So, who has tried their 5870 in a 2008 or 2006 Mac Pro?

ventro said:

So, to the very few of you who have access to both a 2010 and a 2008/2006 Mac Pro, does the 5870 work on the earlier model Mac Pros?

Those of us with earlier models are dying to know

Click to expand...

I have been looking for these answers as well. But, I have yet to see someone be kind enough to dump their 5870 ROM for netkas/cindori ( and hopefully a remote rominator) do their thing.

GL

This is perhaps the most positive sign yet.

http://netkas.org/?p=527

Can't wait to get one for my 2006 Mac Pro.

Huh... They seem to have given up after a couple of unsuccessful tries, because the iMac's EFI works already.
Except it doesn't in 2006 Mac Pros. They must persevere!

EDIT: The Rominator is onto it!

I'm curious, is the 5870's ROM from Apple 128KB or 256KB?

GroundLoop said:

I have been looking for these answers as well. But, I have yet to see someone be kind enough to dump their 5870 ROM for netkas/cindori ( and hopefully a remote rominator) do their thing.

GL

Click to expand...

Which isn't the same thing as fitting a 5870 from Apple into a 2006 Mac Pro. Many things can go wrong during a card flash, and the PC cards may slightly differ from Apple's. But since the ROM appears to be EBC, the card SHOULD work on older Mac Pros.

(crossing fingers)

jeanlain said:

Which isn't the same thing as fitting a 5870 from Apple into a 2006 Mac Pro. Many things can go wrong during a card flash, and the PC cards may slightly differ from Apple's. But since the ROM appears to be EBC, the card SHOULD work on older Mac Pros.

(crossing fingers)

Click to expand...

I know that but we need to attack this thing from all angles. So has anyone tried to install their 2010 Mac pro 5870 card into a 2008 or 2006 MP yet? I would like to know if I can just purchase this card directly from apple and avoid all of the flashing and associated maintenance.

GL

GroundLoop said:

I know that but we need to attack this thing from all angles. So has anyone tried to install their 2010 Mac pro 5870 card into a 2008 or 2006 MP yet? I would like to know if I can just purchase this card directly from apple and avoid all of the flashing and associated maintenance.

GL

Click to expand...

I don't think anyone's tried it yet but since the card is EBC, it should work fine. By the time the upgrade cards can actually be delivered, it'll probably be known for sure though.

Spanky Deluxe said:

I don't think anyone's tried it yet but since the card is EBC, it should work fine. By the time the upgrade cards can actually be delivered, it'll probably be known for sure though.

Click to expand...

I prefer the word "does" over "should".

Even better if we can can see it in screenshots of the about this Mac screens.

GL

GroundLoop said:

I prefer the word "does" over "should".

Even better if we can can see it in screenshots of the about this Mac screens.

GL

Click to expand...

I agree 100% with that. I'm still waiting to see someone confirm that it does in fact work like suspected.

SUCCESS with 2008 MacPro (3,1)

XFX5870_1.rom from http://netkas.org/?p=503 was flashed to SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X HD5870 1GB GDDR5 PCIE OC. Works in OS X after installing the Snow Leopard Graphics Update.

ATIFlash 3.79 was used with Special Disk For Bios Flashing inserted into Ultimate Boot CD

atiflash -fa -fm -fs -fp -p 0 xfx587~1.rom

I was experiencing error 0FL01 when I used ATIFlash 3.75.


Many, many thanks netakas and all.

Very nice but I think we are more interested in whether or not the apple card works in 2008 or 2006.
Flashing is done with so many cards that we know its possible. Good result anyway but lets just get someone who will take 5870 from 2010 and sticks it into 2008

domukun said:

SUCCESS with 2008 MacPro (3,1)

XFX5870_1.rom from http://netkas.org/?p=503 was flashed to SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X HD5870 1GB GDDR5 PCIE OC. Works in OS X after installing the Snow Leopard Graphics Update.

ATIFlash 3.79 was used with Special Disk For Bios Flashing inserted into Ultimate Boot CD

atiflash -fa -fm -fs -fp -p 0 xfx587~1.rom

I was experiencing error 0FL01 when I used ATIFlash 3.75.


Many, many thanks netakas and all.

Click to expand...

Yes flashed cards use the iMac's EFI, which differs from the EBC in Mac Pro cards. So we can't extrapolate. But if anything, the EBC should make things easier.

domukun said:

SUCCESS with 2008 MacPro (3,1)

XFX5870_1.rom from http://netkas.org/?p=503 was flashed to SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X HD5870 1GB GDDR5 PCIE OC. Works in OS X after installing the Snow Leopard Graphics Update.

Click to expand...

Great that it works for you.

Could you please post the exact model number of your card? The link you provided doesn't specify sadly, and they have at least 2 different cards that fit the stats.


Still, an Apple card moved to a 2006 or 2008 Mac Pro is what we are looking for here. Anyone able to give a helping hand?

apple 5870 firmware is ebc will work in any mac pro released /thread

domukun said:

SUCCESS with 2008 MacPro (3,1)

XFX5870_1.rom from http://netkas.org/?p=503 was flashed to SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X HD5870 1GB GDDR5 PCIE OC. Works in OS X after installing the Snow Leopard Graphics Update.

ATIFlash 3.79 was used with Special Disk For Bios Flashing inserted into Ultimate Boot CD

atiflash -fa -fm -fs -fp -p 0 xfx587~1.rom

I was experiencing error 0FL01 when I used ATIFlash 3.75.


Many, many thanks netakas and all.

Click to expand...

domukun - that's great - do you know if it works with 3 monitors? ( 2 x DVI, 1 x MDP)

thanks

Cindori said:

apple 5870 firmware is ebc will work in any mac pro released /thread

Click to expand...

Yes thank you, I saw that on netkas' site.

It looks promising.

I am hoping someone will actually put a card in an 2006/8 machine and prove it though.


There's no reason it shouldn't work, but before I spend $450 on a new card I want to be 110% sure Apple didn't pull something weird.

spiritlevel said:

domukun - that's great - do you know if it works with 3 monitors? ( 2 x DVI, 1 x MDP)

thanks

Click to expand...

Yes, if possible could you test the full capabilities of your flashed card? Passes audio over MDP, etc.?

Anybody got any news

This thread has gone stone quite - trying to keep it alive!! Really want to know as soon as possible whether the new cards will work - in my case in an 1,1 Mac Pro!

warpmoon said:

I am hoping someone will actually put a card in an 2006/8 machine and prove it though.

There's no reason it shouldn't work, but before I spend $450 on a new card I want to be 110% sure Apple didn't pull something weird.

Click to expand...

Agreed.

I heard these are pretty noisy from diglloyd

lloyd709 said:

This thread has gone stone quite - trying to keep it alive!! Really want to know as soon as possible whether the new cards will work - in my case in an 1,1 Mac Pro!

Click to expand...

Ditto, I would also love to have a 5870 in my 1,1 MacPro as well if my 4890 cant accept the new graphic update.

answered my own question about the noise:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5870,2422-21.html
ouch!

Per BareFeats:

And, yes, we will post results for the 5870 and 5770 running in the "earlier" models of Mac Pro.

Click to expand...

http://www.barefeats.com/wst10g.html

(in the "More To Come" section towards the bottom)

So it's most likely true that the 5870 and 5770 run in some (if not all) older Mac Pro's!

The only way it would not work is if is if the main logicboard was modified or the pcie bus was already maxed.

deleted for thread continuity.