Dual RX 480s in Mac Pro 5,1 running MacOS (w/ How-to)

[Draeconis]

It's hardly any faster at all. LOL!

Do you think that it is worth it? Or should I wait and pray, sorta speak, that Polaris 10, will become fully accelerated and supported OOB in future Sierra update?

What do you think the chances are that future Sierra versions will fully support, say an RX470 without modifying anything. Just stick it in and go?

Well, that's just raw specs, it doesn't really tell us anything. What it does say is that for less power, it'll do better than what you currently have.

Chances of using a PC card without *any* modification of macOS, I think it's safe to say that's impossible.

It currently works well(ish) by modifying one kernel extension and disabling some security features, but at the moment it's too early to say if this support will be permanent. At least, where money is involved.

If you'd like a conclusive answer, wait until the October hardware event is over. If they announce Macs with RX 4xx derivatives, likelihood support is here to stay.

Desktop Nvidia GTX 680 is supported because some Macs (iMac Late 2012, some others) shipped with the mobile version back in 2012. No Mac with the desktop 680 ever shipped, and GTX 680 still has support, so there's a precedent for it.

 

[namethisfile]

Well, that's just raw specs, it doesn't really tell us anything. What it does say is that for less power, it'll do better than what you currently have.

Chances of using a PC card without *any* modification of macOS, I think it's safe to say that's impossible.

Well, isn't the RX 460 supported OOB without any modifications?

 

[Draeconis]

Well, isn't the RX 460 supported OOB without any modifications?

It depends which subsystem vendor you go with. I think Sapphire was the one people found to work reliably.

MVC/Rominator didn't seem to have an issue with it.

 

[Pandanl]

Anyone tried this method with the RX 480 Nitro 4GB from Sapphire? It is an custom design and requires a 8 pin connector, now I see those 6 pin mini pcie to 8 pin pcie cables exist, but will it also work power wise?

Currently I have this card in my PC, but I'm in the market for a cMP 4.1/5.1

 

[handheldgames]

Anyone tried this method with the RX 480 Nitro 4GB from Sapphire? It is an custom design and requires a 8 pin connector, now I see those 6 pin mini pcie to 8 pin pcie cables exist, but will it also work power wise?

Currently I have this card in my PC, but I'm in the market for a cMP 4.1/5.1

IF you can get a 4,1 or 5,1 at a good price in a local Craigslist deal, your RX 480 will not have any issues. The BIOS should be adjusted to keep PCIe 0 below the 75 watt threshold. With two 75Watt lanes powering the 8-pin connector, the RX480 will only use about 60% of the available current in the most taxing situations. Making the card ideal for overclocking beyond factory limits.

Recapping 3D rendering issues with the current drivers.

At times when the rendering surface fails to render in your app...

Modify the size window to bring back the view to fix the broken math.


In some cases. Rendering just fails no matter the situation.

 

[namethisfile]

Anyone here have experience with RX 460 running in a cMP?

I just ordered a 4GB Gigabyte RX 460 Windforce model. We'll see how it goes when I receive it later this week and make a report about it here of what I find.

My preliminary research seems to be that an RX 460 is equivalent in terms of TFLOP performance to a GTX 680MX that were in 2013 iMacs, which is around 2.2 TFLOP's.

 

[koyoot]

Search for FirePro D300 and D500 reviews because Single D300 has 2 TFLOPs, and single D500 has 2.2 TFLOPs of compute power.

 

[namethisfile]

Search for FirePro D300 and D500 reviews because Single D300 has 2 TFLOPs, and single D500 has 2.2 TFLOPs of compute power.

Ok. So, an RX460 is closer in performance to a single D500 than a GTX 680MX? I know that TFLOP per TFLOP comparison are skewed between AMD and NVIDIA cards, as far as game performance are concerned.

For example, an AMD FuryX has 8.6 TFLOPS. And, an Nvidia GTX 980 Ti has 5.6 TFLOPS. Yet, the GTX 980 Ti is like so much faster in games than the Fury X. It's weird.

Anyway, I wonder if one can put 2 RX460's in a classic Mac Pro (tower) and have the equivalent performance of the 2013 nMP (Trash can version) with 2 D500's?

 

[koyoot]

Actually, your logic here is correct. Putting dual RX 460 would give you dual D500 performance FP32.

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

For example, an AMD FuryX has 8.6 TFLOPS. And, an Nvidia GTX 980 Ti has 5.6 TFLOPS. Yet, the GTX 980 Ti is like so much faster in games than the Fury X. It's weird.

Different apps and games stress GPUs differently. Even more, these TFLOPS calculations are always Windows based with better drivers. On a Mac all these GPUs are weaker and not fully exploited.

 

[Pandanl]

IF you can get a 4,1 or 5,1 at a good price in a local Craigslist deal, your RX 480 will not have any issues. The BIOS should be adjusted to keep PCIe 0 below the 75 watt threshold. With two 75Watt lanes powering the 8-pin connector, the RX480 will only use about 60% of the available current in the most taxing situations. Making the card ideal for overclocking beyond factory limits.

Do you mean a 2 mini pcie to 1 8 pin pcie cable to power the RX480?

 

[namethisfile]

Actually, your logic here is correct. Putting dual RX 460 would give you dual D500 performance FP32.

Cool. Well, we'll see when I get my hands on RX 460 if it is all good. Meaning OOB the thing works. In the meantime, or as far as you know, will I be able to still use my HD5770? So, have an HD5770 and RX460 running at the same time? Or will the mix GPU confuse MacOS and the Mac Pro?

And, if I do have those 2 cards in there, does it matter which one is in slot 1 or 2. Or, which cards I will plug my two monitors to?

I'll probably figure this all out. But, just preempting my options while I wait for the card to get here.

Thanks!

 

[theitsage]

Mixing GPUs is fine. OpenCL tasks can make use of all available GPUs. OpenGL tasks tend to only work on the screen to which the GPU connects.

 

[orph]

if you have time do a comparison with just the 5770 then just the 460 then both, tho id be tempted to just use the 460 as the 5770 is going to make a lot more fan sound :E maybe?

 

[AndreeOnline]

If you look earlier in the thread you can see my tests with a 280X and a RX 480. Like in your case they are different cards that can still work together side by side—in the right app or use case. I tested them one by one and then together.

As has been said, for apps that just recognize one card, it will be whatever card is hooked up to your display(s).

 

[namethisfile]

My RX 460 should arrive today. But, in the meantime, I ran the Luxmark test and got the score below. Is this normal for HD5770? The GPU clock looks awfully slow though at only 85 Mhz. What is wrong with that?

 

[h9826790]

My RX 460 should arrive today. But, in the meantime, I ran the Luxmark test and got the score below. Is this normal for HD5770? The GPU clock looks awfully slow though at only 85 Mhz. What is wrong with that?

That's a bug in macOS 10.12, which is just cosmetic. The frequency should be 850MHz in your case, the last digit just unable to display correctly.

 

[orph]

mm i was interested in the combination of such an old card and a new one your 290's are much closer

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

New beta time

 

[deathspared]

Hey there,

I got my hands on an 8GB RX 480. I am currently running a PC GTX680 in my Mac Pro and it works great. I'd like improved rendering in FCP X though.

Would I be better off selling the RX 480 and waiting for support for the GTX 1070? I'd like things to be as plug and play as possible (boot screen aside). Or should I hold on to the RX 480 and see if drivers are added to OS X?

Thanks!

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

Hey there,

I got my hands on an 8GB RX 480. I am currently running a PC GTX680 in my Mac Pro and it works great. I'd like improved rendering in FCP X though.

Would I be better off selling the RX 480 and waiting for support for the GTX 1070? I'd like things to be as plug and play as possible (boot screen aside). Or should I hold on to the RX 480 and see if drivers are added to OS X?

Thanks!

Nobody knows outside the chip room at Apple.

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

Updated Sierra to 10.12.1 beta 3

Easy, just add the ID, fix permissions, reboot. No card swapping because the Radeon can load macOS without a driver.

New scores

Geekbench Compute 86000. Increase by 3000.

Luxball 10173. No change.
Neumann 5852. No change.
Hotel 1652. No change.

Tomb Raider, 1200p, default High. 82fps. No change.

Valley Extreme HD with Ultra quality 1548. No change.

If you have X5690s then add 10-15% to the GL scores.

Beta 4. Same easy install.

Boot screen feels really native now. It flickered off and then on in the early betas. Now it appears and loads the OS like one of this EFI cards that were once needed ;p

Performance same as last beta.

Yay font rendering works in Sierra now.

 

[namethisfile]

Got the RX 460. It's kinda cute. The cooler feels metallic, even though, I think it's plastic. But, really premium plastic, I think.

Then, in the Mac Pro... looks beefy and cute in there!

LuxMark...

Unigine...

Now, compared to the HD 5770... not as great of jump... as opposed to the Luxmark score...

The Lexmark on the HD5770 is really low compared to the RX 460....

In all, not bad for $130! I even get Metal support....

The only weird thing is that under PCI I get this error... anyone know why this is?

Also, the fans on the RX 460 doesn't spin until stressed. Also, didn't see the Apple logo, when restarting or booting up.

But, it was either wise plug 'n' play. I couldn't ask for anything more, really. And, I think I am just going to use the single RX 460 and keep the HD 5770 in the closet until I need it.

 

[scott.n]

Deleted.

 

[namethisfile]

Shouldn't it be x16 under PCIe lane? How do I fix this?

Also, no info under PCI... is there a fix to this? Or is this just a result of using PC cards?

Should I put it in a different slot?