Radeon 6870

[Sharpey76]

has anyone tried a radeon 6870 in a mac pro?
i have a macpro 5.1 running lion and wondered if i could install this card in it?

 

[bamf]

I've got one in my 3,1. Everything seems to work except for DVD Player.

 

[Cindori]

http://www.groths.org/?p=431

for lion you only need aty_init (to fix dvd player+steam problems)

 

[Sharpey76]

ive heard people say you dont see the boot screen, does this mean i wont be able to see what to select when i want to boot into the windows partition?
does the second dvi work bamf?

 

[bamf]

Both DVI ports are working for me, and I'm not using any additional kexts (I guess I could put aty_init in if I really wanted DVD Player to work).

Steam is working fine for me without any modifications.

 

[luh]

And what about boot screen? Does it work? Do we have to install any kext for making it work?

I've just bought a Sapphire 6870 vapor-x por my MacPro3,1. Finally I'll use my brand Led Cinema Display 27 YAY

 

[bamf]

The boot screen does not work for me. If you want to choose to boot into Windows, can't you do that from startup disk inside system preferences anyway?

 

[apple_iBoy]

I have a 6870 that I bought for $150 on craigslist, and it's purring along beautifully in my first gen Mac Pro.

 

[siorai]

The boot screen does not work for me. If you want to choose to boot into Windows, can't you do that from startup disk inside system preferences anyway?

To make it way easier just use BootChamp. It adds an icon on the menu bar for booting into Windows.

 

[Sharpey76]

thanks fot that siorai ive now got that installed.

so its ok to buy a normal 6870 and install that it doesnt need to be a mac edition card?

sorry for all these questions i just got this mac pro a few days ago and its my first mac

 

[slughead]

thanks fot that siorai ive now got that installed.

so its ok to buy a normal 6870 and install that it doesnt need to be a mac edition card?

sorry for all these questions i just got this mac pro a few days ago and its my first mac

Yeah, you just put in the PC version and it works fine--but like others have said, no startup screen.

I didn't even install any drivers for 10.7, but I haven't tried to do anything accelerated with it yet.

 

[Sharpey76]

oops just noticed you need a second 6 pin power connector... best go and get one lol

 

[blunti]

just wondering, would a 6970 work with a 2010 MP?

 

[Sharpey76]

ok, i have the card installed but when i run cinebench i get exactly the same results as my old card?

 

[Cindori]

ok, i have the card installed but when i run cinebench i get exactly the same results as my old card?

what old card did you have?

6870 is not a replacement to 5870, it's actually weaker. 6970 is the successor for 5870.

6970 does not work for OSX atm.

 

[Sharpey76]

i had a 5770

 

[tbmx]

Has anyone tried the following card on a 1,1?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-150-521&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=9#scrollFullInfo

I've seen that xfx works but I'm interested in this model due to the additional fans and noise levels...

 

[mbower71]

Hi - I just finished putting a 6870 in a 2009 MP and would like to add a +1 to those that say it's easy. No kexts or any other mods - just dropped it in and booted. I don't need the DVD player or boot screen so those aren't issues for me. But performance is miles ahead of where I was with two GT120s this card replaced. Used for Lightroom, Photoshop and VMWare/Fusion.

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned is that the OS isn't picking up the exact card ID in any of the places it should. It sees it as a 6xxx. Is this normal? (Pic attached)

 

[Igantius]

Can't help with that question, but thanks for the feedback - nice to hear!

 

[tbmx]

Just figured I'd follow up... I ended up purchasing this card and it works great. I haven't heard a reference card, but this is very quiet and powerful (exactly what I was looking for).

I'm running 10.6.8 and groths.org 6870 package. The bottom DVI port works in OSX and it's also running great under XP bootcamp. I don't have the ability to test any of the other ports at this time. It's identified as a ATI Radeon HD 6800 Series in the profiler.

Has anyone tried the following card on a 1,1?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-150-521&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=9#scrollFullInfo

I've seen that xfx works but I'm interested in this model due to the additional fans and noise levels...

 

[goMac]

i had a 5770

The 5770 and 6870 are pretty equivalent cards.

5770->6870
5870->6970

Sorry.

 

[Cindori]

the 5770 and 6870 are pretty equivalent cards.

5770->6870
5870->6970

sorry.

5770 ->6850

 

[Sharpey76]

The 5770 and 6870 are pretty equivalent cards.

5770->6870
5870->6970

Sorry.

ive read the 6870 is quite a bit faster than the 5770, it certainly is in windows running bootcamp yet on the mac its exactly the same

 

[Satch]

I've just installed a Msi 6870 in my '06 Mac Pro and it's working great. Steam works out of the box in OS X, didn't need to patch anything! Can't check if dvd player works since i'm using the power cable from the dvd drives to power the 6870.

Anyone who wants me to test something?
The exact card type is: R6870-2PM2D1GD5/OC by the way..

 

[Cindori]

I've just installed a Msi 6870 in my '06 Mac Pro and it's working great. Steam works out of the box in OS X, didn't need to patch anything! Can't check if dvd player works since i'm using the power cable from the dvd drives to power the 6870.

Anyone who wants me to test something?
The exact card type is: R6870-2PM2D1GD5/OC by the way..

steam works, it's some of the games that arent
(without aty_init)