Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

XFX Radeon 6850 on macpro1,1?

dermeister

dermeister

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 19, 2003
458
96
I just bought an XFX Radeon 6850.

I'm considering sticking it into my 2006 Mac Pro (2.66 GHz), i.e. macpro1,1.

Is there any known patching procedure to follow? Most posts seem to concern older cards (4xxx/5xxx).

Thanks
 
The patching procedure would consist of installing Windows, and probably never booting back into the MacOS.

incidentally, chances are pretty good that card is going to be limited by the PCI type of the EFI32 Mac Pros.
 
1. No 6800 drivers exist for OSX


2. No Mac firmware exists for 6850






Conclusion: Windows only
 
Cindori said:
1. No 6800 drivers exist for OSX


2. No Mac firmware exists for 6850






Conclusion: Windows only
Click to expand...

On the contrary, there IS drivers for the Radeon 6800 series in the newest Snow Leopard.

Just no EFI firmware to flash our cards with.

New Device IDs present:

  • 0x67011002 = Cayman GL XT
  • 0x67021002 = Cayman GL XT
  • 0x67031002 = Cayman GL XT
  • 0x67041002 = Cayman GL PRO
  • 0x67051002 = Cayman GL PRO
  • 0x67061002 = Cayman GL
  • 0x67071002 = Cayman GL LE
  • 0x67081002 = Cayman GL
  • 0x67091002 = Cayman GL
  • 0x67181002 = Cayman XT
  • 0x67191002 = Cayman Pro
  • 0x671C1002 = Antilles PRO
  • 0x671D1002 = Antilles XT
  • 0x67221002 = Blackcomb LP
  • 0x67231002
  • 0x67261002
  • 0x67271002
  • 0x67281002 = Barts GL XT
  • 0x67291002 = Barts GL PRO
  • 0x67381002 = Radeon HD 6870
  • 0x67391002 = Radeon HD 6850
  • 0x67201002 = Blackcomb XT/PRO
  • 0x67211002 = Blackcomb LP
  • 0x67241002 = Blackcomb XP/PRO Gemini
  • 0x67251002 = Blackcomb LP Gemini
  • 0x67421002
  • 0x67431002
  • 0x67461002
  • 0x67471002
  • 0x67481002
  • 0x67491002
  • 0x67501002 = Onega
  • 0x67581002 = Turks XT
  • 0x67591002 = Turks Pro
  • 0x67401002 = Whistler XT
  • 0x67411002 = Whistler PRO/LP
  • 0x67441002 = Whistler XT/PRO Gemini
  • 0x67451002 = Whistler LP Gemini
  • 0x67621002
  • 0x67631002
  • 0x67661002
  • 0x67671002
  • 0x67681002
  • 0x67701002
  • 0x67791002
  • 0x67601002 = Seymour XT/PRO
  • 0x67611002 = Seymour LP
  • 0x67641002 = Seymour XP/PRO
  • 0x67651002 = Seymour LP Gemini
 
Pressure said:
On the contrary, there IS drivers for the Radeon 6800 series in the newest Snow Leopard.

Just no EFI firmware to flash our cards with.

New Device IDs present:

  • 0x67011002 = Cayman GL XT
  • 0x67021002 = Cayman GL XT
  • 0x67031002 = Cayman GL XT
  • 0x67041002 = Cayman GL PRO
  • 0x67051002 = Cayman GL PRO
  • 0x67061002 = Cayman GL
  • 0x67071002 = Cayman GL LE
  • 0x67081002 = Cayman GL
  • 0x67091002 = Cayman GL
  • 0x67181002 = Cayman XT
  • 0x67191002 = Cayman Pro
  • 0x671C1002 = Antilles PRO
  • 0x671D1002 = Antilles XT
  • 0x67221002 = Blackcomb LP
  • 0x67231002
  • 0x67261002
  • 0x67271002
  • 0x67281002 = Barts GL XT
  • 0x67291002 = Barts GL PRO
  • 0x67381002 = Radeon HD 6870
  • 0x67391002 = Radeon HD 6850
  • 0x67201002 = Blackcomb XT/PRO
  • 0x67211002 = Blackcomb LP
  • 0x67241002 = Blackcomb XP/PRO Gemini
  • 0x67251002 = Blackcomb LP Gemini
  • 0x67421002
  • 0x67431002
  • 0x67461002
  • 0x67471002
  • 0x67481002
  • 0x67491002
  • 0x67501002 = Onega
  • 0x67581002 = Turks XT
  • 0x67591002 = Turks Pro
  • 0x67401002 = Whistler XT
  • 0x67411002 = Whistler PRO/LP
  • 0x67441002 = Whistler XT/PRO Gemini
  • 0x67451002 = Whistler LP Gemini
  • 0x67621002
  • 0x67631002
  • 0x67661002
  • 0x67671002
  • 0x67681002
  • 0x67701002
  • 0x67791002
  • 0x67601002 = Seymour XT/PRO
  • 0x67611002 = Seymour LP
  • 0x67641002 = Seymour XP/PRO
  • 0x67651002 = Seymour LP Gemini
Click to expand...

they are not working afaik
 
Are there any equivalent cards you would recommend me buying if I return it?

And how far-off is the hope of one day getting the 6xxx series patched?
 
expect pc 6870 (not 50) PC-flashing/patching support by end of 2011 when new macpros come. until then, it's 5000.
 
there is nothing to worry about. there is absolutely no game in sight that an ati 5870 would not handle.
more and more console ports. no need anymore for high end graphics cards :(
 
nasabaer said:
there is nothing to worry about. there is absolutely no game in sight that an ati 5870 would not handle.
more and more console ports. no need anymore for high end graphics cards :(
Click to expand...

This is not true....

Crysis 2?
 
nasabaer said:
there is nothing to worry about. there is absolutely no game in sight that an ati 5870 would not handle.
more and more console ports. no need anymore for high end graphics cards :(
Click to expand...


Are you kidding? Either you game at low resolutions, or have really low standards for what's acceptable performance.
 
grue said:
Are you kidding? Either you game at low resolutions, or have really low standards for what's acceptable performance.
Click to expand...

IMHO, there will always be some way of cranking settings on some game or other that will expose any GPU's limitations....But it's largely just a p*ssing contest encouraged by Nvidia and ATI these days. The law of diminishing returns is really starting to bite.
 
Gomff said:
IMHO, there will always be some way of cranking settings on some game or other that will expose any GPU's limitations....But it's largely just a p*ssing contest encouraged by Nvidia and ATI these days. The law of diminishing returns is really starting to bite.
Click to expand...

Your not buying for the future then, a 5870 will not be good enough come next year.
 
neckarb said:
Your not buying for the future then, a 5870 will not be good enough come next year.
Click to expand...

That depends on needs. Not everyone needs to game on their Macs.

Besides if you need a gaming machine, build your own PC is the best way to go.
 
Gomff said:
IMHO, there will always be some way of cranking settings on some game or other that will expose any GPU's limitations....But it's largely just a p*ssing contest encouraged by Nvidia and ATI these days. The law of diminishing returns is really starting to bite.
Click to expand...

Honestly, there are already games that the 5870 can't run properly at high resolution/detail settings.

Most Mac users have much lower expectations for game performance, anecdotally speaking.

"Oh I'm getting 30fps at medium detail below my panel's native res, it's fine!"
 
alphaod said:
That depends on needs. Not everyone needs to game on their Macs.

Besides if you need a gaming machine, build your own PC is the best way to go.
Click to expand...

Well yes thats true, but just because you don't need to play games, dosent justify saying that the 5870 is enough. By that logic, I could just stick with my Ati x1600 as I don't want to play games, it's clear that the post was related to games.
 
neckarb said:
Your not buying for the future then, a 5870 will not be good enough come next year.
Click to expand...

Good enough for what?

And how do you know?

Do you have a crystal ball?

I don't understand this assumption that a system, a CPU or GPU will become redundant by a certain date in time.

The Xbox and PS3 have much more dated GPU technology inside and they must surely account for a much larger slice of the gaming market.....Let's not even mention the Wii.

Just because you can't crank the settings up to max on everything on a game, it doesn't then render it unplayable. But hey, if you want to keep ATI and Nvidia shares propped up then please carry on with the p*ssing contest.

If we really want to talk about better graphics performance in OS X, all it would take is some better Open GL drivers from Apple instead of the cack that we have now.
 
Gomff said:
Good enough for what?

And how do you know?

Do you have a crystal ball?

I don't understand this assumption that a system, a CPU or GPU will become redundant by a certain date in time.

The Xbox and PS3 have much more dated GPU technology inside and they must surely account for a much larger slice of the gaming market.....Let's not even mention the Wii.

Just because you can't crank the settings up to max on everything on a game, it doesn't then render it unplayable. But hey, if you want to keep ATI and Nvidia shares propped up then please carry on with the p*ssing contest.

If we really want to talk about better graphics performance in OS X, all it would take is some better Open GL drivers from Apple instead of the cack that we have now.
Click to expand...

Google Crysis 2.

My 5870 Runs Crysis well. about 30FPS-60 FPS, that game came out in 2006. The sequel is out next year.
 
Cindori said:
crysis 2 will only have optimizations, and will run more smooth then crysis 1. afaik.
Click to expand...

Theoretically yes, but saying that a current Gen. graphics card will be able to run it perfectly at full wack is crazy talk. It's a whole new engine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back