In ccc there is no option for crossfireX.Gpu-z confirms that crossfire is disabled.
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Running dual 4870's in a 2009 Mac Pro
- Thread starter VirtualRain
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In ccc there is no option for crossfireX.Gpu-z confirms that crossfire is disabled.
Both are in 16x slots. I can't pin what the issue is...unless it is disabled by firmware.
Does the 2008 Mac Pro have a PCI Express configuration utility? If it does then run it to double check that both slots are set up at the same speed. Are you using the latest version of ATI's driver software or are you using the Boot Camp drivers?
I can try the utility but it only applies for the 2006 mac pro. I have tried the latest drivers to no avail from ATI. Not sure where I could even get the 4870 boot camp drivers? Tried some different driver suggestions from different forums to no avail.
Hmmm... you're right there is no configuration needed on the 2009 Mac Pro. You just need to have them in slots 1 and 2, the only 16x slots. It would be a bit strange if they purposely removed crossfire compatibility in the bios of the Mac 4870 cards - especially considering they left the crossfire connections on the boards. Flashed PC cards only use the EFI part of the 4870 Mac Edition BIOS as far as I know and keep the standard PC BIOS for Windows I think so if they did artificially limit the 4870 Mac Edition cards then that might explain the discrepancy.
Edit: Which version of Windows are you using btw? I think I read somewhere that some crossfire configurations only work in Vista although I think that only referred to crossfiring more than two cards (i.e. 2x 4870 X2). I'm using Vista Home Premium 32 in my setup.
Edit: Which version of Windows are you using btw? I think I read somewhere that some crossfire configurations only work in Vista although I think that only referred to crossfiring more than two cards (i.e. 2x 4870 X2). I'm using Vista Home Premium 32 in my setup.
Yeh it is odd if they did block it for what ever reason, it's a 2008 model running vista ultimate 32bit. Does it matter which way the crossfire cable is connected?
Edit: Tried the crossfire cable in the other direction, did nothing as expected. Tried one and two interconnect cables to no avail either.
I have attached some screenshots of the problem. In both GPU-Z and CCC they both see the cards and are both running at x16.
GPU-Z: http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/1486/bothcards.jpg
CCC: http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/7197/cccw.jpg
This one really has me stumped.
Will be very interesting if they killed Crossfire.
I have one OEM and some flashed ones here. I would try this right now, but a weird thing has happened to my Vista Install. It keeps saying that no ATI drivers are installed yet the 4870/90 cards work fine in 3D apps...so the drivers are installed & working.
In any case, there are new Catalyst drivers due any day (sorta like 10.5.7 was for a LONG time).
I have tried removing & reinstalling and I keep getting same error. I can't launch CCC. I have same issue with a 3870 in, so something with ATI stuff.
The 9.5 cats should be here any day, then I will try again, and see if I can Crossfire the OEM with a flashed one and then I will try a flashed one with the 4890 I just got.
The OEM 4870 uses a PC Bios written just for it, I imagine. Quite possible that Apple didn't bother to include the Crossfire info. Also possible that some of those resistors moved around (vs. stock 4870) have something to do with it.
It could also be that your install has a flaw...there is a reason we all prefer Mac over Windows....it's called "Windows"
EDIT: one more thought....whatever ROM is on your OEM cards...maybe you should try the "other" one. (there are 2 @ 4870 OEM ROMs....maybe newer one fixed or broke crossfire)
I have one OEM and some flashed ones here. I would try this right now, but a weird thing has happened to my Vista Install. It keeps saying that no ATI drivers are installed yet the 4870/90 cards work fine in 3D apps...so the drivers are installed & working.
In any case, there are new Catalyst drivers due any day (sorta like 10.5.7 was for a LONG time).
I have tried removing & reinstalling and I keep getting same error. I can't launch CCC. I have same issue with a 3870 in, so something with ATI stuff.
The 9.5 cats should be here any day, then I will try again, and see if I can Crossfire the OEM with a flashed one and then I will try a flashed one with the 4890 I just got.
The OEM 4870 uses a PC Bios written just for it, I imagine. Quite possible that Apple didn't bother to include the Crossfire info. Also possible that some of those resistors moved around (vs. stock 4870) have something to do with it.
It could also be that your install has a flaw...there is a reason we all prefer Mac over Windows....it's called "Windows"
EDIT: one more thought....whatever ROM is on your OEM cards...maybe you should try the "other" one. (there are 2 @ 4870 OEM ROMs....maybe newer one fixed or broke crossfire)
I think I will wait till 9.5 to see if it makes any difference, would be good if you could test yours..that would give me some ground for troubleshooting this a bit more.
Thanks for the suggestions.
edit: also logged support call with AMD, see what they have to say.
edit 2: http://www.techpowerup.com/ has the 9.5 drivers out. Installed them and still not working.
An update,
Tried just about everything else I could think of to get crossfire working, tried a new bridge, atitraytools, windows XP 32bit and 64bit all to no avail. I am pretty certain that the issue is with the cards. Never heard anything back from the job I logged with ATI yet.
Tried just about everything else I could think of to get crossfire working, tried a new bridge, atitraytools, windows XP 32bit and 64bit all to no avail. I am pretty certain that the issue is with the cards. Never heard anything back from the job I logged with ATI yet.
That sucks big time.
Why would they disable it, its so bizarre. It has to be Apple that's doing this themselves since the Mac compatible 3870s that ATI shipped *did* support Crossfire in Windows. I can vouch for that.
Im not overly dissapointed as I needed 2 cards to run 3 monitors, crossfire would have been the icing on the cake. I am still going to push this with apple and ATI and see what I can find.
Maybe you should consider getting two PC 1GB 4870 cards and flashing them instead and then sell the 4870 Mac editions (or return them).
This is the response I Got from AMD Support:
Dear Customer,
Your service request : SR #{ticketno:[xxxxxxxxxx]} has been reviewed and updated.
Response and Service Request History:
Unfortunately our support for boot camp is very limited. Also crossfire feature for Apple Hd4870 cards is currently not supported nor available.
Best regards,
AMD Global Customer Care
Dear Customer,
Your service request : SR #{ticketno:[xxxxxxxxxx]} has been reviewed and updated.
Response and Service Request History:
Unfortunately our support for boot camp is very limited. Also crossfire feature for Apple Hd4870 cards is currently not supported nor available.
Best regards,
AMD Global Customer Care
Wow. That sucks balls. Not only are Apple selling 512MB 4870s when they could have sold 1GB 4870s, not only are they selling their 4870s for twice the cost of a PC part, not only are they underclocking their 4870s, they're also purposefully disabling parts of the BIOS that are only used in Boot Camp.
I doubt this is ATI's doing since the 3870 Mac Edition cards worked fine under Boot Camp and with a Crossfire setup.
I doubt this is ATI's doing since the 3870 Mac Edition cards worked fine under Boot Camp and with a Crossfire setup.
It does suck, apple hardware is inferior...I wonder why they disabled it?
As much as I would like to used flashed cards many seem to be getting issues with Dual link DVI. Thats my main concern really.
Do you mean dual link DVI or dual DVI? Dual link's only needed for 2560x1600 resolution and all flashed card can do that. The only issue with flashed cards is that some brands when flashed only end up with one working dual link dvi port. However, other brands (specifically XFX) give you two working dvi ports. The second port doesn't work with dual link DVI but the first does. I've got two of these cards and have them flashed. I could, in theory, connect two 30" screens and two 24" (1920x1200 single link) screens all at the same time. The other two limitations are that flashed cards only run in PCIe 1.1 speeds (which doesn't matter for anything other than the most bandwidth intensive applications such as Mudbox) but then the 1GB cards' extra memory goes someway to negate that. The other issue is that VGA isn't working at the moment (although I think someone said that if you *only* use VGA then it does work but a mix of VGA and DVI doesn't.
For not much more than the cost of your second 4870, you could get two 1GB XFX 4870s and the necessary PCIe cables. You wouldn't even need those cables if your first 4870 came stock with your machine and you want to keep it as a backup.
Personally, if I were in your position, I'd feel somewhat cheated by Apple.
Sorry I meant Single link DVI, so it wouldnt be an issue. I do feel ripped off from Apple getting an half assed card...but for the time being that I cannot change them any time soon cause of a new job I am starting.
This is so frustrating. I want to try this stuff out and see if my single OEM 4870 can Crossfire with a regular 4870 or 4890 BUT.............
MY FREAKING VISTA INSTALL IS FALLING APART !!!!!!!
I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling cats 9.4 and 9.5, Driver Cleaner, Installer Cleanup, Driver Sweeper.
Nothing fixes it. The weird thing is that ATI drivers are working fine for a SINGLE card....but CCC won't launch.
Guess I should see if Traytools can do it...but I thought that hadn't been updated in awhile.
In the BIGGER picture....if Apple had these cards deliberately crippled....would indicate that Crossfire in OSX really IS "not in the works" for anytime in near future.
I guess I can just buy a new Hard Drive and start an ALL NEW Vista install. Can't wait to run the 1 Million "Critical Updates"....find the Bootcamp 64bit drivers again, drivers for everything else, install all my games and benchmarking utilities over again, run all THOSE updates. May be DAYS before I can actually test Crossfire.
Windows is the best sales pitch for OSX.
As far as the Corssfire thing...I will be able to test if flashed cards using OEM ROM work in Crossfire. If they do, Crossfire is disabled via a resistor somewhere...which I will find. If two flashed 4870 (using regular Mac ROM) can't Crossfire, the crippling will be in the ROM itself.
This is hardly surprising, Apple loves hobbling their own hardware so they can un-hobble it and call it an upgrade. I bought a Powerbook 2400C some years back.....the PCMCIA slot couldn't run Cardbus cards to add Firewire & USB, despite the Ti slot being capable. Turned out the fix was to open the case up, spend hours removing a zillion tiny screws and finally cutting a wire that Apple had added to the slot....to KILL Cardbus compliance. They wanted full Cardbus compliance to be a G3 exclusive......couldn't have the previous gen Powerbook ruining their parade..............
MY FREAKING VISTA INSTALL IS FALLING APART !!!!!!!
I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling cats 9.4 and 9.5, Driver Cleaner, Installer Cleanup, Driver Sweeper.
Nothing fixes it. The weird thing is that ATI drivers are working fine for a SINGLE card....but CCC won't launch.
Guess I should see if Traytools can do it...but I thought that hadn't been updated in awhile.
In the BIGGER picture....if Apple had these cards deliberately crippled....would indicate that Crossfire in OSX really IS "not in the works" for anytime in near future.
I guess I can just buy a new Hard Drive and start an ALL NEW Vista install. Can't wait to run the 1 Million "Critical Updates"....find the Bootcamp 64bit drivers again, drivers for everything else, install all my games and benchmarking utilities over again, run all THOSE updates. May be DAYS before I can actually test Crossfire.
Windows is the best sales pitch for OSX.
As far as the Corssfire thing...I will be able to test if flashed cards using OEM ROM work in Crossfire. If they do, Crossfire is disabled via a resistor somewhere...which I will find. If two flashed 4870 (using regular Mac ROM) can't Crossfire, the crippling will be in the ROM itself.
This is hardly surprising, Apple loves hobbling their own hardware so they can un-hobble it and call it an upgrade. I bought a Powerbook 2400C some years back.....the PCMCIA slot couldn't run Cardbus cards to add Firewire & USB, despite the Ti slot being capable. Turned out the fix was to open the case up, spend hours removing a zillion tiny screws and finally cutting a wire that Apple had added to the slot....to KILL Cardbus compliance. They wanted full Cardbus compliance to be a G3 exclusive......couldn't have the previous gen Powerbook ruining their parade..............
Maybe using an Apple 4870 and a third party 4870 is what's messing up your ATI drivers in Vista. My dual flashed XFX 1GB 4870s work absolutely fine in Vista (32 bit) in Crossfire mode in my 2006 Mac Pro.
ATI tray tools had a fairly recent release..in beta though.
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Video-Tweak/ATI-Tray-Tools.shtml
Vista loves falling apart with drivers for what ever reason. You can try under safe mode to remove the drivers and driver sweeper it..reboot again into normal mode and install the drivers. If it fails Vista has crapped itself..try doing a system restore.
I would love to know how you go with a flashed card. Apple engineers need a smack over the head..followed by the ones who price them!
I just realised this isn't the first time Apple has purposefully disabled something like Crossfire in their cards. The MacBook Pros have had their ability to do hybrid SLI in Windows using their 9600gt and 9400m graphics cards was manually disabled too - even though technically the hardware would support it. Maybe Apple doesn't want people to think of Windows as being able to provide much better graphics performance on their machines than OS X.
Eh, I just punted on all this stuff and went and picked up a used 2600XT card as my secondary card.
I use the apple 4870 to drive my main 24" display, and the 2600XT to drive the two 20" displays... Popped it in and it worked perfectly right away.. no screwing around, no trying to hack cards, etc. Both OSX and Windows 7 RC just said "Hey, you have a new card. ok, here', we'll enable that for ya".
Crossfire and SLI are nice (when they work) but they're not the end all be all and it's not the end of the world if you can't get it working. The 4870 by itself is a pretty darn quick card (especially when I came from a pair of 7900GT's!)
Unless you're trying to game on a 30" display in a First person shooter and you absolutely need 100+ FPS, I find it hard to believe that there's anything out there right now that a single 4870 can't handle in bootcamp/Windows. And for running multiple monitors, the 2600XT works fine for driving secondary displays (even better since it's two DVI ports, so I didn't have to mess with adaptors.)
I use the apple 4870 to drive my main 24" display, and the 2600XT to drive the two 20" displays... Popped it in and it worked perfectly right away.. no screwing around, no trying to hack cards, etc. Both OSX and Windows 7 RC just said "Hey, you have a new card. ok, here', we'll enable that for ya".
Crossfire and SLI are nice (when they work) but they're not the end all be all and it's not the end of the world if you can't get it working. The 4870 by itself is a pretty darn quick card (especially when I came from a pair of 7900GT's!)
Unless you're trying to game on a 30" display in a First person shooter and you absolutely need 100+ FPS, I find it hard to believe that there's anything out there right now that a single 4870 can't handle in bootcamp/Windows. And for running multiple monitors, the 2600XT works fine for driving secondary displays (even better since it's two DVI ports, so I didn't have to mess with adaptors.)
What's worse is that because they disabled it, when Snow Leopard comes out, they won't be able to make use of that 2nd graphics chip to do OpenCL work!
I'm betting it's more a power issue than your statement about not wanting Windows to do better graphics (at least on the MBPro's). There's already concern that the power system on those can't hack it with just 1 chip enabled, let alone both powered up and running full bore.
Correction: Unless you're trying to game on a 24" display in any new game with very high settings