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The Golden Guide to Flashing Graphic Cards

Update: I've tried 3 different roms so far. All of them had some issue. Card is a XFX 4890 ZSFC 1.6

1) 13.rom from the 11-13.zip pack does not work. osx won't boot and windows has artifacts on video

2) EFIROMFX.rom will boot OSX with only 1 monitor, and poor 3d performance. also VERY poor 3d performance on Windows (23k on 3dmark03)

3) newgood.rom and HD-489X-ZSFC-V 1.6-Fan Controlled.rom (both provided by macchrissli in other threads) will also boot osx with 1 monitor and have poor performance on both Windows and osx
 
does it make technical sense for a wrong rom to cause performance issues such as this one?

although there's no dual display, there's also no problems with graphics. a previous rom caused artifacts, but this one's fine. I noticed a slight increment in performance since upgrading from a 7300GT, on both windows and mac (team fortress 2, the sims 3), but it didn't correspond to my expectations, nor does it match the average benchmarks for a 4890.
 
how can I check for correct powering? the card is turning on, and cables appear properly connected. (two molex splits, summing up to 4 connectors, and 2 molex to pcie adapters)

there's a bunch of adapters involved, so it's possible that something could be wrong. but

this reminds me: first time I booted OSX, a system window popped up telling me that a pcie card wasn't running at full capacity, something to do with 8x and 16x lanes. what does this mean?
 
Cindori said:
only some slots are full 16x speed. you have to set bottom slot to 16x and use 4890 in that slot.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2838
Click to expand...

that was it cindori, you nailed it. thanks for your generosity

there's still no dual-dvi on mac osx. I have to unplug the second monitor if I want to boot on osx. I'm considering connecting the 7300GT only for dual display, but having second thoughts due to unnecessary power usage and heat.

performance on windows is still below average. I still notice some video tearing when there's a lot of movement in video, like dragging windows. vsync helps a little for 3d.

how can I benchmark graphics performance on OSX?
 
If the new macbook pros come out and they come with the ATI 5xxx series, does that mean we will be able to flash our 5xxx cards and install them on the mac pro?
 
I know we all hate posters who don't read but I just want to make something very clear:

I want to buy an Ati Radeon 4890 JUST FOR WINDOWS and use my Nvidia Geforce 8800 GT for mac. Is this possible?

I would connect 2 DVI Cables to my screen, one from the Nvidia card and one from the ATI card and switch the input according the boot (windows or mac os x).
 
Cindori and the other rom/flashing experts may be interested in this

i recently bought and flashed a 4870 without realising that DVI-VGA adapters were not supported and had been thinking that my problems were related to using a rom that was not fully compatible with my card.

im able to get one monitor working through a dvi to vga adapter, but only if my other monitor is also plugged in ( both identical monitors both via VGA adapters) without the second monitor plugged in the first gives an error "frequency out of range"

it seemed to me that the card was detecting the display from one socket and setting correct resolution/refresh rate ect on the other, cant be specific what gave me this impression, at the time i was trying all sorts to get them both working, at some points using one monitor on my second card.


anyway dont know if thats any help to anyone who knows more about the roms than me, help to be able to give vga support?


SYSTEM spec: mac pro 1.1 running SL 10.6.2/windows 7
flashed card: xfx HD 4870 zwfl ver C.0 flashed to ZWFL/ZWFC rom downloaded from the start of this thread.
second card HD 2600 XT (apple)

cheers to everyone who has worked on making it posible for us mac users to get reasonably priced graphics cards
 
Cindori this card also works without any problems:

2_m.jpg


I use it since a year.

It's HIS Radeon HD4870 512 MB RAM. No need to use patches. Works great under Leopard and Snow Leopard (Tiger also, but without acceleration).

Check my posts I've posted ROM to this card in Ultimate HD4870 thread.
 
yes those are right. and that model will work.

make sure what Rev it is. it says on the sticker on the box, Made in China and then Rev E.0 or 1.6 or 2.0 or something.
 
t3nchu said:
So here is the update of my XFX HD-489X-ZSFC Ver 1.6 flashing

WoW has faster FPS with higher graphic setting then my old 4870 card.
Click to expand...

I'm very interested in this. I have a Sapphire 1gig 4870 that I flashed over a year ago using Rom's file, it has been working great ever since. With the upcoming expansion I am worried that I'll have to turn down some eye candy. I was wondering if the performance increase of the 4890 would make it worth it to buy it, flash it and replace my 4870. Thanks for any help.
 
Don't bother. The 4890 is more powerful, yes, but it isn't worth buying if you've already got a 4870.
 
Change of plans: not the 4870...it's the 4890 now.

Ok, I was a bit over confident with my bids on eBay and I lost the 4870. However, I'm now the proud owner of a Sapphire 4890 HD 1 gig card and I'm looking to play with it this weekend.

I've looked through the posts and can't seem to find an answer to this question: if you're running a Mac Pro (3,1) without Windows, how can you back up your ROM--or do you even need to? I DON'T have Bootcamp installed, but I DO have Fusion available with either XP, Vista or Win 7 on tap. Would that work instead of using BC?

I'm guessing it's looking like this in a step-by-step kinda way:
1. move the primary card from slot 1 to slot 2
2. insert the 4890 into slot 1 and connect the two power cables to the motherboard.
3. boot with monitor connected to old card
4. run Zeus
5. shut down / restart with monitor connected to new card

Is that correct?
 
Cindori said:
your steps are correct but fusion will not do for saving the ROM.
Click to expand...
Ok, thanks for validating that.

Back to the other question: if I'm not running Bootcamp and (as you said) I can't use Fusion, would it be ok to try flashing the card without including Windows?

According to the 4890 Compatibility thread:
CONFIRMED WORKING

1) Sapphire Radeon 1GB (normal model, not overclock or such)
ATI RADEON HD4890 1G GDDR5 PCI-E DUAL DVI/TVO
SKU#: 21150-00
P/N 102-B79002-00-AT
Click to expand...

This is the card that I bought off eBay and even if the flash gets botched for some reason, there exists a ROM that can restore it back to health, correct?
 
there is always risk cause card can look the same, labeled the same but use different firmware anyway. you're pretty solid, but still a risk. Not too unusual that guys go ahead and flash and notice rom is incompatible and stand without any working rom.
 
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