Then don't buy one, more for people who want one. To be honest if there truly is a problem I am sure a firmware/driver update can fix it.
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5870 Availability!?!??!!?!?
- Thread starter brock2621
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Then don't buy one, more for people who want one. To be honest if there truly is a problem I am sure a firmware/driver update can fix it.
Actually $450 is pretty reasonable for Apple. Most PC 5870s are around the $400 mark, and if you have an education discount Apple's 5870 is only about $20 or so more.
Issues with manufacturing. Apparently AMD/ATI has problems with the 'yield' on the 5870 - they have to throw out far too many chips for not meeting specs. This leads to supply issues.
The argument about supply issues delaying the introduction of the 5870 makes sense, but it also makes me nervous. 
Also, after looking at some of the gaming benchmarks that barefeats published, I realized I'm probably going to be CPU bound with my 2.8ghz octo as much as anything else and the 5770 is a HUGE step up from the 2600 I've got.
So I finally stopped waiting and ordered a 5770... I'll always have the option of selling it later and upgrading if the 5870 ever ships... And even though the web site says 2-4 weeks, I ordered it yesterday and got my shipping confirmation today!
Also, after looking at some of the gaming benchmarks that barefeats published, I realized I'm probably going to be CPU bound with my 2.8ghz octo as much as anything else and the 5770 is a HUGE step up from the 2600 I've got. So I finally stopped waiting and ordered a 5770... I'll always have the option of selling it later and upgrading if the 5870 ever ships... And even though the web site says 2-4 weeks, I ordered it yesterday and got my shipping confirmation today!
If that works for you, awesome! I am still waiting for the 5870 myself. The good news about your shipment (and other people's in this thread) might mean that their supply is starting to settle down now and the demand for new Mac Pros are starting to settle down as well. This could be good for the 5870 because maybe they will get enough control to start selling the upgrade kits!
I am not going to get me hopes up but next week could be good!
Anybody gotten any more emails? I'm getting more than anxious... i'm seriously tempted to buy a 5770.... but then I would feel dumb when the 5870's are online tom...
What do you have right now? If you have a card that works and can wait for the 5870 I don't see the point in not waiting. Or are you losing work time or something? Personally I am fine waiting. The GT120 I have is really slow but I can definitely battle through it for now.
I have a 4870 + GT120 in a dual monitor setup, and yes, AE & C4D utilize 100% of my system when rendering, and therefore I can't edit in FCP... I've been tempted to build a windows machine purely for rendering.
Anyhoo, another day goes by...
Like others have said the actual card itself has issues with manufacturing. The process has been plagued with issues since the card was originally introduced. Still, I don't see why it is so hard for them to meet demand. The new Mac Pro has shipped for awhile now, I wonder if they are just in preparation for releasing the upgrade kit now. Maybe next week.
Sigh, I just hope we see something happen soon.
I'm pretty sure they reported manufacturing delays about 10 months ago wouldn't think that would have passed by now?
It occurred to me today that we may all be waiting for 10.6.5, and the drivers contained therein.
Why are they selling the 5770 then? They could always just release a graphics card update that is seperate from OS updates, oh wait they already did that.
Then again, the 5770 says "2010 mac pro only" and the 5870 says "2010 mac pro and 2009 mac pro only" in terms of their "official" compatibility. So maybe you are right, maybe they are holding it back while they wait for an update for 2009 mac pros.
This is all besides the point that it has been confirmed that both cards work fine with older mac pros. Considering the issues people have had with these cards and certain display issues (check the other threads), maybe a driver update is really needed.
It is certainly somewhat annoying having the card listed there when it has never actually been available to buy. Why not wait until they have stock to actually sell before listing it? They should have just let us know that its coming and not list it on the store. Arrgh!
That said... I'll be buying one as soon as it becomes available
That said... I'll be buying one as soon as it becomes available
It is certainly somewhat annoying having the card listed there when it has never actually been available to buy. Why not wait until they have stock to actually sell before listing it? They should have just let us know that its coming and not list it on the store. Arrgh!
That said... I'll be buying one as soon as it becomes available
Yeah it is kind of annoying, but I suppose their reason is that they want to avoid having to take the Apple store down just to add it. Granted they could have just snuck in the SKU data and just posted it when it was available (like they did with the 27 inch Apple LED display recently). I suppose since they were already putting up the 5770 though, they just went ahead and added the 5870 as well so that people knew the difference between the two.
Bleh, I am even tired of talking about this already. I just want my 5870 now.
Hurry up Apple!
Its a pain in the rear end all this waiting, by the time apple have the 5870's for upgrade they will be old tech as the 6000 series will be out and the PC 5870's will fall in price.
I found a 5770 for PC at £99.00 yet mac version £199.00 double the price? so theres enough profit in a 5770 at £99.00 to make a profit, yet the apple version needs to be double the price! for even more profit!
Your better off flashing a 4890 than buying the over priced 5770
Come on apple stop ripping off your customers!
I found a 5770 for PC at £99.00 yet mac version £199.00 double the price? so theres enough profit in a 5770 at £99.00 to make a profit, yet the apple version needs to be double the price! for even more profit!
Your better off flashing a 4890 than buying the over priced 5770
Come on apple stop ripping off your customers!
I could just flash a card, but tbh I'd rather not the hassle and would rather not be fearful of os updates killing it. I have no problem waiting for something, I'd just like to a) the reason they are unavailable (I guess they are all going into Mac Pro orders?) and b) when they are going to become available so at least I don't have to check every day. Pain. In. The. Ass.
Yeah, that's my problem. I'm itching to buy a bios 5870 and flash it, but I dont want to have to worry about updates, I use this machine to work, cant have it down because MacOS 10.6.* stopped my video card from working. If the card isnt available in another couple days I'll buy a 5770 and upgrade to a new, faster card in a year or so, blech
Yeah, that's my problem. I'm itching to buy a bios 5870 and flash it, but I dont want to have to worry about updates, I use this machine to work, cant have it down because MacOS 10.6.* stopped my video card from working. If the card isnt available in another couple days I'll buy a 5770 and upgrade to a new, faster card in a year or so, blech
You can guarantee that as soon as you receive your 5770, the 5870 will become available
What card are you upgrading from?You can guarantee that as soon as you receive your 5770, the 5870 will become available
Yeah, I sat on the fence because of that... I figured they'd make it available "soon", why else would it be on the site? Anyway, I finally ordered a 5770, which is a huge upgrade from the 2600 I had before... When I got my mac pro, I ordered the very base model 2008, which was a pretty good deal, figuring that I'd upgrade the memory, disk and video card on my own, but there were never any really great video options, so I sat on the fence for years. Now I can finally play modern games again...
Portal timedemo with old card: 39 / 50 / 49 / 58 / 17
Portal timedemo with new card: 171 / 230 / 165 / 245 / 67
I forgot to take a pic of the two cards next to each other... Ha.
Is there much difference in the 4870 I have in my macpro to the 5770? I use mine as a gaming machine mostly and didn't know if it was worth upgrading or waiting for the 5870
@sparkie1984: I read that the performance of the 5770 is pretty much on par with the 4870... although the 5770 is a lot quieter. 5870 on the other hand will offer a massive performance increase.