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Just Received the ATi 3870 X2

barefeats said:
I've been playing with a Radeon HD 3870 X2 in my Mac Pro 3.2GHz under Vista. It's a an awesome card. I'm testing it against four other cards. Check out these numbers:

Prey at 1920x1200 "High Quality":
Radeon HD 2600 XT = 50 fps
GeForce 8800 GT = 145 fps
Quadro FX 5600 = 141 fps
GeForce 8800 GTX = 166 fps
Radeon HD 3870 X2 = 201 fps

3DMark SM2.0 rating
Radeon HD 2600 XT = 1582
GeForce 8800 GT = 5184
Quadro FX 5600 = 5021
GeForce 8800 GTX = 5480
Radeon HD 3870 X2 = 6345

3DMark SM3.0 rating
Radeon HD 2600 XT = 1923
GeForce 8800 GT = 4928
Quadro FX 5600 = 5153
GeForce 8800 GTX = 5716
Radeon HD 3870 X2 = 7797
Click to expand...

So why did you get this Card? Your a Mac Guy.
 
Mercuric Oxide said:
Yeah, 3870X2 alone, or 3870X2 +3870 is the best configuration (bar Crysis).

About the fan issue and the power cord (it has 2), I guess I will try. Although, with most video cards, when it doesn't have enough power (ex. only plugging in one of the two cords), it sounds an extremely loud and frightening alarm. However, if I pull both cords and it has no power, I'm wondering if the card would just not function, I mean, that should happen...

I could easily test it, I'm just scared that the alarm will sound.
Click to expand...

I'm Pretty sure the card would fry. Or does the card not draw any power off the PCI-E? I think it does and since the fans are powered by the DVD power connector... you would end up overheating... my theory.
 
If that's the case, I think it's a good idea to figure out just what those two power cables are doing before unhooking them =)
 
I'm currently getting help from people in the hackintosh forums ::gasp:: to help me get this card running in OSX.

I don't even care about functionality, if I can just get the fans to slow down in OSX, I'll be happy.

I'll let you guys know any results.
 
barefeats said:
I've been playing with a Radeon HD 3870 X2 in my Mac Pro 3.2GHz under Vista. It's a an awesome card. I'm testing it against four other cards. Check out these numbers:

Prey at 1920x1200 "High Quality":
Radeon HD 2600 XT = 50 fps
GeForce 8800 GT = 145 fps
Quadro FX 5600 = 141 fps
GeForce 8800 GTX = 166 fps
Radeon HD 3870 X2 = 201 fps

3DMark SM2.0 rating
Radeon HD 2600 XT = 1582
GeForce 8800 GT = 5184
Quadro FX 5600 = 5021
GeForce 8800 GTX = 5480
Radeon HD 3870 X2 = 6345

3DMark SM3.0 rating
Radeon HD 2600 XT = 1923
GeForce 8800 GT = 4928
Quadro FX 5600 = 5153
GeForce 8800 GTX = 5716
Radeon HD 3870 X2 = 7797
Click to expand...

Where is teh Ultra?? ;)
 
Mercuric Oxide said:
Hey guys,

So my 3870 X2 finally arrived today. Good news and bad news.

In Vista/XP, both the 3870 X2 and 2600 work together fine, no loud fan issues or anything (the 3870 X2 is actually almost as quiet as the 2600 when idle, gets a little loud under load though). I have the 2600 in slot 3, and the 3870 X2 in slot 1. The system sees them both and has no issues, as they use the same driver suite.

Unfortunately, in OSX, the 3870 X2 has it fans go near full blast constantly (it's not as loud as the 2600 full blast, but it's annoying).

So if you constantly switch back and forth between OSX and Windows, this card may not be for you and you should just get the 8800. If you switch back every few days, you only need to set aside 5 mins to unhook/hook the 3870 X2 each time. I think that's a small price to pay to be at the top of PC gaming.

The 3870 X2 works very well coupled with the Mac Pro. In most quad core gaming PCs with the X2, people can only load Crysis at resolution 1280 x 1024, All High, and No AA at around 30 fps. I'm happy to report that with the Mac Pro, I am able to run it at DX10, 1440 x 900, All Very High, and 4x AA, and get those same 30+ fps easily (I'll post youtube videos later).

I don't care about using the X2 in OSX, but I do wonder if OSX having the 3870 kexts could at least solve the fan problem, as the X2 is two 3870's slapped together... I'll leave it to the hacking gods.
Click to expand...

So, do you boot off the 2600 when in OS X? Does the 3870 boot OS X alone?
 
Did someone pee in your fruit loops or something? :)

There are plenty of games with great graphics. Crysis and Bioshock are two that come to mind that I've played. Maybe on a 7300GT or some low end card they would suck a**...

Also from the number of people playing video games, I'd say there are a lot of sleep deprived monkeys so you are in the minority I'm sure.




Blogger said:
I don't think so. What an incredible pain in the a** just to boast high frame rates in games that frankly make me wonder why people waste their time "playing" them. I have yet to come across a PC game that is visually appealing, has an actual plot, or is not so bloody repetitive that only a sleep deprived monkey would find interesting. YMMV.

There are better uses for Mac Pros than gaming. Gaming is basically a game writing corporation saying that you should behave this way, and you saying "Yes!, yes!, and I'm so good at doing that I must be wonderful."

Pretty sad really.
Click to expand...
 
Mercuric Oxide said:
I'm currently getting help from people in the hackintosh forums ::gasp:: to help me get this card running in OSX.

I don't even care about functionality, if I can just get the fans to slow down in OSX, I'll be happy.

I'll let you guys know any results.
Click to expand...

Be sure to tell us! It sounds so good, I'm planning to get this card soon :)

P.S. - Just to be clear: If you can handle the fan noise, can you just switch the monitors plug and leave the 3870 X2 plugged in?

Thanks!
 
To the OP:

Have you considered getting a fan controller and hooking the power to the fans into the manual controller (with knob) and from the controller to power?

This way you can turn the fans up when gaming, and down when in OS X?
 
Sveetly said:
Be sure to tell us! It sounds so good, I'm planning to get this card soon :)

P.S. - Just to be clear: If you can handle the fan noise, can you just switch the monitors plug and leave the 3870 X2 plugged in?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've gotten lazy and I can ignore the fan speed after a while, so I simply switch the plug.

Imagine the sound of when you first put a cd/dvd in your optical drive, the fan is about 2/5 as loud as that (so compared to no noise at all with the 2600 it's loud, but not intolerable)

I've gotten a lot of help from the hackintosh people, I'm just scared to to try the methods (like editing boot files for OSX).
 
GotPro said:
To the OP:

Have you considered getting a fan controller and hooking the power to the fans into the manual controller (with knob) and from the controller to power?

This way you can turn the fans up when gaming, and down when in OS X?
Click to expand...

That sounds like a good idea, I would have to research how to set that up properly.
 
Mercuric Oxide said:
Yeah, I've gotten lazy and I can ignore the fan speed after a while, so I simply switch the plug.

Imagine the sound of when you first put a cd/dvd in your optical drive, the fan is about 2/5 as loud as that (so compared to no noise at all with the 2600 it's loud, but not intolerable)
Click to expand...
Quieter than that? That's fine then :)

My optical drive loves to check itself for discs repeatedly all of the time. Because of where I put the Mac Pro it isn't that bad . . .

Mercuric Oxide said:
I've gotten a lot of help from the hackintosh people, I'm just scared to to try the methods (like editing boot files for OSX).
Click to expand...
Is there anyway I can see their possible solutions?

Thanks!
 
Mercuric Oxide said:
you only need to set aside 5 mins to unhook/hook the 3870 X2 each time. I think that's a small price to pay to be at the top of PC gaming.
Click to expand...

You do know that the slot will eventually break from inserting and removing the graphics card over and over again? They aren't spec'd for a high number of insertions.
 
TBi said:
You do know that the slot will eventually break from inserting and removing the graphics card over and over again? They aren't spec'd for a high number of insertions.
Click to expand...
Exactly what I was thinking . . . that's why I think the fan controller is a good idea.
 
Got it and installed it running the two pcie power connectors out through a molex splitter in the lower drive bay.

Not a great deal of success so far. I moved the x1900 up a slot and put the HD3970x2 in its place. Not seen under OS X and bootcamp wants to use the X1900 instead. Tried to disable the X1900 in windows device manager and fired up COD 4 in Vista which lasted a full ten seconds of gameplay and the Mac Pro suddenly shut down.

Any word on hacking the card's BIOS to make it visible to OSX yet?

Update:

Another 10 seconds of gameplay in Vista, as soon as I hit the fire button to shoot in COD4 - the Mac Pro hard shutdowns, solid white light on front panel and these two LEDs glowing inside:

crash.jpg

wtf? CPUs A + B overheating?? Any ideas...
 
Rankrotten said:
Another 10 seconds of gameplay in Vista, as soon as I hit the fire button to shoot in COD4 - the Mac Pro hard shutdowns, solid white light on front panel and these two LEDs glowing inside:
Click to expand...
Sounds likes Vista hates the configuration to me. If you leave the card plugged in (but actually use the X1900) in Mac, does it still overheat.

Windows might be underpowering the cooling system.

Also, you could have the wrong cord, or the cord could be interfering with a fan or something. Happening in my old computer once.

Vista has screwed with my Mac Pro before. I downgraded back to XP from issues similar to that, except it was killing the RAM.

Also, try removing the X1900 before playing a game. It might be too much power draw.

Other than that, I really don't know. When I get around to buying one, I'll give it a try.

P.S. - My question is what configuration is Mercuric Oxide using. I'd like to imitate it as closely as possible in my 2007 Mac Pro.
 
Ok I think I know what was happening. I took the two pci express power sources from a molex splitter in the optical drive bay and these do not supply enough juice to the card and is causing the PSU to crap out. I unhooked the x1900's pci express power cable and clipped it onto the 6 pin on the 3870x2 and it plays fine now in Vista. I need to source some additional pci express 6 pin cables to hook into the proper power receptacles on the motherboard. I might also ditch the x1900 altogether and get a 2600XT which does not need additional power.

So it works in Vista but I cannot figure how to assign the 3870x2 as the primary card in XP, it keeps booting using the original card in slot 3 and not outputting a monitor signal to the 3870x2 in slot 1. :confused:

I can live with this as a bootcamp option by swapping the monitor cables around but the constant fan noise in OSX is driving me mad. Anyone know if exiting the kexts or whatever in 10.5.2 may bring some relief?
 
Rankrotten said:
So it works in Vista but I cannot figure how to assign the 3870x2 as the primary card in XP, it keeps booting using the original card in slot 3 and not outputting a monitor signal to the 3870x2 in slot 1.
Click to expand...
Hoho! So you're too used to the automaticness of modern OS's. In XP, you're going to need the old card and the new. Under Desktop>>Properties, your going to have to change which card is for the default monitor. Set the resolution, then restart and make sure it works. Then remove the X1900.

If this doesn't work, I probably forgot steps. Just tell me and I'll actually run through the process and try to catch everything.
 
I have now managed to make the Mac Pro see the ATI HD 3870x2 by adding a modified driver and it shows up in system profiler displays tab thus:
Picture 3.png

Now to try to get it to display some video output in OS X
 
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