Why does Apple allow AMD's Overdrive feature?

Discussion in 'Mac Pro' started by DELTAsnake, Jan 8, 2011.

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  1. DELTAsnake, Jan 8, 2011

    DELTAsnake macrumors 6502

    DELTAsnake

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    #1
    I was surprised to see in Windows 7 on my Mac Pro in the latest AMD Catalyst drivers for the 5870 that AMD Overdrive is available on the 5870 despite the one in the Mac Pro being an Apple firmware. And Apple is not like Asus or Gigabyte that encourages the OC community. This seems a very strange feature for Apple to allow on a Mac Pro. I can't see AMD being able to dictate to Apple that they must enable to option. Is this an oversight on Apple's part or is Apple actually cool with it?
     
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  2. Hellhammer, Jan 9, 2011

    Hellhammer Moderator

    Hellhammer

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    #2
    I'm not sure could Apple even limit it. You use the same drivers in Windows as PC users.
     
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  3. goMac, Jan 9, 2011

    goMac macrumors 603

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    #3
    The 5870 is actually two firmwares, the original BIOS firmware, and the Apple EFI firmware.

    Apple has no reason to modify the BIOS firmware.
     
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  4. macz1, Jan 9, 2011

    macz1 macrumors 6502

    macz1

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    #4
    The card is still made by AMD and it is AMD which defines the safe operating range. with Overdrive you can't perform extreme overclocking or overvolting. The max settable frequencies are locked in order to not exceed the boundaries defind by AMD. As apple desktop cards do not have reduced custom frequencies (as often the case in laptops) and are based on AMDs reference design to a large extent, this should not cause any damage to the card....
     
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