ONE CARD, THREE MACS:
Radeon HD 5870 running 3D apps
in a 2008, 2009, and 2010 Mac Pro
Posted Wednesday, August 25th, 2010, by rob-ART morgan, mad scientist
We stated in our preliminary analysis that the Radeon HD 5870 (and 5770) sold with the 2010 Mac Pros were compatible with all Mac Pros. We were able to test a 5870 in the 2008 and 2009 recently.
NEWS FLASH: Radeon HD 5870 kit status became "Ships: Within 24hrs" on November 12th, 2010, on Apple Store USA.
We ran the following games at 2560x1600 with the High Quality settings and 4X Multisampling (Anti-Aliasing). The only exception is X-Plane which was run at 2x AA. Fastest average FPS is in RED.
|
|
2008 Mac Pro
8-Core 3.2GHz
|
2009 Mac Pro
8-core 2.93GHz
|
2010 Mac Pro
6-core 3.3GHz
|
|
Portal First Slice
|
138 FPS
|
136 FPS
|
138 FPS
|
|
ET:QW
|
109 FPS
|
105 FPS
|
109 FPS
|
|
CoD4
|
55 FPS
|
45 FPS
|
53 FPS
|
|
WoW
|
114 FPS
|
99 FPS
|
110 FPS
|
|
X-Plane
|
105 FPS
|
144 FPS
|
173 FPS
|
|
Halo
|
178 FPS
|
179 FPS
|
188 FPS
|
|
Doom 3
|
123 FPS
|
130 FPS
|
186 FPS
|
This second table is with 1920x1200 with the High Quality settings and 4X Multisampling (Anti-Aliasing). The only exception is X-Plane which was run at no AA. Fastest average FPS is in RED.
|
|
2008 Mac Pro
8-Core 3.2GHz
|
2009 Mac Pro
8-core 2.93GHz
|
2010 Mac Pro
6-core 3.3GHz
|
|
Portal First Slice
|
250 FPS
|
254 FPS
|
233 FPS
|
|
ET:QW
|
134 FPS
|
147 FPS
|
157 FPS
|
|
CoD4
|
60 FPS
|
56 FPS
|
70 FPS
|
|
WoW
|
153 FPS
|
125 FPS
|
140 FPS
|
|
X-Plane 9.61
|
109 FPS
|
155 FPS
|
194 FPS
|
|
Halo UB
|
212 FPS
|
226 FPS
|
245 FPS
|
|
Doom 3
|
145 FPS
|
165 FPS
|
217 FPS
|
(click graphic to order the kit from Apple)
INSIGHTS
The Radeon HD 5870 is an exciting for owners of 2008 and 2009 Mac Pros who are satisfied with their CPU's performance but want more "oomph" from their GPU. To see how the Radeon HD 5870 compares to other GPUs, we are are still working on that article. Here's your appetizer, though.
One concern we had was the existence of the two Mini DisplayPorts in addition to one DVI port. We can confirm that the 2008 and 2009 were able to drive our 23" Cinema displays with the Mini DisplayPorts (using Apple's Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter). I'm confident that the 24" LED Cinema display and soon-to-be-shipping 27" LED Cinema display will work fine as well. As for our 30" Cinema display, we used the DVI port while testing the 3G game listed above.
FLASH! We tried the Radeon HD 5870 on a 2006 Mac Pro. It works! Read our report.
We plan to test the Radeon HD 5770 as soon as we get one. (Ours is back ordered but we're trying to get a loaner sooner.) For many users it's a good choice. It's just as fast or faster than the Radeon HD 4870, uses only one power feed, is only one slot wide, and costs only $249.
Have any comments or questions? Send them to
, mad scientist.
Follow me on Twitter @barefeats
WERE TO BUY THE RADEON HD 5870
Click on THIS LINK when you order the 5870 kit so we can earn our commission. And click THIS LINK to order the 5770 kit.
WHERE TO BUY A MAC or any other APPLE PRODUCTS
When you purchase products at Apple USA, please CLICK THIS LINK or any APPLE BANNERS. It's a great way to support Bare Feats since we earn a commission on each click-through that results in a sale.
