Well, I couldn't resist....
1) The long wait for a new Mac Pro
2) X-Plane 10 being quite demanding
3) Got a discount on a 5870
So, I still have a Mac Pro '08, 8 x 2.8 GHz, 8 GB RAM.
I want to wait for an all new Mac Pro, hoping for a gr8 config with a Radeon 7970.
But, since I could get a nice deal on getting a new Radeon HD 5870 (Mac edition), I wanted to try it out and see if the nearly 4 year old Mac would get a nice boost in gaming.
Got the Mac originally with the nVidia GeForce 8800. Upgraded the grfx card to an ATi Radeon 4870 a year later. The difference then was very noticeable.
So, how about going from a Radeon HD 4870 to a Radeon 5870?
Officially, the Mac Pro '08 is not noted as supported, but placing the 5870 was very easy. The same power cables as the 4870 could be used. Zapped NVRAM, and all was working immediately.
Fired up X-Plane 10....
Huge difference! I can increase all settings, and manage better FPS!
Gone from "high" to "very high" texture resolution, more could puffs, etc.
TBO, I thought that the CPU of my Mac Pro would be more of a bottleneck and that the 5870 wouldn't be "pushed" enough by the rest of the system, but plainly I was wrong.
Inserting the 5870 inside an '08 Mac Pro has been the best thing I've done this year
p).
Must admit that for most Mac-gaming the 4870 was good enough (HL2, Dirt 2, etc.) to be able to play those games at the highest settings, but X-Plane 10 (and 9 BTW..) definitely deserve the extra 3D horsepower of a 5870. Supported Mac Pro or not...
Me happy.
1) The long wait for a new Mac Pro
2) X-Plane 10 being quite demanding
3) Got a discount on a 5870
So, I still have a Mac Pro '08, 8 x 2.8 GHz, 8 GB RAM.
I want to wait for an all new Mac Pro, hoping for a gr8 config with a Radeon 7970.
But, since I could get a nice deal on getting a new Radeon HD 5870 (Mac edition), I wanted to try it out and see if the nearly 4 year old Mac would get a nice boost in gaming.
Got the Mac originally with the nVidia GeForce 8800. Upgraded the grfx card to an ATi Radeon 4870 a year later. The difference then was very noticeable.
So, how about going from a Radeon HD 4870 to a Radeon 5870?
Officially, the Mac Pro '08 is not noted as supported, but placing the 5870 was very easy. The same power cables as the 4870 could be used. Zapped NVRAM, and all was working immediately.
Fired up X-Plane 10....
Huge difference! I can increase all settings, and manage better FPS!
Gone from "high" to "very high" texture resolution, more could puffs, etc.
TBO, I thought that the CPU of my Mac Pro would be more of a bottleneck and that the 5870 wouldn't be "pushed" enough by the rest of the system, but plainly I was wrong.
Inserting the 5870 inside an '08 Mac Pro has been the best thing I've done this year
p).Must admit that for most Mac-gaming the 4870 was good enough (HL2, Dirt 2, etc.) to be able to play those games at the highest settings, but X-Plane 10 (and 9 BTW..) definitely deserve the extra 3D horsepower of a 5870. Supported Mac Pro or not...
Me happy.