5870 and 5770 cards that work on the Pro

[freeman727]

I recently sold my XFX 4870 in anticipation of the new cards that will be coming to the MP's soon. I understand that the question will not be answered until the new MP's come out and someone can extract the BIOS. But I wanted to start a thread of which cards (Brand, Model, Rev #) works with our MP's (looks like 2008 and later).

Interestingly the reference design has a full Displayport. I wonder how it will interface with the Cinema Display's mini Displayport.

Cheers! :)

[ZennZero]

I wonder how it will interface with the Cinema Display's mini Displayport.

Cheers! :)

Aren't DP and Mini DP electrically compatible? If so, you only need an adapter cable.

[freeman727]

Aren't DP and Mini DP electrically compatible? If so, you only need an adapter cable.

But isn't the dongle on the cinema display a male mini-DP. The reference cards all have female full-DP. Then I would need a female mini-DP to male full-DP adapter.

[freeman727]

We would want a product like: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042803&p_id=5714&seq=1&format=2
but in reverse.

[freeman727]

Found the necessary adapter at http://estore.circuitassembly.com/products/Mini-Displayport-Female-to-Displayport-Male-Adapter-Cable.html
but it does not seem to work with ATI 58xx and 57xx cards! :(

[freeman727]

After digging around it seems like these female mini-DP to male full-DP will not work with the 5000 series card: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2194066
At this point there are no solutions. We'll have to wait and see when the new ATI cards and Cinema display cards come out. Either the new cards will have mini-DP on them unlike the reference card (more likely) or the new cards will have full-DP and so will the new cinema display (less likely because all the current macbooks and iMacs have mini-DP).

[The Rominator]

After digging around it seems like these female mini-DP to male full-DP will not work with the 5000 series card: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2194066
At this point there are no solutions. We'll have to wait and see when the new ATI cards and Cinema display cards come out. Either the new cards will have mini-DP on them unlike the reference card (more likely) or the new cards will have full-DP and so will the new cinema display (less likely because all the current macbooks and iMacs have mini-DP).

Hooey...bunch of nonsense.

I bought the cable linked at the end of that year old thread.

In fact I drove down there and met the staff.

Cable works fine.

Since there is no "conversion" going on, it is simple pin reassignment.

Go find something real to worry about.

[freeman727]

Hooey...bunch of nonsense.

I bought the cable linked at the end of that year old thread.

In fact I drove down there and met the staff.

Cable works fine.

Since there is no "conversion" going on, it is simple pin reassignment.

Go find something real to worry about.

Thanks Rominator. So just to confirm that you have an ATI 5000 series card connected to a Cinema Display from DP to mini-DP?

[Cocoia]

... have female full-DP.

I'm a huge fan of full female DP.

Oh, video cards. Right. Carry on.

[freeman727]

I kinda found the answer to my own question: http://www.apple.com/macpro/features/graphics.html

The Apple 5770 and 5870 appear to be reference design except they feature 2 mini-DP and 1 DVI. Interesting! I really hope they release this card as an upgrade option for 08 and 09 Mac Pro owners. Something is telling me they won't because they want us to sink cash into a new iMac or 2010 Mac Pro.

[Spanky Deluxe]

It lists on the Mac Pro tech specs website under the accessories upgrades section: "ATI Radeon HD 5770 Graphics Upgrade Kit". No mention of the 5870 though. These cards will definitely work in 2008 and 2009 Mac Pros unless Apple has found some elaborate way to artificially limit them to only working on 2010 Mac Pros (which would take a fair bit of doing). The only question is whether they'll include EFI32 support for the 64 bit machine but not a 64 bit machine Mac Pro 1,1.

[Major Reeves]

It lists on the Mac Pro tech specs website under the accessories upgrades section: "ATI Radeon HD 5770 Graphics Upgrade Kit". No mention of the 5870 though. These cards will definitely work in 2008 and 2009 Mac Pros unless Apple has found some elaborate way to artificially limit them to only working on 2010 Mac Pros (which would take a fair bit of doing). The only question is whether they'll include EFI32 support for the 64 bit machine but not a 64 bit machine Mac Pro 1,1.

I seriously don't expect apple to restrict the hd5870 given that there aren't any restrictions hardware or software wise.
But if the worse comes to happen, they just lost a client.

[Spanky Deluxe]

I seriously don't expect apple to restrict the hd5870 given that there aren't any restrictions hardware or software wise.
But if the worse comes to happen, they just lost a client.

They did limit it with the nVidia cards from the 2009 Mac Pro.

[Major Reeves]

They did limit it with the nVidia cards from the 2009 Mac Pro.

Yes I know, they did limit them to the 64 bit efi models and never officially supported the hd4870 on the efi 32 revs.

But on this case, the 2008 and 2009 revs don't pose any incompatibility unless apple creates one. Or on another scenario, not supplying the card, at this moment on the mac pro page, only the 5770 is offered as an upgrade.

[freeman727]

It lists on the Mac Pro tech specs website under the accessories upgrades section: "ATI Radeon HD 5770 Graphics Upgrade Kit". No mention of the 5870 though. These cards will definitely work in 2008 and 2009 Mac Pros unless Apple has found some elaborate way to artificially limit them to only working on 2010 Mac Pros (which would take a fair bit of doing). The only question is whether they'll include EFI32 support for the 64 bit machine but not a 64 bit machine Mac Pro 1,1.

I checked it out. You are right. If the card is under $250 then I would go for that rather than try to flash a 5770. However if the card is over $300 then I would look to flash a 5770 if there is a card that flashes well.