2009 Mac Pro 5770 or 4870

[Maurier]

Hello,
I have a late 2009 Mac Pro with an ATI HD 4870.
Have a few question since I am looking to upgrade to get ready for Diable 3=)
The monitor I use is a dell 24inch 1900 by 1200.
First off I was about to place an order for the 5770 since it's a lot cheaper then the 5870 but on Apple site it said that only works on mid 2010 mac pro.
If the 5870 works on then 2009 I don't see why the 5770 should not? It's basically the same cards with just different speeds.
Anyone here with a 2009 mac pro and a 5770 can confirm this?
I did some research but I will prefer to know it from someone here.
Also going from the 4870 to the 5770 is it worth it? for the extra 512MB of ram?

Thanks

 

[goMac]

The 5770 and 4870 are actually pretty close to being the same GPU. You won't see any performance increase by going from the 4870 to the 5770. The 5870 is the only faster GPU for Mac right now.

 

[galstaph]

the 5770 will work just fine on your machine. IIRC they work on all intel mac pros, but are only supported for use on the 2010. The 5770 has about the same performance as the 4870, but is cheaper, (for the mac version anyway), and yes the extra vram can't hurt. If you want to upgrade the 5770 isn't too bad a card, plus it is dx11 compliant for future gaming on windows if you like (IIRC the 4870 isn't)

 

[goMac]

the 5770 will work just fine on your machine. IIRC they work on all intel mac pros, but are only supported for use on the 2010. The 5770 has about the same performance as the 4870, but is cheaper, (for the mac version anyway), and yes the extra vram can't hurt. If you want to upgrade the 5770 isn't too bad a card, plus it is dx11 compliant for future gaming on windows if you like (IIRC the 4870 isn't)

In some benchmarks the 5770 is actually slower than the 5770. I really wouldn't recommend moving from a 4870 to a 5770.

 

[Garen]

It will work with your 2009 Mac Pro, I don't have a 4870 but was told it uses less power, generates less heat and noise than 4870. My 2007 2.1 Mac Pro 8 core has a 5770 and I love it.

Garen

 

[toxic]

the 5770 is slower than the 4870, though not by a huge amount. on the flip side, it uses less power and generates less heat.

 

[UmarOMC]

The 5770 and 4870 are actually pretty close to being the same GPU. You won't see any performance increase by going from the 4870 to the 5770. The 5870 is the only faster GPU for Mac right now.

I second that. Personally, I'm wondering if I should get an Intel Xeon W3580 3.33GHz to replace my W3520 2.66GHz, or the Radeon HD 5870 for a better gaming experience.