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Apple 4870 in 06 Mac Pro quick review.

H

hugodrax

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 15, 2007
1,220
610
#1 Plug in and go. Just keep the existing cable from the old x1900 and use the other one, plug into mother board.

#2 You will need to buy one of those mini display port to DVI adapter. If you do not have one.

#3 Read the instructions, I did not and broke the little PCI-E tab taking the old card out.

Much quieter than the old x1900 and when playing X-Plane the fan does not go into high speed sounding like a airblower. I guess the cooling and design is more efficient if it can run in low speed fan even with x-plane.

The Apple stores carry them, I went in and bought one but they seemed confused at first when you ask for it but they carry them.
 
R.Youden

R.Youden

macrumors 68020
Apr 1, 2005
2,093
40
Wow, so the HD4870 works in the 1st Gen Mac Pro!

On the Apple website it states only Early 2008 and 2009 models. Can you confirm the spec of your Mac Pro.

Thanks.
 
H

hugodrax

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 15, 2007
1,220
610
Mines is a november 2006 model. quad 2.66 cpu, 8gb of ram.

I also loaded up parallels and ran halflife 2 and it was smooth. With the 1900 it was unusable. Not sure why the huge huge difference unless parallels works better for virtualizing with the 4870.

I have yet to hear the fan go into highspeed mode.

Kind of stupid not to put on the box the 2006 model as compatible. Makes no sense.
 
M

MacVidCards

Suspended
Nov 17, 2008
6,096
1,056
Hollywood, CA
PROFIT MARGIN ON 4870....$200

PROFIT MARGIN ON 2009 MAC PRO YOU BUY BECAUSE THEY TOLD YOU THAT IT WON'T WORK ON 1ST GEN.....$2000

Think about it.
 
H

hugodrax

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 15, 2007
1,220
610
The Rominator said:
PROFIT MARGIN ON 4870....$200

PROFIT MARGIN ON 2009 MAC PRO YOU BUY BECAUSE THEY TOLD YOU THAT IT WON'T WORK ON 1ST GEN.....$2000

Think about it.
Click to expand...

ATI aint stupid though, they sneak in the 32bit code. For ATI the more the merrier when it comes to card sales though.

I wonder if Apple will remove the 32bit code.
 
blackhand1001

blackhand1001

macrumors 68030
Jan 6, 2009
2,599
33
hugodrax said:
ATI aint stupid though, they sneak in the 32bit code. For ATI the more the merrier when it comes to card sales though.

I wonder if Apple will remove the 32bit code.
Click to expand...

If Apple does this I will refuse to buy any genuine Macs. The hardware is compatible and there are drivers for it. They aren't going to ever really make it into the enterprise with upgrade tactics like that. They need to make upgrades more feasible.
 
Spanky Deluxe

Spanky Deluxe

macrumors demi-god
Mar 17, 2005
5,282
1,745
London, UK
This is old news, it was confirmed a few days after release! I've got two (flashed) 4870s in my 2006 Mac Pro and have been playing The Sims 3 on them in Windows in Crossfire for the last two days solid. All's good. :)
 
G

grue

macrumors 65816
Nov 14, 2003
1,233
37
Somewhere.
blackhand1001 said:
If Apple does this I will refuse to buy any genuine Macs. The hardware is compatible and there are drivers for it. They aren't going to ever really make it into the enterprise with upgrade tactics like that. They need to make upgrades more feasible.
Click to expand...

Apple has shown a lot lately that they don't give a damn about enterprise and pro users. THey'd much rather sell shiny crap to frat boys and trophy wives.
 
S

shroud

macrumors member
Sep 24, 2007
31
1
grue said:
Apple has shown a lot lately that they don't give a damn about enterprise and pro users. THey'd much rather sell shiny crap to frat boys and trophy wives.
Click to expand...

here here! :mad:

On a positive note though, the MacRumors community still rocks! :p
 
O

OZMP

macrumors 6502
Feb 18, 2008
321
0
Thanks for this.

Depending when SL comes out i might end up with one :cool:
 
H

hugodrax

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 15, 2007
1,220
610
I have noticed CPU usage has dropped with this 4870. Looks like more of the windows/widgets functions must be offloaded more efficiently. My CPU now is even less busy than ever. and the fans do not seem to kick up even when playing quake 4 on the mac. With the 1900xt it did not take much to get the fan on high speed running like a blower (ie google earth etc..)

I would say your CPU spends much less time doing graphics functions with this 4870.

Worth the upgrade for any first gen mac pro user. I could milk this tower another 3-4 years easy.
 
B

bsnelson

macrumors newbie
Jun 26, 2008
4
0
how to service 4870?

A little off topic...

My new 4870 upgrade card is broken ('08 Mac Pro shut down with that nasty burning smell). Apple is now telling me that I need to lug my entire Mac Pro into a service provider. For what, I am not sure... Anyone know of a simpler way to obtain an exchange from Apple?

The last thing I want is for them (not an Apple store) to plug the card back into the computer to see if it works. Possibly causing damage to the computer (which is fine) in the process. What to do?
 
H

hugodrax

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 15, 2007
1,220
610
bsnelson said:
A little off topic...

My new 4870 upgrade card is broken ('08 Mac Pro shut down with that nasty burning smell). Apple is now telling me that I need to lug my entire Mac Pro into a service provider. For what, I am not sure... Anyone know of a simpler way to obtain an exchange from Apple?

The last thing I want is for them (not an Apple store) to plug the card back into the computer to see if it works. Possibly causing damage to the computer (which is fine) in the process. What to do?
Click to expand...

did you put the old card back in? I would just bring the card itself to the store.
 
bozz2006

bozz2006

macrumors 68030
Aug 24, 2007
2,530
0
Minnesota
I think i'm going to buy this card from Apple. Do I need to buy the mini-displayport to DVI connector? I know it has a DVI, right? But, can I just use that for my single 22" monitor, or do I need to use the connector and have it running from the mini-displayport?

edit: also, does it include both of the power supply cables that I need? I would be upgrading from the lowly 7300GT.
 
W

Wormy23

macrumors member
Jul 1, 2008
31
0
bozz2006 said:
I think i'm going to buy this card from Apple. Do I need to buy the mini-displayport to DVI connector? I know it has a DVI, right? But, can I just use that for my single 22" monitor, or do I need to use the connector and have it running from the mini-displayport?

edit: also, does it include both of the power supply cables that I need? I would be upgrading from the lowly 7300GT.
Click to expand...

Of course you can use the DVI connector on the board for your 22" monitor.

Yes, the upgrade kit includes two power cables.
 
bozz2006

bozz2006

macrumors 68030
Aug 24, 2007
2,530
0
Minnesota
Wormy23 said:
Of course you can use the DVI connector on the board for your 22" monitor.

Yes, the upgrade kit includes two power cables.
Click to expand...

seems obvious, I know. But I would've felt like an idiot if i bought the card, and it didn't work the way I thought it would. Thanks for not making me sound too stupid. lol
 
jazz1

jazz1

Contributor
Aug 19, 2002
4,414
17,998
Mid-West USA
Snow Leopard's Best Friend

From what I'm reading in other threads this card will support offloading from the CPU to the GPU. My current card is not listed as supported. Now I really, really want one. Too bad I've got the new iPhone G3 s ordered. So I'll have to wait a few more paydays.
 
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