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

[EddieK420]

Hey @MisterAndrew I was about to buy a PowerColor Vega 56 Red Dragon from Newegg (instead of the Pulse Vega 56 because I use all PCI slots and can't have slot #2 blocked) but I was thinking I would prefer a rear blower card so the hot air doesn't blow inside my Mac Pro.

Do you think I could get a Reference Vega 56 or 64 (rear blower cards) from eBay and just flash it with the BIOS of a Sapphire Nitro 56 or 64 to prevent the fan issue? Which brand of rear blower card? I would prefer the Vega 64 if that is even possible. What do you think? Thank you!
[doublepost=1540240027][/doublepost]

The Inateck KT4004 USB 3.0 may fit.

@dvbcheck Cool!! Thats the usb3 card I have! Good to know Thank you! I can use all slots then. Does your MacPro case get really hot inside when using the card heavily? I was thinking about a rear blower model instead because of it.

 

[MisterAndrew]

Hey @MisterAndrew I was about to buy a PowerColor Vega 56 Red Dragon from Newegg (instead of the Pulse Vega 56 because I use all PCI slots and can't have slot #2 blocked) but I was thinking I would prefer a rear blower card so the hot air doesn't blow inside my Mac Pro.

Do you think I could get a Reference Vega 56 or 64 (rear blower cards) from eBay and just flash it with the BIOS of a Sapphire Nitro 56 or 64 to prevent the fan issue? Which brand of rear blower card? I would prefer the Vega 64 if that is even possible. What do you think? Thank you!
[doublepost=1540240027][/doublepost]

@dvbcheck Cool!! Thats the usb3 card I have! Good to know Thank you! I can use all slots then. Does your MacPro case get really hot inside when using the card heavily? I was thinking about a rear blower model instead because of it.

Someone flashed their reference Vega 56 with the secondary bios from the Nitro+ 56 and they said it works fine. That's the only combination I know that is working. You can try others. Reference 64 might work with secondary bios from Nitro+ 64, but I don't know. Just because it worked on one card doesn't mean it will work on another either since there are variations in the chips. Reference cards are exactly the same between every brand except for ASRock, which is a custom card with a reference cooler.

 

[EddieK420]

Hi,

I have the same issue with my Sapphire Vega 64+ Nitro however a sleep and a wake restores the Idle setting of the card so the fans stay idle again (in Mojave). The quicktime play movie didn't help but I didn't know that it had to be 4K. Is there possibly also a h264 / h265 difference?

hey @hannibal1969 Would you post a picture of how your Sapphire Nitro+ fit in your MacPro? Thanks!
[doublepost=1540266139][/doublepost]Hey @dvbcheck How are the fans on your Powercolor RedDragon Vega 56 working? Do you get any of the fan issues at all? Are you on High Sierra or Mojave?

 

[dvbcheck]

I´m on 10.13.6.
With 10.14 i got the issues with com.apple.IconServicesAgent.

The Red Dragon is running under Windows 10 1803 (Doom, Tombraider, ..)
No fan-issue with High Sierra.

 

[EddieK420]

I´m on 10.13.6.
With 10.14 i got the issues with com.apple.IconServicesAgent.

The Red Dragon is running under Windows 10 1803 (Doom, Tombraider, ..)
No fan-issue with High Sierra.

@dvbcheck Thank you for your reply. What are the issues with com.apple.IconServicesAgent in Mojave? I haven't heard that before.

(I might just wait until all the Mojave issues are solved before buying the Red Dragon Vega 56 then)

 

[dvbcheck]

Here a screenshot from my MBAir with normal cpu-usage.
On MacPro cpu-usage a few minutes after restart at 99%, system totally unusable.
iconservice is the cpu-killer.
Back to High Sierra via TimeMachine and no problem any more.
There a a few users having this problem (from macOS 10.9 on).
Problem occurs with my old Radeon 5770 too, but Mojave isn't really useable with this old graphic card.
Had nothing to do with the Vega.

 

[Pval]

hey @hannibal1969 Would you post a picture of how your Sapphire Nitro+ fit in your MacPro? Thanks!

Ok, I saw this request and wanted to share how the Liquid-cooled looks, with an IOCrest PCIe to M.2 and two DT-120.
I reversed the airflow in the Mac Pro, it was either that or cut a hole in the Mac Pro to place the radiator outside of the housing and now it fits exactly at the front of the case.
The Vega hardly ever reaches 60 degrees Celsius, only when I run continuous Luxmark or Furmark. Typically it hovers around 50 degrees Celsius during use.
Power wise; idle it's about 125-135Watt, 3D with low settings (3440x1440x75Hz) ~300Watt, high settings ~400Watt. This is using a custom kext (custom SoftPowerPlayTable and DisablePowerContainment enabled).

 

[max.1974]

Hi @Pval you could explain how you use DisablePowerContainment? Are you add in info.plist?
Thanks

 

[EddieK420]

Hi @Pval you could explain how you use DisablePowerContainment? Are you add in info.plist?
Thanks

What is DisablePowerContainer? Does it apply to the air cooled Vega 57 as well?

 

[Pval]

It limits the power-draw of the card, I think it’s been a Radeon feature since the HD 6900 series. It’s also why some manufacturer’s drivers/tools on Windows let you overclock the card furtherthan others.
It let’s you raise the power consumption limit of the card by up to 50%, sometimes even higher with further settings.
I wouldn’t mess with this without also lowering your GPU/RAM voltages.
The setting is PP_DisablePowerContainment in your kext.

 

[MisterAndrew]

Ok, I saw this request and wanted to share how the Liquid-cooled looks, with an IOCrest PCIe to M.2 and two DT-120.
I reversed the airflow in the Mac Pro, it was either that or cut a hole in the Mac Pro to place the radiator outside of the housing and now it fits exactly at the front of the case.
The Vega hardly ever reaches 60 degrees Celsius, only when I run continuous Luxmark or Furmark. Typically it hovers around 50 degrees Celsius during use.
Power wise; idle it's about 125-135Watt, 3D with low settings (3440x1440x75Hz) ~300Watt, high settings ~400Watt. This is using a custom kext (custom SoftPowerPlayTable and DisablePowerContainment enabled).
View attachment 797933

That’s an interesting setup. I was able to fit the radiator & fan for a liquid cooled 1080 in front of the PCIe case fan. I think the GPU’s fan could also be removed from the radiator.

 

[max.1974]

It limits the power-draw of the card, I think it’s been a Radeon feature since the HD 6900 series. It’s also why some manufacturer’s drivers/tools on Windows let you overclock the card furtherthan others.
It let’s you raise the power consumption limit of the card by up to 50%, sometimes even higher with further settings.
I wouldn’t mess with this without also lowering your GPU/RAM voltages.
The setting is PP_DisablePowerContainment in your kext.

Thanks bro!! But im not find anything in Amd10000controller.kext, in HS or Mojave. Maybe just in regedit from Windows...
Im find a good settings and im just enjoy it now!!! Smooth and Great Scores!! Thanks!!!

 

[MisterAndrew]

RX 590 launching soon.

https://videocardz.com/newz/powercolor-radeon-rx-590-red-devil-leaked

 

[startergo]

RX 590 launching soon.

https://videocardz.com/newz/powercolor-radeon-rx-590-red-devil-leaked

ahh how many slots occupies this red devil?

 

[flowrider]

^^^^Uh, it says in the first paragraph:

Lou

 

[startergo]

^^^^Uh, it says in the first paragraph:

View attachment 798523
Lou

No no for me

 

[MisterAndrew]

There's a new Pro Vega 64 GPU listed in the driver for 10.14.1 which has VBIOS version 113-D05001A1XTOD. That's similar to the Pro Vega 64 in the iMac Pro which has VBIOS version 113-D05001A1XT-017. It uses a new frame-buffer called Sleipnir, which has 4 DP & 1 HDMI ports. It appers to be an eGPU, most likely similar to the Blackmagic Pro 580.

View attachment 789303 View attachment 789304 View attachment 789305

The Pro Vega 64 eGPU listed in the earlier beta has been replaced by an RX Vega 56 eGPU in the fifth 10.14.1 beta with model number 113-D05016A1XLHOD. It still uses the Sleipnir frame-buffer, but it has been updated to 5 DP and 1 HDMI ports, just like the Yelcho frame-buffer for the Radeon Pro 580 eGPU. The timing suggests the RX Vega 56 eGPU may be announced with the new Macs at Apple's event next week.


[doublepost=1540582534][/doublepost]What's interesting is that this is a gaming GPU and not a "pro" GPU, so the new Macs launched next week will be more consumer focused with an emphasis on video games. Apple will probably demo a new video game to highlight the capabilities of their new machines and this eGPU. This also suggests a new Mac Pro is less likely to be mentioned during next week's event.

 

[MisterAndrew]

During Mojave beta we found out there are family 1 v4 GPUs and family 2 v1 GPUs, and I just thought of looking up the new Metal feature set tables to see exactly what the differences are. All of these Polaris & Vega GPUs are family 2 v1, but family 1 v4 GPUs such as Nvidia lack the following features:

-MSAA (multisample anti-aliasing) depth resolve
-sRGB writes (writes to sRGB textures)
-Indirect command buffers
-Stencil feedback
-Stencil resolve

https://developer.apple.com/metal/Metal-Feature-Set-Tables.pdf

 

[Synchro3]

Thanks for the info. Sobering about Nvidia GPU's.

 

[MisterAndrew]

RX 590 rumored to launch 15 November. Should be a good GPU for cMPs.

https://wccftech.com/amd-radeon-rx-590-launch-pricing-rumor/amp/

 

[deconstruct60]

.... an RX Vega 56 eGPU in the fifth 10.14.1 beta with model number 113-D05016A1XLHOD. It still uses the Sleipnir frame-buffer, but it has been updated to 5 DP and 1 HDMI ports, just like the Yelcho frame-buffer for the Radeon Pro 580 eGPU. The timing suggests the RX Vega 56 eGPU may be announced with the new Macs at Apple's event next week.

[doublepost=1540582534][/doublepost]What's interesting is that this is a gaming GPU and not a "pro" GPU, so the new Macs launched next week will be more consumer focused with an emphasis on video games.

If this is the same frame-buffer that the Blackmagic eGPU 580 has,.... how is this a "gaming" emphasis system? More likely it could be simply a logical upgraded configuration of that system. ( perhaps a bit more power supply, but no major change). A Vega 56 could have been what Blackmagic wanted to do in the first place, but all the crypto mania limited the availability to lock down a contract to fill that role at any reasonable price. (and/or HBM production problems ).

Apple will probably demo a new video game to highlight the capabilities of their new machines and this eGPU. This also suggests a new Mac Pro is less likely to be mentioned during next week's event.

If it is Blackmagic doing the demo they are far more likely to demo their own software than some third party video game. The Blackmagic eGPU is primarily in the product line up to build synergies with their own stuff; not sell video games. The product's market page one one mention of gaming and more than one mention of "creative" aspects and also explicit benchmarks for Resolve. ( the theme for this dog and pony show is "there is more in the making"/create ).

If Apple is running the demo they'll likely use FCPX as the demo ( since that is their software which can leverage the device ). Or trot out the LucasFilm VR demo and do it with one of the new Mac Laptops (since they are pitching laptops).

Either one of those are far more likely than a Mac video game focus.

Having AMD 'FirePro" branding (and drivers ) isn't a 100% binary alternative to a gaming focus.

 

[MisterAndrew]

If this is the same frame-buffer that the Blackmagic eGPU 580 has,.... how is this a "gaming" emphasis system? More likely it could be simply a logical upgraded configuration of that system. ( perhaps a bit more power supply, but no major change). A Vega 56 could have been what Blackmagic wanted to do in the first place, but all the crypto mania limited the availability to lock down a contract to fill that role at any reasonable price. (and/or HBM production problems ).



If it is Blackmagic doing the demo they are far more likely to demo their own software than some third party video game. The Blackmagic eGPU is primarily in the product line up to build synergies with their own stuff; not sell video games. The product's market page one one mention of gaming and more than one mention of "creative" aspects and also explicit benchmarks for Resolve. ( the theme for this dog and pony show is "there is more in the making"/create ).

If Apple is running the demo they'll likely use FCPX as the demo ( since that is their software which can leverage the device ). Or trot out the LucasFilm VR demo and do it with one of the new Mac Laptops (since they are pitching laptops).

Either one of those are far more likely than a Mac video game focus.

Having AMD 'FirePro" branding (and drivers ) isn't a 100% binary alternative to a gaming focus.

No, the new RX Vega 56 one has the Sleipnir frame-buffer. I showed the Yelcho frame-buffer for the Pro 580 for comparison. It’s listed as RX so that’s why I said it’s a gaming GPU. They would list it as Pro if it was geared towards professional uses. It’s unknown exactly how it will be marketed, so I offered my best guess opinion based on that the RX is AMD’s gaming focused GPU series and Apple has been touting Metal for gaming.

 

[orph]

has any one tried h265 video on the Vega cards in osx 10.14 to see if hardware decoding works?

 

[JeDiGM]

For those still having fan issues. I suggest you go to this link. You can modify the AMD10000Controller.kext and change the fan curve.

https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/325120-vega-frontier-edition-on-high-sierra/?page=6

Now for anyone who whines that you have to modify the kext – you are just adding a property to the plist. There really is nothing major about this modification. It's simple as can be... I've been running this change for almost 2 months now and it's been working flawlessly. When you update the OS just keep a copy of the plist to update in the future.

Honestly, if you don't take advantage of this fix – then you probably deserve to deal with the loud fans.

Does this work with a real Mac Pro in High Sierra or is this only for Hackintoshes?

 

[MisterAndrew]

The kext mod might work, but you’d need to disable SIP and if it gets re-enabled (such as a PRAM reset) you’ll boot to a black screen. And of course it would need to be done every time there’s an OS update and no guarantee the mod will work with the new kext. So I say that’s for hacks. Not worth the trouble IMO.