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

[PowerMike G5]

Does anyone have reference to how loud some of these Vega cards are in the cMP? If I moved over to the WX 9100, I've read that there is the high fan issue. As I'm video editing, rendering and pushing my system fairly consistently, I have my system fans generally hovering in the 1500-2000 RPM range on average. PCIe fan is usually around 1800-2100 RPM.

Is there an RPM reference for the high speed fan noise of these Vega cards? Just trying to get a sense of whether it'll add more noise or if it won't bother me at all, considering I'm used to the underlying sound of my current fans running.

 

[Qwertydub]

At the risk of hijacking this thread, has anyone with a Vega card installed used Nuke X with it? If so can you let me know if nuke sees the gpu? (found in the preferences -> hardware if I remember right)

The latest version of Nuke supports Vega cards on the iMac pro’s apparently, which is why I’m hopeful this will extend to a Vega card in a cmp as well.
I’ve asked Foundry about this and their reply was that they haven’t tested it. Also nuke does not support the 580 at all.

I have used a few Nvidia cards with nuke and they’ve all run like hot garbage, so I’m looking for AMD options.

Hopefully someone here knows or is willing to try it out for me before I roll the dice on a Vega 56 or 64...

Here’s the link to a trial version if anyone is willing to do me a solid?

https://www.foundry.com/products/nuke/try-nuke

 

[fireedo]

At the risk of hijacking this thread, has anyone with a Vega card installed used Nuke X with it? If so can you let me know if nuke sees the gpu? (found in the preferences -> hardware if I remember right)

The latest version of Nuke supports Vega cards on the iMac pro’s apparently, which is why I’m hopeful this will extend to a Vega card in a cmp as well.
I’ve asked Foundry about this and their reply was that they haven’t tested it. Also nuke does not support the 580 at all.

I have used a few Nvidia cards with nuke and they’ve all run like hot garbage, so I’m looking for AMD options.

Hopefully someone here knows or is willing to try it out for me before I roll the dice on a Vega 56 or 64...

Here’s the link to a trial version if anyone is willing to do me a solid?

https://www.foundry.com/products/nuke/try-nuke

well it doesn't work
Nuke X doesn't recognise my VEGA 64

 

[Qwertydub]

well it doesn't work
Nuke X doesn't recognise my VEGA 64

View attachment 804923

Poop emoji.

Thanks for looking into that for me Fireedo.

 

[MisterAndrew]

Can you guys confirm that those DeviceIDs are already apparent in Apple Kexts?

1002x66A3
1002x66A7

Both are supposedly Mac Pro Vega 20 GPUs...

See first post in thread.

 

[koyoot]

See first post in thread.

Thanks. It appears it is Mac Pro GPU.

 

[Pandanl]

I'm thinking of replacing my RX 480 Nitro 4GB with a Sapphire Vega 64 Nitro+ (https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sapp...hbm2-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-38j-sp.html), but does this card even fit in the Mac Pro 5,1. Slot 2 is empty.


And to be sure I will need to do the Pixlas mod?

 

[eksu]

You will need to remove the PCIe fan cage.

The conventional wisdom is that in peak power draw scenarios, a Vega 56 is under the maximum power that can be drawn from the mini power plugs (~120 watts each), but you will need EVGA powerlink or some clever splitters and combiners to split the draw evenly across from the 6 & 8 pin.

The Vega 64, however, seem to go past that amount of draw, and should have pixlas. Also Vega cards don’t really like to draw any power through the PCIe slot, so just about the whole load goes through the power connectors.

 

[h9826790]

I'm thinking of replacing my RX 480 Nitro 4GB with a Sapphire Vega 64 Nitro+ (https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sapp...hbm2-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-38j-sp.html), but does this card even fit in the Mac Pro 5,1. Slot 2 is empty.


And to be sure I will need to do the Pixlas mod?

No, no because of infringing slot 2, but the card simply too long.

IMO Yes, Pixlas mod is required (or tapping SATA power / extra PSU / etc).

 

[Pandanl]

You will need to remove the PCIe fan cage.

The conventional wisdom is that in peak power draw scenarios, a Vega 56 is under the maximum power that can be drawn from the mini power plugs (~120 watts each), but you will need EVGA powerlink or some clever splitters and combiners to split the draw evenly across from the 6 & 8 pin.

The Vega 64, however, seem to go past that amount of draw, and should have pixlas. Also Vega cards don’t really like to draw any power through the PCIe slot, so just about the whole load goes through the power connectors.

Thank you for the info, will the other fans run normall when the pci fan is removed?

 

[Pval]

Thank you for the info, will the other fans run normall when the pci fan is removed?

Yes, though you could still add the fan without the cage. Getting it out of the cage is a bit of a puzzle.

 

[eksu]

My previous understanding on Vega FE was wrong, it seems when people talk about modifying soft power play tables they mean through regedits.

It seems a custom kext modifying that table will be needed to ‘fix’ the fans on macOS, or Apple will need to make a change.

Also possible but unlikely, AMD’s signature for vbios could be broken, or they could release it or detail a way to flash and boot an unsigned vbios, or maybe someone could do some magic in the (U)EFI/GOP portion of the card which I believe is unsigned.

Probably owners of Vega FE are going to want to start off in windows undervolting their cards and generating new SoftPowerPlay tables to apply in the registry, and then afterwards port them to macOS as a kext.

 

[eksu]

I modify the performance settings in the Soft PowerPlay Table, just as you would if you were running the card in Windows or Linux; you add the table to the info.plist in the AMD10000Controller.kext. There are a number of ways to get the table:

1. Edit and test your settings in Windows, then export the PP_PhmSoftPowerPlayTable settings from the Windows registry to OSX. (https://www.overclock.net/forum/67-...inary-view-amd-vega-bios-26.html#post26297003)
2. Edit the settings in Excel or Google Sheets and import in OSX. (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-rhYsaRXO1ahk3PyrEgT9gXzs7ImAzh-sbqtgwy8HQg/edit?usp=sharing)
3. Edit the table in OSX with VGTab-en.app which generates a property list file and import the settings. (DL-link here, can't find the original Asian site. https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/t...n-high-sierra/?do=findComment&comment=2628317)
4. Use someone else's kext / settings, e.g. like Max has been sharing here.

Fwiw, I'm actually undervolting the Vega to avoid high temperatures, throttling and any risk to the Mac Pro, plenty of articles on this, but this one is somewhat comprehensive: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-radeon-rx-vega-64-undervolting,5234.html

Wow, that VGTab-en.app is awesome. Support for Vega 56, 64, FE & LC variants. I'll have my Vega FE tomorrow if it arrives while the Post Office is still open, or Friday otherwise.

I might start off dialing it in (Undervolting, raising power limit) on MacOS and then move over to Windows, instead of the other way around. Any advice on what would be more stable? What are the best ways to check for instability?

 

[h9826790]

Wow, that VGTab-en.app is awesome. Support for Vega 56, 64, FE & LC variants. I'll have my Vega FE tomorrow if it arrives while the Post Office is still open, or Friday otherwise.

I might start off dialing it in (Undervolting, raising power limit) on MacOS and then move over to Windows, instead of the other way around. Any advice on what would be more stable? What are the best ways to check for instability?

IMO, OOCT is the best application to check for GPU stability.

It only availavle in Windows. And the VRAM check only valid up to 2GB (this software is quite old now). But it’s quite sensitive. If the GPU is unstable, very high chance this app will crash.

 

[macjunkie2013]

FYI get the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX Vega 64 for $339.99 today only.

Buy Now ►
Newegg via eBay has Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 64 8GB 2048-Bit Video Card (21275-03-20G) on sale for $399.99 - $60 using coupon code PICKFAST when checking out via the eBay mobile app (iOS or Android) = $339.99. Shipping is free.

Great deal!

 

[Qwertydub]

FYI get the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX Vega 64 for $339.99 today only.

Buy Now ►
Newegg via eBay has Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 64 8GB 2048-Bit Video Card (21275-03-20G) on sale for $399.99 - $60 using coupon code PICKFAST when checking out via the eBay mobile app (iOS or Android) = $339.99. Shipping is free.

Great deal!

Nice find! This one can be flashed with the Nitro 64 firmware to get around the spinning fans right?

 

[macjunkie2013]

Nice find! This one can be flashed with the Nitro 64 firmware to get around the spinning fans right?

According to a couple posts on this thread and the title post, yes.

 

[LightBulbFun]

surprised no ones posted this yet

but it looks like the Radeon RX 590 does work in OS X https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...d-graphics-cards.171291/page-253#post-1854477

(im guessing Radeon Polaris is the Polaris OS X Drivers Generic name if it cant figure out what name to assign a card)

 

[koyoot]

It works, because it has the same DeviceID, as 580.

 

[PowerMac84]

Am I the only one experiencing black sleep after the 10.4.2 betas with Vega 56?

 

[AlexMaximus]

surprised no ones posted this yet

but it looks like the Radeon RX 590 does work in OS X https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...d-graphics-cards.171291/page-253#post-1854477

(im guessing Radeon Polaris is the Polaris OS X Drivers Generic name if it cant figure out what name to assign a card)

This is a great find, another option for Mojave capabilities. Question is, does the 590 has any fan issues? If its super quiet with a moderate price tag and no fan issues, it might warrant a pixlas mod. I am looking for a very quiet card. One bios should work ok for quiet mode.
I would love to go all VEGA, but I am not sure about this fan issue....

 

[AlexMaximus]

Thank you for the info, will the other fans run normall when the pci fan is removed?

I will most likely do the same project like you and go with the Sapphire Vega 64 Nitro+. Everyone here is using the Bios of exactly this card, so it might be a great choice in terms of bugs and of course, offers the most GPU power.
I was reading the pixlas mod blog today, the cable from Andre is available now from that mentioned mod store for 20 bucks. I did order it for my future move to Mojave.
I am not worried about the fan cage, it's just a view screws and comes right out. The fan cage works with a power plug on the side, maybe a short cable can be connected and used to power a different fan that will be relocated towards the front grill. There should be enough space, all that's needed is about an inch or so. In case the original cage is used of course some light Dremel work will be needed.

The only question for me is not about space, it's about how quiet it can be when in idle or with low interaction.
It should not have fan the issue #1 as described at the beginning BUT the smaller issue #2. This card would be for sure a great booster in Mojave FCPX for the years to come. If you go for this mod, I would be really excited to see a picture of your 5.1 with this card lighting up it up in blue.
To have a BigBoy Vega 64 card such as the super expensive iMac Pro is indeed a sweet thought for 2019

 

[macjunkie2013]

Whoo hoo! Installed a Radeon RX Vega 64

Replaced my MSI Radeon RX 580 SAPPHIRE Radeon RX Vega 64after I flashed the Vega 64 with the Sapphire Nitro+ RX Vega 64 (standard PCB): SECONDARY Bios 113-D0500110-S01. Note: the Primary BIOS does nothing.

The flashing process I used is demonstrated in THIS VIDEO the card was installed in a Dell PC with Win 7 Pro running.

The card is powered by the Mac Pro Pixlas Mod.

With the Nitro Secondary Bios fans run as expected:
#1 Fans run fast pre post at boot up, then slow down and stop (0 RPM) when at idle, not under load.
#2 The fans spin up under load, such as in LuxMark and slow down and go back to idle (0 RPM) after LuxMark is completed and some time has passed.
#3 I have not had any need so far to run a H.265 video or sleep to trigger the fans to slow down.
#4 Sleep and wake work as expected.
#5 All output ports work as expected.
#6 The "BLUE Logo light option" seems to not work in OSX, only Windows? In OSX it is RED.

The card is the reference design, occupies only two slots and when installed in slot #1, slot #2 is still available. It totally fits, being the same length and slightly narrower than my MSI RX 580 card.

Got it on sale on BlackFriday NewEgg/Ebay sale for $339.99.

The System specs with Mojave 10.14.1
Mid 2010 Mac Pro 5.1 Dual 3.46 X5690 64GB Ram Boot ROM Version: 140.0.0.0.0
Slot 1 SAPPHIRE Radeon RX Vega 64 connected via DVI-D to Dell UltraSharp U2412M and a Wacom Cintiq 22HD via HDMI
Slot 2 OWC Accelsior S PCIe + WD Blue 1TB Internal SSD Solid State Drive - SATA Boot drive.
Slot 3 Ableconn PU31-1A1C USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type-C)


Thanks to:
MisterAndrew
bgdre12
fireedo
AlexMaximus

PS: I hope OP can update the first post. I found the info written there on flashing to be confusing. IMHO a reference design card is the best MacPro Vega solution, since it is more compact than others, and the fans seems to work as expected after flashing.

 

[MisterAndrew]

Am I the only one experiencing black sleep after the 10.4.2 betas with Vega 56?

I just tested sleep on 10.14.2 beta 4. It works fine with my Vega 56. Goes to sleep and wakes up as expected. I didn't test sleep on the previous 10.14.2 builds.

 

[max.b]

I just tested sleep on 10.14.2 beta 4. It works fine with my Vega 56. Goes to sleep and wakes up as expected. I didn't test sleep on the previous 10.14.2 builds.

Tell me please, does the fan spin down the Luxmark Benchmark on beta 10.14.2?