Graphics Card Manufacturers

[adrianjgsmith]

I've been looking at fitting my Hackintosh build with a Radeon HD 5770 as per current Mac Pros, but notice the CustoMac builds, being more up to date, have newer cards. The Radeon 6850 appeals given it's about the same price, but the Gigabyte version in the CustoMac builds is trickier to get a hold of in the UK, and more expensive than the same spec made by other manufacturers.

Basically I'm curious as to whether the reliability across cards varies when building a Hackintosh? I'm looking at the XFX Radeon 6850 Black Edition, but I'm curious as to whether the kexts etc need to be treated differently?

 

[samisnake]

the main thing is whether or not its a reference design or not.

the graphics card makers, whether its gigabyte, xfx or whoever, buy the graphics chipsets from amd/ati, and have a reference design for the card.
sometimes, the card makers slightly change design of the card, sometimes for the sake of saving money or to make improvements.

by changing the design, they effect the way they are seen in osx. thing is, you as a consumer wont know which is a modified design and which is a reference design, so its best to go with what is confirmed working.

 

[adrianjgsmith]

Thanks for that. I had always wondered why there was a variation across the same cards made by different companies, now I know.

Think I'll save myself the trouble and stick with something vanilla. Thanks again

 

[samisnake]

this isnt scientific, and complete guesswork on my part, but any card that mentions something to do with overclocked, or super, or black edition etc, has a high possibility of being a modified one.

how true or not that is, i cant tell you, but it makes sense in my head