Apple's ATI Radeon HD 5870 Works in 2008 Mac Pro

[ManWithAPlan]

I think the apple support article is pretty clear on this: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4279

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To connect three DVI displays at once, you must use two Apple Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapters (sold separately).
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These adapters are very expensive. From what I've read, on forums like this one and such, you need to have these to run three displays. I also have three displays and so would love to hear of a cheaper workaround.....if anybody finds out another option please let us know

Right, you're missing the point. I know how to connect DVI displays to miniport jacks, thanks, but i'm good there...and you're wrong, the connectors are not expensive, in fact Apple gives them to you when you buy a Mac Mini and other devices, so I have 2 of them already that I don't currently use. They can be purchased for cheap money regardless. The point of my inquiry is whether or not 3 displays, when connected properly to the 5870, will work simultaneously in a 2008 Mac Pro, the subject of the Barefeats review, if you bothered to read it. The article comments on the flakiness they were seeing in general with the MDP ports, so my question is even more important in light of that.

Thanks for playing.

 

[coolmemin]

Right, you're missing the point. I know how to connect DVI displays to miniport jacks, thanks, but i'm good there...and you're wrong, the connectors are not expensive, in fact Apple gives them to you when you buy a Mac Mini and other devices, so I have 2 of them already that I don't currently use. They can be purchased for cheap money regardless. The point of my inquiry is whether or not 3 displays, when connected properly to the 5870, will work simultaneously in a 2008 Mac Pro, the subject of the Barefeats review, if you bothered to read it. The article comments on the flakiness they were seeing in general with the MDP ports, so my question is even more important in light of that.

Thanks for playing.

I didn't mean to sound rude or anything like that. I think you are mistaken.....I think. Let me know if I am wrong here. There is a difference between the MDP to Dual-Link DVI adapter which is $99
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB571Z/A

and the MDP to DVI adapter which is $29
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB571Z/A

According to the support article i linked, you need the $99 adapter to use 3 displays, and with the $29 you can use 2 displays.

 

[ManWithAPlan]

I didn't mean to sound rude or anything like that. I think you are mistaken.....I think. Let me know if I am wrong here. There is a difference between the MDP to Dual-Link DVI adapter which is $99
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB571Z/A

and the MDP to DVI adapter which is $29
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB571Z/A

According to the support article i linked, you need the $99 adapter to use 3 displays, and with the $29 you can use 2 displays.

My fault, you are correct sir! It appears that in my case I would not be able to use my single-link DVI adapters, but would need to buy 2 of the 99 dollar dual-link DVI adapters, even though i'm not running a 30 inch monitor that would normally require the dual-link...interesting. Well, that sucks, but I'll do it as long as 3x24 inch DVI displays actually work with the 5870 on the older 2008 mac pro's...again, that is the outstanding question at this point that I'd like to see Barefeats test with. Thank you for the insight into the proper connector cables though, that is important to know going in to this. Cheers!

 

[coolmemin]

My fault, you are correct sir! It appears that in my case I would not be able to use my single-link DVI adapters, but would need to buy 2 of the 99 dollar dual-link DVI adapters, even though i'm not running a 30 inch monitor that would normally require the dual-link...interesting. Well, that sucks, but I'll do it as long as 3x24 inch DVI displays actually work with the 5870 on the older 2008 mac pro's...again, that is the outstanding question at this point that I'd like to see Barefeats test with. Thank you for the insight into the proper connector cables though, that is important to know going in to this. Cheers!

Yes I am bummed about this as well. I have 3 displays and would like the 5870 but having to pay an extra $200 doesn't sound like a good time to me. I did find out that you can find new adapters on ebay for around $65 so that would be a little better I guess.

Another solution I have heard of is to buy two 5770 cards which would be cheaper but then you wouldn't get the awesomeness of the 5870

 

[ManWithAPlan]

Yes I am bummed about this as well. I have 3 displays and would like the 5870 but having to pay an extra $200 doesn't sound like a good time to me. I did find out that you can find new adapters on ebay for around $65 so that would be a little better I guess.

Another solution I have heard of is to buy two 5770 cards which would be cheaper but then you wouldn't get the awesomeness of the 5870

Yep, indeed. So you have 3 monitors, do you also have the 2008 Mac Pro, or one of the newer 2009 or 2010 models?

 

[sch8mid]

Problem 2 monitors and HD 5770

had the same problem in the hackintosh world (rig is similating a macpro 3.1)

Only first monitor came up , second monitor went black after late graphic update .

problem solved .

incorrect framebuffer was inserted ( Motmot = ATI 4xxx series)

correct framebuffer for HD 5770 is Vervet ( Uakari for HD 5870)

I corrected framebuffers : Now 2 Monitors are working fine even with 1080p HDMI @ 50 Hz (Panasonic Pro Plasma)

Unfortunately I cant test displayport , but I think its working too.


HD 5770 (custom bios) Candy :



Rank 1 in Cinebench 11.5 Database Mac

 

[barefeats]

Three displays work on the 2008 + 5870

I took time out of benchmarking with one display to experiment with multiple displays using the newest GPUs. (Special thanks to "Pegasusrjf" for his input.)

With the Radeon HD 5870 installed in the 2008 Mac Pro,
I got three displays to light up and work with this setup:
1. 23" Cinema on the DVI port
2. 23" Cinema with MDP to dual-link DVI adapter on first MDP port
3. 24" LED Cinema with direct MDP connection to second MDP port

Tried the same setup with the Radeon HD 5770 in the 2008 Mac Pro:
Only 2 of the 3 displays light up.

 

[coolmemin]

I took time out of benchmarking with one display to experiment with multiple displays using the newest GPUs.

With the Radeon HD 5870 installed in the 2008 Mac Pro,
I got three displays to light up and work with this setup:
1. 23" Cinema on the DVI port
2. 23" Cinema with MDP to dual-link DVI adapter on first MDP port
3. 24" LED Cinema with direct MDP connection to second MDP port

Tried the same setup with the Radeon HD 5770 in the 2008 Mac Pro:
Only 2 of the 3 displays light up.

Thank you this is very helpful although not exactly good news for those of us with 3 displays and no MDP monitors

 

[barefeats]

Thank you this is very helpful although not exactly good news for those of us with 3 displays and no MDP monitors

You should be able to use two MDP to dual-link DVI adapters to fire up the 2nd and 3rd displays with DVI connectors -- though at $99 each, it's an expensive piece of mad science. If I had two of those adapters I would try it.

 

[coolmemin]

You should be able to use two MDP to dual-link DVI adapters to fire up the 2nd and 3rd displays with DVI connectors -- though at $99 each, it's an expensive piece of mad science. If I had two of those adapters I would try it.

yup, expensive mad science indeed. It is supposed to work according to an apple support article but that would bring the price of the video card up from 450 to 650.....

 

[Pegasusrjf]

Possible fix for non MDP displays

According to this Apple support article you can drive 3 displays if you use VGA adapters for all 3 connections.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4279

I have been reading these forums for years, but my ability to finally get 3 displays (thank you to my wife), caused me to look into this option, and thereby finally register.

 

[coolmemin]

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4279

According to this Apple support article you can drive 3 displays if you use VGA adapters for all 3 connections.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4279

yup, it seems like that would work except that i am using a 30" cinema display and that is dvi only. I could probably just use two graphics cards. Leave my old one in (ATI 3870) to drive the two 23" monitors i have and then use the new card with the DVI port for the 30" display. Hopefully the mac will recognize the 5870 as the card to use for graphics processing.......

 

[Pegasusrjf]

You could drive 2 with the 5870 and one of the $99 adapters, the use the old card for the third

 

[coolmemin]

You could drive 2 with the 5870 and one of the $99 adapters, the use the old card for the third

Actually, if I would use two displays on the 5870 you could use one of the cheaper adapters as well and it would work ok

 

[barefeats]

Actually, if I would use two displays on the 5870 you could use one of the cheaper adapters as well and it would work ok

That's correct. Only two DVI displays on the 5870 and all you need is the $29 MDP to DVI adapter. The only reason I had to use the $99 MDP to dual-link DVI adapter was when I had three displays connected.

 

[coolmemin]

That's correct. Only two DVI displays on the 5870 and all you need is the $29 MDP to DVI adapter. The only reason I had to use the $99 MDP to dual-link DVI adapter was when I had three displays connected.

This could be an ok workaround for those of us with three displays I think. I have heard that there are sometimes issues with the Mac recognizing the proper video card to use when you have two but I have two right now and it doesn't seem to be an issue.

Thanks again for doing all of this testing. It is very helpful!

 

[ManWithAPlan]

This could be an ok workaround for those of us with three displays I think. I have heard that there are sometimes issues with the Mac recognizing the proper video card to use when you have two but I have two right now and it doesn't seem to be an issue.

Thanks again for doing all of this testing. It is very helpful!

Not for me it wouldn't. The only reason I would move to the 5870 is if I can power *all* 3 24-inch Dell monitors off of that 1 card. Thus freeing up a slot for another purpose and giving me the improvement in performance of the 5870 over my 8800GT's. Sounds like it *should* work with 2 of the 99 dollar adapters for the MDP ports, alongside the straight DVI-to-DVI connection for the 3rd monitor. I think it is indeed mad science, but I may just try it out when the 5870 can finally be ordered!

Thanks Barefeats for the latest testing on this.

 

[barefeats]

I got the 5770 to support three displays by using one 30" Cinema on the DVI port, one 23" Cinema (with dual-link DVI to MDP adapter) on the first MDP, and one 24" LED Cinema direct to the second MDP.

Maybe one reason that all three lit up this time was the fact that the 30" Cinema is effectively an "active adapter" like the other two.

I'm continuing to experiment with every display combo on all models of Mac Pro with the 5770 and 5870 installed, so more to come on this.

 

[barefeats]

So with my 30" + 23" + 24" Cinema display scenario,
I've been able to get all three displays to work on the 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010 Mac Pro with both 5870 and 5770.

One tricky thing. When I first booted up the 2006 with the 5770, only the 30" Cinema was lit.
I pulled one Mini DisplayPort cable out (connected to the 24" LED Cinema).
The 23" Cinema lit up.
I plugged the 24" LED Cinema cable back in.
Now all three were lit.

Same thing with the 2009 with the 5870. So there is still some "ooga booga" with multi-display support.

 

[Pegasusrjf]

ATI Eyefinity certified single-DVI Active Adpaters

http://accellcables.com/products/DisplayPort/DP/mdp_dvi_sl_active.htm

They are coming soon. At around 30 or so this is much better than buying the dual-dvi link.

 

[ManWithAPlan]

http://accellcables.com/products/DisplayPort/DP/mdp_dvi_sl_active.htm

They are coming soon. At around 30 or so this is much better than buying the dual-dvi link.

Perfect!!! This is exactly what the doctor ordered. No need for the huge, klunky dual-link Apple adapter then, at least for those of us with single-link needs (no greater than 1920x1080). Thanks Pegagus, great stuff! I look forward to ordering 2 of them.

 

[coolmemin]

http://accellcables.com/products/DisplayPort/DP/mdp_dvi_sl_active.htm

They are coming soon. At around 30 or so this is much better than buying the dual-dvi link.

So theoretically would these work to power 3 displays. One 30" cinema on the dvi port and two of these for 2 more 24" screens? It hasn't been tested yet of course but theoretically......???

 

[Pegasusrjf]

So theoretically would these work to power 3 displays. One 30" cinema on the dvi port and two of these for 2 more 24" screens? It hasn't been tested yet of course but theoretically......???

I am going on faith, and a little technical information available from ATI, that the limitations of # of displays follows the standard Eyefinity configuration options.

ATI has a list of approved dongles (and interestingly Apple isn't listed), although their mDP to VGA and their mDP to Dual-DVI seem to work great.

According to ATI this adapter is an "Active Adapter" and can work to drive a DVI display (not DVI-D). Also according to ATI, all mDP or DP to VGA adapters are "Active" unless otherwise specified, which is why Apple can list 3 display configuration working with the VGA adapters.

 

[Pegasusrjf]

Follow up. Here is the link to the list of ATI/AMD certified dongles for eyefinity.

http://support.amd.com/us/eyefinity/Pages/eyefinity-dongles.aspx

 

[MacsRgr8]

No need to get it... :-(

Well, tnx to Barefeats I will be saving money.
The only game my 2008 Mac Pro could need some extra horsepower is X-Plane.
I already have the Radeon 4870, and notice the pic below.... (testmachine Mac was an 08 Mac Pro)