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

[MisterAndrew]

This is probably out of the space of any Mac Pro update, but some will be sold

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-radeon-rx-640-radeon-630-graphics-card,39325.html

Looks a bit like that their plans for the lowest end ( sub 75W , bus only powered ) solution may be off the mark.

AMD may unveil at Computex , but some signs that will be decoupled from actually shipping. CEO said 3rd Q which is technically minimally July ( and could be August or beginning of September). [ Navi is rumored to have some performance issues which wouldn't be "unusual" as Polaris and Vega had 'out of the gate' issues also. ]





The farther Navi slides the more likely it won't show until 10.15.x ( and miss 10.14). 10.14 is getting o the stage where there will be a feature halt and substantive shift of resources to getting 10.15 finished before end of September. WWDC is pretty likely a "end of the road" point for 10.14.

Thanks. Interesting information. The device IDs for the Radeon 630 and RX 640, as well as the Radeon 540X and RX 550X, aren't included in the macOS drivers.

 

[AlexMaximus]

There are some good deals on Polaris and Vega GPUs.

The Sapphire Pulse RX 580 8GB is $189.99 right now from Newegg with a promo code.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202278

Several RX Vega 56 graphics cards are $299.99 via Amazon and Newegg. There was even a refurbished reference 56 (PowerColor) from Newegg for $229.99 (currently out of stock).
[doublepost=1557770820][/doublepost]Just in case anyone hasn't noticed there's a AMD Radeon™ VII Gold Edition limited edition available from AMD's website. It comes as a bundle with games and a t-shirt. Be aware that a Radeon VII purchased direct from AMD has a 1 year warranty. Some AIB partners (such as MSI) offer up to 3 year warranty on the Radeon VII.

I can’t find the link that points me to the purchase button for the red shrouded Vega 7 on amd‘s website. Could you send a link. Somehow it’s not there or gone already?

 

[MisterAndrew]

I can’t find the link that points me to the purchase button for the red shrouded Vega 7 on amd‘s website. Could you send a link. Somehow it’s not there or gone already?

https://explore.amd.com/e/659533/-u...h=yVwpzPBWr7ZQhcuariS14r5jn4ni1AGw3-YQSRlRIvQ

 

[Digital Nomad]

Thanks to everyone for an invaluable resource. Quick question for you: I am trying to upgrade my MacPro to a Vega 56 but need to find one that will allow me to use the 2nd PCI slot - where I have an Amfeltec squid. So far have tried my luck with a Sapphire and an XFX card - to no avail. Any input, would be much appreciated

 

[LightBulbFun]

others can probably better confirm it

but as I understand it, with 10.14.5, Blower 2 slot reference cards now work pretty well in MacPro5,1s

so one of those would probably work well for you

 

[Pentaxer]

Reference Vega 56 doesn’t block the second PCI-E slot. Because there is “space” between the first and the second PCI-E slots where dual slot GPU can be placed.

 

[Pressure]

Reference Vega 56 doesn’t block the second PCI-E slot. Because there is “space” between the first and the second PCI-E slots where dual slot GPU can be placed.

Some cards use a 2.25 slot design though.

 

[h9826790]

Some cards use a 2.25 slot design though.

He said reference card

 

[MisterAndrew]

Changes in the drivers I've discovered in macOS 10.14.6 beta:
-RX 590 is properly identified in About This Mac and System Information

 

[XNorth]

Changes in the drivers I've discovered in macOS 10.14.6 beta:
-RX 590 is properly identified in About This Mac and System Information

No more generic "Radeon Polaris 8 GB."

 

[MisterAndrew]

Yeah. Not sure why the WX 8200 isn't included yet though. That one's been out for quite a while.

 

[LightBulbFun]

does anyone here have one? while everything is still in beta there may be time still to submit a bug report about it not being IDed properly...

 

[Hendrik94]

I run a Dual Radeon VII Setup right now on 10.14.6 Xeon's Bottleneck Quite a Bit but Still impressive Score, it annihilates the iMacPro...

Bevore you ask, Yes of course Pixlas is not enough... I need an 900W ePSU to run those GPU's and Fan's run on high Level

 

[LightBulbFun]

I run a Dual Radeon VII Setup right now on 10.14.6 Xeon's Bottleneck Quite a Bit but Still impressive Score, it annihilates the iMacPro...

Bevore you ask, Yes of course Pixlas is not enough... I need an 900W ePSU to run those GPU's and Fan's run on high Level
View attachment 837704

thats as much VRAM as I have system RAM

 

[startergo]

I run a Dual Radeon VII Setup right now on 10.14.6 Xeon's Bottleneck Quite a Bit but Still impressive Score, it annihilates the iMacPro...

Bevore you ask, Yes of course Pixlas is not enough... I need an 900W ePSU to run those GPU's and Fan's run on high Level
View attachment 837704

Can you please share some details about the ePSU setup?

 

[Mac_User 0101]

Hi Guys, I came to the thread late. I have read page one multiple times and it's very informative. I'd like to get a basic AMD GPU for my cMP 5,1 to play around with and test Mojave. I currently use a MVC flashed 980 and I'm getting impatient waiting for drivers that may never arrive. I was about to jump on a good deal for a Sapphire Pulse RX 580 until I found out that the width will interfere with quad m.2 carriers in slot 2. Form researching page 1 of this thread, I learned of the Radeon Pro WX 4100 & 5100. My cMP is for audio work so I don't need anything fancy. What I like about the WX 4100/5100 was the fact that it's single slot width with low power requirement. I was actually thinking of fitting it in slot 4 allowing me to have both x16 slot for Highpoint and Amfletec quad m.2 carriers. Before I go buy one of these do any of you recommend something else for my needs?

I need basic Mojave compatible card with some support for previous Mac OS version. Low to medium power consumption. Nothing over a 2 slot width and preferably a blower style cooling. Most importantly quiet so nothing with these loud constant fan issues. Also, if you think I'm barking up the wrong tree, tell me to just go buy a flashed 680/780 and be done with it. I just don't want to back myself into a corner with NVIDIA which I fear Apple could remove native support for those cards anytime they feel like it.

 

[startergo]

Hi Guys, I came to the thread late. I have read page one multiple times and it's very informative. I'd like to get a basic AMD GPU for my cMP 5,1 to play around with and test Mojave. I currently use a MVC flashed 980 and I'm getting impatient waiting for drivers that may never arrive. I was about to jump on a good deal for a Sapphire Pulse RX 580 until I found out that the width will interfere with quad m.2 carriers in slot 2. Form researching page 1 of this thread, I learned of the Radeon Pro WX 4100 & 5100. My cMP is for audio work so I don't need anything fancy. What I like about the WX 4100/5100 was the fact that it's single slot width with low power requirement. I was actually thinking of fitting it in slot 4 allowing me to have both x16 slot for Highpoint and Amfletec quad m.2 carriers. Before I go buy one of these do any of you recommend something else for my needs?

I need basic Mojave compatible card with some support for previous Mac OS version. Low to medium power consumption. Nothing over a 2 slot width and preferably a blower style cooling. Most importantly quiet so nothing with these loud constant fan issues. Also, if you think I'm barking up the wrong tree, tell me to just go buy a flashed 680/780 and be done with it. I just don't want to back myself into a corner with NVIDIA which I fear Apple could remove native support for those cards anytime they feel like it.

WX7100 single slot 130W. Performance is very similar to RX-580.

RX-580 reference design (OEM card)
No interference true 2 slot card 135W

 

[Mac_User 0101]

WX7100 single slot 130W. Performance is very similar to RX-580.

RX-580 reference design (OEM card)
No interference true 2 slot card 135W

Ok, I did some more searching and found your post pertaining to the RX-580 reference design (OEM) being a rebranded RX 480. That would work fine for me, but do they have a duel bios like version 2 of Sapphire Pulse RX 580?? Also since I can't find that particular device id on page one, (unless I should just refer to RX 480), does it work as far back as 10.12.6?

It's quite a bit cheaper than WX 7100 so that's good. Which card do you think has a better chance of possibly having a flashable EFI in the future?

 

[startergo]

Ok, I did some more searching and found your post pertaining to the RX-580 reference design (OEM) being a rebranded RX 480. That would work fine for me, but do they have a duel bios like version 2 of Sapphire Pulse RX 580?? Also since I can't find that particular device id on page one, (unless I should just refer to RX 480), does it work as far back as 10.12.6?

It's quite a bit cheaper than WX 7100 so that's good. Which card do you think has a better chance of possibly having a flashable EFI in the future?

Some benchmarks attached. I don't know about Sierra but HS has no problem. Device Id is attached. No dual bios.
As far as EFI boot screen in the future... Forget about it . WX7100 has pro drivers in Windows, which will perform much better where the pro driver can be utilized.
https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/194686/194686

 

[h9826790]

Hi Guys, I came to the thread late. I have read page one multiple times and it's very informative. I'd like to get a basic AMD GPU for my cMP 5,1 to play around with and test Mojave. I currently use a MVC flashed 980 and I'm getting impatient waiting for drivers that may never arrive. I was about to jump on a good deal for a Sapphire Pulse RX 580 until I found out that the width will interfere with quad m.2 carriers in slot 2. Form researching page 1 of this thread, I learned of the Radeon Pro WX 4100 & 5100. My cMP is for audio work so I don't need anything fancy. What I like about the WX 4100/5100 was the fact that it's single slot width with low power requirement. I was actually thinking of fitting it in slot 4 allowing me to have both x16 slot for Highpoint and Amfletec quad m.2 carriers. Before I go buy one of these do any of you recommend something else for my needs?

I need basic Mojave compatible card with some support for previous Mac OS version. Low to medium power consumption. Nothing over a 2 slot width and preferably a blower style cooling. Most importantly quiet so nothing with these loud constant fan issues. Also, if you think I'm barking up the wrong tree, tell me to just go buy a flashed 680/780 and be done with it. I just don't want to back myself into a corner with NVIDIA which I fear Apple could remove native support for those cards anytime they feel like it.

You can always go for the RX560 if you don’t need that much GPU power.

 

[Mac_User 0101]

Some benchmarks attached. I don't know about Sierra but HS has no problem. Device Id is attached. No dual bios.
As far as EFI boot screen in the future... Forget about it . WX7100 has pro drivers in Windows, which will perform much better where the pro driver can be utilized.
https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/194686/194686

Thanks for all the info. So how are we booting to Recovery to disable SIP? That's really the only issue I would have with a non-EFI card. Please don't tell me that the only solution is to pop in an EFI card

 

[h9826790]

Thanks for all the info. So how are we booting to Recovery to disable SIP? That's really the only issue I would have with a non-EFI card. Please don't tell me that the only solution is to pop in an EFI card

You don’t need EFI card to do that. All supported AMD GPU can boot recovery partition natively.

Just hold Command + R to boot, that’s it.
[doublepost=1558307221][/doublepost]If for any reason, the GPU can’t display in recovery partition. Then we can always disable SIP in blind. I wrote down the procedure at here.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/cmp-getting-dell-5k-working-in-sierra.2026628/#post-25075208

 

[Mac_User 0101]

You don’t need EFI card to do that. All supported AMD GPU can boot recovery partition natively.

Just hold Command + R to boot, that’s it.
[doublepost=1558307221][/doublepost]If for any reason, the GPU can’t display in recovery partition. Then we can always disable SIP in blind. I wrote down the procedure at here.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/cmp-getting-dell-5k-working-in-sierra.2026628/#post-25075208

Thanks, that was an ah-ha moment. Im so used to Maxwell and Pascal cards so always thought I needed EFI for Recovery. Makes perfect sense to me that if the card has native OS support that the graphics driver is loaded once Recovery partition is finished booting.

 

[itdk92]

I run a Dual Radeon VII Setup right now on 10.14.6 Xeon's Bottleneck Quite a Bit but Still impressive Score, it annihilates the iMacPro...

Bevore you ask, Yes of course Pixlas is not enough... I need an 900W ePSU to run those GPU's and Fan's run on high Level
View attachment 837704

Ha! Found you just by looking at your signature Hendrik

Could be interesting to catalog how much those VII actually draw to see dual card viability inside the Mac.

 

[Pressure]

Ha! Found you just by looking at your signature Hendrik

Could be interesting to catalog how much those VII actually draw to see dual card viability inside the Mac.

The 12V rails of the 980 Watt PSU can easily deliver power to the graphic cards. The problem is routing the power from the 12V rails.