In Search of the Best Hackintosh Graphics Card

[vjkevlar]

I got 21 fps with a 285 so I would have thought a gtx480 would be more impressive after seeing the 41fps from that ATI card!

So weird the difference between Novabench and Cinebench scores. Hmm, anyone have insight?

 

[jpa]

link or model your video card? works nice? works all?

Zotac nVidia 480GTX

DVI(x2) works perfectly; even second monitor is fine. No freezes or lag. I don't know about HDMI, though, because I don't use that.

IS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500156&cm_re=Zotac_nVidia_480GTX-_-14-500-156-_-Product

steps for install video card??

cinebech points?? works nice games?? works 100% nice?

thanks

 

[Inrvuuvamp]

That must be the best Fermi result I've seen in like.... Forever. By a long shot. What did you do to get that? Installed Kexts/removed Kexts? Settings? Something? Anything?

I've actually gotten higher with NullCPUPowerManagement.kext. But now I'm on 5,1 with AGPM.kext and CPU power management.

I installed using 64-bit, Chameleon GraphicsEnabler=Yes, and Tonymacx86's nVidia update. I also edited AppleGraphicsPowerManagement.kext with my gfx card's deviceid.

IS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500156&cm_re=Zotac_nVidia_480GTX-_-14-500-156-_-Product

steps for install video card??

cinebech points?? works nice games?? works 100% nice?

thanks

Yes, that is it. All games work good so far, but some OpenGL games get much higher fps in Windows.

 

[silencerdeluxe]

After many tries with my MSI 460GTX Cyclone i have still Freezing Problems, i think this card is not a good choice and i will sell it.

Perhaps a newbie question:
In the Mac Store you can put a Radeon HD 5870 in the Mac Pro, why there is no stable solution with this card, so there should be exist native driver from apple?

So long i use my 8800GT and waiting for OSX 10.6.7 -> Display Driver is one point in the changelog.

 

[jpa]

That must be the best Fermi result I've seen in like.... Forever. By a long shot. What did you do to get that? Installed Kexts/removed Kexts? Settings? Something? Anything?

I've actually gotten higher with NullCPUPowerManagement.kext. But now I'm on 5,1 with AGPM.kext and CPU power management.

I installed using 64-bit, Chameleon GraphicsEnabler=Yes, and Tonymacx86's nVidia update. I also edited AppleGraphicsPowerManagement.kext with my gfx card's deviceid.

IS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

steps for install video card??

cinebech points?? works nice games?? works 100% nice?

thanks

Yes, that is it. All games work good so far, but some OpenGL games get much higher fps in Windows.

thanks

games test in mac??

 

[sfroom]

Finally, here are my results:

Core i7 960 @ stock 3.20 Ghz
6GB 1066Mhz DDR3
Gigabyte X58A-UD3R rev 2.0
Sapphire (reference) 5870 1GB
64-bit Graphics Enabler = yes

Tried Mac Pro 3,1 4,1 and 5,1 identifiers. 3,1 is the fastest, but I think it just forgoes power management altogether. The difference is so small that I'm currently running on 5,1.
Mac Pro 3,1.png
Mac Pro 5,1.png

My Sapphire 5870 is reference design, but the fan idles quite loudly. Would there be any benefit to adding the device ID to the apple power management kext? Does someone have a link explaining how to do this easily (i.e. how to find my device ID).

Cinebench is running around 26.5 fps, and Starcraft 2 runs at 1080p on extreme settings without dipping below the 60fps max I set for the game.

The system is very stable, but I do get a KP about 20% of the time when booting, although a quick restart remedies that easily.

 

[sfroom]

Manually changing the framebuffer to Uakari has drastically reduced fan noise.

Is it still wise to add the device ID to the power management kext, or should it be automatically recognized since it's a reference 5870?

 

[silencerdeluxe]

Finally, here are my results:

Core i7 960 @ stock 3.20 Ghz
6GB 1066Mhz DDR3
Gigabyte X58A-UD3R rev 2.0
Sapphire (reference) 5870 1GB
64-bit Graphics Enabler = yes

Tried Mac Pro 3,1 4,1 and 5,1 identifiers. 3,1 is the fastest, but I think it just forgoes power management altogether. The difference is so small that I'm currently running on 5,1.
My Sapphire 5870 is reference design, but the fan idles quite loudly. Would there be any benefit to adding the device ID to the apple power management kext? Does someone have a link explaining how to do this easily (i.e. how to find my device ID).

Cinebench is running around 26.5 fps, and Starcraft 2 runs at 1080p on extreme settings without dipping below the 60fps max I set for the game.

The system is very stable, but I do get a KP about 20% of the time when booting, although a quick restart remedies that easily.

2 Questions:
What Tools do you use to get your 5870 working?
How can i see which Sapphire is Reference Design? There are a few models from sapphire..

I get with the same cinebench results with my 8800gt, so i think its not a good result with a 5870, but Starcraft in FullHD and high settings with 60fps is really good, is that not be controvert?

 

[sfroom]

2 Questions:
What Tools do you use to get your 5870 working?
How can i see which Sapphire is Reference Design? There are a few models from sapphire..

I get with the same cinebench results with my 8800gt, so i think its not a good result with a 5870, but Starcraft in FullHD and high settings with 60fps is really good, is that not be controvert?

Install is vanilla using the iBoot/Multibeast method. Select ATI experimental Kabyl Branch, and 64-bit boot screen, GraphicsEnabler=yes.

That got me up and running with excellent performance.

Yesterday, I changed framebuffers to Uakari, which significantly reduced fan noise, although it may have slightly reduced performance as well...I'll have to do some further testing.

Reference design cards look like the Apple one. They have a blower style fan at the far right end, with a black sheath with a red line down the center. The card should say AMD at the bottom of the PCB, right above the PCIE connector. It doesn't have to be a Sapphire, any reference card will work the same. Here's what mine looks like:sapphire-5870-scan-front.jpg

Mid 20's seems to be average for this card in cinebench. I think it's a problem with the Apple drivers, as I've heard that a real mac pro with an Apple 5870 gets approximately the same result.

If you want better benchmarks, the GTX 285 seems to be the best bet, although I'm hoping that in the long run, the 5870 will show it's superiority.

 

[silencerdeluxe]

I thought for 64bit booting you need a DSDT for your Motherboard?
Did you try the Ati-Kext from the new Mac Book Pro DVD?
Perhaps it works for the 58xx as well

For Games i use Win7, need only a bit graphic performance for Adobe products, so the nvidia 2xx is not relly good for this combination.

So far, thanks for your answers.
I will looking forward to see how things running with included display drivers in the 10.6.7 update.

So long i observe your progresses with the 5870 and hope not to break down ^^