Hi, I'm one of a slowly shrinking crowd of 1st generation (2006 release) Mac Pro users. In 2008, nVidia teamed up with Apple to release a long-awaited 'gaming class' video card for the 2006 Mac Pro - the first real alternative to the ATI Radeon x1900. The GeForce 8800 GT for Mac was considerably quieter than the x1900, and I've been using it ever since. That is, until yesterday, when (just in advance of Portal 2's release, no less) one of my newer 3D games (a Feral Interactive offering) 'bricked' it. Blame Feral if you like, maybe Apple's engineers for some firmware flaw - I can only speculate. The real problem is, what to replace it with, OR might the old Mac Pro finally be ready for retirement.
![Radeon hd 5770 specs Radeon hd 5770 specs](https://www.webantics.com/content/images/thumbs/002/0025234_apple-ati-radeon-hd-5770-graphics-upgrade-kit-for-mac-pro_600.jpeg)
Details about Apple Mac pro 5,1 2010 - Quad (4) Core 2.8GHZ 16GB DDR3 2TB HDD-RADEON HD 5770 Apple Mac pro 5,1 2010 - Quad (4) Core 2.8GHZ 16GB DDR3 2TB HDD-RADEON HD 5770 Email to friends Share on Facebook - opens in a new window or tab Share on Twitter - opens in a new window or tab Share on Pinterest - opens in a new window or tab. Anyone else having issues with the new Mac Pros and the ATI Radeon HD 5770. When I add a material, C4D crashes. The material preview icon just has a red outline around the box.
Like the good Apple customer that I am, I called up their sales team and asked them what to do. After consulting with the tech. Deptartment, the sales rep. Told me that the GeForce 8800 GT for Mac has been retired (Not entirely true since they're still available on backorder directly from nVidia), and suggested that I buy the 'Radeon HD 5770 1GB-ZML' to replace it. So, fine, no big deal, well-used video card is fried, shell out a couple hundred bucks and buy a new one - except for the time when ATI actually recalled one of my cards and replaced it for free, I've become pretty well accustomed to this pattern, extended warranties be damned. But wait, hold everything.
I thought the Radeon HD 5770 only works on newer Mac Pro's? It says so right there under specifications.
So what is Apple selling me? I Googled the 'ZML' part, hoping to uncover some firsthand accounts from other people in my position, but no luck so far. Does anyone know what's going on here? Does the newer Radeon card run OK, but at some limited capacity on an older Pro machine?
Could it possibly be that Apple is just feeding me a line, even after they confirmed my system's serial number, etc.? I doubt THAT, since they surely know I'll just return the thing if it doesn't work.
I think the likeliest scenario is that the newer Radeon card IS fully backwards compatible with older Mac Pros, but isn't advertised as such, in order to maintain its image as a premium device, used exclusively on state-of-the-art machinery, not on some 6 year old clunker. This seems pretty far-fetched too, though.
![Radeon Hd 5770 For Mac Pro Radeon Hd 5770 For Mac Pro](https://www.amd.com/PublishingImages/photography/product/360px/ATI-Radeon-HD-5770.png)
Why would ANY company voluntarily disguise backwards compatibility? So there's my rant. Curious what anybody might think about that. Old 'clunker' users unite! Or, if you'd like to cast your vote to say I should smarten up and quit coddling old machinery, I'd welcome that advice as well!
Click to expand.It has worked great, no compatability/performance issues at all, and it's very quiet. During boot, it wants to default to my HDTV as the primary screen, connected by mini-DVI (not my Apple Cinema w/ full size HDMI hookup), which caused some initial confusion, but OSX sorts everything out once boot has completed. Just unplug/leave off any mini-DVI, if it's a secondary screen, when performing boot diagnostics. My advice is to buy. Also, regarding performance, I haven't run any legitimate benchmarks, but it's certainly on par with, if not faster than the nVidia GT8800 and would greatly outperform your stock 7300 for HD rendering, video games, and such. Portal 2 ran perfectly, btw.
30+ fps all the time.:thumbup: I have a similar hangup with regards to the Radeon line. I have lost two x1900 models to brickage on this machine in past years. It seems that ATI/AMD has turned over a new leaf with this set of devices.