Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Thinking about a new graphics card

Washac

Washac

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jul 2, 2006
2,531
134
I know there has been a thread created regarding this recently but my question
is different.

I want to update my ATI Radeon HD4870

I want a plug n play card, do not want the extra cable hassle etc, all recommendations will be looked into.

Mac details below, it is a 2009 Model, if that helps.

Thanks.
 
What do you want to update it to do?

Also, I assume you have read the sticky thread at the top of this forum and not found an answer to your question?
 
DanielCoffey said:
Also, I assume you have read the sticky thread at the top of this forum and not found an answer to your question?
Click to expand...

Pretty much this, yeah. The NVIDIA cards are great options now, and the FAQ thread which has been stickied at the top of this forum covers all the various options and other need-to-know information.
 
Sorry did not notice that sticky, but still at a loss as to which card is better to what I have already ??
 
Evga GTX 670 (2 GB) for zero plug and play hassles under 10.8.2 (except no boot screen).

MVC's flashed 570 if you want the boot screen.

I had the 4870 in an '09 Pro.. The difference between either is night and day.

Do the CPU 4.1 to 5.1 and get a 3680 hex while you're at it. You won't regret it, except maybe the $$$. About 11 to 12 hundred USD for both.
 
Washac said:
Sorry did not notice that sticky, but still at a loss as to which card is better to what I have already ??
Click to expand...

There's a FAQ for exactly this question. In the current version:

6) What GPU should I buy?

All of the options, even a GTX 650, will be much better than your 4870.
 
xav8tor said:
Evga GTX 670 (2 GB) for zero plug and play hassles under 10.8.2 (except no boot screen).

MVC's flashed 570 if you want the boot screen.

I had the 4870 in an '09 Pro.. The difference between either is night and day.

Do the CPU 4.1 to 5.1 and get a 3680 hex while you're at it. You won't regret it, except maybe the $$$. About 11 to 12 hundred USD for both.
Click to expand...

Just had a look through the sticky and those cards have the no EFI thing and the flashed one has bad reports.

I run a triple booting Mac pro, choice at startup - SL 10.6.8 - Lion 10.7.5 and Windows, so I need the boot screen.
 
OK, OK more confused now than before.

Please can somebody recommend me a graphics card better than my
ATI RADEON HD4870 that is plug n play that work across SL10.6.8, Lion10.7.5
and Windows 7 under Bootcamp that gives me the bootscreen ?

Looking for plug n play no extra cables required or flashing etc.
 
Last edited:
MacVidCards said:
Using the Mac Quadro 4000 driver he can use a GTX470???
Click to expand...

The difference in quality with the SnowLeopard Quadro 4000 and any version of Lion (or Mountain Lion) is like night and day, from what I've seen. I certainly wouldn't recommend using it unless you absolutely had to.

Washac said:
OK, OK more confused now than before.

Please can somebody recommend me a graphics card better than my
ATI RADEON HD4870 that is plug n play that work across SL10.6.8, Lion10.7.5
and Windows 7 under Bootcamp that gives me the bootscreen ?

Looking for plug n play no extra cables required or flashing etc.
Click to expand...

There have been several recommendations. It's just not necessarily a simple question.

1) Perhaps the safest option is to just buy a stock Apple card. You have choices like:

- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285
- AMD Radeon HD 5770 ($249)
- AMD Radeon HD 5870 ($449)

I see that the two AMD cards are still listed in the "Display & Graphics" section of the Mac store, but those prices are pretty high for the age of the GPU you're getting.

2) Buy a flashed GTX 470 or similar card from MacVidCards, and live with whatever driver you get for SnowLeopard (and yes, this will require a driver download from www.nvidia.com to work).

I guess the answer depends on a few questions for you:

- Why do you need to run SnowLeopard?
- Why do you want to upgrade the GPU in the first place? Gaming? Something else?

If you don't want to deal with extra cables or non-standard drivers or flashed cards, then you could just buy a "new" card from Apple directly, since those will always be officially supported and will just work in all cases.
 
Asgorath said:
The difference in quality with the SnowLeopard Quadro 4000 and any version of Lion (or Mountain Lion) is like night and day, from what I've seen. I certainly wouldn't recommend using it unless you absolutely had to.



There have been several recommendations. It's just not necessarily a simple question.

1) Perhaps the safest option is to just buy a stock Apple card. You have choices like:

- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285
- AMD Radeon HD 5770 ($249)
- AMD Radeon HD 5870 ($449)

If you don't want to deal with extra cables or non-standard drivers or flashed cards, then you could just buy a "new" card from Apple directly, since those will always be officially supported and will just work in all cases.
Click to expand...

Think I will look at the ones above, thanks for that.
 
And at $450 for technology from several generations ago, one has to ask whether it's even worth it.
 
Asgorath said:
- Why do you need to run SnowLeopard?
- Why do you want to upgrade the GPU in the first place? Gaming?
Click to expand...


I run Snow Leopard because there are retro games and retro gaming stuff, emulation etc, that
will not run under Lion and I just prefer it.

I was looking to upgrade for gaming.

Seems whatever way I turn I will need extra cables etc so lets start again.

I would want the simplest card to install that is better than my ATI RADEON HD4870
and gives me the boot screen, and will run under Snow Leopard 10.6.8 and Lion 10.7.5 and up.
 
Snow Leopard paints you into a corner when you insist on a boot screen.
The choice is GTX285 or HD5870 mac versions, the 5770 isn't much of an improvement over the 4870.
If you were prepared to lose the boot screen and use something like Bootchamp you could choose a PC spec 6870 or 5870 and flash it, saving about $250 on the price of an Apple one!
I run a flashed Sapphire Vapor-X 1GB HD5870 under Snowy and it works really well, about twice the grunt of my old 4870 (also a Sapphire Vapor-X).
If I need a boot screen I have a 8800GT mac version in a box for emergencies.
 
Last edited:
gpzjock said:
Snow Leopard paints you into a corner when you insist on a boot screen.
The choice is GTX285 or HD5870 mac versions, the 5770 isn't much of an improvement over the 4870.
If you were prepared to lose the boot screen and use something like Bootchamp you could choose a PC spec 6870 or 5870 and flash it, saving about $250 on the price of an Apple one!
I run a flashed Sapphire Vapor-X 1GB HD5870 under Snowy and it works really well about twice the grunt of my old 4870 (also a Sapphire Vapor-X).
If I need a boot screen I have a 8800GT mac version in a box for emergencies.
Click to expand...

I like the idea of using bootchamp, but will that give me the option to boot into all three SL, Lion and Windows ?

Would the holding of the alt key not give me my boot options with a non EFI card ?
 
Last edited:
They use the same number of cables no need to get more.

Washac said:
I like the idea of using bootchamp, but will that give me the option to boot into all three SL, Lion and Windows ?

Would the holding of the alt key not give me my boot options with a non EFI card ?
Click to expand...

If you can't see the boot screen when holding down the alt key you will have to use the Force, Luke. :D

Best way to see how Bootchamp behaves with multiple boot folders is to download it and test.
 
Last edited:
gpzjock said:
They use the same number of cables no need to get more.



If you can't see the boot screen when holding down the alt key you will have to use the Force, Luke. :D

Best way to see how Bootchamp behaves with multiple boot folders is to download it and test.
Click to expand...

Thanks for cable information :)

Nope just finds Windows and boots it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back