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Radeon 5770 and 5870 Upgrade Kits Posted to Apple Store

I keep reading mixed things about the difficulty of flashing. Some say its easy, but honestly when I go to read the comments a lot of it seems like gibberish to me. I've searched but can't seem to fine one... is there a guide somewhere written in layman's terms or is it much more difficult than I imagine?

Also, is boot camp required, and if so will the card have trouble working in Windows once flashed for OSX?
 
MagnusVonMagnum said:
Only Apple could take their one expandable computer and make the expandability of it nearly MOOT by artificially denying the use of newer video cards in models that are over 2 years old. There is no technical reason they won't work (sad that you could probably get one to work in a 2007 Hackintosh with little difficulty; I suppose people will have to start hacking the OS for Apple's OWN hardware since they won't support anything older than 2 years old these days for hardly anything). They simply want to FORCE you to buy a whole new $2500+ computer just to get a newer graphics card. Greed knows no bounds, it seems. :rolleyes:

Quite frankly, Bill Gates looks like an angel next to Steve Jobs these days. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I gave up on the Mac Pros a long time ago. They're basically only intended to be expandable/upgradeable at the time of purchase. So, unless you plan on speccing up your perfect dream machine when you buy it, you're out of luck when it comes to increasing their performance in the future. - The only longevity they really have is expandable storage, adding extra USB slots etc.

I came to realise this when my recent Mac Mini purchase pretty much outperformed my trusty G5 Dual 2Ghz tower in almost every department (even after I'd upgraded it). It seems much more cost effective to buy a much cheaper Mac more often, than to invest in a Mac Pro in the unrealistic belief that one day you may be able to upgrade it. Apple want you to buy a whole new machine every time, and they make sure they change the architecture/design enough to make upgrading older machines very difficult, or not worth the investment.
 
If my "source" is right, there will be very little reason to flash PC versions since they are only $50 or so cheaper. Just buy the real deal from Apple in a month or two when they hit retail. If these really and truly have EBC and work in 2006 machines, it will be an end to the whining. (hopefully)

Get on email list here:

http://www.smalldog.com/product/76792

I feel that we should reward Apple for FINALLY having a DECENT base card in a Mac by buying as many as possible from Apple. Seriously, compare the 7300GT, the 2600XT, and the GT120 to this "low end" 5770. Hopefully they are done selling $30 cards for $150.

The flashing work I have done so far with Netkas is very preliminary. When real ROMs get to us, will be able to confirm or deny various aspects of function and flashability.
 
Nice, can't wait until the 5870 is available. Going to upgrade the 120GT in my '09 to one of these bad boys. :)
 
I'm sure the cards will work on 2008 Mac Pros.
That said, Apple remains a bunch of dick-heads who declare some expansion cards incompatible with older Macs as a excuse not to provide support for hardware configurations they didn't bother to test.
 
iChase said:
So if there are now drivers for the 5870, would that lay the groundwork for getting a 5970 to work?
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abso-stinking-lutely

they have released these drivers twice already, and are about to again

but more than likely that only 1 core will work, like 4870x2.

So, in OSX it will likely be a touch SLOWER than a 5870.
 
Hm, kind of a downer. But say someone wants the 5970 primarily for gaming in Windows on Bootcamp (so both processors can be used) but want enough power (more than the GTX 285) in OS X for pro apps. The 2970 would fit all this criteria, right?
 
Wow
Really glad I saw this.
Been waiting for this refresh to buy my first Mac pro ever.
I expected the upgrades would be supported for 3-4 years or something reasonable like that.
Little did I know.
This on top of starting with 3gb or ram
Mac pro def not for me, sadly.

I don't buy a new vehicle every two yrs, won't even consider getting caught in a limited upgrade cycle for a 3-5 grand computer either.

Then again I don't need one as many of the actual pros do. I only wanted one.
Money in my pocket.
You lose this round apple.
 
If i am not able to sell the 4870 any benefit keeping the 4870? I guess for a second display?

What do you think the market price for a used 4870, 50% of a new 4870?

Want to get the 5870 for a even better gaming experience. :):D
 
RATS just when I bought my 4890 the possibility of the 5870 working for 06/07 MPs reopens!

I hope it doesn't work for the old Mac Pros so I wont have thrown away 140 bucks.
 
The Rominator said:
If my "source" is right, there will be very little reason to flash PC versions since they are only $50 or so cheaper.
Click to expand...
HD5770 is listed at $249
HD5870 is listed at $449

So at current PC card prices, theres not a big difference between the 5870 models, and would be an easier way to go about it (also includes the cables, as the PC card doesn't). This may change as the PC versions continue to get lower in cost.

But the 5770 is ~$90 or so more for the Mac Edition, so some may be more interested in it for this particular model.
 
msavwah said:
Wow
Really glad I saw this.
Been waiting for this refresh to buy my first Mac pro ever.
I expected the upgrades would be supported for 3-4 years or something reasonable like that.
Little did I know.
This on top of starting with 3gb or ram
Mac pro def not for me, sadly.

I don't buy a new vehicle every two yrs, won't even consider getting caught in a limited upgrade cycle for a 3-5 grand computer either.

Then again I don't need one as many of the actual pros do. I only wanted one.
Money in my pocket.
You lose this round apple.
Click to expand...

Still will work just fine.

The GT120 was only "supported" on the 2009 Mac Pro. Yet I bought one for my 2008 Mac Pro, installed it, and drive a second display on it.

Even stayed in the Mac Pro with it's 8800 brother when the 8800 died and the Mac Pro had to go to the genius bar. Never had any issues, and no one mentioned the GT 120 as being out of place.

It's the same deal we had with the last round of graphics cards, only for some reason this time there is a fuss.
 
5970

obiwan said:
I gave up on the Mac Pros a long time ago. They're basically only intended to be expandable/upgradeable at the time of purchase. So, unless you plan on speccing up your perfect dream machine when you buy it, you're out of luck when it comes to increasing their performance in the future. - The only longevity they really have is expandable storage, adding extra USB slots etc.

I came to realise this when my recent Mac Mini purchase pretty much outperformed my trusty G5 Dual 2Ghz tower in almost every department (even after I'd upgraded it). It seems much more cost effective to buy a much cheaper Mac more often, than to invest in a Mac Pro in the unrealistic belief that one day you may be able to upgrade it. Apple want you to buy a whole new machine every time, and they make sure they change the architecture/design enough to make upgrading older machines very difficult, or not worth the investment.
Click to expand...

Have to agree. I was in the market for a new desktop this spring and ended up getting a refurb Alienware from Dell. With a 15% coupon from the Dell outlet twitter acct I managed to get a 2.66 ghz quad core i7 with 6GB RAM, wireless N, 1 TB drive and a 2 GB ATI 5970 video card :eek: for $1367 delivered. That video card alone sells for $600-$700. Too geek it up I added a 80gb intel x-25 as a boot drive and a blu ray drive and this machine screams. I love my 2009 MBP (also bought as a refurb from Apple), and I'll buy another one from them down the road but I can't justify a Mac Pro and while I know that some people need them I'm willing to bet that a significant percent of Mac Pro owners could do everything they do on their MP on a top of the line iMac.
 
Damn this wait is killing me... It's gonna be a few more weeks before we know if these'll work in the 1,1 models?! Gahh!
 
nanofrog said:
So at current PC card prices, theres not a big difference between the 5870 models, and would be an easier way to go about it (also includes the cables, as the PC card doesn't). This may change as the PC versions continue to get lower in cost.
Click to expand...

Well the Apple version 5870 has only one DVI and two mini-displayport. I'd much rather have a card with two DVI, as I have no displays with displayport or mini-displayport. Really don't want to "dongle out" my Mac Pro. For me, at least, I'd rather pay another vendor, buy the power cable myself, and not support Apple at all, since they have no intention of supporting me and my 2008 Mac Pro with a 5870. ;)
 
Ted13 said:
The OP was asking about *audio*. DVI does not support audio. Mini DisplayPort potentially does, but it is not clear MDP to HDMI adaptors supporting audio exist or are readily identifiable vs. those that do.
Click to expand...

MDP to HDMI adapters that support audio DO exist already, and most of them that support it are indeed readily identifiable in major sites (eg. apple store, monoprice, amazon, etc).

According to the Apple 2010 MP specs, audio over MDP (hence HDMI) is supported. Such implementation is already working flawlessly in the latest MBP an iMacs, so I don't see a reason why this wouldn't work in the new MPs...

The real interesting question is if audio over MDP-HDMI will work in 2009 MPs using the officially supported 5870, and/or the so-far officially unsupported 5770, and if it will work under previous MPs running both officially unsupported options, since it's not clear whether audio over MDP-HDMI is entirely hardware-driven, software/firmware driven, or both.

I surely hope the 5770 works in 2009 Quads, audio included, so I can get rid of both my 4870 and GT120... the 4870 is a power hog, and the sole reason I got the GT120 is to drive a 3rd display. All of this would be solved with the 5770... so come on Apple!!! the only reason I can think of for not supporting the 5770 on 2009 MPs is greed, trying to maintain sales for all cards. Hope this is not the case for long.
 
The Rominator said:
I have been contacted by someone claiming first hand knowledge that the Mac Pro cards are in fact EBC and WILL work in 2006 and up Mac Pros.

I am unable to offer any additional info at this time. Let's hope this info is correct.
Click to expand...

That would be amazing. I look forward to hearing more information about this in the coming days.

I am so anxious to not have to continuously update my 4890 every time a new OS update comes out. Thanks for the info Rominator. Keep up updated!
 
I can't really see it being any other way than 2006 Mac Pros supporting this card. The Mac Pro market is essentially very small compared to the overall Mac userbase, or the PC userbase for that.

There is little in the way of business sense for ATI to produce a card that restricts that market even further by only working in the past couple of generations of the Mac Pro. The smaller the sales, the higher the overall production cost compared to the return. Given that Apple are shipping these cards reasonably close to the cost of the PC equivalents, it's unlikely ATI are making a lot of extra cash on them, so unless Apple deliberately demands that older generation Mac Pros should be excluded it's just unthinkable that ATI would decide to do so.
 
Just looked and so far the negative has outweighed the positive on ratings... Maybe I am confused but wouldn't people just be happy to have the option of a better graphics card? The older options have just been sad IMO.
 
Wild-Bill said:
Well the Apple version 5870 has only one DVI and two mini-displayport. I'd much rather have a card with two DVI, as I have no displays with displayport or mini-displayport. Really don't want to "dongle out" my Mac Pro. For me, at least, I'd rather pay another vendor, buy the power cable myself, and not support Apple at all, since they have no intention of supporting me and my 2008 Mac Pro with a 5870. ;)
Click to expand...
Understandable in your case. The adapters would definitely make an Apple card more expensive to the point that the PC version would be more attractive for your situation (Mac ed. card + adapter/s v. PC card + 2x power cables). :rolleyes:

There are many that may still use monitors that only have DVI and VGA inputs (professional models usually still only offer these ports, such as NEC and Eizo Nanao).
 
Novablas said:
Damn this wait is killing me... It's gonna be a few more weeks before we know if these'll work in the 1,1 models?! Gahh!
Click to expand...
The shipping delay of a Mac Pro is "only" 7-10 business days, with either GPU configuration. We'll know soon whether the firmwares are EBC.
 
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