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2009 MacPro + 6870 = :-)

5870 vs 6870

Unfortunately that's not true, you would be better off with a 5870, or possibly even a 5850 in some rare situations (though the 6870 does run cooler than either of those cards).
Click to expand...

Based on everything I've just read, here's a breakdown of the pros and cons:

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 OS X compatibility is worse (DVD Player broken)
6870 support much more likely to break after OS X updates, unless Apple releases 68xx card in the future
 
mjsmke said:
So does this mean i could buy a 6870 (or 5770 for example) from anywhere and the only issue is no boot screen? I've never flashed a card so please excuse my inexperience in this area.
Click to expand...

Yep.. No need to flash.

Update: the card seems to have 1x Dual-Link DVI port and 1x Single Link DVI port.
 
Last edited:
Transporteur said:
1. Except DVD player, do all other video apps work (VLC, Plex, iTunes)?
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I saw a recent post on Netkas reporting that the list of apps not working is increasing:

Geekbench
DVD Player
Steam games
Cider based games
Wrapper games
Star Wars The Force Unleashed

My interest in getting a 6870 is plummeting. Although I don't do gaming in OS X, I do like the DVD Player app and I also don't feel confident enough that any particular app will work or not.

I will wait to see if better support comes along after Lion is released.
 
ActionableMango said:
I saw a recent post on Netkas reporting that the list of apps not working is increasing:

Geekbench
DVD Player
Steam games
Cider based games
Wrapper games
Star Wars The Force Unleashed

My interest in getting a 6870 is plummeting. Although I don't do gaming in OS X, I do like the DVD Player app and I also don't feel confident enough that any particular app will work or not.

I will wait to see if better support comes along after Lion is released.
Click to expand...

Luckily the list doesn't effect my usage pattern. I think the only time I've ever used a DVD in my MacPro was to rip it with Handbrake. All the professional apps seem to be happy.
 
Tempting to replace my flashed 4870 + 2600 with this...I could drive all four monitors (counting my TV) off of the same card.

It seems like I might be well-advised to wait a bit to see how the situation pans out down the road a bit, though...I do play a few games on steam, among other things.
 
seek3r said:
Unfortunately that's not true, you would be better off with a 5870, or possibly even a 5850 in some rare situations (though the 6870 does run cooler than either of those cards). Some sources:

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/
Click to expand...

True but drivers are still young. In a year It should be on par or nearly on par with a 5870. The Radeon 6870 is supposed to be more of a replacement for the 5770 though.
 
green86 said:
True but drivers are still young. In a year It should be on par or nearly on par with a 5870. The Radeon 6870 is supposed to be more of a replacement for the 5770 though.
Click to expand...

At $160 After Rebate... Couldn't pass up the deal for what the 6870 offers and the fun in getting it to work in my setup. That's why I'm running an i7-975 in my MacPro :) Its true about the 6870 being a little less than the 5870, but the reduction in noise and heat is what I was looking for compared to the 4870 toaster oven I was running.
 
Hi Actionablemango,

As I know your Sapphire may not in amd reference board design, there is no AMD print mark near golden bridge. I love Sapphire hsf but just wonder if all of your model works with it.
 
beto2k7 said:
Will this work with cindori's app?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...e=10&IsFeedbackTab=true&rdm=59#scrollHelpful1
Click to expand...

Should be fine. The price seems high tho. Watch for deals this weekend.


patlee88 said:
As I know your Sapphire may not in amd reference board design, there is no AMD print mark near golden bridge. I love Sapphire hsf but just wonder if all of your model works with it.
Click to expand...

Good point about the AMD logo not present on the Sapphire board. I've never known sapphire to use anything but reference designs so I took a gamble on it working without seeing the mark. The price was too good to pass up and it does have cooler that hopefully also provides even less noise.
 
Thanks for reply, actually I love Sapphire design HSF, and XFX 6870 price is much more.....may be I'll go for Sapphire as well.

Thanks.

handheldgames said:
Should be fine. The price seems high tho. Watch for deals this weekend.




Good point about the AMD logo not present on the Sapphire board. I've never known sapphire to use anything but reference designs so I took a gamble on it working without seeing the mark. The price was too good to pass up and it does have cooler that hopefully also provides even less noise.
Click to expand...
 
ActionableMango said:
Where did you find one for $160? This is the second time I've seen mention of a 6870 for $160 after rebate. Other person said it was at Newegg, but no link. I searched Newegg and cannot find it.
Click to expand...

Last Friday it was on sale for $189 - rebate. New egg is constantly putting items on sale for a couple days at a time. I put a link in the 1st post listing the 6879 cards lowest price 1st.
 
Hi,

Finally I brought Sapphire 6870 as yours, and bingo~~~just plug in, and everything works, tested on both dvi and hdmi, and will buy a mini display port->display port to test with my Dell 27"

May be out of this topic, for the best screen output quality, if display port->HMDI->DVI ?

ActionableMango said:
Thanks. I guess I missed the boat. Cheapest price now is $180 + shipping.
Click to expand...
 
patlee88 said:
May be out of this topic, for the best screen output quality, if display port->HMDI->DVI ?
Click to expand...

You can go directly from DP to DVI, no reason to go through HDMI.
But chaining adapters per se is no big deal as all outputs on the cards are digital, so no quality loss whatsoever.
 
patlee88 said:
Hi,

Finally I brought Sapphire 6870 as yours, and bingo~~~just plug in, and everything works, tested on both dvi and hdmi, and will buy a mini display port->display port to test with my Dell 27"

May be out of this topic, for the best screen output quality, if display port->HMDI->DVI ?
Click to expand...

Great to hear.. All ports should display equal image quality. If you want to run 3 displays you will need an active mdp adapter. Else you are good to go.
 
Some of the 6870's out there can be turned into 6970's through some hack.

I really want the 6970 for my 2008 Mac Pro. For some reason, AMD changed the naming conventions of the cards, so for update's sake, you can assume:

6870 -> upgrade from 5770
6970 -> upgrade from 5870

6990 -> dual-card monstrosity upgrade from 5890
 
Wild-Bill said:
Some of the 6870's out there can be turned into 6970's through some hack.

I really want the 6970 for my 2008 Mac Pro. For some reason, AMD changed the naming conventions of the cards, so for update's sake, you can assume:

6870 -> upgrade from 5770
6970 -> upgrade from 5870

6990 -> dual-card monstrosity upgrade from 5890
Click to expand...

Your right about the change in naming convention. Unfortunately, I don't think a hack exists to turn a 6870 to a 6970. You can hack a 6850 ---> 6870, and a 6950 ---> 6970, but thats all. The 6870 has a much lower transistor count and different core design, so I don't think it's even possible.

The 6870 is fast enough for everything I've used it for in my Mac Pro 1,1, so I have no desire for a 6970.... yet :)
 
After a fully 3d mark and furmark, sapphire 6870 with its custom fan only run as high as 67c degrees, and the fan only runs as 20% speed, which is very satisfy with it.

On the other hand, I'm facing a strange problem, once I bootup or restart, press "option" key for over 5 mins, then in the "unseen" grey screen, the most left is osx and the right is bootcamp, I press cursor to the right and press enter, I keep on waiting but still can't see the win7 login screen.

If I select os whatever in 10.6 or win7, then it will automatically boot into my select os, which seems my problem only occur when select os in grey screen.

In my mind my previous pc flashed 4890 ok to press option key to select os in grey screen, if anyone facing the same problem as me?
 
patlee88 said:
After a fully 3d mark and furmark, sapphire 6870 with its custom fan only run as high as 67c degrees, and the fan only runs as 20% speed, which is very satisfy with it.

On the other hand, I'm facing a strange problem, once I bootup or restart, press "option" key for over 5 mins, then in the "unseen" grey screen, the most left is osx and the right is bootcamp, I press cursor to the right and press enter, I keep on waiting but still can't see the win7 login screen.

If I select os whatever in 10.6 or win7, then it will automatically boot into my select os, which seems my problem only occur when select os in grey screen.

In my mind my previous pc flashed 4890 ok to press option key to select os in grey screen, if anyone facing the same problem as me?
Click to expand...

This is One of the caveats. You wont see a Boot screen with the 6870. Its been noted many times. You can forget doing this for now
 
green86 said:
Your right about the change in naming convention. Unfortunately, I don't think a hack exists to turn a 6870 to a 6970. You can hack a 6850 ---> 6870, and a 6950 ---> 6970, but thats all. The 6870 has a much lower transistor count and different core design, so I don't think it's even possible.

The 6870 is fast enough for everything I've used it for in my Mac Pro 1,1, so I have no desire for a 6970.... yet :)
Click to expand...


Whoops. My bad. Thanks for catching that for me. I was thinking 6950 > 6970 but somewhere the translation from brain to keyboard went amiss. :p
 
Thanks for your reply. Did you mean that for 6870, there is no grey apple logo screen, and also means we can't select the boot os as 'blind' ? The only way to do this is go back to either one of them and make the selection?

green86 said:
This is One of the caveats. You wont see a Boot screen with the 6870. Its been noted many times. You can forget doing this for now
Click to expand...
 
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