HELP needed: MSI R7970 HD 7970 GHz 6 display card - working but seen as 7xxx

[TheMrFister]

I have a question I just installed a new
MSI R7970 LIGHTNING BE Radeon HD 7970 GHz

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127736

This does not have customer mac firmware so it has no EFI support but I am having issues with is being seen as a generic 7xxx video card in system profiler.

I als o get issues with video card re-drawl issues. When you move windows around the drop shadow leaves re-draw artifacts. (horizontal lines)

They go away when you move a window over them.


THE QUESTION.

How do i get this card ween as a 7970 and maintain all 6 ports working. I need to get rid of the re-draw issues.

 

[flowrider]

What Mac and what OS are you running? It is my understanding, that without a resistor modification on a PC Radeon, that you are stuck at the PCIe speed of 2.5 GT/s rather than 5.0 GT/s.

Lou

 

[TheMrFister]

10.8.4 I've also tried 10.8.5 DP 4
It's a mid 2012 Mac pro

 

[MacVidCards]

Only way to get it called 7970 is to flash it or use ATY_Init and add personality name. You will need to find correct personality that has 6 MDP outputs. In short, probably beyond your skill level.

EVen to flash it would require assigning correct personality to EFI which in itself is a huge PITA if name has different number of letters than one used by 7950.

Are you certain that 3D acceleration is working? RUn OpenGl View or an OpenCl benchmark to see if drivers are working.

 

[jenzjen]

I have a question I just installed a new
MSI R7970 LIGHTNING BE Radeon HD 7970 GHz

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127736

This does not have customer mac firmware so it has no EFI support but I am having issues with is being seen as a generic 7xxx video card in system profiler.

I als o get issues with video card re-drawl issues. When you move windows around the drop shadow leaves re-draw artifacts. (horizontal lines)

They go away when you move a window over them.


THE QUESTION.

How do i get this card ween as a 7970 and maintain all 6 ports working. I need to get rid of the re-draw issues.

How are you powering it? What other cards are in your system?

 

[TheMrFister]

So the real question for me is. Does flashing the firmware improve performance or just add EFI support?

Does 7xxx mean it is using a non specific generic driver? IF so does tha hamper performance?

Would another 7970 with 6 ports have the same re-draw issue or is it something about this firmware?

I tested another HIS 7970 5 port card and did not have the re-drawl issue.

I will try to run the Open Gl/CL tests today.

----------

How are you powering it? What other cards are in your system?

I am powering it fro the traces on the MLB.

It is the only PCIe card in the MacPro.

I do not want to get into a "You will fry your MLB" discussion. We do not need another 15 pages of conversation about that. If power becomes an issue I will use an external PSU or get power off of bay 2. I don't think power would cause this issue would it?

 

[TheMrFister]

here is my open CL benchmark results.

 

[TheMrFister]

Only way to get it called 7970 is to flash it or use ATY_Init and add personality name. You will need to find correct personality that has 6 MDP outputs. In short, probably beyond your skill level.

EVen to flash it would require assigning correct personality to EFI which in itself is a huge PITA if name has different number of letters than one used by 7950.

Are you certain that 3D acceleration is working? RUn OpenGl View or an OpenCl benchmark to see if drivers are working.

I'm Up for a PITA challenge We really need this working at top performance.

I'f someone were to tell me here is one that has been flashed and I am charging a $200 surplus fee We would Jump on it in a hart beat.

As long as it fixed the line re-draw issue.

 

[flowrider]

^^^^A flashed version of this card is currently being sold by MacVidCards:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ATI-Radeon-...210?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item3cd3e9f9f2

Lou

 

[TheMrFister]

^^^^A flashed version of this card is currently being sold by MacVidCards:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ATI-Radeon-...210?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item3cd3e9f9f2

Lou

I know but I need 6 a card with 6 working ports!!!!!!

 

[flowrider]

^^^^Oops, sorry I missed that requirement. You're need for 6 working MDPs is probably very rare and one that most of here do not share. Good Luck on your quest.

Lou

 

[TheMrFister]

interesting discovery. My line redraw issue only shows up when the screen is rotated 90° or 270°. Unfortunately for me that is how i need the display.


image of issue. This happens when you move a window. you get these lines that get left behind. (white lines)

 

[TheMrFister]

^^^^Oops, sorry I missed that requirement. You're need for 6 working MDPs is probably very rare and one that most of here do not share. Good Luck on your quest.

Lou

This card has 4 MDP and two DVI and some cool blue gammer LED's

I understand the unique situation I am in.

But come on IF we forge the way for 6 displays it Opens a new Demand!!!

A 4k video in 4x1 ratio looks awesome across 6 displays in portrait mode!!!

 

[RoastingPig]

whats the tdp on this card and is it safe to run?

 

[TheMrFister]

whats the tdp on this card and is it safe to run?

What does TDP stand for.

The card has the same power requirements as 7970 cards. Which has been highly debated on how safe it is to run. That discussion is out there in other threads. It is not my intent to bring up that discussion on this card.

 

[ActionableMango]

If you have $200 to spare and it looks like slots open too, the fastest solution is to just have two cards that are known to work and use three ports from each.

If you intend to stick it out with that card, I think it's going to take some time and probably not everything will work perfectly at the end.

The most monitors I've seen someone get out of AMD Eyefinity in OS X is all 5 ports on a 5-port model. As I recall, it took that guy months because he was the first and there wasn't a handy ROM sitting around just for him. Also, the end result, while it worked, was somewhat bug-ridden.

Here is his thread if you want to see what he did:
http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,5620.0.html

It may be an easier road to travel these days as OS X seems to be more helpful with wider driver support and self initialization. Good luck!

 

[TheMrFister]

If you have $200 to spare and it looks like slots open too, the fastest solution is to just have two cards that are known to work and use three ports from each.

If you intend to stick it out with that card, I think it's going to take some time and probably not everything will work perfectly at the end.

The most monitors I've seen someone get out of AMD Eyefinity in OS X is all 5 ports on a 5-port model. As I recall, it took that guy months because he was the first and there wasn't a handy ROM sitting around just for him. Also, the end result, while it worked, was somewhat bug-ridden.

Here is his thread if you want to see what he did:
http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,5620.0.html

It may be an easier road to travel these days as OS X seems to be more helpful with wider driver support and self initialization. Good luck!

Without crossfire support two cards with 6 monitors performance is impeded by windows server process spikes. The OS(CPU) has to back end the process. When the content spans all displays your performance tanks with two video cards. Trust me I have attempted this. I installed two K5000 and the performance was still terrible.

For the process to be all in the GPU it has to be on only one video card.

 

[ActionableMango]

Without crossfire support two cards with 6 monitors performance is impeded by windows server process spikes. The OS(CPU) has to back end the process. When the content spans all displays your performance tanks with two video cards. Trust me I have attempted this. I installed two K5000 and the performance was still terrible.

For the process to be all in the GPU it has to be on only one video card.

This person got 10 screens working across two cards. He didn't mention any performance problems, and that's with mismatched cards from two generations ago.

Perhaps he had performance problems and didn't mention them, but he seemed to provide a genuine list of the problems he was experiencing, and performance was not on the list. As for the K5000, ATI/AMD has been successful in the many-monitor arena a lot longer than Nvidia has.

But hey, I get that you want to stick with one card. You might want to PM that guy as you are sort of following in his footsteps in regards to getting Eyefinity working on OS X. (It's the same guy in the Netkas link I provided earlier.)

 

[TheMrFister]

ill read that post

 

[MacVidCards]

You will need to figure out which personality works with your card then create an EFI for it or keep using ATY_init

Won't be easy and won't fix the rotated screen redraw issue but will fix name and DVD player and Steam and possibly give you boot screens.

Could be done by variety of card flashers but most are copy & paste code kiddies and will never create something new like this.

 

[TheMrFister]

You will need to figure out which personality works with your card then create an EFI for it or keep using ATY_init

Won't be easy and won't fix the rotated screen redraw issue but will fix name and DVD player and Steam and possibly give you boot screens.

Could be done by variety of card flashers but most are copy & paste code kiddies and will never create something new like this.

Thanks for addressing my redraw issue. I guess this card will not work for My situation.

 

[rabidz7]

whats the tdp on this card and is it safe to run?

If you run this card without an external PSU it will fry the MP.

 

[TheMrFister]

If you run this card without an external PSU it will fry the MP.

I still say the hurry is out on that!!!!!

 

[jenzjen]

I know but I need 6 a card with 6 working ports!!!!!!

What about the 7870 eyefinity 6, shouldn't give you any issues and has 6 MDP ports

http://www.amazon.com/VisionTek-Products-Eyefinity-Graphic-900548/dp/B0085O90SQ

 

[evertronico]

do you have the modified rom for the 7970 lightning for mac pro5.1?