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Radeon HD 5770 works in 2009 Mac Pro

G

grey17

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 11, 2010
12
0
Central California
I installed a Radeon HD 5770 in an octo 2009 Mac Pro last night. Everything seems to be working fine. No benchmarks yet. It does seem a bit louder than the GT120 it replaced.

Not a big surprise given the other reports on the 5770 & 5870, but I hadn't seen anyone post previously on this exact combination.

Update: forgot to mention monitor configuration
Currently running two monitors
(1) 1920 x 1200 LCD @ 60 Hz via mini-display port to DVI adapter
(2) 1600 x 1200 CRT @ 90 Hz via DVI to VGA adapter (color calibrated for photoshop, etc.)

--d
 
grey17 said:
I installed a Radeon HD 5770 in an octo 2009 Mac Pro last night. Everything seems to be working fine. No benchmarks yet. It does seem a bit louder than the GT120 it replaced.

Not a big surprise given the other reports on the 5770 & 5870, but I hadn't seen anyone post previously on this exact combination.

Update: forgot to mention monitor configuration
Currently running two monitors
(1) 1920 x 1200 LCD @ 60 Hz via mini-display port to DVI adapter
(2) 1600 x 1200 CRT @ 90 Hz via DVI to VGA adapter (color calibrated for photoshop, etc.)

--d
Click to expand...


Nice. Did you consider keeping the GT 120 in another slot to connect the other display to it? And if not why? I consider adding a 5770 later to a MP 09 as well, but I wonder If it's better to have the better Card drive both displays or let the GT 120 drive the my auxiliary display, taking load of the 5770...
 
Thanks for verifying this. Now I can order one as well for my 2009 octo.

Also wondering why you did not leave the GT 120 in there too so you can have both cards in case you need to use more monitors.

Cheers
 
Cindori said:
All 5000 cards from Apple works in all Mac Pro's. There is nothing to verify.
Click to expand...

One of the new features of these cards is their ability to send multichannel audio via MiniDisplayPort to HDMI.... that is not verified yet - if earlier MP's support it...

Do you know if it does?
 
diazj3 said:
One of the new features of these cards is their ability to send multichannel audio via MiniDisplayPort to HDMI.... that is not verified yet - if earlier MP's support it...

Do you know if it does?
Click to expand...

Is there any reason it shouldnt?

Really, examine all the factors:

Interface - PCI E on all macpros
Drivers - Same on all macpros (or easily exchanged should '10 have newer)
EFI - EBC (both 32 and 64bit)


As long as all of these match, your 5770/5870 wouldnt care if your Mac Pro is from 2006 or 2045
 
More to the point, has that been verified with any Mac Pro? I've yet to hear a report of somebody doing it at all so far. It'd be an OS X limitation, not a hardware limitation...
 
Cindori said:
Is there any reason it shouldnt?

Really, examine all the factors:

Interface - PCI E on all macpros
Drivers - Same on all macpros (or easily exchanged should '10 have newer)
EFI - EBC (both 32 and 64bit)


As long as all of these match, your 5770/5870 wouldnt care if your Mac Pro is from 2006 or 2045
Click to expand...

Sorry, I'm no expert, so I wouldn't know why it shouldn't... but it wouldn't be unheard of that Apple blocks certain features in certain models, perhaps in a lame effort to force users to upgrade. Their lack of communication is legendary... For what I've gathered, Apple has blocked this particular feature in other cases, even when all the technical conditions were supposedly met.

But again, I'm no expert in GPUs, EFIs, drivers etc...

Anyway... I'd rather wait until someone confirms multichannel audio really works before parting from both my GT120 and 4870...

Cheers!
 
you39 said:
Nice. Did you consider keeping the GT 120 in another slot to connect the other display to it? And if not why? I consider adding a 5770 later to a MP 09 as well, but I wonder If it's better to have the better Card drive both displays or let the GT 120 drive the my auxiliary display, taking load of the 5770...
Click to expand...

The 5770 was swapped for the GT120. 5770 card went into 2009 MP, while the new Mac Pro is now running on the GT120. I needed both running, so I didn't experiment with both cards in one Mac. The new Mac Pro will be mostly used remotely, hence not much need for video performance.

--d
 
I bought a 5770 in the past for my MacPro 2009 but I returned it and installed a 5870 instead.
The reason was because of the unacceptable high speed of the PCI expansion bay fan (2000 rpm) which caused too much noise, even with "idle".
I had no problems with the 5870.
 
Mac Hammer Fan said:
I bought a 5770 in the past for my MacPro 2009 but I returned it and installed a 5870 instead.
The reason was because of the unacceptable high speed of the PCI expansion bay fan (2000 rpm) which caused too much noise, even with "idle".
I had no problems with the 5870.
Click to expand...

Oh boy I hope this is not the case. I just picked up a 2009 8 core mac pro on ebay and ordered a 5770 for it. We shall see.
 
I wonder if the 5,1 firmware hack stops the PCIe fan from spinning out of control. But then I wonder if after that hack you can still run snow leopard.
 
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