2008-2012 Apple Mac Pro with SAPPHIRE TRI-X R9 290 4GB GDDR5 OC (UEFI)

[nextech]

Dear Sapphire,

Can you please add hardware/drivers support for the Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 GDDR5 OC (UEFI) Graphics cards to the latest Mac OS X 10.10 operating system?

We have a few Apple Mac Pro's that we installed older Radeon 7970 graphics cards in (a few years back) and now we are upgrading the graphics cards to the newest Radeon R9 290 Series cards (Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 4GB GDDR5 OC UEFI).

We chose the Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 4GB GDDR5 OC (UEFI) (11227-00-40G) Graphics cards.

The Sapphire Graphics card can be found here:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1227&pid=2091 &psn=&lid=1&leg=0

We have been trying to figure out how to get this graphics card to work with the latest OS X 10.10 Yosemite. We are installing two Sapphire R9 290 graphics cards per machine.

We want to make sure that the OS X drivers support multiple monitors, CrossFire, as well as HDMI audio, and support GPU hardware support in the latest OS X 10.10 Yosemite.

Has anyone managed to get the Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 (SKU ID: 11227-00-40G) working in a 2008 or 2009 Apple Mac Pro?

We have 24 Apple Mac Pro's and we purchased 48 of the Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 graphics cards (to install into the Apple Mac Pro's) and we're trying to figure out how to add driver support to OS X for the Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 / Radeon R9 290 to the latest Mac OS X.

If I go into the "Graphics/Displays" Hardware section it shows that the Sapphire card (in Slot 2) is installed, but it only displays the name "Display".

The properties of the Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 graphics card are:
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x67b1
Revision ID: 0x0000
Kernel Extension Info: No Kext Loaded

Any ideas as to how to install OS X hardware drivers to get these graphics cards to work properly in OS X 10.10 Yosemite and to enable GPU hardware support in OS X and also enable HDMI Audio? We contact Apple, but they said that we needed to contact Sapphire and ask Sapphire to add hardware drivers to OS X to support the Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 graphics cards in OS X 10.10.

Can you please add hardware drivers for the Sapphire R9 290 to the latest OS X?

[nextech]

This message was also posted on the Apple Mac Pro forums here:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/27116224#27116224

There are a LOT of Apple Mac Pro users looking to upgrade their video cards to the Sapphire Radeon R9 290 graphics card, and we need hardware drivers for OS X for the Sapphire Radeon R9 290 graphics card added to the latest OS X 10.10 Yosemite.

Thank-you,

[nextech]

This message was also posted on the Apple Mac Pro forums here:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/27116224#27116224

There are a LOT of Apple Mac Pro users looking to upgrade their video cards to the Sapphire Radeon R9 290 graphics card, and we need hardware drivers for OS X for the Sapphire Radeon R9 290 graphics card added to the latest OS X 10.10 Yosemite.

Thank-you,

We are also having problems getting the Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 OC (UEFI) 4GB GDDR5 installed under Windows 8.1

We can't get the AMD Drivers to install, can't get Catalyst Control Center or anything to install in Windows 8.1

The Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 OC (UEFI) [11227-00-40G] doesn't seem to be supported by the AMD Catalyst 14.9 drivers and the software/drivers don't seem to install under Windows 8.1 (64-bit).

We can't get these graphics cards to work under Windows 8.1 (64-bit) or under OS X 10.10 Yosemite.

We need some help from Sapphire and AMD to get this hardware and the latest drivers working.

[nextech]

Hi Ben,

You must not be keeping up with the latest OS X operating system (OSX 10.10 Yosemite) or the latest R9 series cards. The Radeon R9 290X series work out of the box with OS X 10.10 Yosemite. Unfortunately the R9 290 has a different Device ID.

The properties of the Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 graphics card are:
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x67b1
Revision ID: 0x0000
Kernel Extension Info: No Kext Loaded

It is NOT up to Apple, but it is up to the hardware vendor (Sapphire/AMD) to write the kext files and add support for their graphics cards to OS X.

Nobody is interested in a 3** year old graphics card (SAPPHIRE HD 7950), when brand new Radeon HD 7970's (and brand new Radeon R9 280's) work out of the box with the latest Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) and OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) operating systems.

It sounds like you are 2-3 years behind, and not keeping up with Mac OSX. I'm not asking for a "special" graphics card, I'm just asking you to add support for your existing graphics cards to Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite.

You don't need to flash (or reflash) the card, with any special firmware. All you need to do is add the drivers/kext files to OS X. We just need a kext file, and some driver support for the Radeon R9 290 series for OS X 10.10 Yosemite. There is already support for the R9 290X (Vendor: ATI (0x1002) Device ID: 0x67b0) but we just need support added for the R9 290 graphics card (Vendor: ATI (0x1002) Device ID: 0x67b1).

There should be very very little difference between the R9 290 and R9 290X drivers. The R9 290X already has support added in OS X, and I am just asking for Sapphire/AMD to create drivers/kext files for the R9 290, so that it will work with OS X as well (out of the box).

We don't need/want any "special" graphics cards, we just want to use our existing graphics cards that we purchased, and just want you to add driver support to OS X so that the graphics cards will work with OS X 10.10 Yosemite.

[nextech]

We purchased forty-eight of the Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 4GB GDDR5 OC (UEFI) (11227-00-40G) Graphics cards, to use in 24 Apple Mac Pro systems.

The Sapphire Graphics card can be found here:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presenta...n=&lid=1&leg=0

We are asking Sapphire/AMD to please write graphics drivers for this card for OS X 10.10.2 Yosemite. We are installing two Sapphire R9 290 graphics cards per machine and we just need the graphics drivers/kext files for OS X to support these Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 graphics cards that we purchased.

Please add driver support to OS X 10.10.2, so that these graphics cards will work (out of the box) with OS X 10.10.2 Yosemite. Right now the R9 290X works out of the box, and we just need the additional Device ID: 0x67b1 (Vendor: ATI (0x1002) Device ID: 0x67b1) added to the 8000 series and 4000 series kext files, so that the AMD/Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X graphics card will work (out of the box) with 2008-2012 Apple Mac Pro computers.

It's very simple to do, and there are instructions on the internet, but we just need Sapphire/AMD to write those drivers and submit them to Apple, so that they can be included with OS X 10.10.2 Yosemite (as an OS X 10.10.2 update).

[SAPPHIRE_Ben]

The information that I posted is incorrect. Post removed to prevent confusion.

As you say the R9 290 Tri-X can be supported by adding the device id to the kext files.

I will find out the possibility of getting this included as a future update.

[nextech]

The information that I posted is incorrect. Post removed to prevent confusion.

As you say the R9 290 Tri-X can be supported by adding the device id to the kext files.

I will find out the possibility of getting this included as a future update.

Hi Ben,

Yes the Apple and OSX community has been waiting for almost a year now (for R9 290 support) in OS X.

There are hundreds of thousands of posts and most users have been forced to sell/dump their AMD graphics cards and start purchasing NVIDIA graphics cards, because we can't seem to get AMD to release updated drivers/kext files for the AMD R9 290 for the latest OS X Yosemite 10.10.1 or 10.10.2.

I don't really understand why AMD keeps dragging their feet, or why they have such terrible driver support (and their graphics cards are not supported in Linux or OS X operating systems) because their AMD Graphics Drivers team seems to do a really terrible job of supporting AMD graphics cards.

Most users have been forced to purchase NVIDIA graphics cards, because the last graphics card that worked in OS X was the AMD 7970 (R9 270) and Apple users have been going crazy that AMD still hasn't released an updated driver/kext file for the AMD R9 290 in the latest OS X Yosemite 10.10.1 or 10.10.2 operating system.

I've read about 45,000** posts over on TonyMacx86 and Apple users are looking for new graphics that they can buy/upgrade to, and everyone wants to purchase the R9 290, but we're still waiting on the updated Kext files and we need the "device id" added to the kext files, and also need to make sure that QI/CI is enabled in the kext files so we have R9 290 GPU hardware acceleration enabled.

This shouldn't be too difficult to do, and shouldn't take more than 20 minutes (of a developer's time) to just update the kext files and push them out to Apple, and get them included in the Apple OS X 10.10.1 or 10.10.2 update, so that Apple users can use AMD R9 290 graphics cards (out-of-the-box) without having to install any software or drivers, or create/make/modify any kext files.

It's already been over a year now, and Apple users are pretty angry that AMD is unable to "dedicate" 20 minutes of their time to just create the kext files, and push them out to Apple so that the latest AMD Graphics Cards will work under OS X.

It seems to be PURE LAZINESS on AMD's part, and it's really frustrating when we spend tens of thousands of dollars purchasing AMD hardware (we purchased over 80** AMD R9 290 graphics cards) and we're still waiting on the driver/kext file support to be fixed.

The AMD R9 290X works out of the box and we just need the additional Device ID: 0x67b1 (Vendor: ATI (0x1002) Device ID: 0x67b1) added to the 8000 series and 4000 series kext files, so that the AMD/Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X graphics card will work (out of the box) with 2008-2012 Apple Mac Pro computers.

I wish that AMD/Sapphire would listen to their users, and I wish that AMD would just add the additional Device ID: 0x67b1 (Vendor: ATI (0x1002) Device ID: 0x67b1) added to the 8000 series and 4000 series kext files, so that the AMD/Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X graphics card will work (out of the box) with 2008-2012 Apple Mac Pro computers.

It's very simple to do, and we just need Sapphire/AMD to take the time to write those drivers/kext files and submit them to Apple, so that they can be included with the OS X 10.10.2 Yosemite update.

There are hundreds of thousands of ANGRY AMD R9 290 users right now, and we have been waiting for almost a year now, and still can't get AMD to take 20 minutes of their time and just push out a kext file update to Apple.

This is NOT how AMD should be treating their customers, and AMD should be supporting their hardware in all major operating systems (Windows, Ubuntu Linux, and the latest Apple OS X 10.10.x).

Most users/developers run various different operating systems (for development/testing purposes) and we run into major problems when we can't even get our operating system to support AMD hardware because AMD is too lazy to even release proper drivers/kext files for the major operating systems (Windows, Ubuntu Linux, and Apple OS X).

AMD makes decent hardware, and nice graphics cards, but the graphics cards are USELESS if AMD doesn't take the time to write the drivers/kext files to support the hardware. We purchased over 80** of these Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X graphics cards, and they have been collecting dust for almost a year now, because we can't get AMD to even create/modify a simple Kext file, and add support for the R9 290 to the existing kext files in OS X.

It's a real shame that this is how terrible AMD Support is, and how terrible AMD's drivers are.

This is not rocket science, and I'm just amazed at how terrible AMD Drivers support really is. People want to upgrade their video cards, and purchase AMD hardware, but they can't because they are forced to buy NVIDIA graphics cards, because ONLY NVIDIA supports their hardware in Windows, Ubuntu Linux and the latest Apple OS X. AMD does not.

AMD (over the past 5-7 years) is the WORST company when it comes to Display Drivers support, and it took almost 9 months (of screaming and yelling) for AMD to finally add 7970 support to OSX, and now that users wanted to upgrade from the 7970 (R9 270X) to the latest R9 290 graphics cards, we are now faced with the same exact problems, and AMD should be releasing these updated Kext files BEFORE their graphics cards are ever sold, so that their latest/newest graphics cards ALWAYS work out-of-the-box with all major operating systems (Ubuntu Linux, Apple OS X, and Windows 8/9/10 and Windows 2012 R2).

AMD seems to "drop the ball" when it comes to releasing drivers or Kext files for their Linux Ubuntu and Apple OS X users, and we have had to rely on the "community" for years for patches and "fixes" to try and get our hardware working, but users are EXTREMELY ANGRY that we must throw away our AMD hardware (that we purchase) and are forced to just buy NVIDIA graphics cards because AMD is just terrible with supporting their hardware.

As you say the R9 290 Tri-X can be supported by adding the device id to the kext files.

I will find out the possibility of getting this included as a future update.

It's already been over a year now, and I'm sitting on a large stack of Sapphire R9 290 graphics cards that we purchased, and everyone in the Apple Community Forums and the TonyMacx86 and MacRumors, MacWorld, and MacForums and AnandTech Forums are all still ANGRY and UPSET that AMD still hasn't taken the time to modify a simple Kext file, and add support for the AMD R9 290 to the latest Mac OS X 10.10.1 or 10.10.2 Yosemite distribution.

What is going on? Why is AMD this bad, and why does it take YEARS just to get AMD to even do simple things like just add/update a simple Kext file to include OOB (Out-of-the-Box) hardware support for the latest AMD R9 290 graphics cards?

There are instructions on the internet, and even a monkey can do it, but why can't AMD do it? They created the hardware, why can't they just take 20 minutes of their time, and just update the Kext files and submit them to Apple to include in an OFFICIAL OS X 10.10.1 or 10.10.2 Update release, so that users can just update their OS X software and have out-of-the-box support, so users can just buy a R9 290 graphics card and stick it into a 2008-2012 Apple Mac Pro and have a working graphics card?

Its unbelievable at how difficult/impossible it is to get AMD to do ANYTHING to support their own hardware. This is why 95% of Apple users (including Apple itself) is now abandoning AMD and going only with Intel (and NVIDIA) processors and GPU's.

We just can't get anyone at AMD to do anything, and they should probably fire their whole Display Driver teams at AMD and hire new people if they don't even have the "common sense" to support the most common and widely used operating systems (Ubuntu Linux, Apple OS X and Windows 8.1/9/10 and Windows 2012R2 Server).

Those four are the most widely used operating systems, and it wouldn't take more than 20 minutes of time to just add driver/kext support for the R9 290 graphics card (which is the same/identical card as the R9 290X graphics card) and all AMD would have to do is just modify two kext files and then push the update out to Apple, but AMD is just too lazy to do it.

So instead, hundreds of thousands of angry users are forced to just throw their AMD hardware (AMD R9 290 graphics cards) into the trash can, and go out and buy NVIDIA graphics cards (770/780/780ti/790) because NVIDIA actually takes the time to add Graphics drivers support to the latest version of Ubuntu Linux, as well as ALL versions of OS X and NVIDIA graphics cards all work "out-of-the-box" which means you just buy the graphics card, and stick it into the computer, power it on, and the operating system recognizes the graphics card and it works properly and is supported (and you don't need to install any additional drivers or modify any kext files because it's already included in all major operating systems).

AMD on the otherhand is a different story, and it takes YEARS and YEARS just to get someone from AMD to take 20 minutes of their time and modify an existing R9 290X kext file and just add a device ID for the R9 290 to the kext file, and enable the QI and CE hardware acceleration in the Kext file.

Why is AMD so LAZY and why do they make everything so DIFFICULT for their users?

I used to always stick up for AMD (and their hardware) but now I'm finally realizing (after 10** years of being an AMD/Radeon user) that it's probably time to "jump ship" and go 100% Intel and 100% NVIDIA because AMD doesn't support their users or their products.

If you buy an AMD product, you are left hanging (for months/years) and can't even get simple support (like get a graphics card kext file fixed/updated). AMD should be updating drivers/kext files for ALL Major operating systems (Ubuntu Linux, Apple Mac OS X 10.x, Windows 8.1/9/10 and Windows 2012R2 Server) PRIOR to even releasing a new graphics card, so that way when they RELEASE a new graphics card it works (out-of-the-box) with EVERY and ALL major operating systems.

Instead AMD releases hardware, and never writes the drivers (properly) and it often takes YEARS just to get an AMD graphics card to even work properly, and by that time the graphics card is already a year (or two) old and it's already outdated and it's time to need/buy a new graphics card (again).

Please add driver support to OS X 10.10.2, so that these graphics cards will work (out of the box) with OS X 10.10.2 Yosemite. Right now the R9 290X works out of the box, and we just need the additional Device ID: 0x67b1 (Vendor: ATI (0x1002) Device ID: 0x67b1) added to the 8000 series and 4000 series kext files, so that the AMD/Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X graphics card will work (out of the box) with 2008-2012 Apple Mac Pro computers.

It's very simple to do, and there are instructions on the internet, but we just need Sapphire/AMD to write those drivers and submit them to Apple, so that they can be included with OS X 10.10.2 Yosemite (as an OS X 10.10.2 update).


It's crazy that we spend TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS on crappy AMD hardware, and we can't even use the stuff because AMD won't take the time to even spend 20 minutes to update a simple Kext file, and add support to their existing drivers for the R9 290 graphics card in the latest Mac OS X 10.10.1 Yosemite (or 10.10.2 update).

This was just released YESTERDAY and it's over a YEAR LATER and over hundreds of thousands of users are going crazy (and complaining) and AMD just sticks their head (in the sand) and refuses to even take the time to fix their drivers or release a WORKING driver or WORKING Kext file for their garbage AMD hardware that they are selling/releasing.

I used to love AMD hardware, but hardware is only as good as the drivers that support it. If AMD doesn't take the time to produce high-quality drivers (for ALL major operating systems) then there is no point in developing GPU's (or CPU/APU's) and AMD should really get out of the business.

AMD should just close up shop, and let Intel and NVIDIA be the only one's left developing processors and GPU's because it doesn't matter how good of a processor that AMD developers, and it doesn't matter how badly users want to purchase it, the problem lies in AMD's lack of support and they fail to release proper drivers for their hardware, and for the past 10 years I've had nothing but problems with every single AMD hardware purchase that I had.

These latest batches of the R9 290 graphics cards are probably the last AMD purchase we will EVER make, EVER. We don't even care if AMD hardware is being given away for FREE, because it's not worth months/years worth of aggravation and problems (trying to find working drivers, or having problems with driver installation) because nobody at AMD even cares enough to make sure that they are releasing a QUALITY product, and ensuring that their products are HIGH QUALITY and designed to work on ALL major operating systems (without any bugs/problems/issues).

They don't seem to do any type of "quality control" over at AMD.

[nextech]

The information that I posted is incorrect. Post removed to prevent confusion.

As you say the R9 290 Tri-X can be supported by adding the device id to the kext files.

I will find out the possibility of getting this included as a future update.

This isn't just a "Sapphire" problem, this is a Gigabyte problem, and also an ASUS problem, and also an Apple problem.

Any vendor dealing with AMD has major problems, and Apple has replaced thousands of AMD graphics cards (under "Apple Care") only to realize and find out that this is not even a hardware problem, it's just a matter of AMD releasing terrible hardware display drivers that don't work and don't function properly.

Over a YEAR later, and this is what people have to deal with:
http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/...essional-users

Seriously? What is wrong with AMD, and why is AMD still even in business?

We're extremely disappointed in AMD, and over the past 10 years AMD has just been in a downward spiral and now they can't even develop a CPU that will compete with Intel and now they are destroying their whole GPU/graphics card business because they won't even spend the money to ensure that QUALITY graphics card drivers are being written and released (in a timely manner) BEFORE the hardware is released/sold to the public?

What is the point of selling hardware (to the public) if the graphics drivers are not written, or the hardware is not supported in any of the major operating systems (Ubuntu Linux, Apple OS X, etc.)

Are Intel and NVIDIA the only two companies left out there? AMD offers some great prices on hardware, but if they don't take the time to write the drivers/kext files, then what good is unsupported hardware? It's useless, and it just sits in your computer for months/years and you can't even use it.

Look at these hundreds of thousands of Angry Apple users that are complaining (to Apple) because Apple chose to use AMD hardware in their latest Apple Mac Pro computers and AMD never took the time to write/fix their graphics drivers.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/...essional-users

Hopefully Apple/Sapphire/Gigabyte/ASUS and all major vendors will stop purchasing/selling AMD GPU's and APU's.

I hate to see Intel and NVIDIA become "monopolies" but if AMD can't compete (and release a comparable product that works) then I guess the only solution is to stop buying AMD products, and just buy ONLY Intel/NVIDIA only solutions.

We no longer buy ANY type of AMD cpu's. We haven't bought an AMD processor in over 8 years now, because AMD hardware runs VERY hot, it's way too slow, uses too much power, and it's archaic junk (in relation to Intel processors). I was still "holding out" hope for AMD Radeon graphics display cards (GPU's) because I have used ATI/Radeon cards for years, and all Apple Mac Pro's used to come with ATI/Radeon graphic cards (2600XT's, 5750's, etc.) and AMD did add hardware/driver support for the Radeon 7970's to OSX, but years have passed and we expected AMD to "keep up" with technology and when they release new hardware, we expect that hardware to work in ALL major operating systems (Ubuntu Linux, Apple OS X 10.x, and Windows 8.1/9/10 and Windows 2012R2 Server).

AMD has just failed miserably in recent years at providing basic hardware driver support to it's users, and we have spent almost a year trying to get these R9 290 graphics cards to work, and we're still struggling, and we just can't get AMD to do anything about it.

What's the point of owning a graphics card, if you can't even get the graphics card to function or even work?

If we contact AMD, it just falls upon deaf ears:
http://forums.amd.com/game/messagevi...hreadid=181379

Apple says to just contact AMD:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6676366

Even Sapphire understands that it's AMD's fault, and ASUS and Gigabyte and all of the AMD vendors are having the same exact problems, and they just can't get AMD to do anything about it, or get AMD to support their hardware.

We need AMD Hardware QE/CI Graphics Acceleration support enabled/added to the Kext files, and need AMD to release their drivers/kext files to Apple so that they can be included in a Apple OS X 10.10.1 software update so that AMD R9 290 graphics cards will work OOB (Out-of-the-Box) without needing any additional drivers/downloads or any type of software installation. Everything should be included in the operating system, and the R9 290 graphics card should work with the latest Ubuntu Linux and the latest Apple OS X 10.10.x by just sticking the card into the computer and powering the computer on, and it should be recognized by the operating system, and the latest drivers should be installed (as part of the operating system) and the AMD R9 290 graphics cards should "just work" (out of the box) without a bunch of angry users having to wait months/years for AMD to just take 20 minutes of their time and release an updated Kext file fix to fix their broken drivers, so that they will properly work and support the AMD R9 290 (and not just the R9 290X, but also the R9 290).

I'm really disappointed in AMD, and it's a shame that AMD/Sapphire users have to go through this much pain and suffering just to get a piece of AMD/Sapphire hardware to work and function properly.

I really love the Sapphire hardware design (with the Tri-X coolers) on the AMD R9 290 graphics card, and we thought it was going to be a great piece of hardware, but hardware is only as good as it's drivers, and if AMD doesn't release updated drivers then the Sapphire hardware is completely useless, and users are forced to dump their AMD hardware and go purchase NVIDIA hardware because only NVIDIA (and Intel) take the time to write good-quality drivers for all major operating systems (and write drivers that actually WORK).

As you say the R9 290 Tri-X can be supported by adding the device id to the kext files.

I will find out the possibility of getting this included as a future update.

We've already waited for over a year now, and the AMD R9 290 hardware is already getting OLD, and we still can't even use the latest hardware that we purchased.

All of the latest NVIDIA hardware just works OOB (out of the box) and in the future, we probably won't ever be buying any AMD hardware again. We have learned the 'hard way' that we just can't depend on any AMD hardware, and AMD doesn't support it's customers. AMD doesn't listen to it's customers, and AMD doesn't care about it's customers.

AMD engineers don't think about what their users want/need, and instead they just release hardware that doesn't work, requires hours and hours of trying to find drivers (that actually work) and then users are forced to wait months/years to get hardware driver support from AMD/Sapphire/ASUS/Gigabyte/Apple, and AMD engineers won't even take 20 minutes of their time to modify a simple Kext file, and update existing drivers (for the R9 290X) and then push those drivers out as part of a software update (to Apple OSX as well as Ubuntu Linux), so that users can IMMEDIATELY use their AMD R9 290 hardware.

Waiting over a year, for AMD to just release a simple 20 minute "kext" file update is absurd, and I still can't believe AMD support is this bad.

We do like what Sapphire has done, and we appreciate that Sapphire fixed all the MAJOR design problems with the sloppy AMD and poorly designed AMD Reference Design graphics card (that was too loud, too hot, and would overheat) and Sapphire (as well as ASUS) released very nice new cooling designs (I love the Sapphire Tri-X cooler), but AMD does a terrible job of supporting their products and NVIDIA produces a much better reference design card (that has a very good cooling reference cooler) and NVIDIA also does a much better job of ensuring that their products work (out of the box) with all major operating systems (OS X, Ubuntu Linux and Windows) and NVIDIA does a better job of releasing graphics drivers. This is where AMD really falls short.

I've listened to people "bash" on AMD for decades, and while I was always a strong supporter of AMD products, and I always used to "stick up" for AMD. I'm beginning to realize that AMD has some major problems, and AMD users/customers should not be the "Beta Testers" for AMD's latest products. Customers purchase products and we just expect them to work.

AMD should be embarrassed at how low-quality their standards are, and they should begin to try and "re-shape" AMD (or just go out of business if they don't care about quality or standards).

I wish that AMD could compete against Intel (because it would help bring high-end computer processor prices down), and I do like AMD's GPU product line (especially the R9 290) but it's a real shame that even if you purchase an AMD product/GPU that you are stuck with nothing but headaches and problems because we can't get AMD to release decent hardware display drivers, or even support their newest/latest graphics cards in the most common/popular operating systems (Ubuntu Linux, Apple OS X, and Windows).

As you say the R9 290 Tri-X can be supported by adding the device id to the kext files.

I will find out the possibility of getting this included as a future update.

We've already been waiting for over a year now, and it's frustrating that this is the way that AMD treats it's customers. In the future, we'll be purchasing NVIDIA hardware, because we don't want to continue to run into these same exact problems year after year after year EVERY single time that we try to upgrade our AMD hardware. It took almost 2 years just for AMD to add Radeon 7970 support to Apple OS X, and now another year has passed and we still are waiting on AMD to add R9 290 support to OS X. By the time AMD even spends 20 minutes of their time writing a new/updated Kext file, then the AMD hardware is already "outdated" junk, and already needs to be replaced!

Drivers and Kext files should be added/released to the latest operating systems a YEAR before the graphics cards are sold and put onto the market, so that the latest graphics cards work with all major operating systems. We've replaced our AMD hardware four times already, and every single year when we buy new graphics cards, we are faced with the same exact problems with AMD not supporting their hardware, or we can't get our hands on working/functional drivers for the most common operating systems (Ubuntu Linux, Apple OS X, or Windows).

I will find out the possibility of getting this included as a future update.

I wish this were the case, but AMD doesn't really care about it's users. We buy the AMD/Sapphire hardware, and then suffer for years as we wait for AMD's shoddy Graphics Driver development team to drag their feet for months/years before they even release a single working driver. It's like every single AMD user is just a "Beta Tester" for AMD.

AMD released the drivers/kext files for the R9 290X (included in Apple OS X 10.10.1 Yosemite) but never took the time to modify the Kext files to add support for the R9 290? Why the 290X and not the 290?

I really wish that for once, the AMD engineers would/could take the time to make sure that ALL display drivers are written months/years/weeks in advance, so that when new operating systems are released (such as OS X 10.10.1 Yosemite) that working AMD R9 290 graphics drivers would have already been included in the OS so that users could just buy AMD hardware, and stick it into their computer, and turn it on, and the hardware would be automatically recognized and everything would work "out of the box" instead of the headaches and problems that AMD users currently have to go through (for years) just to get their AMD hardware to finally work.

Almost all forums say "DO NOT BUY ANY AMD" and it says "BUY NVIDIA ONLY" graphics cards.

For years, I have always pushed for AMD... hoping that AMD would "learn their lessons" and start releasing better hardware (faster high-end processors/GPU's that use less energy, with the most reliable drivers, at affordable prices).

Almost a year now, and we still don't have working AMD R9 290 kext files/drivers for the latest OS X 10.10.x Yosemite!

It's better to spend a few dollars more and buy an Intel/NVIDIA product that actually works, and that is well tested, and is well supported in all major platforms and operating systems. AMD is just a big failure, and trying to get AMD drivers to work/function, or trying to even get AMD to modify/fix a simple Kext file is nearly impossible.

It's a real shame that this is what happened to a "once wonderful" ATI Radeon company, that was purchased by AMD and is now turning into a second-rate manufacturer that doesn't even support it's products or customers.

Apple only sells Intel processors (and I understand why), and they should only sell NVIDIA graphics display adapters and NVIDIA graphics display chipsets, because AMD is unreliable and they don't take customer support or high-quality driver support seriously. There is absolutely no reason at all why people should be paying tens of thousands of dollars for high-end hardware, and be experiencing tearing, and graphics glitches because of poorly written/shoddy (or non-existent) AMD graphics drivers.

Apple/AMD really need to start working together to fix these major problems with Apple OS X and supporting AMD hardware in Apple OS X.

Apple blames AMD, but I really blame Apple for not writing the graphics display drivers themselves and AMD should be working together with Apple on getting this stuff fixed, but Apple and AMD continue to do nothing... the only choice seems to be to buy NVIDIA graphics display adapters. We don't know what else to do.

[Rubenoa]

Hi @nextech,

I´ve been reading and following all the MacOS comments, and I´ve been sending details to the CATALYSTS CREW and AMD Team (including Sapphire, as you can see) for almost a year now. Others users have been posting in the AMD forum about all of this, so I encourage you to follow the tide and help us in the AMD forum. As you can see, Sapphire does not have properties on AMD support software, so we need to point in the right direction and make the AMD team realize this.
I would ask your help on this too, so please, join us in the AMD forum and also in contacting the catalysts crew (responsibles of the drivers for AMD). Apple should also help on this. I´ve been trying to contact someone from their support, but not success
They always sent me back a default message to my requests.....

Regards"

[nextech]

Hi @nextech,

I´ve been reading and following all the MacOS comments, and I´ve been sending details to the CATALYSTS CREW and AMD Team (including Sapphire, as you can see) for almost a year now. Others users have been posting in the AMD forum about all of this, so I encourage you to follow the tide and help us in the AMD forum. As you can see, Sapphire does not have properties on AMD support software, so we need to point in the right direction and make the AMD team realize this.
I would ask your help on this too, so please, join us in the AMD forum and also in contacting the catalysts crew (responsibles of the drivers for AMD). Apple should also help on this. I´ve been trying to contact someone from their support, but not success
They always sent me back a default message to my requests.....

Regards"

Rubenoa,

It's a SAPPHIRE Graphics card, and SAPPHIRE should be either developing drivers, or asking/pushing AMD to help them develop drivers/kext files so the graphics cards can work under OS X.

Right now, I can't even get my graphics cards working under Windows 8.1, because the newest/latest drivers are complete crap, and Sapphire is responsible for releasing those drivers.

This is NOT just an "AMD" fault, or "Apple" fault. But SAPPHIRE should start working towards helping us with a resolution, and SAPPHIRE should start adding support for their graphics cards to both OS X and Windows 8.1 Pro.

The graphics cards should work "out of the box" with Windows 8.1 Pro, and OS X 10.10. Sapphire should be doing this, so quit blaming Apple or AMD. AMD tells me to contact Sapphire. Apple tells me to contact Sapphire.

It's a Sapphire graphics card, and SAPPHIRE should be supporting their products and should be helping us, and SAPPHIRE should be working with Microsoft Windows to include support for the Sapphire R9 290 graphics card in Windows 8.1 Pro (so that we don't need drivers, and Windows includes the latest drivers).

If I stick my Sapphire R9 290 graphics card into a new computer, and turn it on, I get NO DISPLAY because Windows does not have drivers for the Sapphire R9 290 graphics card.

I can't even install the drivers, because the graphics card does not work "out of the box".

SAPPHIRE should be responsible for adding "out of the box" support to both Windows 8.1 Pro and OS X 10.10 so that the Sapphire R9 290 works "out of the box". Users shouldn't have to download (or install) any drivers, and those drivers should be included with Microsoft Windows 8.1, so that the drivers are already installed (in the operating system) so that users can just buy the R9 290 graphics card, and install it in their computer, and it will work (out of the box).

Instead, I am pulling my hair out (for over a year now) and still having trouble, and can't get my Sapphire Graphics card to work in OS X or Windows 8.1 because Sapphire does NOTHING. NOTHING.

They just sell graphics cards (that don't work with Windows 8.1 or OS X) and then shrug their shoulders about the garbage they are selling, and then we try to contact AMD for help, and they tell us to contact Sapphire. I contact Apple for help, and they tell me to contact Sapphire.

SAPPHIRE should be helping us, and SAPPHIRE should be adding these hardware drivers (for the R9 290) to Windows 8.1 and Apple OS X 10.10, so that these SAPPHIRE graphics cards work "out of the box" with both Windows 8.1 Pro and also OS X 10.10.

Users should have all these problems, and SAPPHIRE Technical Support is completely useless, and I have had eight trouble tickets open for over a year now, and I can't get a single SAPPHIRE person to even help me or do anything.

They just tell me that I'm "stuck" with the junk SAPPHIRE graphics cards, and they are useless because I can't use them with my Windows 8.1 or with my OS X 10.10, and I'm just screwed because I bought a SAPPHIRE graphics card, and SAPPHIRE doesn't do ANYTHING to help it's users!!

They should be giving us REFUNDS so we can buy an NVIDIA graphics card, if they aren't going to help us. These graphics cards should NOT BE SOLD, if they don't include WORKING DRIVERS (out of the box) in the Windows 8.1 and OS X 10.10 operating systems.

Users shouldn't have to search for drivers, or spend weeks/months/years trying to get the hardware to work (and it doesn't work) because the SAPPHIRE graphics card doesn't work in OS X or in Windows 8.1 because Windows 8.1 doesn't have drivers for it. OS X 10.10 doesn't have drivers for it. SAPPHIRE is selling graphics cards, but they are NOT developing the drivers for Windows 8.1 Pro or OS X 10.10 and then just selling the hardware (with no drivers) and the hardware is completely useless without any working drivers!!