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Radeon HD 6990

Still, if this persists...it's kind of awesome...doubly so if we get full functionality, all ports, bells and whistles. We'll be out of reasons to complain about AMD cards.
 
Let's see some proof!

I personally have a 6970 on the way to do some testing in my 2010 mac pro. Anyone have it up and running yet???

go go!
 
colorkite said:
I personally have a 6970 on the way to do some testing in my 2010 mac pro. Anyone have it up and running yet???
Click to expand...

hey there....very exciting :) please, please report back with your results. i've got a 2010 Mac Pro as well, and i'm veeerrrry interested in knowing if the 6970 works out for you.

good luck !! :)
 
Likewise, I'd be interested in seeing how any of those various cards perform (all ports functional, etc.) on various Mac Pros. Heck, if I can get one cheap, I may give it a shot.
 
Following this as well ... for my wife's Mac Pro 1,1. Be interesting if she could make use of one of these cards.

Chris
 
Pressure said:
You can read about it here.

The files should be fairly easy to find if you know where to look.

Following cards should be "compatible" out of the box:
  • Radeon HD 5770
  • Radeon HD 5850
  • Radeon HD 5870
  • Radeon HD 6850
  • Radeon HD 6870
  • Radeon HD 6970

Even the EyeFinity versions with up to 6 Mini-DisplayPort connectors, although they only seem to work as single-link (up to 1920 x 1200).
Click to expand...

Forgive ignorance here, but don't follow the last line about resolution up to only 1920x1200, is that only for the displayports? or the DVI as well?
I was just looking at a 6870 in UK, selling for around £150.
Is the software part simple? I no nothing about installing kexts or whatever...:(
 
woodbine said:
Forgive ignorance here, but don't follow the last line about resolution up to only 1920x1200, is that only for the displayports? or the DVI as well?
I was just looking at a 6870 in UK, selling for around £150.
Is the software part simple? I no nothing about installing kexts or whatever...:(
Click to expand...

The Radeon HD 6870 is apparently a freak of nature and works with all 4 connectors (DVI, HDMI, Mini-DisplayPort). Someone has the 30" Apple Cinema Display running with a Mini-DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter. Your mileage may vary.

You need the following files from the 2011 MacBook Pro Install DVD, ati6000controller.kext, atisupport.kext and atiframebuffer.kext.

There is absolutely no guarantee that it will work after the next update, so this is done at your own risk. The graphic card will first initialize when you are inside the operating system, so no boot screen.
 
I also read something about 'reference cards' being the best buy for success. This was said about the 5xxx series. Would the same apply to this card? I have seen some cards with 'AMD' printed near the connectors and this was an indicator of a reference design.
Comments?
 
Evidence?

goMac said:
Clearly, this means Apple is about to discontinue the Mac Pro.
Click to expand...

Where is your evidence of the given, above statement? Personally, this is my LAST Mac Pro since its plenty powerful for my needs. Just got the 6-core chip recently, a w3680 and I am all set, though I am only using the mac pro for basics like I do on my PB G4 which 90 percent of the time I am using since I am hardly on my Mac Pro.. and I don't even do video editing..

But when ripping a dvd, I go to my mac pro.. and having found a solution of getting flash 10.2/10.3 beta to work on my PowerPC G4 1.67 PB, I can view youtube via mactubes up to 720p with no problems - using quicktime codec and mplayer os x extended codecs.

But again, where is your evidence for the mac pro about to be discontinued?
 
woodbine said:
I also read something about 'reference cards' being the best buy for success. This was said about the 5xxx series. Would the same apply to this card? I have seen some cards with 'AMD' printed near the connectors and this was an indicator of a reference design.
Comments?
Click to expand...

I believe all cards right now are reference designs. They may be some with other coolers but the PCB should be the same.
 
Joshuarocks said:
ersonally, this is my LAST Mac Pro since its plenty powerful for my needs.
Click to expand...

I always smirk when I hear people say this. It's good justification when we buy..and the attitude may last a couple of years. But invariably we all get sucked back in for more.

Just my opinion. :D
 
So....let me get this right, it's almost as powerful as the 5870, but it's a lot cheaper than Apple's card and somewhat cheaper than non-Apple cards. Is this just next gen technology being cheaper or is there some catch?
 
I can confirm that 6990 will NOT work under OSX Lion or SL.
I tried both version of the OS and it doesn't work.

Does anyone have a few tips on how to get it working on OSX. That would be great Thx!!!
 
Just to update on this post. According to tonymacx86 blog, the follow cards are now supported in 10.6.7. No need for lion developer previews.

ATI Radeon HD 5630 Device ID 0x68D8
ATI Radeon HD 5630 Device ID 0x68D9
ATI Radeon HD 5670 Device ID 0x68D8
ATI Radeon HD 5730 Device ID 0x68D8
ATI Radeon HD 5770 Device ID 0x68B8
ATI Radeon HD 5850 Device ID 0x6899
ATI Radeon HD 5870 Device ID 0x6898

AMD Radeon HD 6850 Device ID 0x6739
AMD Radeon HD 6870 Device ID 0x6738
AMD Radeon HD 6970 Device ID 0x6718

Could mean the end of "Apple" versions of video cards...
 
Joshuarocks said:
Where is your evidence of the given, above statement? Personally, this is my LAST Mac Pro since its plenty powerful for my needs. Just got the 6-core chip recently, a w3680 and I am all set, though I am only using the mac pro for basics like I do on my PB G4 which 90 percent of the time I am using since I am hardly on my Mac Pro.. and I don't even do video editing..

But when ripping a dvd, I go to my mac pro.. and having found a solution of getting flash 10.2/10.3 beta to work on my PowerPC G4 1.67 PB, I can view youtube via mactubes up to 720p with no problems - using quicktime codec and mplayer os x extended codecs.

But again, where is your evidence for the mac pro about to be discontinued?
Click to expand...

I was being sarcastic. :p
 
davegregory said:
According to tonymacx86 blog, the follow cards are now supported in 10.6.7. No need for lion developer previews.
Click to expand...

Specifically, the article states that "the Mac OS X 10.6.7 update for early 2011 Mac Book Pro models" is needed. This standalone update is different than the universal 10.6.7 update. The standalone installer checks for MBP, so it can't be used on MP.
http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2011/03/mac-os-x-1067-update-for-early-2011.html

Also, DVD player and Geekbench are broken with the new kexts. However, most people there are using hackintoshes so I don't know what this means for real Mac Pros.

What I'd like to know is if this can be made to work on a MP with a 6870 and no ill side effects.
 
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Thanks.

I think I've picked out the XFX 6870 Black Edition. I like the thought of a video card that's silent even under high load.
 
So what are the odds that I'll be able to run a 6970 in my MacPro 4,1 when Lion is released?

(without kexts, etc)
 
TheStrudel said:
Let us know how that 6870 works out for you...
Click to expand...

If you mean me, I will be waiting to see that this works with retail Lion before I buy. If it does work with Lion, I'll buy the 6870 Black and install it under Snow Leopard.

I'm not keen on upgrading to Lion (or any other OS) immediately, but I also want to make sure that the 6870 will work on Lion when I do upgrade.
 
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