Recommendation on ATI 4870 Graphics Card

[jimx86]

I see your point, but flashing a 4870 really is no big deal: at MacRumors.com there are pre-edited ROMs floating around for nearly every 4870 out there and with "Zeus", the flashing tool by Cindori, flashing is a breeze.
I for one don't like the idea of installing a QE/CI patch every other day either plus want a card with passive cooling. That's how I ended up with the Sparkle 9600GT in my hack-to-be.

Haha, I guess I'm just the lazy guy who wants an OOB Snow Leopard with minimal effort
And considering the fact that some people are barely comfortable with overclocking, I think flashing the graphics BIOS may be like learning how to program.

 

[rich]

but is flashing a PC 4870 to a Mac ROM neccessary on a hackintosh? i have a Sapphire 4870 and works fine with GE=Yes.

but if flashing with a Mac ROM means it works OOB with no edits then im interested.

It's not necessary, but it will work OOB with no edits.

The 4890 is also fairly easy to get working, but needs netkas' QE/CI enabler after each OS update.

EDIT: @rich: How did the 10.6.4 update work for you? Any problems?

so it would definitely work even without GE? not that GE is much of a fuss haha its vanilla and pretty easy. but hmm i suspect then it wont work in Windows?

the 10.6.4 update was completely seamless for me, no problems. i think my 4870 is exactly like the one included in the Mac Pro and so was a good buy. runs a bit hot though.

 

[flatfoot]

so it would definitely work even without GE? not that GE is much of a fuss haha its vanilla and pretty easy. but hmm i suspect then it wont work in Windows?

The altered ROM for OSX just contains an additional EFI bit, which is ignored by Windows. A flashed 4870 works both in Windows and OSX.

Just read a bit into the thread I linked, find the ROM for your card in the thread(s) they give there (or just google forums.macrumors.com for your exact card model/vendor), save your original ROM using CPU-Z under Windows and then flash the card with the altered ROM using Zeus. If it goes wrong, you can always flash it back to the original ROM.

 

[rich]

hmm so flashed my card using Zeus with the provided Sapphire 4870 ROM in the guide and luckily all seemed to go well (probably shouldve backed up in Windows though ) but it didnt boot without GE. it seems as though GE is needed for hackintoshes http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.ph ... tcount=276 or at least a DSDT edit which i dont think is worked atm on ATIs.

oh well, at least i now have a card that would work in a Mac Pro if i ever have one and also seems my graphics profile is now more like a Mac Pro's, i think it showed ATY,Motmot before as the model, but not sure.

ATI Radeon 4870 Series:

  Chipset Model:	ATI Radeon 4870 Series
  Type:	GPU
  Bus:	PCIe
  Slot:	Slot-1
  PCIe Lane Width:	x8
  VRAM (Total):	1024 MB
  Vendor:	ATI (0x1002)
  Device ID:	0x9440
  Revision ID:	0x0000
  ROM Revision:	113-B7710C-176
  EFI Driver Version:	01.00.318
  Displays:
Cinema HD:
  Resolution:	1920 x 1200
  Pixel Depth:	32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
  Main Display:	Yes
  Mirror:	Off
  Online:	Yes
  Rotation:	Supported
Display Connector:
  Status:	No Display Connected

 

[flatfoot]

hmm so flashed my card using Zeus with the provided Sapphire 4870 ROM in the guide and luckily all seemed to go well (probably shouldve backed up in Windows though ) but it didnt boot without GE. it seems as though GE is needed for hackintoshes http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.ph ... tcount=276 or at least a DSDT edit which i dont think is worked atm on ATIs.

oh well, at least i now have a card that would work in a Mac Pro if i ever have one and also seems my graphics profile is now more like a Mac Pro's, i think it showed ATY,Motmot before as the model, but not sure.

ATI Radeon 4870 Series:

  Chipset Model:	ATI Radeon 4870 Series
  Type:	GPU
  Bus:	PCIe
  Slot:	Slot-1
  PCIe Lane Width:	x8
  VRAM (Total):	1024 MB
  Vendor:	ATI (0x1002)
  Device ID:	0x9440
  Revision ID:	0x0000
  ROM Revision:	113-B7710C-176
  EFI Driver Version:	01.00.318
  Displays:
Cinema HD:
  Resolution:	1920 x 1200
  Pixel Depth:	32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
  Main Display:	Yes
  Mirror:	Off
  Online:	Yes
  Rotation:	Supported
Display Connector:
  Status:	No Display Connected

Sorry, didn't know it would be different on a Hackintosh...
But at least System Profiler looks nicer now.

 

[jimx86]

Hey, glad to know it worked, at least! If you have more questions, feel free to post them!