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ATI Radeon X1900 XT Firmware Update

WildPalms said:
Must be a typo..... I doubt its a reference to an nVidia card.
Click to expand...

Nah, what I was hoping someone would pick up was... if its a firmware for a 1900GT and its flashed to a 1900XT *poof* bricked video card.

Besides I don't recall a 1900GT ever made available for a Mac Pro. There has been GT cards from ATI. Just I can't remember which models they were for.

As you said, I hope it is a typo. Which seems to be, and a bad typo at that.

pgwalsh said:
I updated it and everything works fine. It's odd that they don't mention what it improves or fixes.
Click to expand...

As his was successful. :)
 
I hear the sound of 100'000 aluminium iMac owners drumming their fingers on the table in disgust.
 
I wonder if this will brick my ATI 1950XT I have flashed to work in the MacPro.

Best to be careful not to accidentally install it!
 
Firmware Installed - All Ok

Downloaded standalone from apple. Installed with no problems and everything working with no problems whatsoever.

I have no idea what this fixed though... maybe it's something to do with Leopard's updated openGL and Core Animation perhaps..?
 
Worked for me, no problems. For anybody who's interested here's a before and after from the system profiler:

ATI Radeon X1900 XT: (before)

Chipset Model: ATY,RadeonX1900
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
VRAM (Total): 512 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x7249
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-A52027-140
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.140


ATI Radeon X1900 XT: (after)

Chipset Model: ATY,RadeonX1900
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
VRAM (Total): 512 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x7249
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-A52027-202
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.202
 
The recent EFI update undid the video card fan fix and the fan started making a lot more noise. Hopefully this fix addresses the fan noise (again).
 
i'm hoping it fixes some issues with FCS 2 and motion, there were definitley issues with motion 2 and the x1900 when rendering projects with 10+ layers
 
Did anyone notice the minimum requirements?

Mac OSX 10.4.10
Mac Pro

I wonder if that means for those that did the flash if they had to do a reinstall with the disks that came with the mac pro they would have problems since the disks were 10.4.8 I believe.

Just a thought.
 
Aint gonna install it. I believe in the old, if it aint broke dont try to fix it.

I do not have any issues with the 1900XT so why update it.
 
I can confirm that it fixes some fan speed / noise issues.

The fan does not come on full speed for 10~15 seconds anymore after boot, and the fan comes at a lower temp (about 2c cooler).
 
PhilcoFord said:
The recent EFI update undid the video card fan fix and the fan started making a lot more noise. Hopefully this fix addresses the fan noise (again).
Click to expand...
Ha! I put an Artic Cooling Accelero X2 fan on my card and therefore it's always quiet. I guess I really wont notice a difference. The cooler that comes with the card is just too loud even when it runs at a lower speed.
 
Ok... What? It doesn't show up in my software updater... Should i go and install manually? When was the X1900 GT an option?
 
eMagine said:
I suspect this update is more for Leopard....
Click to expand...
Possible to support a later version of OpenGL, which will require Leopard.
knome said:
Ok... What? It doesn't show up in my software updater... Should i go and install manually? When was the X1900 GT an option?
Click to expand...

The x1900GT was never an option apple just had a mistake on the site for a little bit.
 
Did some benchmark tests.

These were done in Halo and UT2004. I performed 2 tests in each application before and after.


BEFORE
For further information, please visit the timedemo FAQ at: http://halo.bungie.net/site/halo/features/hpcperformancefaq.html
Date / Time: 10/20/07 7:15:38 (0ms)
2700MHz, 4096MB
C:\Applications\Halo.app psn_0_4980737 -windowed -console Frames=4700
Total Time=72.39s
Average frame rate=64.93fps
Below 5fps= 9% (time) 0% (frames) (6.993s spent in 11 frames)
Below 10fps= 9% (time) 0% (frames)
Below 15fps= 9% (time) 0% (frames)
Below 20fps= 10% (time) 0% (frames)
Below 25fps= 13% (time) 1% (frames)
Below 30fps= 18% (time) 3% (frames)
Below 40fps= 28% (time) 9% (frames)
Below 50fps= 35% (time) 14% (frames)
Below 60fps= 49% (time) 25% (frames)
###Sound Options###
Hardware Acceleration= No
Sound Quality= High
Environmental Sound= No
Sound Variety= High
###Video Options###
Resolution= 1920 x 1200
Refresh rate= 0 Hz
Framerate throttle= No Vsync
Specular= No
Shadows= No
Decals= Yes
Particles= Off
Texture Quality= High

For further information, please visit the timedemo FAQ at: http://halo.bungie.net/site/halo/features/hpcperformancefaq.html
Date / Time: 10/20/07 7:16:56 (0ms)
2700MHz, 4096MB
C:\Applications\Halo.app psn_0_5111809 -windowed -console Frames=4700
Total Time=67.80s
Average frame rate=69.32fps
Below 5fps= 2% (time) 0% (frames) (1.831s spent in 4 frames)
Below 10fps= 3% (time) 0% (frames)
Below 15fps= 3% (time) 0% (frames)
Below 20fps= 4% (time) 0% (frames)
Below 25fps= 7% (time) 1% (frames)
Below 30fps= 11% (time) 3% (frames)
Below 40fps= 23% (time) 8% (frames)
Below 50fps= 30% (time) 13% (frames)
Below 60fps= 45% (time) 25% (frames)
###Sound Options###
Hardware Acceleration= No
Sound Quality= High
Environmental Sound= No
Sound Variety= High
###Video Options###
Resolution= 1920 x 1200
Refresh rate= 0 Hz
Framerate throttle= No Vsync
Specular= No
Shadows= No
Decals= Yes
Particles= Off
Texture Quality= High

UT2004:
TEST 1:

picture12sy8.png


Test 2:
picture13pq3.png
Click to expand...

AFTER
For further information, please visit the timedemo FAQ at: http://halo.bungie.net/site/halo/features/hpcperformancefaq.html
Date / Time: 10/20/07 7:39:44 (0ms)
2700MHz, 4096MB
C:\Applications\Halo.app psn_0_3276801 -windowed -console Frames=4700
Total Time=72.45s
Average frame rate=64.88fps
Below 5fps= 9% (time) 0% (frames) (7.001s spent in 11 frames)
Below 10fps= 9% (time) 0% (frames)
Below 15fps= 9% (time) 0% (frames)
Below 20fps= 10% (time) 0% (frames)
Below 25fps= 13% (time) 1% (frames)
Below 30fps= 18% (time) 3% (frames)
Below 40fps= 29% (time) 9% (frames)
Below 50fps= 36% (time) 13% (frames)
Below 60fps= 49% (time) 25% (frames)
###Sound Options###
Hardware Acceleration= No
Sound Quality= High
Environmental Sound= No
Sound Variety= High
###Video Options###
Resolution= 1920 x 1200
Refresh rate= 0 Hz
Framerate throttle= No Vsync
Specular= No
Shadows= No
Decals= Yes
Particles= Off
Texture Quality= High

For further information, please visit the timedemo FAQ at: http://halo.bungie.net/site/halo/features/hpcperformancefaq.html
Date / Time: 10/20/07 7:41:6 (0ms)
2700MHz, 4096MB
C:\Applications\Halo.app psn_0_3407873 -windowed -console Frames=4700
Total Time=67.23s
Average frame rate=69.91fps
Below 5fps= 2% (time) 0% (frames) (1.763s spent in 4 frames)
Below 10fps= 2% (time) 0% (frames)
Below 15fps= 3% (time) 0% (frames)
Below 20fps= 4% (time) 0% (frames)
Below 25fps= 7% (time) 1% (frames)
Below 30fps= 11% (time) 3% (frames)
Below 40fps= 23% (time) 8% (frames)
Below 50fps= 30% (time) 13% (frames)
Below 60fps= 45% (time) 24% (frames)
###Sound Options###
Hardware Acceleration= No
Sound Quality= High
Environmental Sound= No
Sound Variety= High
###Video Options###
Resolution= 1920 x 1200
Refresh rate= 0 Hz
Framerate throttle= No Vsync
Specular= No
Shadows= No
Decals= Yes
Particles= Off
Texture Quality= High

For further information, please visit the timedemo FAQ at: http://halo.bungie.net/site/halo/features/hpcperformancefaq.html

UT2004:
Test 1:
picture14of7.png

picture15fo6.png


TEST 2:
picture16pz0.png

picture17ju6.png
Click to expand...

Conclusion.... :confused: Still don't know what it does.... The frame rate is too close to see if its an improvement.
 
Hi guys.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=935722&tstart=0

Most noteably it fixes this problem for a small number of us that have been dealing with it since April. Sadly we never did get help from Apple until this firmware release. Even then we got no real notification, even those of us that went to stores or were on the phone with tech support for HOURS trying to convince them that this shouldn't be written off as "Boot Camp is beta."

At least its fixed now. I can confirm it cleared up my issues 100%.
 
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