Just received a Sapphire 6870 to replace the 4870 that came with the 2009MP. My goal was to get a boost in performance from the 4870, generates less heat and most importantly reduce noise. This card definitely eliminates the noise generated by the 4870 and helps to reduce the sound footprint of the 2009 MacPro. The 6870 met my needs, and support for it recently has been unlocked by the community. Performance wise, the card is a great boost from the 4870 is was replacing.
The card can be picked up on special for around $160 after rebates and was painless to get running.
After a quick download of the drivers, I installed them on my current system Running 10.6.7, shutdown, swapped out cards, put everything back together and powered up. The MacPro booted with the normal chime and an expected black screen since I was not running an 6870 that was flashed to have EFI Bios. After the boot process was complete, OS X initialized the card for the boot screen and I'm good to go.
Everything seems to run great so far. I still have my 4870 and a spare 2600xt in the drawer in case anything ever goes wrong.
The card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102913&cm_re=6870-_-14-102-913-_-Product
Card was on sale for $160ish after rebate. A lot of these cards are going on/off sale. Keep an eye out for great deals.
NewEgg Price link for 6870's sorted by lowest price 1st: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=+40000048&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&IsNodeId=1&Subcategory=-1&description=6870&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=
Comes with Passive HDMI->MDP, HDMI Cable, 2 standard 4 pin molex to 6 pin PCI-E Power cables. It looks like most cards should work, just look for ones based off of the AMD reference design. The above card was cheaper and had a quieter cooler than the competition.
The Driver: http://groths.org/zeus/ATI_updated_drivers.zip
Many thanks to Cindori for a one click 6870 driver installation:
The Details:
Drivers are for real MacPro, not for HackPro's
No need to flash. Does not need EFI in bios to work.
No grey Apple boot screen. Image appears when log on screen appears
Painless multi-monitor support (no magic needed like in the 5xxx series)
Supports up to 6 displays at once (4 must be from Active MDP connections)
2 Dual Link MDP Ports (can be use hubs/dual adapters to get 4 ports)
2 DVI Ports: 1 Dual-Link DVI , 1 Single-Link DVI
1 HDMI Port
Full QE/CI acceleration working across all displays
Triple-head mode helps maintain better sync with Dual-Link displays. Not sure why, it just works.
Known Issues: DVD Player, GeekBench, Steam Games, Boot Camp OS selection screen at boot(was recently reported)
Everything else I tested works: SCII, Photoshop, iMovie, iPhone, Aperture, VLC, Quicktime, etc....
6870 Reviews from:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6870-radeon-hd-6850-barts,2776.html
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/10/21/amd_radeon_hd_6870_6850_video_card_review/
http://semiaccurate.com/2010/10/24/amd-breaks-its-own-naming-scheme-6870/[/QUOTE]
5870 vs 6870
5870 MDP are known to have problems
5870 is slightly faster than 6870
5870 is a first-gen DX11 card
5870 overclocks better
5870 is hotter and louder
Even the official Apple 5870 seems to be buggy as hell
6870 MDP works
6870 is slightly slower than 5870
6870 is cooler and quieter
6870 crossfire is substantially better
6870 is a second-gen DX11 card (improved tessellation)
6870 issues with some apps. (DVD player)
6870 support going forward unknown.
The Extras:
The card needs 2 Power Cables:
Available from MacSales ($15 each): http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/9227128/
To drive a Dual-Link DVI display over an Active Mini Display Port connection you need this:
Available from Apple ($99): http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB571Z/A?mco=MTY3ODQ5OTY
To Drive a non Dual-Link DVI Display over an Active Mini Display Port connection you need this:
Available from NewEgg ($30 each): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ve_displayport_adapter-_-15-309-008-_-Product
The card can be picked up on special for around $160 after rebates and was painless to get running.
After a quick download of the drivers, I installed them on my current system Running 10.6.7, shutdown, swapped out cards, put everything back together and powered up. The MacPro booted with the normal chime and an expected black screen since I was not running an 6870 that was flashed to have EFI Bios. After the boot process was complete, OS X initialized the card for the boot screen and I'm good to go.
Everything seems to run great so far. I still have my 4870 and a spare 2600xt in the drawer in case anything ever goes wrong.
The card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102913&cm_re=6870-_-14-102-913-_-Product
Card was on sale for $160ish after rebate. A lot of these cards are going on/off sale. Keep an eye out for great deals.
NewEgg Price link for 6870's sorted by lowest price 1st: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=+40000048&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&IsNodeId=1&Subcategory=-1&description=6870&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=
Comes with Passive HDMI->MDP, HDMI Cable, 2 standard 4 pin molex to 6 pin PCI-E Power cables. It looks like most cards should work, just look for ones based off of the AMD reference design. The above card was cheaper and had a quieter cooler than the competition.
The Driver: http://groths.org/zeus/ATI_updated_drivers.zip
Many thanks to Cindori for a one click 6870 driver installation:
The Details:
Drivers are for real MacPro, not for HackPro's
No need to flash. Does not need EFI in bios to work.
No grey Apple boot screen. Image appears when log on screen appears
Painless multi-monitor support (no magic needed like in the 5xxx series)
Supports up to 6 displays at once (4 must be from Active MDP connections)
2 Dual Link MDP Ports (can be use hubs/dual adapters to get 4 ports)
2 DVI Ports: 1 Dual-Link DVI , 1 Single-Link DVI
1 HDMI Port
Full QE/CI acceleration working across all displays
Triple-head mode helps maintain better sync with Dual-Link displays. Not sure why, it just works.
Known Issues: DVD Player, GeekBench, Steam Games, Boot Camp OS selection screen at boot(was recently reported)
Everything else I tested works: SCII, Photoshop, iMovie, iPhone, Aperture, VLC, Quicktime, etc....
6870 Reviews from:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6870-radeon-hd-6850-barts,2776.html
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/10/21/amd_radeon_hd_6870_6850_video_card_review/
http://semiaccurate.com/2010/10/24/amd-breaks-its-own-naming-scheme-6870/[/QUOTE]
5870 vs 6870
5870 MDP are known to have problems
5870 is slightly faster than 6870
5870 is a first-gen DX11 card
5870 overclocks better
5870 is hotter and louder
Even the official Apple 5870 seems to be buggy as hell
6870 MDP works
6870 is slightly slower than 5870
6870 is cooler and quieter
6870 crossfire is substantially better
6870 is a second-gen DX11 card (improved tessellation)
6870 issues with some apps. (DVD player)
6870 support going forward unknown.
The Extras:
The card needs 2 Power Cables:
Available from MacSales ($15 each): http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/9227128/
To drive a Dual-Link DVI display over an Active Mini Display Port connection you need this:
Available from Apple ($99): http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB571Z/A?mco=MTY3ODQ5OTY
To Drive a non Dual-Link DVI Display over an Active Mini Display Port connection you need this:
Available from NewEgg ($30 each): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ve_displayport_adapter-_-15-309-008-_-Product
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