Driver upgrade for AMD Radeon 5770 Graphics Card

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Level 1

8 points

Driver upgrade for AMD Radeon 5770 Graphics Card

I have a 2008 Mac Pro, running OSX 10.8.5. Just installed AMD Radeon 5770 graphics card (Apple says this isn't supported; users I read said it works despite what Apple says in knowledge article (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3477). When I restarted, the system said my card was a Radeon HD 5000, not 5770. AMD's web site not clear about driver upgrade (and I believe I have to do this, since I took out the old graphics card (ATI Radeon HD 2600 that came with the Mac Pro at purchase). Didn't get a clear answer, yet, from Apple support. Anyone experience this? Does anyone know which driver to manually download from AMD's site? It's not clear, and they also suggested, talk to Apple to get driver support. Here's where I went, and found the choice not clearly mapped out for the Mac (and their autodetect software works only for XP:

-http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/GPU125GPUorOSNotFound.aspx

-and here: http://www.official-drivers.com/installer/?seed=ati&gclid=CJeA0M_1u7wCFVhufgod4Q MAcQ.

Thanks.

Mac Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Feb 7, 2014 11:40 PM

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Answer 1

RSDOwens Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 7, 2014 11:52 PM in response to RSDOwens

Also, when I check again under about this mac, under PCI, it said:

"There was an error while gathering PCI card information." I am fairly confident I sliped the new card in correctly to the PCI slot. I'm wondering if that is a message that appears when a new driver is needed?

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Answer 2

kaz-k

Level 8

49,032 points

Feb 8, 2014 4:14 AM in response to RSDOwens

Driver or whatever doesn't need for Mac Pro, driver comes with Mac OSX.

Try SMC and NVRAM resetting.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379?viewlocale=en_US

Did you connect power cable which came with, and your HD5770 graphic card is for Mac Pro, by the way?

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Answer 3

RSDOwens Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 8, 2014 8:47 AM in response to kaz-k

Kaz-K: I tried your method. I still get the same reading about the PCI (There was an error while gathering PCI card information) and the system still reports my graphics card is HD 5000. I bought a standard Apple 6 pin PCI cable that connects power from the motherboard directly to the HD 5770 graphics card. FYI, the HD 5770 card I bought was used, but I don't believe that is an issue. So to confirm, you're saying I don't to do anything about upgrading a driver? This card should be recognized by my version of OSX 10.8.5?

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Answer 4

Feb 8, 2014 4:23 PM in response to RSDOwens

How many of what kind of display connectors are featured on the card?

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Answer 5

RSDOwens Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 8, 2014 5:27 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

The card features two DVI display connectors. I have hooked up my new NEC PA271 W monitor to DVI1 (the reason I installed the new graphics card was because I needed it to support this monitor). The monitor fired up and I'm calibrating it, and so far so good. It appears all is well, but I still have no idea if I need anything more from ATI/Radeon (a driver for the 5xxxx series cards) and if the error message under about this Mac for the PCI slot will correct. It still says "There was an error while gathering PCI card information."

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Answer 6

Feb 8, 2014 5:57 PM in response to RSDOwens

The card features two DVI display connectors.

The genuine Apple card has ONE DVI-I connecor and two Mini DisplayPorts.

You have bought something different -- maybe a flashed card, maybe a PC-only card. Drivers will not help your issues.

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Answer 7

Feb 8, 2014 6:26 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

That's what I was thinking. My 5770 that came with my 2010 Mac has the two mini connectors and the DVI.

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Answer 8

RSDOwens Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 8, 2014 8:37 PM in response to Wayne of America

Well, that may explain it. The person I bought the used HD 5770 from told me he had it in a PC. I was unaware there were PC only cards. It does appear to work. Odd that it is given a different name to the card under "about this Mac." Thanks.

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Answer 9

Feb 8, 2014 8:40 PM in response to RSDOwens

RE: Mac Pro silver tower (2006-2012) Replacement Graphics cards

1) Apple brand cards,

2) "sold in the Apple store" cards, and

3) "Mac Edition" cards ...

... show all the screens, including Boot up screens, Safe Mode, Installer, Recovery, debug screens, and Alt/Option boot screens. At this writing, these choices include:

1) Apple brand cards:

• Apple-firmware 5770, about US$250** works near full speed in every model Mac Pro, Drivers in 10.6.5. (This card has just been discontinued and is no longer available from Apple dealers. There may be some new, old stock still available at resellers)

• Apple-firmware 5870, about US$450

2) "sold in the Apple store" cards

• NVIDIA Quadro 4000 Fermi, about US$1200

• NVIDIA Quadro K5000 Kepler, about US$2500

3) "Mac Edition" cards -- REQUIRE 10.8.3 or later:

• SAPPHIRE HD 7950 3GB GDDR5 MAC Edition, about US$480** Vendor recommends Mac Pro 4,1

• EVGA GTX 680 Mac Edition, about US$600

The cards above require no more than the provided two 6-pin aux power connectors provided in the Mac Pro through 2012 model. Aux cables may not be provided for third-party cards, but are readily available.

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If you are Meet ALL of these:

• running 10.8.3 or later AND

• don't care about "no boot screens" etc AND

• can re-wire or otherwise "work out" the power cabling, THEN:

You can use many more cards, even most "PC-only cards".

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One more thing--

Flashed PC cards: There are a good many EFI flashed cards that offer boot screens and behave like official cards. "for more information about using and flashing non-Apple cards, please check out the various sites like Netkas (and others) that focus on and discuss what is known and available. (Not supported or endorsed by Apple.)"

.

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