MP All Models AMD Polaris, Vega, & Navi GPU macOS Support

[MisterAndrew]

MisterAndrew,

Thanks for all your contributions to this thread and the forum!

I am trying to decide between Vega FE and the Sapphire Pulse Vega 56 that you have been talking about. For sure there is a big plus with the vega 56 because it has its fans under control. But in my situation I have the wires running through the wall so I can't hear the computer anyway. So I guess it comes to to speed... Is the Vega FE that much faster than than your Vega 56. I am having trouble finding a good source to compare the two cards in benchmarks for our computers. Barefeats has never tested this card...

Thanks!

Rob

Based on the benchmarks I’ve seen and user experiences I’ve heard, the FE and 56 have about the same performance in MacOS. They have similar luxmark and geekbench scores. I was also considering the FE because SabrePC has them for $699 last time I checked, but I decided against it for the following reasons:
-Significantly higher power consumption (300W TDP vs 180W TDP for Pulse 56)
-Much hotter temps (FE runs hotter than the 64. Not ideal with reference cooler.)
-High fan speed issue
-Only 1 year warranty and RMAs have to be sent to Canada (Sapphire gives 2 year warranty).

Some people’s work may benefit from 16GB of video memory, but I’m not sure what that would be. I think most everyone can manage with 8GB.

If I was buying a card today I might also consider the Nitro+ 56 or 64. Performance would be a little better, but they use a little more power (Nitro+ 56 TDP is 220W & Nitro+ 64 is 240W) and they most likely have Hynix memory since every Nitro+ I’ve read about has Hynix. The Pulse has Samsung (at least every one I’ve read about does.) I think right now the Pulse 56 has the best balance of performance and power consumption.

 

[MisterAndrew]

I guess the chip in the card I got isn't so bad. It seems to overclock fine. Here's the LuxMark at 1660MHz core & 945MHz HBM2. At that setting according to GPU-Z it consumed about 220W max. It got pretty warm though, about 80°C core and 90°C hotspot, so I wouldn't recommend keeping it at that setting. Under the default balanced setting in WattMan it consumes a max of 180W running LuxMark, so the rated TDP. I tried undervolting it and at 950mV at 1300MHz core & 800MHz HBM2 is scored about 25500 while consuming only 150W.

What's also impressive is that the card consumes only 6W at idle and 7-8W while web browsing.

 

[cube]

Nitro+ 64 Limited is supposed to cost $659.

 

[MisterAndrew]

Nitro+ 64 Limited is supposed to cost $659.

I'm not sure exactly when you'll be able to find one for that price.

 

[XNorth]

I am trying to decide between Vega FE and the Sapphire Pulse Vega 56
Rob

The major flaws of the Vega FE are it's current high price -- US$850 as of 14 April 2018 -- the fan noise, and like all the Vega cards, the high power consumption which requires the Pixlas mod or a variation thereof. I'm happy with it for now but will probably trade it in if AMD has something more power efficient in a new release.

 

[Lightup_theMac]

Hello all,

Can anyone advise me on which GPU to get for running Resolve and Premiere?

I have a 2017 MacBook Pro
I have Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 650W (T3)

About to buy a:
IMAC PRO 27" 5K 3.2GHZ 8 CORE XEON W 64GB 1TB PRO VEGA 64 1 16GB

Potentially I'm thinking of a AMD RADEON RX VEGA 64 GPU.
But, there seems to be a few variants.
Not sure what the difference is...

I'm in the UK

Many thanks for any nuggets!!
Steve

 

[MisterAndrew]

Hello all,

Can anyone advise me on which GPU to get for running Resolve and Premiere?

I have a 2017 MacBook Pro
I have Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 650W (T3)

About to buy a:
IMAC PRO 27" 5K 3.2GHZ 8 CORE XEON W 64GB 1TB PRO VEGA 64 1 16GB

Potentially I'm thinking of a AMD RADEON RX VEGA 64 GPU.
But, there seems to be a few variants.
Not sure what the difference is...

I'm in the UK

Many thanks for any nuggets!!
Steve

Some of the custom cards like the Nitro+ have a better cooler and use less power than the reference card, but they are larger. You’ll have to get the size specs for the card and the enclosure to see what fits. I don’t know if a large triple slot card like the Nitro+ would fit. Sonnet lists those as compatible, but I think that’s just in relation to the power requirements.

 

[Lightup_theMac]

Hi Andrew, Thanks for the heads up.

Here's some spec from Sonnet:
eGFX Breakaway Box 650

• Equivalent to 750W recommended system power
• Two 8-pin (6+2 pin) power connectors
• Supports up to 375W card that also requires up to an additional 100W of peak power
• Provides laptop charging up to 87W

I'll need to check the physical size.

I can't get my head around all the variants on a card.
e.g.. Vega 56 and the others
If I google Nitro+
on overclocker's web site this card comes up:

RADEON RX VEGA 56 NITRO+ 8GB HBM2 PCI-EXPRESS GRAPHICS CARD (11276-01-40G)

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sapp...MIoNqgl_i72gIVSZPtCh3scgYiEAQYASABEgKMtfD_BwE

But, I have no idea which variant to go for..
This is the first time Nitro + has been added to my research on a Vega 56.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[MisterAndrew]

Hi Andrew, Thanks for the heads up.

Here's some spec from Sonnet:
eGFX Breakaway Box 650

• Equivalent to 750W recommended system power
• Two 8-pin (6+2 pin) power connectors
• Supports up to 375W card that also requires up to an additional 100W of peak power
• Provides laptop charging up to 87W

I'll need to check the physical size.

I can't get my head around all the variants on a card.
e.g.. Vega 56 and the others
If I google Nitro+
on overclocker's web site this card comes up:

RADEON RX VEGA 56 NITRO+ 8GB HBM2 PCI-EXPRESS GRAPHICS CARD (11276-01-40G)

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sapp...MIoNqgl_i72gIVSZPtCh3scgYiEAQYASABEgKMtfD_BwE

But, I have no idea which variant to go for..
This is the first time Nitro + has been added to my research on a Vega 56.

Cheers,
Steve

You can read reviews to determine which Vega card to go for. I think the Sapphire cards are pretty much on top. Here is the specs info from Sonnet's website. It says it supports "One full-length, full-height, double-width PCIe card" and the dimensions (WxDxH) are 185 x 340 x 202 mm. The specs for the Nitro+ 56 and 64 are "3 Part Slot Occupied 310(L) X 133(W) X 54 (H) Dimension /mm." The dimensions for the Sonnet box are probably external dimensions. I think you should contact Sonnet to see if a card with those dimensions would fit. If you are going for a 56 rather than a 64 another good choice is the Pulse 56, but at 180W, the Breakaway Box 650 is a little overkill. The specs for the Pulse are "2.5 Part Slot Occupied 282(L)X 125(W)X 50 (H) Dimension /mm." There is a Pulse 64, but it hasn't been released yet.
[doublepost=1523817925][/doublepost]

The major flaws of the Vega FE are it's current high price -- US$850 as of 14 April 2018 -- the fan noise, and like all the Vega cards, the high power consumption which requires the Pixlas mod or a variation thereof. I'm happy with it for now but will probably trade it in if AMD has something more power efficient in a new release.

Power efficient version is the WX 9100 at 230W, but of course it costs more. However, the warranty terms are significantly better. While the FE has a 1 year warranty only, WX cards have a 3 year warranty and are eligible for a 7 year warranty extension for a total of 10 years via the Radeon™ Pro Extended Warranty Program.

 

[Lightup_theMac]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks again for the reply.
I'm starting to get this now.
The reference card is the card that starts it all.
Then you have cards that peel off from that with modifications, using the reference card DNA.
Now its about clock speed and power draw. (& cooling technique / noise)
Its seems like my main option is the Vega Sapphire Nitro+ 56 or 64 (fan cooled)
Now its down to if it fits in the Sonnet enclosure and price availability.

Hi XNorth,

Thanks for throwing up some good alternative options.
Looking at the Apple spec page.
The AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 is supported 'natively' but it does say 'WX cards'.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208544
Yes, they are more money. But, maybe when I'm editing I will appreciate a quieter card..
https://www.amd.com/en/products/professional-graphics/radeon-pro-wx-7100
https://www.amd.com/en/products/professional-graphics/radeon-pro-wx-9100

Now, I'm torn between the Vega Sapphire Nitro+ 64 or AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100...

Thank again,
Steve

 

[itdk92]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks again for the reply.
I'm starting to get this now.
The reference card is the card that starts it all.
Then you have cards that peel off from that with modifications, using the reference card DNA.
Now its about clock speed and power draw. (& cooling technique / noise)
Its seems like my main option is the Vega Sapphire Nitro+ 56 or 64 (fan cooled)
Now its down to if it fits in the Sonnet enclosure and price availability.

Hi XNorth,

Thanks for throwing up some good alternative options.
Looking at the Apple spec page.
The AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 is supported 'natively' but it does say 'WX cards'.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208544
Yes, they are more money. But, maybe when I'm editing I will appreciate a quieter card..
https://www.amd.com/en/products/professional-graphics/radeon-pro-wx-7100
https://www.amd.com/en/products/professional-graphics/radeon-pro-wx-9100

Now, I'm torn between the Vega Sapphire Nitro+ 64 or AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100...

Thank again,
Steve

They make as much noise as the RXVEGA counterparts.

Only use less power and have less heat.

 

[MisterAndrew]

They make as much noise as the RXVEGA counterparts.

Only use less power and have less heat.

WX 9100 shouldn't have any fan noise issue used as an eGPU.

 

[itdk92]

WX 9100 shouldn't have any fan noise issue used as an eGPU.

Ah my bad. Thought it was all only about cards in Mac Pros.
[doublepost=1523909772][/doublepost]but then I mean, why not a regular VEGA? They also don’t have fan issues as eGPU

 

[MisterAndrew]

Well it is. But it's about eGPUs too with Mac Pro 6,1. Just not with hackintoshs since this isn't a hackintosh forum and we can't predict how these cards will behave in various hackintosh builds.

 

[bigtomato]

What's the noise level on these cards?

 

[MisterAndrew]

What's the noise level on these cards?

Which ones? The Vegas that have the fan issue? I don't know the exact decibels. You could look up a review on the card you are interested in to find out the noise level under heavy load. On the reference cards like RX Vega 56/64 & FE it's quite annoying to me personally and a deal breaker. I recommend going for one of the models that doesn't have the issue such as Pulse or Nitro+. The Polaris cards don't seem to have the issue either.
[doublepost=1523914005][/doublepost]I updated the original thread to include that the RX 550, RX 460, & RX 560 cards don't seem to be working out of the box. For example, Sonnet states on their website that their eGFX Breakaway Puck RX 560 is not yet compatible with High Sierra. If one of those cards works for you in High Sierra 10.13.4 or above please let me know.

 

[Lightup_theMac]

You can read reviews to determine which Vega card to go for. I think the Sapphire cards are pretty much on top. Here is the specs info from Sonnet's website. It says it supports "One full-length, full-height, double-width PCIe card" and the dimensions (WxDxH) are 185 x 340 x 202 mm. The specs for the Nitro+ 56 and 64 are "3 Part Slot Occupied 310(L) X 133(W) X 54 (H) Dimension /mm." The dimensions for the Sonnet box are probably external dimensions. I think you should contact Sonnet to see if a card with those dimensions would fit. If you are going for a 56 rather than a 64 another good choice is the Pulse 56, but at 180W, the Breakaway Box 650 is a little overkill. The specs for the Pulse are "2.5 Part Slot Occupied 282(L)X 125(W)X 50 (H) Dimension /mm." There is a Pulse 64, but it hasn't been released yet.
[doublepost=1523817925][/doublepost]

Power efficient version is the WX 9100 at 230W, but of course it costs more. However, the warranty terms are significantly better. While the FE has a 1 year warranty only, WX cards have a 3 year warranty and are eligible for a 7 year warranty extension for a total of 10 years via the Radeon™ Pro Extended Warranty Program.

Hi Andrew, with the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100. Is this the card?
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/amd-radeon-pro-wx-9100?v=c

Also, when I look at the alternative option (for me)
RADEON RX VEGA 56 PULSE 8GB HBM2 PCI-EXPRESS GRAPHICS CARD (11276-02-40G)
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sapp...MIzLz4xJzD2gIVcDPTCh0u6gVkEAQYASABEgKg8PD_BwE

I'll need to make decision based on price. But, would be great to know I'm looking at the right cards for buying here in the UK.

Thanks again!
Steve

 

[Unklemac]

Hi Andrew, with the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100. Is this the card?

I’m not an Andrew, but I can tell you from experience that WX9100 is compareble in speed to a 56 Vega. You decide if the blue color is worth 1000gbp.

 

[Lightup_theMac]

I’m not an Andrew, but I can tell you from experience that WX9100 is compareble in speed to a 56 Vega. You decide if the blue color is worth 1000gbp.

Blue... If it's the same is speed. I'll save the green (£££) and go for the
RADEON RX VEGA 56 PULSE 8GB HBM2 PCI-EXPRESS GRAPHICS CARD (11276-02-40G)
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sapp...MIzLz4xJzD2gIVcDPTCh0u6gVkEAQYASABEgKg8PD_BwE

Thanks.

 

[teagls]

Does anyone know specifically what causes the fan speed to correct itself? For example I watched HBONow in safari and the video got stuck in buffering and the fan speed went quiet. I now always keep the window open and my Vega 64 fan is fantastic.

If I knew what specifically caused the fan to correct itself I could write a program that just does it all the time. Any ideas? I tried creating an h264 decoder session with video toolbox. That didn't work. Is it related to Metal or OpenGL rendering?

 

[Unklemac]

Does anyone know specifically what causes the fan speed to correct itself? For example I watched HBONow in safari and the video got stuck in buffering and the fan speed went quiet. I now always keep the window open and my Vega 64 fan is fantastic.

If I knew what specifically caused the fan to correct itself I could write a program that just does it all the time. Any ideas? I tried creating an h264 decoder session with video toolbox. That didn't work. Is it related to Metal or OpenGL rendering?

It is proberbly not your fan setting in as much as it’s the OS X telling the card to throttle the clock speeds below standard.

Could you do a geekbench metal score, when fans are spinning... and then again when you force it down via. H.264 / Youtube / HBO ?

 

[itdk92]

Does anyone know specifically what causes the fan speed to correct itself? For example I watched HBONow in safari and the video got stuck in buffering and the fan speed went quiet. I now always keep the window open and my Vega 64 fan is fantastic.

If I knew what specifically caused the fan to correct itself I could write a program that just does it all the time. Any ideas? I tried creating an h264 decoder session with video toolbox. That didn't work. Is it related to Metal or OpenGL rendering?

This has so far happened only on Hackintosh.

Are you on a Hack?
[doublepost=1524119378][/doublepost]

It is proberbly not your fan setting in as much as it’s the OS X telling the card to throttle the clock speeds below standard.

Could you do a geekbench metal score, when fans are spinning... and then again when you force it down via. H.264 / Youtube / HBO ?

How do you know the lower fan speed makes it throttle “below standard”? The OP didn’t really say that, unless we assume “standard”=max speed

We can all agree these VEGA cards absolutely don’t need to have the fan spin at max speed.

So a geekbench with fan at max speed, should give exactly the same as a geekbench with fan at regular speeds (which no one on Mac Pro has achieved afaik with reference VEGA).

 

[teagls]

So I did that testing and you are right.

Fans idle – Geekbench Metal score is ~150000
Fans loud – Geekbench Metal score is ~210000

But.. interestingly I can minimize the safari window and run Geekbench and still get ~200000 score before the fans even rev up. What this tells me is that the throttling is basically instantaneous. So in theory you should be able to develop something that kicks in every few seconds to prevent the fans from revving up, but would prevent the card from throttling majority of the time.

While it pisses me off that Apple does this and it's far from ideal, realistically I am not maxing out the GPU all the time.

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

What's also impressive is that the card consumes only 6W at idle and 7-8W while web browsing.

View attachment 758310

Probably sends some of the regular desktop acceleration to the CPU and iGPU (when one exists).

 

[itdk92]

So I did that testing and you are right.

Fans idle – Geekbench Metal score is ~150000
Fans loud – Geekbench Metal score is ~210000

But.. interestingly I can minimize the safari window and run Geekbench and still get ~200000 score before the fans even rev up. What this tells me is that the throttling is basically instantaneous. So in theory you should be able to develop something that kicks in every few seconds to prevent the fans from revving up, but would prevent the card from throttling majority of the time.

While it pisses me off that Apple does this and it's far from ideal, realistically I am not maxing out the GPU all the time.

Are you on a hackintosh or Mac Pro?