radeon 3870 - crossfire mac version and pc version?

[apfhex]

I don't understand why some people keep mentioning that CrossFire or SLI doesn't work in OS X, everybody knows this by now that Jobs hates gaming and thus it's a weak afterthought under OS X.

We do know that, but I wasn't aware that crossfire wasn't supported in OS X with the 3870 (I knew SLI wasn't possible with Nvidia cards), so it intrigued me. Since I don't use Windows much there'd be no point in getting a second, if cheap, PC card to have crossfire. But it's cool the PC card /works/ in OS X even if there's no performance boost.

A crappy old-school (a less than $30 or 40 part?) ATi 2600 XT by default on a $2800 computer, no really what gives?

Maybe some people only want to use Photoshop? *shrug* It's not like Apple is charging us for a 3870 or 8800 and then giving us the 2600 — it's nice to have options, especially when Apple gives so little. But that's an argument for another thread methinks.

So reading the entire thread before bitching would be a good idea as everybody DOES NOT know that and I was simply letting them know - as two posters right above asked that very question

I for one appreciated the clarification.

 

[Digital Fury]

I got the Mac + PC CrossFire setup going, works pretty nice in Windows and the 3870 Mac seems indeed faster than the 8800GT in pretty much everything in OS X, from applications using Core Video to even simple scrolling in applications.

 

[stuart.kearney]

Confirmation?

Hey everyone, Ive got the 2008 mac pro, with a mac and pc 3870 in the mail. I can get a msi 3870 pretty cheap. Does anyone know if when under osx, will the pc 3870 make alot of noise? Is there anyone else who have successfully got the mac/pc dual 3870 setup working?

 

[stuart.kearney]

Hello everyone. I have installed a mac and pc 3870 and just a pc 3870 in my 2008 mac pro. I forgot that the pc 3870 wouldnt have the right power cable, so at this stage i have the mac 3870 in slot 1, the pc 3870 in slot 2 and the cards connected via crossfire. Ill report back after i find another power cable and let you all know if theres any drawbacks

 

[ungraphic]

Hello everyone. I have installed a mac and pc 3870 and just a pc 3870 in my 2008 mac pro. I forgot that the pc 3870 wouldnt have the right power cable, so at this stage i have the mac 3870 in slot 1, the pc 3870 in slot 2 and the cards connected via crossfire. Ill report back after i find another power cable and let you all know if theres any drawbacks

which mac pro are you running?

 

[stuart.kearney]

Sorry, im running a early 2008 mac pro, 2.8 ghz. Just trying to find out where i can buy the cable i need atm. Will post back when i find it. In osx it completly ignores the pc 3870, the fan on the pc 3870 is not spinning at all. And im running a third monitor off the 2600 in slot 3.

 

[ungraphic]

In osx it completly ignores the pc 3870, the fan on the pc 3870 is not spinning at all.

That would worry me, as it could potentially fry the video card. Unless its not producing any heat at all, is it? Well, then again, it doesnt have the power cable plugged in, does it?

 

[stuart.kearney]

Not producing any heat, none of this really matters until i get the power cable tho.

 

[MacVidCards]

I can confirm that a PC version 3870 works fine with a Mac version for X-fire in windows. What I did not expect is that the pc card which until now has not been recognised by OS X is now working fine it is reported in the system profiler and I have put a 3rd monitor on it and its working fine. The profiler reports the same rom reversion, device id and strangely efi driver version for both cards so I wonder if it is something to do with the way X-fire works

I can confirm that this works.

In fact, it even works if you use a DIFFERENT sort of PC 3870 card. In fact I am using a GDDR3 PC card that can NOT run the Mac ROM due to memory timing issues. However, once running it's own PC GDDR3 ROM in OSX next to a REAL Mac 3870, it runs just fine.

Thus, it is using the PC ROM, NOT loading it's speed settings from Mac EFI ROM. This is a rather important thing if you think about it.

And Crossfire works fine in Windows, significantly upping 3DMark scores.

 

[stuart.kearney]

Real 3870's

Well guys I have two of the real mac and pc 3870's. Yet in the control software, under "information about your crossfire setup" it is blank. I havent made any stupid mistakes like not putting the right connectors on or anything. Just after i enabled crossfire, the screen goes blank, reloads and yet nothing goes in the crossfire information box. Also there is no difference when playing games with it enabled or not. HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[MacVidCards]

Which version of Windows are you using and which version of the ATI Catalyst software?

If you have an early Mac Pro, have you used the PCIE Utility software to split the lanes to 8 for each slot?

Do you have BOTH Crossfire cables connected?

 

[SuperGrobi]

I can confirm that this works.

In fact, it even works if you use a DIFFERENT sort of PC 3870 card. In fact I am using a GDDR3 PC card that can NOT run the Mac ROM due to memory timing issues. However, once running it's own PC GDDR3 ROM in OSX next to a REAL Mac 3870, it runs just fine.

Thus, it is using the PC ROM, NOT loading it's speed settings from Mac EFI ROM. This is a rather important thing if you think about it.

And Crossfire works fine in Windows, significantly upping 3DMark scores.

Humh, just got my Sapphire HD3870 card (almost 100% identical to my Mac/PC card, just the 64K chip instead of the 128K chip needed to flash it for Mac - what a bummer). It works in Vista and it is recognized in OS X showing the EFI version of the Mac card as stated by others. However, I connected a second Monitor and I do not get any picture - the card behaves as if there is no display connected. I wonder how people could use the card in OS X - or, what did I do wrong? Might stupid things like switching cards or connectors etc. help???

 

[UltraNEO*]

WOW!!! This is another historical thread!!