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AMD Radeon RX 580 works in macOS
- Thread starter theitsage
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4K HiDPI resolution 'looks like 2560 x 1440' not possible in 120 Hz in macOS Mojave
No benefit of the RX 580 and DisplayPort 1.4.
My new monitor Acer Nitro XV273K supports resolutions up to 144 Hz (10 Bit ARGB 2101010 up to 120 Hz). The native resolution 3840 x 2160 pixel will be displayed @ 120 Hz.
However, not the scaled resolution 'Looks like 2560 x 2160', only 60 Hz possible. Any thoughts?
In Windows, however, no problem, scaled resolution 150% works @ 120 Hz.
Here all my possible resolutions with the new monitor:
No benefit of the RX 580 and DisplayPort 1.4.
My new monitor Acer Nitro XV273K supports resolutions up to 144 Hz (10 Bit ARGB 2101010 up to 120 Hz). The native resolution 3840 x 2160 pixel will be displayed @ 120 Hz.
However, not the scaled resolution 'Looks like 2560 x 2160', only 60 Hz possible. Any thoughts?
In Windows, however, no problem, scaled resolution 150% works @ 120 Hz.
Here all my possible resolutions with the new monitor:
Last edited:
Yes, the same in RexXtreme.
I found out that even DisplayPort 1.4 has not enough bandwidth to support 3840x2160 at 120Hz with full 10 Bit RGB 4:4:4 color. This is a very informative article: https://www.anandtech.com/show/13060/asus-pg27uq-gsync-hdr-review/3
In Windows I had to enable Chroma subsampling 4:2:2 to get 4K/10 Bit/120 Hz. Whereas 4K/8 Bit/120 Hz with full RGB 4:4:4 is no problem.
In macOS I can get 4K (native, not scaled)/10 Bit/120 Hz, but I guess macOS is cheating.
Either the unscaled fonts of Mojave are very bad, or macOS activates Chroma subsampling 4:2:2:
I was wondering if someone could help me. I can’t get my mid 2010 MacPro with this card installed to boot- it was purchased from OWC, I upgraded to High Sierra, did the firmware upgrade prior to OS upgrade, have the dual 6pin to single 8pin connector. Still no joy.. Any help is appreciated.
Do you still have the other graphic card installed? I gas the nvidia 120 and the Radeon installed and my Mac would not boot up until I removed the nvidia card.
TBH, if you bought that from OWC, you should call them. AFAIK, their CS is very good.
And your “can’t get cMP with this card to boot” means…
1) no POST?
2) POST but no boot screen (so that you assume it’s not working and turn it off)
3) POST but unable to boot to desktop (you wait for a long time, still nothing display).
Also, when you ask this kind of question, you should tell us which monitor you use, and how you connect it, etc.
If your problem is “nothing display” but not “can’t POST”. It often not GPU’s fault, but may be a wrong adaptor, or even the user forget to connect the cable.
High Sierra should able to boot with GT120 + RX580. Mojave is another story.
Besides, 2010 cMP shouldn’t come with GT120. He should run out of mini 6pins if install both the factor GPU and the RX580.
Hi guys.. I admit you guys are way over my payscale with this stuff. Yea OWC is helping but, I’m away feom the Mac for a few days on a business trip and I just want to learn, that way I can help myself too.
- Original card is uninstalled.
-POST?
- Original card is uninstalled.
-POST?
POST - Power On Self Test
If pass, you should able to hear the boot chime. In some case, the chime volume is set to zero. You can resume it by perform PRAM reset.
Ok just an FY I if the 580 is a pc version you won’t see anything until the driver kicks in, mine usually takes a while to load, once it does you will see the boot screen.
I asked the same question of OWC, why the big premium on their version of the RX580??
CS emailed me yesterday saying they did not know if there was anything done with the card itself. All they could confirm was it comes with the correct 6+6=8 pin cable. That's a darn expensive cable!!!
They were still "looking into it".
$199.99 at Amazon right now for Sapphire Pulse RX 580 8GB 11265-05-20G:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ6FMF8
$12.99 at Amazon for dual mini 6-pin to standard 8-pin cable, they even recommend it as a "frequently bought together" item now:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J336WY4
Throw in the "frequently bought together" DP>mDP adapter and I'll even add a screwdriver to remove the two screws closest to the PCIe to make fitting 4 PCIe cards in the system easier... Subtotal = $227.85 (no tax), Total = $242.95 (with tax).
OWC is selling a used/openbox Gigabyte model for $300 and new Gigabyte & XFX models for $350, or a brand new bundle with cable for $369. The bundle comes to $393.32 with tax (and free shipping). These aren't even Apple's own specifically recommended models (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208898).
The free advice and help on this forum is worth $150+. Absolutely take advantage of their customer support.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ6FMF8
$12.99 at Amazon for dual mini 6-pin to standard 8-pin cable, they even recommend it as a "frequently bought together" item now:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J336WY4
Throw in the "frequently bought together" DP>mDP adapter and I'll even add a screwdriver to remove the two screws closest to the PCIe to make fitting 4 PCIe cards in the system easier... Subtotal = $227.85 (no tax), Total = $242.95 (with tax).
OWC is selling a used/openbox Gigabyte model for $300 and new Gigabyte & XFX models for $350, or a brand new bundle with cable for $369. The bundle comes to $393.32 with tax (and free shipping). These aren't even Apple's own specifically recommended models (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208898).
The free advice and help on this forum is worth $150+. Absolutely take advantage of their customer support.
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
I'm unfamiliar with this. I have a Sapphire Radeon Pulse RX 580 8GB. AFAIK, it's a rock-stock PC Card - certainly no mention in or on the box about a Mac. At power up, the screens light up within 30 seconds.
FWIW, RX580 prices have been quite high over the last year, perhaps due to mining. But now the 580 is a couple of models back (590, Vega 56/64) and the price seems to have settled back to its original retail.
Sapphire Pulse RX 580 8GB was out of stock for a few weeks and third party prices soared. Believe many/most of the models being sold as new are 11265-05V2, which should have the DUAL BIOS support. The traditional retailers are stocking again including B&H, Amazon, Newegg, etc. All listing at $199.99 right now. Absolutely no reason to pay that much of a premium for an off the shelf PC GPU like this.
When you say “a while..” how long, exactly? Thanks
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My situation: POST but unable to boot to desktop (you wait for a long time, still nothing display). How long should I wait?
Monitors (2):
- NEC MultiSync PA241W via Display Port
- NEC MultiSync LCD3090WQXi via DVI-D
Thanks again!
I assume your High Sierra is the latest 10.13.6. Correct?
If your cMP normally can boot to desktop within 1min, then 1min is a reasonable time to wait. If normally need 5min, then wait for 5min. Just the normal time.
Anyway, for trouble shooting. I suggest you setup remote control (e.g. Google Remote Desktop) with your old working graphic card. Make sure the remote control works (you should able to see the desktop on virtually any other computer or smartphone / tablet). Then switch to the RX580, and see if the Remote Desktop can see anything. If yes, what's in these pages.
You may also try hold "command + R" to boot, RX580 driver also available in recovery partition. If the card is working, you should able to see something on the monitor.
It depends sometimes 4 to 6 minutes, sometimes when the machine act up longer. However i do have a lot of peripherals attached to it.
[ My very first MacRumors post! Save your applause, please... I'm here all week. ]
I'm jumping on this thread as I'm due to receive a Sapphire RX 580 Pulse 8GB so I can finally crawl out of my swampy GT120... and I have a few quick questions that I can't seem to Nail Down.
I've been mining MacRumors about which GPU to buy based on my setup. So I've settled on the RX580 based on price, performance, compatibility, and future-proofing. But again, through all my searching, I haven't found my exact answer.
I haven't yet received/installed the Sapphire, but I'd like to be ready to pounce as it's an eBay purchase.
My Setup: cMP early 2009 • 2x2.26 Nehalem • 4,1—>5,1 Flash • 48GB • 10.12.6 Sierra
My Questions (italics indicate ambiguity in my search results) :
1 What problems can I expect with RX 580 running Sierra?
2 MUST I upgrade to HiSierra?
3 Is there something special in HiSierra that maximizes RX580 performance?
4 Since I bought a used card, is there something I should watch out for? Any way to "test" its functioning?
5 Should I keep the GT120 installed my first installation? Attached to another monitor?
and, lastly:
6 Is there yet an advisable, foolproof method to "flash" or otherwise mod the Sapphire RX580 for "native" MacPro usage?
Thanks in advance. Pls pardon any noob offenses. Batteries not included.
I'm jumping on this thread as I'm due to receive a Sapphire RX 580 Pulse 8GB so I can finally crawl out of my swampy GT120... and I have a few quick questions that I can't seem to Nail Down.
I've been mining MacRumors about which GPU to buy based on my setup. So I've settled on the RX580 based on price, performance, compatibility, and future-proofing. But again, through all my searching, I haven't found my exact answer.
I haven't yet received/installed the Sapphire, but I'd like to be ready to pounce as it's an eBay purchase.
My Setup: cMP early 2009 • 2x2.26 Nehalem • 4,1—>5,1 Flash • 48GB • 10.12.6 Sierra
My Questions (italics indicate ambiguity in my search results) :
1 What problems can I expect with RX 580 running Sierra?
2 MUST I upgrade to HiSierra?
3 Is there something special in HiSierra that maximizes RX580 performance?
4 Since I bought a used card, is there something I should watch out for? Any way to "test" its functioning?
5 Should I keep the GT120 installed my first installation? Attached to another monitor?
and, lastly:
6 Is there yet an advisable, foolproof method to "flash" or otherwise mod the Sapphire RX580 for "native" MacPro usage?
Thanks in advance. Pls pardon any noob offenses. Batteries not included.
1) from memory, no problem except some cosmetic issue (e.g. PCIe info shows error)
2) No
3) better (more mature) GPU driver
4) stress it by running Unigine Valley, Unigine Heaven, Furmark, Luxmark (e.g. once at a time, 15min each). If no abnormal behaviour, then looks the hardware itself is still in healthy condition.
5) my recommendation is NO.
6) your card may be one of the “native” card already. If you don’t know how to dump - mod - flash the ROM, and don’t want to spend time to learn, better not to do it.
Thank you very much... this is great intel. Looks like I've got some benchmark app downloading to do.
A couple more questions based on your replies:
3) Will High Sierra's more mature GPU driver present a remarkable performance uptick? Do you recommend it?
(The only reason I'm running Sierra is that I only recently got this cMP and flashed it up. I wanted to ensure Office 2008 ran on it and rumors were that Sierra was the most stable platform. Then again, I hate MS and should probably just migrate to Libre or alphabet. Whatever. I don't wanna go Mojave 'til I have to.)
5) I managed to flash my cMP from 4,1 to 5,1 by just following the instructions. Is the modding of the 580 in that realm of rigorous instruction-following? Or do I really need to have an actual background in terminal-based stuff?
--------------
A) I see you're also running an RX580. You indicate the Pixlas mod. I just checked that out and at first glance it seems a power consumption mod? Can you tell me the Pixlas benefits you've found?
B) I see you flashed your cMP and upgraded to 3690. May I ask what OSX you're running? And what your bread and butter applications are? I'm Photoshop & InDesign but plan on video expansion.
3) In my own experience. Mojave is the most stable performing OS since 10.6.8. Especially with RX580, it's definitely smoother than Sierra and HS. Also less buggy (in fact, very flawless). My personal suggestion is go all the way to Mojave (you can use spare HDD to test it anyway, cMP has plenty of HDD slots. Use them), only downgrade to HS if your software really can't work in Mojave.
For GPU performance, the difference shouldn't be huge. But the newer driver provide better stability, less minor issues (e.g. GPU can't wake up after sleep etc).
5) Read this
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...580-pulse-into-the-mac-edition-card.2101909/-
and this
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/sapphire-pulse-rx580-8gb-vbios-study.2133607/
if you can't follow it, then better not to do it.
If you interested in it, and you know you really want (or need) to do it. I am willing to help if you face any difficulty.
a) I perform the Pixlas mod for 1080Ti, not for RX580. But it's there already, so, I use it. For PULSE RX580 8GB, there is no need to do Pixlas mod, all you need is just a dual mini 6pin to single 8pin cable.
b) Latest Mojave. Affinity Photos and FCPX.
____________________
"In my own experience. Mojave is the most stable performing OS since 10.6.8. Especially with RX580, it's definitely smoother than Sierra and HS. Also less buggy (in fact, very flawless). My personal suggestion is go all the way to Mojave (you can use spare HDD to test it anyway, cMP has plenty of HDD slots. Use them), only downgrade to HS if your software really can't work in Mojave."
_____________________
• Ringing Mojave endorsement, that. Your Mojave stability claims are remarkable if true. It was only in January that I was riding the Snow Leopard. I'm overly cautious/jaded with upgrades; it must be the years of Pavlovian aversion conditioning.
• Welp, if I want to achieve some special tricks with my RX580, I know can follow your brave new path.
• I've already got a partition on one of my drives loaded only w/HS. I might load up another drive and install Mojave.
______________
• Thanks MarkC426 for the cable reminder.
"In my own experience. Mojave is the most stable performing OS since 10.6.8. Especially with RX580, it's definitely smoother than Sierra and HS. Also less buggy (in fact, very flawless). My personal suggestion is go all the way to Mojave (you can use spare HDD to test it anyway, cMP has plenty of HDD slots. Use them), only downgrade to HS if your software really can't work in Mojave."
_____________________
• Ringing Mojave endorsement, that. Your Mojave stability claims are remarkable if true. It was only in January that I was riding the Snow Leopard. I'm overly cautious/jaded with upgrades; it must be the years of Pavlovian aversion conditioning.
• Welp, if I want to achieve some special tricks with my RX580, I know can follow your brave new path.
• I've already got a partition on one of my drives loaded only w/HS. I might load up another drive and install Mojave.
______________
• Thanks MarkC426 for the cable reminder.