GTX 480 vs. ATI HD 6870

[ksosx86]

I'm debating whether or not to stick with my HD 6870 that works perfect no issues 100% oob, or go with a GTX 480, my question being would that be an "upgrade" and are there any major issues with the 480 such as broken sleep, freezing etc.. ? I use Adobe Master Collection CS5 for most of my work, notably Indesign. If the 480 has even the "slightest" edge I don't mind the switch.

Sorry if this has already been answered I just need a little advice on this one...

 

[Phaedin]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/290?vs=309

 

[SG-]

ignoring benchmarks, the 480 is currently harder to get working perfectly in OSX right now as it requires some tuning if you don't want your card working at 100% speed, and even then it will likely not be as smooth for UI related things.

are you looking for a better gaming card?

With Apple/Nvidia finally releasing a fermi card, it means we might actually start seeing some better drivers and will likely see some in ML. At that point Nvidia cards might be better than ATI ones.

 

[ksosx86]

I could less about gaming, more about content creation.

 

[ksosx86]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/290?vs=309

Benchmarks are great, but those are under a windows environment, with native support and drivers intended specifically for each card, that said I need an answer considering the cards operating under current hackintosh conditions... it's not a question of raw power as much as support. If there's no glitches I could care less about the UI reacting slower or something just as long as the system doesn't KP randomly or freeze or stutter etc & working sleep, hopefully someone that's used a 480 in their hack for a long time could comment on their experience...

 

[StingRay]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/290?vs=309

Benchmarks are great, but those are under a windows environment, with native support and drivers intended specifically for each card, that said I need an answer considering the cards operating under current hackintosh conditions... it's not a question of raw power as much as support. If there's no glitches I could care less about the UI reacting slower or something just as long as the system doesn't KP randomly or freeze or stutter etc & working sleep, hopefully someone that's used a 480 in their hack for a long time could comment on their experience...

The 480 is a monsta card, also without proper AGPM edits the hottest thing (95c+) that you can have in your hack But yes, it is an upgrade, the 480 has almost a full 3rd more memory bandwidth, and obviously CS support is an upgrade

 

[Sasquatch00]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/290?vs=309

Benchmarks are great, but those are under a windows environment, with native support and drivers intended specifically for each card, that said I need an answer considering the cards operating under current hackintosh conditions... it's not a question of raw power as much as support. If there's no glitches I could care less about the UI reacting slower or something just as long as the system doesn't KP randomly or freeze or stutter etc & working sleep, hopefully someone that's used a 480 in their hack for a long time could comment on their experience...

My current computer is my first PC, let alone Hackintosh.

I built it last September and was looking for a monster card. I got the GTX 480 for $300 (that's crazy cheap for back then) and couldn't pass it up. It was kind of a jerk to get going, but I found a post on InsanelyMac where someone went through it step by crazy step for Snow Leopard install. I don't have it bookmarked anymore, but I may be able to find it. I did start up Lion and it worked with that hack.

I don't really know any different, but I love the card and it is a beast. It can also be a hot bastard. I ended up buying a 3rd party cooling apparatus and oh boy is it a relief. Went from 60c+ to 35c.

Because I didn't really know what I was doing, I trolled this forum for months and months trying to ensure that I was getting my money's worth...meaning I was getting the best performance while rendering or the best possible acceleration for things like Adobe CS.

I did get openGL working and also Cuda. Recently I got Mercury playback working with some random hack somebody put up on this forum. But it kind of stalled out and I don't think it's working, because when I try to benchmark it looks for Mercury playback. I'm not really sure.

Overall, I'm happy. This comes from someone who doesn't have a point of reference beyond what other people say on the net...so take that how you will.

See here for my thoughts and someone saying that in LION all you need to do is rock multibeast and it works!
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=53319

and here's me talking to myself about figuring out cooling issues:
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=48954

You may be better of trying a GTX 580. I hear they are much quieter and cooler.

 

[ksosx86]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/290?vs=309

Benchmarks are great, but those are under a windows environment, with native support and drivers intended specifically for each card, that said I need an answer considering the cards operating under current hackintosh conditions... it's not a question of raw power as much as support. If there's no glitches I could care less about the UI reacting slower or something just as long as the system doesn't KP randomly or freeze or stutter etc & working sleep, hopefully someone that's used a 480 in their hack for a long time could comment on their experience...

My current computer is my first PC, let alone Hackintosh.

I built it last September and was looking for a monster card. I got the GTX 480 for $300 (that's crazy cheap for back then) and couldn't pass it up. It was kind of a jerk to get going, but I found a post on InsanelyMac where someone went through it step by crazy step for Snow Leopard install. I don't have it bookmarked anymore, but I may be able to find it. I did start up Lion and it worked with that hack.

I don't really know any different, but I love the card and it is a beast. It can also be a hot bastard. I ended up buying a 3rd party cooling apparatus and oh boy is it a relief. Went from 60c+ to 35c.

Because I didn't really know what I was doing, I trolled this forum for months and months trying to ensure that I was getting my money's worth...meaning I was getting the best performance while rendering or the best possible acceleration for things like Adobe CS.

I did get openGL working and also Cuda. Recently I got Mercury playback working with some random hack somebody put up on this forum. But it kind of stalled out and I don't think it's working, because when I try to benchmark it looks for Mercury playback. I'm not really sure.

Overall, I'm happy. This comes from someone who doesn't have a point of reference beyond what other people say on the net...so take that how you will.

See here for my thoughts and someone saying that in LION all you need to do is rock multibeast and it works!
http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=53319

and here's me talking to myself about figuring out cooling issues:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=48954

You may be better of trying a GTX 580. I hear they are much quieter and cooler.

As long as there aren't any known 'major' issues with the 480, I don't care about the heat, I'll just install an aftermarket cooler on it. That said, there aren't any known issues with the GTX 480 causing KPs, black screens, broken sleep etc... ?

 

[StingRay]

Mine never gives me probs

 

[Sasquatch00]

As long as there aren't any known 'major' issues with the 480, I don't care about the heat, I'll just install an aftermarket cooler on it. That said, there aren't any known issues with the GTX 480 causing KPs, black screens, broken sleep etc... ?

I couldn't tell you if I've had problems specific to the 480 beyond the initial struggle to setup, which seems like it's solved now.

Once I had it setup, zero issues. The only thing that is KIND OF notable, is that the bios screen will not be fullscreen. I have a 1920x1080 monitor and it won't use the full screen in the bios. I tried a few vesa hacks, but none worked. So I still have the black bars all around my loading screen, including the mac spinning circle. Just so you know. Doesn't bother me anymore personally as my SSDs load up so quickly anyway!

I don't use sleep ever, so can't comment.