Sapphire

I would recommend this item to a friend!

In addition to OS X which I use for my primary computing, I use bootcamp to boot into Windows 7 64 bit for PC gaming. That is where this review starts to get relevant. Even though I have plenty of RAM and an SSD drive, I was not getting the high frame rates I needed for smooth play of TitanFall because my video card was a few years old.

I was delighted to find the Sapphire HD 7950 would work in my aging Mac and that it would natively support OS X and Windows. This convenience cost a significant amount over a Windows only version that "might" work, but I wanted my Mac to stay Mac like. The cost was also offset by the generous rebate offered by OWC for my old video card.

So I have had the new card installed for several weeks and it is performing well. I get 60fps in Titanfall with medium high settings. (My CPU is now a bottleneck for some things). This card runs quieter than my old one too.

Overall I would recommend this video card if you are trying to keep your Mac Pro 2009 useful for another couple of years.

I debated getting a flashed PC version of the card, which manufacturer worked better with Final Cut Pro X, getting another older card to match the one I had already and running both,etc.

At the end of the day, you'll be hard pressed to find the Mac Edition of these cards anywhere else...so, I knew I could buy with confidence. It wasn't always clear with some vendors if it was a flashed PC version or not. I like having the Apple Boot screen and worry, much less. Add in the rebate for my older card from OWC and there wasn't any real cost savings.

A single, more modern card, has sped up my render times (as well as switching to an SSD boot and a PCI-E boot). While the fan is a little noisy at boot up, I quickly forget it's running. No issues with power concerns. And it's breathed some life into my aging machine. Which, was a big chunk of change to begin with.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

This card has a dip-switch that allows the card to be used in either Mac or Windows based systems. Unfortunately, in either position, the first card I ordered did not have the correct EFI ROM and while the GPU did display video to my monitor, I did not have any boot screens and my Mac did not fully recognize the card stating it was the AMD 7XXX instead of the true name, AMD 7950.

Fortunately, a quick email with OWC meant they sent me an advanced replacement and the second card that was sent works flawlessly. So while the Sapphire QC may need to be checked, OWC's customer service is top notch.

As for the card itself, it is a bit louder than the 5770 it replaced but I'm not going to be super picky since there aren't many "Mac-blessed" GPU options out there currently.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

OS Yosemite recognized the card without needing to install the drivers that came with the card. Installation took all of 10 minutes.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Very easy to install in the Mac Pro 2010. It is enough with seeing the tutorial video of how changing to the graphical card in the Mac Pro; that this explained very well. He is very recommendable to have installed the OSX Maverick. I recommend it, because once installed; it almost increases in the double the yield of my Mac Pro.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

I am not a gamer. I want this card just because I intend to keep my Mac Pro for long time, catch the last wave of HW upgrading. After I got the card back from OWC. I've re-installed Mavericks, but no luck! So, I did lots of research online, and I found the answer.

For people those who also have the HDMI audio output problem via HDMI or Display Port to HDMI, running Mac OS 10.8 or later, especially after 10.9.2 update. Likely the issue is not on this GPU, even through you had no issues with your old official Apple 5770, 5870 GPU. The problem is Apple, stopped implant the HDMI audio driver (kext extension) for other than official Apple GPUs.

For you to check. Goto " About This Mac" > System Report > PCI Cards. Located the GPU card, if ATY,Hamachi Driver Installed is "NO" means your Mac does not have HDMI audio driver to enable the audio output.

The solution is you need a HDMI audio driver. Google search for "HDMIaudio.kext"

I decided to keep the card after problem solved. It's a good GPU for the price and it ease the CPU load. And OWC service is great.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

I would recommend this item to a friend!

However, since Adobe seems only interested in working with Nvidia's CUDA architecture, After Effects does not take advantage of this card's GPU.

In summary buy this card if you want an affordable Graphics card. DO NOT purchase this if you need GPU for Adobe Products.

You need to pay the extra mark-up for an Nvidia card.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

I do a lot of 3D work and graphics on the Mac side and switch to gaming using windows 7 in bootcamp. I knew this card would be an improvement based on other reviews but I was really amazed at how much of a difference it made. Render times are much faster and I can run graphic heavy games like Skyrim with full ENB super smooth.

Installation was really easy and if your like me running 3 monitors you'll need the Kanex C247DL adapter.

Only down side to the card I found is it gets a bit loud when doing graphic heavy processing.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

The original 4870 is just good enough to drive the 27' Apple cinema display. Even though it can still play games like SIMS 3 or X-plane, but obviously must run in full speed, that makes the fan become very very noisy.

I order the 7950 via this webpage, use the cheapest DHL option. The card deliver to my home in 3 days, by considering I am living in East Asia, not extremely fast, but totally acceptable.

The user manual says must install the driver before install the card (which contradict to their website info). So, I try to do so. However, when I try to run the CD, it says my OS (10.9.2) is not required to install any driver. So, I shut down the computer and start installing the hardware.

The instruction in the manual is very easy to follow. I remove the old 4870 from slot 1, change the power cable, install the new 7950, and then connect the power cable.

The only thing confuse me a bit is the firmware switch. The point 1 in the manual is talking about the MAC mode, but the number on the switch is actually number 2. The manual says the card's default setting should be in MAC mode, however, it is not. I think point 1 in the manual is explaining the switch 1 position, also, it's says MAC mode is the default mode. So, I didn't change it.

I connect the the monitor via the mini-display port, switch on the computer, with nothing on the screen.

So, I read the manual again, change the firmware switch position to the RHS as the manual said, switch on the computer again. Then everything work like a charm.

The boot screen is lovely, I can choose any boot up partition by holding the option key.

After the upgrade, I can no longer use atMonitor to monitor the VRAM usage. Before the upgrade, Safari can use up to 98% of the 512mb VRAM on 4870. But now, the reading always stay at 0%. I believe it's a software problem, since atMonitor is not working very well after OSX 10.8 for monitoring the graphic cards parameter.

I try the X-plane again, switch every render option to the max, the game can run, but not very smooth. Which is already a huge jump from the 4870, because the 4870 will simply give up by showing a black screen if I turn everything to max. But once I switch the render option to "high" rather then "very high" (but still leave the aircraft texture option to very high), the game run smoothly. For me, I am very happy with this performance. The fan noise is far much lower than the 4870 in high performance, but I can notice that the fan speed keep changing when I use Safari. Not consider noisy at all, just noticeable.

On the system info page about PCI cards, it indicates the followings...

Name: ATY,HamachiParent Type: ATY,HamachiParent Driver Installed: No

I have no idea what this mean, it seems some driver is missing. I can't get any answer from the internet yet, but I've seen some other post on other forum having exactly the same question. Will try to get an official answer from Sapphire. Anyway, this card perform well without any obvious problem.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

After installing the Sapphire 7950, the native AVCHD files can be viewed and edited at full resolution on a 23" Cinema Display, and a 42" Insight LED preview monitor. Mission accomplished! The installation was easy (don't forget to attach the two included power cables, the fittings for which are right on the motherboard) and makes using the machine feel snappier and faster overall. So after adding the Sapphire, more RAM, and an SSD, my six-year-old MacPro has new life and I'm no longer feeling the need for a new MacPro.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

I would recommend this item to a friend!

I would recommend this item to a friend!

I would recommend this item to a friend!

I would recommend this item to a friend!

I would recommend this item to a friend!