So, anyone think this is possible? I'd check the specs of the card myself but they haven't listed it in the store yet afaik. I'd really like to pick one up, no doubt it'll out perform my GTX 285.
We don't even know if Apple will be offering the 5870 as an upgrade kit yet.
But I think flashing a PC 5870 will be in the realm of possibility once someone with a new 2010 MP equipped with a 5870 dumps the ROM.
Apple will offer a 5870 upgrade kit. It will work in the 08 Mac Pro.
(It's pretty easy... Apple has to at least offer a 5870 upgrade kit for the new Mac Pro, especially in since the retail store won't sell a Mac Pro with the 5870. It will be a 64 bit EFI card. Therefore it will work in the 08 Mac Pro. No idea for the Mac Pro 1,1 though.)
(And just in case it comes up, there will also be a 5770 upgrade kit, and it will also work in the 2008 Mac Pro.)
Apparently, you can see into the future. It's likely that Apple would release upgrade kits based what they've done in the past with the GeForce 8800 GT and Radeon 4870, but there has been no indication on whether or not it will actually happen yet.
My 2008 Mac Pro shall also be graced with a 5870 soon.
Whether I go the retail route or the PC card flashed in to a Mac-compatible part remains to be seen. if Apple charges an outrageous price for the 5870, I shall take the latter route and flash a PC card.
That is....... once the good, hard-working folks like Cindori, The Rominator, etc. , get it sorted out.![]()
Can't wait.... how will X-Plane 9 perform...?
Now you are talking my language!!!
Very few benchmark web sites use X-Plane for their benchmarks.
But X-Plane is OpenGL.
The following chart is HD 5870 vs GTX 285 with OpenGL games.
The operating system is Windows 7.
The HD 5870 will absolutely wipe-out the GTX 285 under OS X.
The HD 5870 should dominate the GTX 285 under Boot Camp with Win7.
I will be using HD 5870 with Win7 because I really enjoy using Reality XP's GNS WAAS 530 with X-Plane.
how are noise levels? my 8800 has gotten a bit noisy, sometimes even when just doing normal work and not gaming it goes up, cleaning it seemed to help a little but not enough imo.
I'm planning to get the new 27" Apple LED Cinema Display, probably late this year. I have the early 2008 Mac Pro (2 x quad core 2.8GHz) with the Nvidia 8800GT - so I'm assuming I need to replace the graphics card to get Mini DisplayPort.
My plan is the same as yours. The ATI 4870 is currently $349.00, perhaps the 5870 will retain that price and the 4870 will drop in price.
Keep dreaming.......that would make MAC 5870 cheaper than Windows ones. Not gonna happen. BTW......with all the info being handed out by newly chatty Apple employees, has anyone asked about when 5770 & 5870 will be available separately and @ what cost?
we need the rom![]()
Any idea how it compares to the '08 Pro's 2600? I couldn't find a noise chart with any 2600.Under idle the noise of the HD 5870 is on par with the rest of the cards.
Under load it is a little on the noisy side.
Keep dreaming.......that would make MAC 5870 cheaper than Windows ones. Not gonna happen. BTW
Any idea how it compares to the '08 Pro's 2600? I couldn't find a noise chart with any 2600.
Also, any thoughts whether aftermarket coolers would work? (Probably unknown until people get their hands on the units...) I had put a Zalman on my G5 Quad's 7800 which was much, much quieter than the stock fan.
GPU Review says the HD 5870 noise level is "loud" while the noise level for the 2600 XT is "moderate."
I've never used a third party cooler but I've heard they can be the way to go.
But you should know since you used the Zalman.