Frequently Asked Questions About NVIDIA PC (non-EFI) Graphics Cards

[Mac Hammer Fan]

It seems that the webdrivers from nVidia for Sierra are buggy. Many months there was trouble of a faltering mouse after wake up from sleep (during a minute). And now my Mac Pro doesn't go to sleep anymore under Sierra. When I choose the command "sleep" the screen goes black but nothing else.
I have tried an SMC reset, NVRAM reset, disconnected all USB devices and logged out all users. No solution. The problem doesn't occur under High Sierra.

 

[Asgorath]

It seems that the webdrivers from nVidia for Sierra are buggy. Many months there was trouble of a faltering mouse after wake up from sleep (during a minute). And now my Mac Pro doesn't go to sleep anymore under Sierra. When I choose the command "sleep" the screen goes black but nothing else.
I have tried an SMC reset, NVRAM reset, disconnected all USB devices and logged out all users. No solution. The problem doesn't occur under High Sierra.

If you have issues that are fixed in a newer OS, then they will never be fixed on the old OS. That is, NVIDIA is never ever going to update their Sierra driver codebase.

 

[Speedstar]

In my opinion the drivers are not buggy if I only use GTX 680 Mac edition or Quadro k5000 for Mac,
In all other cases there are difficulties and it is up to you experimenting with maxwell, pascal FE cards which never have been developed to work in a mac pro , fan problems or multi GPU trouble you won't find under Windows, I do not blame Nvidia for that, I am happy I could use CUDA with build in OS drivers in Sierra, since High Sierra I have become
unintentionally hackintiosher with my 3.1 McP and with 5.1 I am not able to go beyond HS but I do not blame Nvidia for that.
Apple sucks after Steve is gone,
it became a Handheld company with this superior OS which is changed to web services/ iTunes AppShop for Computer newbies.
There is no Apple inc. leader making Macs interesting for Pixar, sure IBM likes MacBooks.
Beyond that , me as an
Nvidia-Mac Ethusiast, there is not much profit for shareholders to make hardware and software WE love to buy and use.
I do not believe Apple to make any better computers in the future (Mac Pro '19) , since there is no professional Apple software which was developed for El Capitan which made use of Metal-API.
It is ridiculous to introduce acceleration APIs which even Apple does not use in own Software Products IN FOUR GENERATIONS OF ITS OWN OPERATING SYSTEM
(see last system requirements for
Final Cut Pro X

https://www.apple.com/ca/final-cut-pro/specs/

Open-CL !!!) , this company became the new Microsoft of the 90's. Forget about Plug and Play or designed for Apple, every update for me is a nightmare, I am asking myself what will I lose this time.(Sony home theater 32bit App, Legato eyeTV, HP-USB-scanner/Printer) it is not important anymore if I bought this hardware in Apple store ...
Have You seen any Nvidia hardware in an Apple Store,
Well my hope is still there to see Nvidia hardware coming back to Apple , but it's hope not reality.
This situation is only designed by Apple in California. !!!

 

[howiest]

I just updated to 10.13.6 High Sierra and none of the web drivers I've tried are compatible.
I have a flashed GTX680 so I can just use the built-in drivers, but why is CUDA throwing up an "update required" but won't allow an update, and why do the web drivers installer show "not compatible"?

It's like I have some vague version of High Sierra installed...
macOS 10.13.6 (17G4012)

 

[blinds122000]

I just updated to 10.13.6 High Sierra and none of the web drivers I've tried are compatible.
I have a flashed GTX680 so I can just use the built-in drivers, but why is CUDA throwing up an "update required" but won't allow an update, and why do the web drivers installer show "not compatible"?

It's like I have some vague version of High Sierra installed...
macOS 10.13.6 (17G4012)

Get yourself a GTX1080. It’s solved all of my glitches and slow performance from previously using a 980 under HS running web driver 105. Make sure you install the drivers correctly. double check to hit the allow button in the sercurity panel under system Preferences half way through the install.

 

[flowrider]

I just updated to 10.13.6 High Sierra and none of the web drivers I've tried are compatible.
I have a flashed GTX680 so I can just use the built-in drivers, but why is CUDA throwing up an "update required" but won't allow an update, and why do the web drivers installer show "not compatible"?

It's like I have some vague version of High Sierra installed...
macOS 10.13.6 (17G4012)

The latest released build is (17G3025). Assume you have the Beta Security Update. Web Driver 387.10.10.15.15.108 may work, but not sure since I haven't download the Beta yet. But, that web driver has been pulled by Nvidia.

Web Drivers are release specific, but the 15.15.108 web driver seems to work with multiple build nos.


Lou

 

[howiest]

Get yourself a GTX1080. It’s solved all of my glitches and slow performance from previously using a 980 under HS running web driver 105. Make sure you install the drivers correctly. double check to hit the allow button in the sercurity panel under system Preferences half way through the install.

I just purchased a Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 580 8GB (just waiting for cables to be delivered), but I thought I'd update the web drivers just for the heck of it, and none of them will install. I think I have a lame duck version of High Sierra installed. lol
[doublepost=1542656237][/doublepost]

The latest released build is (17G3025). Assume you have the Beta Security Update. Web Driver 387.10.10.15.15.108 may work, but not sure since I haven't download the Beta yet. But, that web driver has been pulled by Nvidia.

Lou

Oh geez Lou you're right. I applied that Beta Security Update last night, and totally forgot that it would for sure mess up the web drivers. Thanks for the reminder.
Oh well, moving on to the Radeon RX 580 and no boot screens so Que Será, Será.

 

[Speedstar]

I just updated to 10.13.6 High Sierra and none of the web drivers I've tried are compatible.
I have a flashed GTX680 so I can just use the built-in drivers, but why is CUDA throwing up an "update required" but won't allow an update, and why do the web drivers installer show "not compatible"?

It's like I have some vague version of High Sierra installed...
macOS 10.13.6 (17G4012)

Again trouble with NVIDIA WebDriver because of Beta or new update, still want to use CUDA, go back SIP off and create your own Nvidia Development driver release for your current macOS build number see that post for details:

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...graphics-cards.1440150/page-193#post-26798269

PS:
Before; uninstall of WebDriver may be useful through preference pane ...

 

[bsbeamer]

Another reason to stick with High Sierra, looks like Apple will be depreciating or eliminating some video codecs in future releases. At least keep a bootable copy of High Sierra for Mac Pro:

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT209000
"Legacy media files are compatible with macOS Mojave, but they won't be with future macOS releases."

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH12754

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

Another reason to stick with High Sierra, looks like Apple will be depreciating or eliminating some video codecs in future releases. At least keep a bootable copy of High Sierra for Mac Pro:

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT209000
"Legacy media files are compatible with macOS Mojave, but they won't be with future macOS releases."

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH12754

That is Final Cut not the OS.

From time to time Windows, macOS and editing apps drop old formats and introduce better formats. You can still keep an older version on secondary boot drive if you need.

 

[bsbeamer]

That is Final Cut not the OS.

There is reason to believe this is an OS level removal as they move to natively support ONLY 64-bit codecs in the next OS version. This will certainly impact FCPX. Avid, Adobe and others will likely (want to) provide migration tools or can cobble together "seamless" solutions that will barely work as intended. Rumors swirling this is in anticipation of a move to ARM-based processors, but personally do not want to believe them.

Most immediately concerning is the attitude towards this and manner in which it was announced. Very reminiscent of the not too long ago Apple "Pro" attitude after FCP7 and Aperture were abandoned. Combined with Apple's big middle finger to NVIDIA & CUDA and things are not looking very promising for the macOS platform moving forward for any style of professional use. Guess we'll really see when the MP7,1 is announced.

In the short term, this news will almost certainly allow me to further extend High Sierra usage into 2019 while keeping client "OS and software update" compliance. At least they released some kind of documentation this time...

 

[octoviaa]

Hi,

I want to share my experience with Palit JetStream GTX 680 4GB, it works just fine with 10.13.6 OOTB.
I just plug the GPU into the second PCI slot.

Even though the card have 6pin + 8 pin PCIe power, I'm only using two 6pin and it works.
I have not pushed the card using any benchmark but for normal usage it looks ok.
The mini6pin to 6pin cable I connect to the 8pin in the GTX 680 is:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002UR1654

I've attached screen shot from system profiler.

 

[flowrider]

Nvidia's looking?:

Lou

 

[Speedstar]

Sounds like Christmas ,NV
Even christmas 2019 may be fine!

Now I can start to collect money for
"GeForce 2170 RTX" and "MacPro2019"
Ready to buy it 2022 !!! (Meanwhile I install Win10)
Better late then never again !!! <3NV

Lou

 

[Asgorath]

I wouldn't read too much into that. NVIDIA has been trying to hire Mac driver developers for many years now.

 

[tu2thepoo]

For anyone thumbing through this thread looking for a cheap NVIDIA card that'll work with Mojave right now (as of Nov 2018), I got a $40 Geforce 710 working: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/so-what’s-the-cheapest-graphics-card-for-mojave-on-a-5-1.2121594/page-5#post-26843796

 

[Speedstar]

Has anybody A clue how I can use a GTX 680 MacEd. (2x6pin 190Watt) together with PC nv K5000 Quadro (1x6pin connector) in McP5.1 without external PSU?
Is one SATA from 2nd dvd Drive providing enough Watts for k5000 which needs 122watts ,PCI has 75W is there any chance to run this combo ?

I even read that a guy Runs 690gtx in McP without external PSU but took kind of molex converters from sata-bays.

Well all my bays are in use, and I do not want to disconnect my single DVD drive any hint?

I suppose I could run both cards
Gtx680macEd with PC k5000 Quadro with build in MacOS drivers ?

Or need Kepler without EFI always webDriver?

And last crazy question would a SLI-bridge be possible between those cards? (Well I know the one has 2GB VRAM the other 4GB)

 

[h9826790]

Has anybody A clue how I can use a GTX 680 MacEd. (2x6pin 190Watt) together with PC nv K5000 Quadro (1x6pin connector) in McP5.1 without external PSU?
Is one SATA from 2nd dvd Drive providing enough Watts for k5000 which needs 122watts ,PCI has 75W is there any chance to run this combo ?

I even read that a guy Runs 690gtx in McP without external PSU but took kind of molex converters from sata-bays.

Well all my bays are in use, and I do not want to disconnect my single DVD drive any hint?

I suppose I could run both cards
Gtx680macEd with PC k5000 Quadro with build in MacOS drivers ?

Or need Kepler without EFI always webDriver?

And last crazy question would a SLI-bridge be possible between those cards? (Well I know the one has 2GB VRAM the other 4GB)

1) Search “Pixlas mod”

2) NO SLI exist in macOS no matter which GPU you use.

 

[navaira]

I gave up waiting, downgraded back to 10.13.6 without the latest security patch. (Does "security" mean "you won't install external drivers ever again" in this case...?)

 

[flowrider]

This monkey business has severely dimmed my prospect of every buying a Mac again. Even if the 7,1 Mac Pro will slice bread and fly me to the moon and back, I will not be standing in line to buy it. I have used Macintosh, and only Macintosh, as my personal computer since my first Mac Plus back in '86. I am really angry over this whole Apple/Nvidia business

Lou

 

[MacGamver]

This monkey business has severely dimmed my prospect of every buying a Mac again. Even if the 7,1 Mac Pro will slice bread and fly me to the moon and back, I will not be standing in line to buy it. I have used Macintosh, and only Macintosh, as my personal computer since my first Mac Plus back in '86. I am really angry over this whole Apple/Nvidia business

Lou

I'm with you there Lou. I used to be Apple fan numero uno.... Since the days of Steve, they have really started to displease me. Not only is the "it just works" mantra long dead, they really have ceased innovating. They have played catch-up now in many categories they they used to lead or even create. Steve Jobs once criticized other companies for having closed systems, and now nearly everything at Apple is exactly that. We need a new Apple renaissance comparable to the 1998 iMac one to bring back what this company was set out to be.

 

[Asgorath]

Yeah, I've been using Windows exclusively for the past few years now, and have generally been satisfied (especially when it comes to games). I also find that I spend less time being angry at Apple when they make decisions that really just solidify that I'm no longer in their target market. Best of both worlds really, my computer is fast and I can upgrade the GPU whenever I want, and I'm not pissed off all the time.

 

[MacGamver]

Yeah, I've been using Windows exclusively for the past few years now, and have generally been satisfied (especially when it comes to games). I also find that I spend less time being angry at Apple when they make decisions that really just solidify that I'm no longer in their target market. Best of both worlds really, my computer is fast and I can upgrade the GPU whenever I want, and I'm not pissed off all the time.

Yo Asgorath! Have you found that WoW runs better in Windoze? I still have my bootcamp volume on my cMP and just updated the driver for my Radeon580; I've been sticking on the Mac side but who knows, when the obsolete me in a year I might be on Windows from there on out...

 

[Speedstar]

1) Search “Pixlas mod”

2) NO SLI exist in macOS no matter which GPU you use.

Pixlas mod is way to heavy
I just need +47 watt for k5000
1st card max 190W with 2x6pin
2nd card max 122W 1x6pin

Any cable magic ?

ps:SLI is just idea for BC with drv-mod

 

[Asgorath]

Yo Asgorath! Have you found that WoW runs better in Windoze? I still have my bootcamp volume on my cMP and just updated the driver for my Radeon580; I've been sticking on the Mac side but who knows, when the obsolete me in a year I might be on Windows from there on out...

It's almost laughably better on Windows, just like every other game I've tried. Say what you will about Windows vs macOS, it's very clear that Microsoft takes PC gaming very, very seriously.

Edit: I should also point out that I was shocked when I retired my cMP and switched to a Hackintosh about 4 or 5 years ago, even though the clock speeds weren't that much higher the PC was just way faster.