AMD RADEON HD5870, how to detect a fake?

[zephonic]

So I found an allegedly new original Apple AMD Radeon HD5870 on ebay. Came in the original box, seller claimed it was only opened, never used. I made a bid, he counter-offered, and I bought it.
A shipping label was created the next day, but item wasn't shipped until 3 days later, and I finally got it today, ten days after the purchase. A little annoying, but no big deal.

Tonight, I open the package, the box is legit, it has the instruction booklet and Apple limited warranty leaflet, all good, I think. I proceed to unpack the card and read the installation instructions. And here it begins to look odd:

- the instruction booklet mentions two power cables, and the illustration indicates they are on top of the card, whereas my unit has only one cable, at the back end of the card

- undeterred, I proceed, but the metal bracket on the card is too big for my MP4,1! The fan behind the PCIe slots prevents it from sliding in!

I doubt Apple would make such a mistake now? I'm trying to look for pictures of the real thing online, but I'm not clear on what it is supposed to look like exactly.

So I'd like to ask those who know to take a look at my photos and let me know whether I was given the real thing or not? Does it absolutely need two power cables? I don't think this card has another socket for cable #2. And should the metal bracket be detached somehow? I looked but it doesn't seem like it is supposed to come off.

Thanks for your help!

[doublepost=1522480739][/doublepost]Better yet, looking at the pictures, I see it is actually a HD5770! Nice...
[doublepost=1522481194][/doublepost]F this, I'm gonna return it.

 

[Macsonic]

So I found an allegedly new original Apple AMD Radeon HD5870 on ebay. Came in the original box, seller claimed it was only opened, never used. I made a bid, he counter-offered, and I bought it.
A shipping label was created the next day, but item wasn't shipped until 3 days later, and I finally got it today, ten days after the purchase. A little annoying, but no big deal.

Tonight, I open the package, the box is legit, it has the instruction booklet and Apple limited warranty leaflet, all good, I think. I proceed to unpack the card and read the installation instructions. And here it begins to look odd:

- the instruction booklet mentions two power cables, and the illustration indicates they are on top of the card, whereas my unit has only one cable, at the back end of the card

- undeterred, I proceed, but the metal bracket on the card is too big for my MP4,1! The fan behind the PCIe slots prevents it from sliding in!

I doubt Apple would make such a mistake now? I'm trying to look for pictures of the real thing online, but I'm not clear on what it is supposed to look like exactly.

So I'd like to ask those who know to take a look at my photos and let me know whether I was given the real thing or not? Does it absolutely need two power cables? I don't think this card has another socket for cable #2. And should the metal bracket be detached somehow? I looked but it doesn't seem like it is supposed to come off.

Thanks for your help!

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[doublepost=1522480739][/doublepost]Better yet, looking at the pictures, I see it is actually a HD5770! Nice...
[doublepost=1522481194][/doublepost]F this, I'm gonna return it.

Hi The Radeon on your photo is a Mac Radeon 5770 and NOT a 5870HD. The seller sent you the Wrong model or he used a “Switch and Bait” to dupe buyers. Contact the seller and return the 5770 card or have him send you the correct 5870HD. The 5870HD is higher in price than the 5770. Below are actual photos of a Mac Radeon 5870HD that has 2 power cords.

https://www.usedmacs.us/?name=ATI-R...aphics-Card-Apple-MC743ZMA&product=1030417993
https://www.applecards.co.uk/products/ati-radeon-5870-mac-pro-graphics-card

 

[chscag]

It's genuine ATI Radeon card, only it's not the 5870. Looks like the seller stuck a 5770 1GB card in the box and sold it to you as a 5870. Send it back and get a refund. You should be protected if you paid with PayPal.

 

[zephonic]

It is a scam. He claimed it was a new 5870, taken out of the box but never used. I'm returning this and money back. I'm not gonna ask for an exchange. Who knows what I'll get?

[doublepost=1522481951][/doublepost]But if it is a genuine Apple card, how come it doesn't fit? I doubt Apple would make PCIe cards that do not fit in the only computer that can accommodate them...

 

[h9826790]

But if it is a genuine Apple card, how come it doesn't fit? I doubt Apple would make PCIe cards that do not fit in the only computer that can accommodate them...

I bet because you didn’t press the button on the PCIe fan and slide the unit to the left.

Anyway, That’s a genuine Apple 5770.

 

[zephonic]

I bet because you didn’t press the button on the PCIe fan and slide the unit to the left.

I did press that button, and tried to slide the fan to the left, as per the instructions in the booklet. Still didn't fit...

 

[h9826790]

I did press that button, and tried to slide the fan to the left, as per the instructions in the booklet. Still didn't fit...

That’s strange. My stock Apple 4870 has same design. As long as I move the fan to the full left position, it can easily slide into the slot.

 

[rawweb]

[QUOTE="zephonic, post: 25941380, member: 538532"
But if it is a genuine Apple card, how come it doesn't fit? I doubt Apple would make PCIe cards that do not fit in the only computer that can accommodate them...[/QUOTE]

Aside from being the wrong card, I can guarantee it's a genuine Apple ATI 5770 and it will fit. It fits in Mac Pro 1,1-5,1. You're doing something wrong. There's a few how to videos on YouTube if you're curious. The extra bracket on the rear is a special Apple PCIe card guide, designed to make inserting the card extremely easy. You should install the power cable first, with 4,1 and 5,1, you'll need to slide the locking bracket back on the fan assembly, then you may have to ginger the card past the door latch, but it fits every time.

 

[zephonic]

Aside from being the wrong card, I can guarantee it's a genuine Apple ATI 5770 and it will fit. It fits in Mac Pro 1,1-5,1. You're doing something wrong. There's a few how to videos on YouTube if you're curious. The extra bracket on the rear is a special Apple PCIe card guide, designed to make inserting the card extremely easy. You should install the power cable first, with 4,1 and 5,1, you'll need to slide the locking bracket back on the fan assembly, then you may have to ginger the card past the door latch, but it fits every time.

You’re probably right. Still, I’m just gonna return it. It’s not a 5870, and it’s not new.

 

[rawweb]

You’re probably right. Still, I’m just gonna return it. It’s not a 5870, and it’s not new.

For sure, I would too. It’s not what you bought. If I were you, I’d be very upset.

Personally, I’ve never understood why the Apple 5770/5870 have held their value so high. $200+ for an 8 year old graphics card seems like robbery.

 

[chscag]

Personally, I’ve never understood why the Apple 5770/5870 have held their value so high. $200+ for an 8 year old graphics card seems like robbery.

I agree, which is why many folks choose the PC version of graphic cards instead.

 

[zephonic]

For sure, I would too. It’s not what you bought. If I were you, I’d be very upset.

Personally, I’ve never understood why the Apple 5770/5870 have held their value so high. $200+ for an 8 year old graphics card seems like robbery.

I have not had much luck with GPU updates. Last summer I ordered a flashed 7950, which caused The screen to go black after 20 minutes or so. I returned that. I've been looking for a flashed or used 5870's on eBay for about six weeks now, losing out last minute on auctions, so when I found what I thought was a brand new original Apple 5870 for about twice the price of a used, flashed PC card, it made sense to me.

After I get my money back, I'm just gonna buy a Sapphire 7950 ME from a reputable dealer. It's clear that DIY and Ebay are not a good fit for me.

 

[MisterAndrew]

Do you really need a boot screen? An RX 550 offers the same or better performance as an HD 5870. The Sapphire Pulse model 11268-15-20G should be compatible with the Mac (most RX 550 cards are not compatible so be sure to check the Device ID.)

 

[h9826790]

I have not had much luck with GPU updates. Last summer I ordered a flashed 7950, which caused The screen to go black after 20 minutes or so. I returned that. I've been looking for a flashed or used 5870's on eBay for about six weeks now, losing out last minute on auctions, so when I found what I thought was a brand new original Apple 5870 for about twice the price of a used, flashed PC card, it made sense to me.

After I get my money back, I'm just gonna buy a Sapphire 7950 ME from a reputable dealer. It's clear that DIY and Ebay are not a good fit for me.

I have the Sapphire HD7950 Mac Edition. TRUST ME. It's NOT better than DIY.

The issue is, this particular card suffer from shuttering issue in macOS. It's 100% driver issue, because this shuttering won't happen in Windows or Linux.

And the most strange part is, this shuttering ONLY affect this official HD7950 Mac Edition card, but not the DIY PC card.

I made a post about how to alleviate / eliminate the issue. But if you want flawless experience, I suggest you forget about this card.

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...7950-mac-edition.1603588/page-2#post-20513990

But if you plan to run multiple monitors with this card. Then you will be fine.

 

[zephonic]

I have the Sapphire HD7950 Mac Edition. TRUST ME. It's NOT better than DIY.

The issue is, this particular card suffer from shuttering issue in macOS. It's 100% driver issue, because this shuttering won't happen in Windows or Linux.

And the most strange part is, this shuttering ONLY affect this official HD7950 Mac Edition card, but not the DIY PC card.

I made a post about how to alleviate / eliminate the issue. But if you want flawless experience, I suggest you forget about this card.

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...7950-mac-edition.1603588/page-2#post-20513990

That is disheartening. I already bought a flashed 7950 last Summer, had to return that as it caused my screen to go black after 20 minutes.
Looks like there really isn't much choice, then. I wouldn't bother, but the latest update to Cubase taxes my GT120 to the point where zoom in/out causes zipper noise on the audio outputs.

Maybe I should try another flashed 7950, but hard to know who sells the good ones. The seller I bought from had 100% positive feedback, and still I got a lemon.
If anybody can recommend someone reputable and reliable, I'm all ears.

 

[h9826790]

That is disheartening. I already bought a flashed 7950 last Summer, had to return that as it caused my screen to go black after 20 minutes.
Looks like there really isn't much choice, then. I wouldn't bother, but the latest update to Cubase taxes my GT120 to the point where zoom in/out causes zipper noise on the audio outputs.

Maybe I should try another flashed 7950, but hard to know who sells the good ones. The seller I bought from had 100% positive feedback, and still I got a lemon.
If anybody can recommend someone reputable and reliable, I'm all ears.

IMO, what you should try is to buy a really cheap 7950, and flash it by yourself. This is the only way to make sure the Mac EFI ROM (VBIOS part) fit your card. Lots of flashed card on the market are flashed by the wrong ROM (randomly downloaded from the internet), or they even believe flash the original Sapphire Mac EFI ROM onto any 7950 can work.

I found this card works very well in cMP.

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...tem-information.1808938/page-14#post-21607156

Easy to flash, super quiet and effective cooler.

The only down side is the HDMI port will be disabled if boot from the Mac EFI ROM. But this card has dual ROM design, you can alway boot from the PC ROM when you really need the HDMI port.

 

[zephonic]

IMO, what you should try is to buy a really cheap 7950, and flash it by yourself.

Thanks for the advice, but my past attempts at DIY have not been very successful. I have learned I'm just not as good at this as I'd like to believe I am. Last year I dropped in a W3680, and promptly lost memory slot 1.

Replacing memory, PCIe cards or SATA drives is all good. Beyond that, I'm more likely to do damage.

 

[zephonic]

So I returned the aforementioned 5770, and got a 5870 from a local reseller.

Works fine in 10.12.6 but when I tried to download and install the legacy drivers for Windows 7 (32-bit), I got a prompt saying that no AMD hardware was detected. Just to be thorough, I use Win7 bootcamped.

I tried with the bootcamp drivers/updates via a USB stick, but apparently I downloaded the latest stuff, which is not compatible with Win7/32.

What can I do?

 

[chscag]

My Windows 7 DVD has both the 32bit and 64bit version on it. You could try running the 64 bit version instead but you would have to do a complete reinstall. The 32bit version of Windows 7 is limited to only using 3.3 GB of system memory. The 64 Bit version will see all your memory.

 

[MisterAndrew]

So I returned the aforementioned 5770, and got a 5870 from a local reseller.

Works fine in 10.12.6 but when I tried to download and install the legacy drivers for Windows 7 (32-bit), I got a prompt saying that no AMD hardware was detected. Just to be thorough, I use Win7 bootcamped.

I tried with the bootcamp drivers/updates via a USB stick, but apparently I downloaded the latest stuff, which is not compatible with Win7/32.

What can I do?

That happened to me after I uninstalled drivers. Install the driver manually from device manager.

 

[zephonic]

That happened to me after I uninstalled drivers. Install the driver manually from device manager.

Thanks. Tried that, no dice, unfortunately.

 

[chrfr]

So I returned the aforementioned 5770, and got a 5870 from a local reseller.

Works fine in 10.12.6 but when I tried to download and install the legacy drivers for Windows 7 (32-bit), I got a prompt saying that no AMD hardware was detected. Just to be thorough, I use Win7 bootcamped.

I tried with the bootcamp drivers/updates via a USB stick, but apparently I downloaded the latest stuff, which is not compatible with Win7/32.

What can I do?

Install the AMD driver from here: https://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop/bootcamp

(and why are you using 32-bit Windows on a Mac Pro?)
These are the Apple Boot Camp drivers you should be installing on a 2009 Mac Pro that's running Win 7 32-bit: https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1630
If you're using the 64 bit version of Windows 7, install these: https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1720

 

[Plutonius]

I have the Sapphire HD7950 Mac Edition. TRUST ME. It's NOT better than DIY.

The issue is, this particular card suffer from shuttering issue in macOS. It's 100% driver issue, because this shuttering won't happen in Windows or Linux.

I have the same card and have never noticed shuttering.

 

[h9826790]

I have the same card and have never noticed shuttering.

Single monitor setup?

Using Display port?

 

[Plutonius]

Single monitor setup?

Using Display port?

Single monitor DVI.

Unless I'm missing something, it has always seemed to run well (currently High Sierra).

Could the issue you see be monitor dependent ?

AMD Radeon HD 7950:
Chipset Model: AMD Radeon HD 7950
Type: GPU
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 3 GB
Vendor: AMD (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x679a
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-E2080C-101
VBIOS Version: 113-C3810100-U01
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.624
Metal: Supported, feature set macOS GPUFamily1 v3