Curious, with the card not flashed, does removing R17 allow 5.0 GT/s speed? Or is flashing required?
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Flashing R9 280X for boot screens/PCI System Information
- Thread starter Mr. Zarniwoop
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Curious, with the card not flashed, does removing R17 allow 5.0 GT/s speed? Or is flashing required?
No, flashing is not necessary. Removing the resistor allows 5 GT/s regardless, but it doesn't make much difference in normal usage.
280x
Is there a full walkthrough for the 280X, I am new to flashing cards (first time) and I don't walk to brick it or screw anything up. Can I just use the 280X without flashing and edit the string to change the name or will I not get the max potential?
Cheers,
RC
Is there a full walkthrough for the 280X, I am new to flashing cards (first time) and I don't walk to brick it or screw anything up. Can I just use the 280X without flashing and edit the string to change the name or will I not get the max potential?
Cheers,
RC
Zarniwoop: Remove the resistor if you like (it's very small, though. I used a stereo microscope while doing it), but I doubt it would make much difference either way, unless you care about the last few percent in certain benchmarks. I haven't used Boot Camp in years, so I personally can't say if it makes any extra difference in Windows, but I doubt it.
RCMan: You can just use it without flashing, or changing any string or name. (Note the 3,1 problem I experienced a few posts up, though, if you have that machine.) Flashing, etc., just allows you to see the boot screen on the mac and for certain information to show correctly. Any performance difference would be imperceptible except perhaps in a benchmark or two (and even then, barely if at all). However, if you don't care about the boot screen, such as if you don't use Boot Camp (for which it's a major help) or reboot frequently, then there's little practical need to flash it. I haven't flashed mine yet, simply because it's a bit of a pain for me (I can't install boot camp at the moment, etc.), and I don't miss the boot screen.
The performance is excellent, and the card (MSI 280X "Gaming" 3G) has proven to be completely reliable using only it's included 8->6 pin adapter. I haven't tried any all-out stress tests such as Furmark, though, simply because my usage pattern is more modest.
RCMan: You can just use it without flashing, or changing any string or name. (Note the 3,1 problem I experienced a few posts up, though, if you have that machine.) Flashing, etc., just allows you to see the boot screen on the mac and for certain information to show correctly. Any performance difference would be imperceptible except perhaps in a benchmark or two (and even then, barely if at all). However, if you don't care about the boot screen, such as if you don't use Boot Camp (for which it's a major help) or reboot frequently, then there's little practical need to flash it. I haven't flashed mine yet, simply because it's a bit of a pain for me (I can't install boot camp at the moment, etc.), and I don't miss the boot screen.
The performance is excellent, and the card (MSI 280X "Gaming" 3G) has proven to be completely reliable using only it's included 8->6 pin adapter. I haven't tried any all-out stress tests such as Furmark, though, simply because my usage pattern is more modest.
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I switched my card to the original second firmware and it runs at PCIe 2.0 speed in Windows.
Picked up an MSI R9 280x 6G (this one: http://us.msi.com/product/vga/R9_280X_GAMING_6G.html#hero-overview)
V277 Ver 1.2
EAN: 4-719027-332075
UPC-A: 8-24142-02091
Works great out of box without EFI bootscreen so far, but I've been mostly unsuccessful with flashing it. Tried making my own rom with the help of netkas' scripts. Was able to flash over the legacy rom switch (using hybrid efi rom switch as a base rom for the hack), and successfully got EFI boot screen, but it was crashing OSX 10.10.1 after 5 seconds of loading the desktop. Strangely, had no issues in Bootcamp Win7. Carefully monitored fan speed/power/etc. and it seemed identical to pre-hackflashed rom in benchmarks.
Going to play around with it when I have more time and I'll post more details if needed.
V277 Ver 1.2
EAN: 4-719027-332075
UPC-A: 8-24142-02091
Works great out of box without EFI bootscreen so far, but I've been mostly unsuccessful with flashing it. Tried making my own rom with the help of netkas' scripts. Was able to flash over the legacy rom switch (using hybrid efi rom switch as a base rom for the hack), and successfully got EFI boot screen, but it was crashing OSX 10.10.1 after 5 seconds of loading the desktop. Strangely, had no issues in Bootcamp Win7. Carefully monitored fan speed/power/etc. and it seemed identical to pre-hackflashed rom in benchmarks.
Going to play around with it when I have more time and I'll post more details if needed.
Speed in Windows is determined by resistor as well.
As far as "Why Flash" there are some cards that work better with flash but they are ones to avoid in first place, the single DP cards. I have worked on two, one became useable after flash, one couldn't be helped either way.
With 6870, if you flashed it and it had a name the content protection software allowed you to play DVDs while unflashed it would not. Not sure if that applies to 7xxx cards but certainly was a good reason to flash 6xxx cards.
As far as "Why Flash" there are some cards that work better with flash but they are ones to avoid in first place, the single DP cards. I have worked on two, one became useable after flash, one couldn't be helped either way.
With 6870, if you flashed it and it had a name the content protection software allowed you to play DVDs while unflashed it would not. Not sure if that applies to 7xxx cards but certainly was a good reason to flash 6xxx cards.
Yeah I can't seem to get this thing to work with in OSX with an EFI flashed rom. EFI boot screen works just fine, and it seems mostly(?) stable in Bootcamp... but keeps crashing OSX. Maybe I'll get back to messing around with it if I have more motivation.
Edit: Just dredged up a few 6 month old topics from netkas forums with other people getting the same results as I have. Anybody have any luck with flashing 6G 280x cards yet?
ramble: I keep telling myself not to care, since EFI boot screen is more of a comfort than anything else but.... gotta have it man! It just doesn't feel the same without the comforting glow of that beautiful EFI disk icon set and Apple logo. Maybe I'll have to return this and get the old Gigabyte/MSI 3g instead. Not any performance difference, just harder to find. /ramble
I have not seen any reports of success, and dug around quite a bit before just buying a 3G one instead.
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It was more curiosity, I have a 2006 Mac Pro so it won't do 5GT/s PCIe 2.0 regardless.
I've spent the last hour combing through post-by-post looking for one.
UPDATE: ok, found one. Appreciate you egging me on to keep looking.
The ROM I made from your work is attached in case it helps others. Thank you so much!
The card I used:
MSI RADEON R9 280X GAMING 3G (TWIN FROZR IV, OC EDITION)
part number 912-V277-067 (on box)
EAN 4 719072 314026 (sticker on card)
UPC-A 8 24142 01599 5 (sticker on card)
Information on the EBC firmware attached here:
Subsystem ID: 0x2775
Device ID: 0x6798
PC BIOS (stock as shipped): 113-MSITV277MS.350 TAHITI B0 XTL C38650 GDDR5 3GB, BIOS Version 015.041.000.000.003435, ROM Revision 113-C3865001-TU5
Mac EBC EFI: (replaced stock UEFI): ATY,Hamachi, ROM Revision 113-E2080C-101, EFI Driver Version 01.00.624
I purchased the exact same card as you. I am new to flashing, and do not want to brick the card or break it. I downloaded your ROM for the card and I don't know what to do next. Is there like a rom loader or something? Could you like Skype me or something and walk me through the process?
Hehe... right! I tried that (using VirtualBox). I should have known better.
Boot Camp has an annoying issue whereby it cannot be installed on a RAID system or on a disk that has already been partitioned, etc. (hence my try with V.B.), but that would work if you can manage it.
An alternative is to use FreeDOS (a live CD version, probably). I haven't gotten around to trying that, but there are instructions for using this around somewhere in all the thousands of threads here or on netkas.
But once again: running the stock firmware has no performance penalty (at least with a card that is highly compatible in the first place like the MSI 3G version). If you don't care about the boot screen, then there's no real need to stress over flashing it.
About the 6G card discussed above: Just say no. It uses more power and few if any people have had luck running it.
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Also VMWare substitutes its own screen driver that is supposed to support 3D acceleration, but unless you do some config tricks running the ATI Catalyst installer will fail.
And if you run MSI Afterburner, it doesn't 'see' the actual card, it only sees 'VMWare SVGA driver' or something similar.
And if you run MSI Afterburner, it doesn't 'see' the actual card, it only sees 'VMWare SVGA driver' or something similar.
I'm wall-to-wall busy and use Macrumors as a quickie distraction that I enjoy as a break, so a hand-holding walkthrough will have to wait until around the holidays.
But honestly, it's not that hard if you have identical MSI R9 280X 3G hardware to mine. If you have the same exact version of the card:
- Boot into actual Windows on a PC or via Boot Camp on your Mac Pro (VMware doesn't access real hardware, virtualized or emulated Windows won't work)
- Use ATI Winflash with the firmware switch on the card in the "Legacy BIOS" position to save a copy of your card's legacy BIOS just in case.
- Only after backing up the original firmware, flash the new MSI R9 280X 3GB Mac EBC.rom firmware.
- Reboot with the card in your Mac Pro.
UPDATE: I take that back. The MSI R9 280X 6G card is known not to work after flashing. There may be a way to edit the EBC firmware to address the issue, but I don't think anyone so far is bothering to do so as the 3G version works pretty much-out-of-box once you get the right cables.
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Yeah, and I got to test both v1.0 and v.1.1 of the MSI boards so as long as you get one of those the card should work fine, even if you don't flash it.
I'll post the EAN and UPC numbers of the v1.1 board hopefully tomorrow when I have to do some servicing on the MP.
I'll post the EAN and UPC numbers of the v1.1 board hopefully tomorrow when I have to do some servicing on the MP.
Thanks for giving the last bit of confidence I needed to pick one of these up on ebay!
I ordered this cable for the 8pin power -
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PCI-E-Mac-P...d-power-cable-connector-adapter-/281225900526
Can anyone confirm that it acts the same as a 6 pin to 6 pin + 6 to 8 adapter?
I can't imagine the electricity involved is any different, but would hate to make a silly assumption.
Any help much appreciated in advance.
I ordered this cable for the 8pin power -
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PCI-E-Mac-P...d-power-cable-connector-adapter-/281225900526
Can anyone confirm that it acts the same as a 6 pin to 6 pin + 6 to 8 adapter?
I can't imagine the electricity involved is any different, but would hate to make a silly assumption.
Any help much appreciated in advance.
Looks like it should work but I am not 100% certain because I've never used that cable before.
If you got a MSI R9 280X Gaming 3G with the original box and cables, one of the cables is a 6 to 8 pin adapter. I'm using that adapter with this cable:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002UR1654
Actually two of the above cable, as there is a 6-pin port on the R9 280X as well.
If you aren't getting any power cables with the card, make sure to get a standard 6 pin to 6 pin as shown above because you need power from both the PCIe power ports in the Mac Pro. What model MP are you installing it in?
If you got a MSI R9 280X Gaming 3G with the original box and cables, one of the cables is a 6 to 8 pin adapter. I'm using that adapter with this cable:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002UR1654
Actually two of the above cable, as there is a 6-pin port on the R9 280X as well.
If you aren't getting any power cables with the card, make sure to get a standard 6 pin to 6 pin as shown above because you need power from both the PCIe power ports in the Mac Pro. What model MP are you installing it in?
This is the Mac Pro to 8-pin PCIe cable I ended up using:
Apple Mac Pro Mini 6Pin PCIE to PCI-E PCI Express 8 Pin 8Pin Power Cable
I already had an Apple 6-pin cable from the past for the second power plug.
Apple Mac Pro Mini 6Pin PCIE to PCI-E PCI Express 8 Pin 8Pin Power Cable
I already had an Apple 6-pin cable from the past for the second power plug.
Thanks much for these replies gents -
Just wanted to report another successful flash following Mr. Zarniwoop's instructions in this thread.
I had the exact same model - MSI R9 280X 3GB Ram Gaming Edition
Used an old PC and ATIWinflash-
First set the BIOS switch to Legacy and backed up the Legacy BIOS,
Then flipped the switch to the Hybrid UEFI and rebooted,
Then loaded Mr. Zarniwoop's custom ROM (big thanks of course to MVC and Netkas).
Screenshots attached - thanks again!
Just wanted to report another successful flash following Mr. Zarniwoop's instructions in this thread.
I had the exact same model - MSI R9 280X 3GB Ram Gaming Edition
Used an old PC and ATIWinflash-
First set the BIOS switch to Legacy and backed up the Legacy BIOS,
Then flipped the switch to the Hybrid UEFI and rebooted,
Then loaded Mr. Zarniwoop's custom ROM (big thanks of course to MVC and Netkas).
Screenshots attached - thanks again!
Attachments
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