See my other thread regarding my experience, but I did install the drivers from above and they work perfectly. No need to wait for 10.5.7. Install and enjoy! 
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Radeon HD4870 shipping?
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Couple of questions for you guys who got them installed so far-
How's the noise while working with OS X in general (non-gaming)? If you had the stock radeon 2600xt and could compare it to that, that would be great. Also, how is the noise while gaming/pushing the card?
Also, not sure if there are any super-enthusiasts out there who may have flashed a pc radeon 4870, but I kept reading about link speeds and one guy who got the official apple radeon 4870 said it runs at 5, but I guess the pc versions are running at a lower speed? Any word on what that might mean in terms of performance and whether that would be fixed with a later driver update? (just trying to justify the ridiculous price premium of the 'official' card from apple vs a normal flashed pc one -- $350 for a 512mb vs $170 for a 1gig card). Thanks!
How's the noise while working with OS X in general (non-gaming)? If you had the stock radeon 2600xt and could compare it to that, that would be great. Also, how is the noise while gaming/pushing the card?
Also, not sure if there are any super-enthusiasts out there who may have flashed a pc radeon 4870, but I kept reading about link speeds and one guy who got the official apple radeon 4870 said it runs at 5, but I guess the pc versions are running at a lower speed? Any word on what that might mean in terms of performance and whether that would be fixed with a later driver update? (just trying to justify the ridiculous price premium of the 'official' card from apple vs a normal flashed pc one -- $350 for a 512mb vs $170 for a 1gig card). Thanks!
It is louder then my 2600xt was and also louder then my 8800GT was non gaming. I have noticed no real increase in noise pushing the card. In windows, the temps are avrg 50C and under load 70C. Fan is not increasing all that much at those temps. I have no idea under OSX as no VGA temp monitoring I can find.
Yes the link speed is 5GT/S with the card from Apple. Not sure if it makes a difference or not.
I agree it's a little louder than the 8800GT at idle/non-gaming, but doesn't seem to ramp up at all when it's under stress either. Which is nice. It's definitely quieter than the X1900 was...
Got mine today. BF2142 speeds WAY up from 8800, GOODBYE NVIDIA!
No problems with dual monitors (dual DVI, using 1 mini DP to DVI adaptor), I just installed driver above and then shut down, installed card and rebooted.
Overall pretty quiet, can't say I note a difference from 8800 noise.
No problems with dual monitors (dual DVI, using 1 mini DP to DVI adaptor), I just installed driver above and then shut down, installed card and rebooted.
Overall pretty quiet, can't say I note a difference from 8800 noise.
Like others have said, It's louder than the 8800GT at idle. If it bothers me too much later on I guess I can always install a passive cooler. Link speed says 5.0 GT/s. I'll do some gaming tonight and see if I notice any improvements.
I had to reset my PRAM after the install, otherwise the mac wouldn't boot. It would go to a screen informing me there was no boot drive, then freeze. Weird. Now everything's fine.
I had to reset my PRAM after the install, otherwise the mac wouldn't boot. It would go to a screen informing me there was no boot drive, then freeze. Weird. Now everything's fine.
just installed mine tonight. very nice card. had a little trouble plugging in the 2 power plugs, but once i removed my 2nd harddrive was no problem.
not sure what you guys are hearing at idle, it is completely quiet. Installed halo2 on win7, just played 5 minutes, but no ramp in fan.
opened Aperture in osx and opened my 10meg RAW file picts instantly. the 2600 did not take long, but there was a delay.
i bought a dvi splitter which did not work.. though need to retest now that i installed the driver in osx. will try after exiting w7.
the beta win7 64bit catalyst drivers work well in w7.
not sure what you guys are hearing at idle, it is completely quiet. Installed halo2 on win7, just played 5 minutes, but no ramp in fan.
opened Aperture in osx and opened my 10meg RAW file picts instantly. the 2600 did not take long, but there was a delay.
i bought a dvi splitter which did not work.. though need to retest now that i installed the driver in osx. will try after exiting w7.
the beta win7 64bit catalyst drivers work well in w7.
dvi splitter does not work at all.. maybe it was not intended to do what i thought. will go by apple store tomorrow and get ministupidport to dvi adaptor.
hahaha that is funny. just download the drivers that are posted on this thread. they are the ones provided to 09 MPs.
does that mean we are all gonna get calls?
anyway i just got back for the A store and bought a $30 minidisplayprot to dvi and i am back in 2 monitor goodness. the adaptor works well, no issues.
does that mean we are all gonna get calls?
anyway i just got back for the A store and bought a $30 minidisplayprot to dvi and i am back in 2 monitor goodness. the adaptor works well, no issues.
funny. wife just texted me that apple called and said the drivers will be available shortly... They should have apologized for the arse at apple care I dealt with instead.
So far all the flashed 4870s are linked at 2.5GT/s, as opposed to the Apple-supplied cards which link at 5.0GT/s. No one is sure if this is something that will be fixed by 10.5.7 when it comes out, or not. If you're thinking about flashing a card (it's really not that hard), wait until 10.5.7 is out and there will be a much more stable environment to work with.
Also, I'd like to see a side-by-side comparison of 2.5GT/s and 5.0GT/s. I wonder if there even a real difference, or if people are just freaking out about one number being smaller than another.
BTW, there are also ways to use a PC 4870 (or 4890!) in a Mac without flashing it. You will, however, need to leave in your current Apple-provided card otherwise the machine can't boot.
Play nice with HDMI?
Anyone have luck with a HDMI (without a DVI port) monitor with the 4870? I want to buy one (the GT120 refused to see my LCD as monitor just a TV) but I'd like to know someone got it to work first.
I'm using a DVI to HDMI cable.
Anyone have luck with a HDMI (without a DVI port) monitor with the 4870? I want to buy one (the GT120 refused to see my LCD as monitor just a TV) but I'd like to know someone got it to work first.
I'm using a DVI to HDMI cable.
Got a phone call from Apple today...
Woman called from apple today, told me that My card was shipped without necessary software and that it should be released "soon."
I pressed "when", she said she was sorry but she didn't know.
I didn't volunteer I'd already downloaded the drivers as noted above.
Anyone else get a phone call?
EDIT: Oops, didn't see the above posts that people had same calls. It's got to be costing Apple quite a bit of money to pay people to make all these phone calls. Somebody screwed up here - they should have held the cards until drivers were available.
Woman called from apple today, told me that My card was shipped without necessary software and that it should be released "soon."
I pressed "when", she said she was sorry but she didn't know.
I didn't volunteer I'd already downloaded the drivers as noted above.
Anyone else get a phone call?
EDIT: Oops, didn't see the above posts that people had same calls. It's got to be costing Apple quite a bit of money to pay people to make all these phone calls. Somebody screwed up here - they should have held the cards until drivers were available.
while i agree with that, i am happy to have my card now since someone has posted the MP09 drivers.
they called me also and actually almost caused me some trouble because i did not tell my wife i made that particular expenditure luckily the phone connection when the apple person called was really bad, so they could not explain to her what they were calling about and she just gave them my cell.. what a mess the things i get myself in to.
they called me also and actually almost caused me some trouble because i did not tell my wife i made that particular expenditure
luckily the phone connection when the apple person called was really bad, so they could not explain to her what they were calling about and she just gave them my cell.. what a mess the things i get myself in to.
while i agree with that, i am happy to have my card now since someone has posted the MP09 drivers.
they called me also and actually almost caused me some trouble because i did not tell my wife i made that particular expenditure
Honesty always the best policy
I've RMA'd my 4870 and sending her back. With the GTX 285 out in a month, the more I think about it the more I just can't justify spending the same money for a card that is an older chip set and cost the same as what the 285 will cost give or take. Even with the restocking fee, I'll still get back more than if I sold it here or put it on eBay.
My 8800GT will do just fine until the GTX285 is available.
My 8800GT will do just fine until the GTX285 is available.
since you have the 8800 it should be not problem to wait, am actually wondering why 8800 owners would buy the 4870 for just a little improvement in speed.. and maybe none at all with games. those of us upgrading from the 2600 have more a "need".
to pprior, yes i know honesty is the best policy.. was just feeling a bit sneaky and it's hard to explain the "need" for a new video card to a non computer person. darn that apple for almost blowing my cover.
to pprior, yes i know honesty is the best policy.. was just feeling a bit sneaky and it's hard to explain the "need" for a new video card to a non computer person. darn that apple for almost blowing my cover.
since you have the 8800 it should be not problem to wait, am actually wondering why 8800 owners would buy the 4870 for just a little improvement in speed.. and maybe none at all with games. those of us upgrading from the 2600 have more a "need".
to pprior, yes i know honesty is the best policy.. was just feeling a bit sneaky and it's hard to explain the "need" for a new video card to a non computer person. darn that apple for almost blowing my cover.
True that, as per usual I got caught up in the Apple upgrade bug.
The 8800 does not cut it in Aperture or Photoshop... At least not the stuff I work with. I've just seen the 4870 in action on a 30" display, and it is worth the upgrade.
My experience with the 8800 in the past year is that is was laggy and buggy... the 4870 is a worthwhile upgrade for pro app users, and I will run with it until a new app comes along that can't take it.
I have also come to realize that pushing 1920x1200 vs 2560x1600 is a BIG difference. I also have noted that no Nvidia cards have worked well in my mac(s). I was always a fan when I built PC's and such, I kind of looked at Radeon and scoffed. But this one really completes my system.
As for gaming... don't really care about those benchmarks, so it may fall short.
I've read a lot of people complaining about the 8800GT having rather poor quality/buggy drivers under OS X. It's kind of surprising to me to see people in this thread and the other Geforce GTX285 thread(s) talk about waiting for that one/canceling 4870 pre-orders. While I do think that Apple charging $349.99 for what is basically a ~$160-170 card at this point to be completely uncalled for and borderline nauseating, what makes people think that the drivers for the GTX285 are going to be any better than the poor quality ones for the 8800gt?
I'm really on the fence about keeping the Apple 4870 I got (have not opened it yet), waiting for the GTX 285, buying and flashing a cheap PC 4870, or just building a gaming pc that I can overclock and upgrade at will without being chained to overpriced & late video card offerings (I priced out a full Core i7 build w/ a 1GB 4890 that came to around $1200 with all premium parts, vs almost $400 just for the Apple 512mb 4870).
While yes, the GTX 285 seems to be a bit better than the 4870 in the benchmarks I've seen, based on the current/past performance of drivers for the 8800GT, I honestly don't see why there is so much excitement about it. Anyone care to explain? What good is a videocard that has poor driver support?
And from what I gather, the GTX 285 isn't even 'officially' endorsed by Apple like the 8800gt since it will be an EVGA part, so wouldn't that bode even more poorly for the real world OS X performance of the card?
Just some thoughts, hope it helps add to the discussion.
I'm really on the fence about keeping the Apple 4870 I got (have not opened it yet), waiting for the GTX 285, buying and flashing a cheap PC 4870, or just building a gaming pc that I can overclock and upgrade at will without being chained to overpriced & late video card offerings (I priced out a full Core i7 build w/ a 1GB 4890 that came to around $1200 with all premium parts, vs almost $400 just for the Apple 512mb 4870).
While yes, the GTX 285 seems to be a bit better than the 4870 in the benchmarks I've seen, based on the current/past performance of drivers for the 8800GT, I honestly don't see why there is so much excitement about it. Anyone care to explain? What good is a videocard that has poor driver support?
And from what I gather, the GTX 285 isn't even 'officially' endorsed by Apple like the 8800gt since it will be an EVGA part, so wouldn't that bode even more poorly for the real world OS X performance of the card?
Just some thoughts, hope it helps add to the discussion.