Will Msi Amd Radeon hd 7870 run in a Mac Pro 2009?

[malthe]

I know I will not get the boot screen - except if I run two graphic cards - but can the mac pro run the 7870 without anything?

Its the msi model - http://www.ebay.com/itm/MSI-AMD-RADEON-HD-7870-OC-Edition-D5-2GB-Graphics-Card-/251426591142

And I can get it for a good price - around 110 dollars..


Is there any problems with running a none mac branded graphic card? Now I'm running the 8800 - that came with the machine and its almost not a graphic card

 

[zayaso]

I just purchased an ASUS Geforce GTX780- not Mac branded or flashed, it's for a PC- and it works just fine in my system.

Just a reminder to place your card in the right slot - The MP 2009 have PCI-E 2.0 for all four slots, with slots 1 and 2 being x16 slots, and slots 3 and 4 are x4 slots.

Also it appears that card needs x2 6pin connectors. Does your existing GPU have a power cable from the motherboard to it? If not you will need to purchase either:
1) x2 6-pin mini-pcie power cables (like this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-PCIe-6...S_Power_Cables_Connectors&hash=item415fd3aef9)

or

2) an external PSU to power the card similar to this one which fits in an empty optical drive bay slot:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817101044&cm_re=epower-_-17-101-044-_-Product

 

[Sawtooth811]

I know I will not get the boot screen - except if I run two graphic cards - but can the mac pro run the 7870 without anything?

I currently have a PowerColor PCS+ Radeon HD 7870 (looks just like this) in my own 2009 Mac Pro.

Aside from the lack of the bootscreen, it works perfectly in both OS X and my Windows 7 bootcamp drive. Ironically, it was plug and play with OS X, but I had to install the included drivers for Windows 7, of course.

I would definitely recommend going for that MSi model because you're getting it for over $40 less than my current PowerColor 7870 I purchased a few moths ago, and because MSi is my personal favorite PC parts manufacturer. Also, do what zayaso says, and make sure you order those PCI cables! I believe every 7870 requires two separate Mini-PCIe cables. However, from my experience, everything works perfectly fine without the need of the secondary PSU.

Also, one more thing; if you just so happen to rely on the EFI boot screen to switch between startup disks on the fly, the most convenient substitute for this is QuickBoot. I've been using this since I had a 6870 almost three years ago, and it's really useful.

 

[Pending]

I currently have a PowerColor PCS+ Radeon HD 7870 (looks just like this) in my own 2009 Mac Pro.

Aside from the lack of the bootscreen, it works perfectly in both OS X and my Windows 7 bootcamp drive. Ironically, it was plug and play with OS X, but I had to install the included drivers for Windows 7, of course.

I would definitely recommend going for that MSi model because you're getting it for over $40 less than my current PowerColor 7870 I purchased a few moths ago, and because MSi is my personal favorite PC parts manufacturer. Also, do what zayaso says, and make sure you order those PCI cables! I believe every 7870 requires two separate Mini-PCIe cables. However, from my experience, everything works perfectly fine without the need of the secondary PSU.

Also, one more thing; if you just so happen to rely on the EFI boot screen to switch between startup disks on the fly, the most convenient substitute for this is QuickBoot. I've been using this since I had a 6870 almost three years ago, and it's really useful.

Are you getting full Pci-e 2.0 speeds in both windows and osx?

 

[MacVidCards]

Are you getting full Pci-e 2.0 speeds in both windows and osx?

No, he isn't.

7870 requires hardware mod for PCIE 2.0.

We are only ones who have found this and that being said, have only been able to find it on some 7870s, the Tahiti Lite versions have escaped us.

Have planned to offer flashed ones, current EFI gives boot screens on DVI just fine but requires both DP connected for them to have boot screens. (On caiman ones IIRC) the Tahiti lite ones have correct boot screens but we can't find PCIE 2.0 switch. In short, haven't found "perfect" 7870 yet.

Only so much time and so few people actually doing the experimentation versus the copy & paste "work".

 

[Sawtooth811]

No, he isn't.

7870 requires hardware mod for PCIE 2.0.

We are only ones who have found this and that being said, have only been able to find it on some 7870s, the Tahiti Lite versions have escaped us.

Have planned to offer flashed ones, current EFI gives boot screens on DVI just fine but requires both DP connected for them to have boot screens. (On caiman ones IIRC) the Tahiti lite ones have correct boot screens but we can't find PCIE 2.0 switch. In short, haven't found "perfect" 7870 yet.

Only so much time and so few people actually doing the experimentation versus the copy & paste "work".

MacVidCards is right. In fact, from my experience, there are huge performance margins in real-world, and benchmarking tests while switching between Windows 7, and Mavericks (I have a Pitcarin XT "Prototype", by the way).

I had benchmark tests done with Cinebench R11.5, and NovaBench, and the GPU test scores in Windows blew OS X out of the water---completely.

Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64-Bit)

• Cinebench R11.5 GPU Score - 71.85 FPS
• NovaBench Graphics Tests Score - 482
• NovaBench 3D Frames Per Second - 1327

Mac OS X 10.9.5 Mavericks

• Cinebench R11.5 GPU Score - 30.77 FPS
• NovaBench Graphics Tests Score - 326
• NovaBench 3D Frames Per Second - 1306

I know benchmarks by themselves don't tell everything; However, despite the dramatic differences between Windows and OS X in GPU performance with the same Mac Pro setup, almost anything is worth upgrading from your OEM Mac Pro GPU.

Besides, like I said; I know there are some real-world performance differences, as well; I just didn't bother documenting them, at this time.

 

[Jahkir]

hmmmm

No, he isn't.

7870 requires hardware mod for PCIE 2.0.

We are only ones who have found this and that being said, have only been able to find it on some 7870s, the Tahiti Lite versions have escaped us.

Have planned to offer flashed ones, current EFI gives boot screens on DVI just fine but requires both DP connected for them to have boot screens. (On caiman ones IIRC) the Tahiti lite ones have correct boot screens but we can't find PCIE 2.0 switch. In short, haven't found "perfect" 7870 yet.

Only so much time and so few people actually doing the experimentation versus the copy & paste "work".

OK so my 7870 card that works fine on my mac is running slower than it should because it only runs at PCIe 1x? is this an issue if I manage to flash it too? or should I get another gfx card that does NOT have this issue.. and in case... considering ure username in here I think you are able to sugest something?

 

[Nick Cox]

Hi All

Recommendations please for fastest workable graphics card which I can install into an Mac Pro 1,1 updated as follows:

- firmware flashed to 2,2
- 32GB RAM
- Pikified OS to 10.11

Is Radeon 7870 or 7970 good?
Do I need it flashed for Mac? I'm not worried about having boot screen as long as it boots.

Cheers

N