes, I've made a backup of the rom with GPU-Z in Windows.
2. I had to use command line commands which you can find on Netkas' forums, neither Zeus or Netkas' tool worked for my XFX card.
3. Yes, flash in Windows using ATI Winflash, worked great.

:)
 
Guys with the fan noise, I just posted a thread about this with a jerry rigged solution, but it works. I didn't see this thread before I posted but it's good that there's a solution (silly albeit) but it works
 
Avenger said:
Thanks for the info. You didn't happen to upgrade your 2009's EFI firmware to the 2010? I'm still trying to find out if audio over mdp and HDMI is supported with the 6970 on the 2010 mac pro.
Click to expand...

I would be really surprised if that worked. The 6970 in OS X is loaded with problems.
 
Does anyone know if HDMI audio works in the 6870? If so, is that with or without flash?
 
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