MP 1,1-5,1 GPU Compatibility List for cMP

[n8mac]

It will run Mojave as it is and you will need to use OpenCore anyway, so boot screen will not help. Also, you can not make a RX 580 out of RX 480.

Im running 10.12 and am having trouble installing a firmware to install 10.13 so that I can install Mojave. I get the screen below so I do what it says. After the reboot it says the same thing so the firmware never gets installed so I assumed I need a boot screen to do so. I have done this many times and the firmware never installs. It reboots on its own after about 5 minutes.

I could be wrong about needing a boot screen though so can use some help.

 

[MarkC426]

What gpu do you have at the moment?

 

[Macschrauber]

Im running 10.12 and am having trouble installing a firmware to install 10.13 so that I can install Mojave. I get the screen below so I do what it says. After the reboot it says the same thing so the firmware never gets installed so I assumed I need a boot screen to do so. I have done this many times and the firmware never installs. It reboots on its own after about 5 minutes.

I could be wrong about needing a boot screen though so can use some help.

Guess you need either a Bootscreen GPU or a manual Firmware reconstruction.

MP5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave (BootROM upgrade instructions thread)

Please fully read this first post, you will probably find that you have one or more problems described into the various notes below. Mojave will only install if you have upgraded your BootROM to the current release and your Mac Pro have a Metal capable GPU*. If you are trying to install Mojave...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[hwojtek]

After the reboot it says the same thing so the firmware never gets installed so I assumed I need a boot screen to do so.

That may do the trick. I would get ahold of ANY (virtually ANY) genuine Apple (or bootscreen-capable) card, even one no longer supported in your OS of choice, install it into the computer as a second card, and once you click to reboot in order to install the firmware plug your display to this card, apply firmware update, reboot again, you are ready to go.
A GT120 or a flashed 4850 will do.

 

[n8mac]

What gpu do you have at the moment?

Radeon RX 480 PC

That may do the trick. I would get ahold of ANY (virtually ANY) genuine Apple (or bootscreen-capable) card, even one no longer supported in your OS of choice, install it into the computer as a second card, and once you click to reboot in order to install the firmware plug your display to this card, apply firmware update, reboot again, you are ready to go.
A GT120 or a flashed 4850 will do.

I am trying to make this Mac Pro last awhile longer while saving for a newer iMac. Can use some software updates as Sierra is too old. Was trying to avoid putting more money into it but I will see what ebay has now. Flashing my card is sounding abit too much for me.

I am still amazed at how well this machine runs for its age.

 

[MarkC426]

From the first page of Mojave upgrade wiki:

Remember: Apple Mojave recommend RX-560/580 cards do not have pre-boot configuration support (aka boot screens), so you need to install your original Mac EFI GPU to upgrade your BootROM to MP51.0089.B00 using the Mac App Store High Sierra 10.13.6 full installer. After that, Mojave installer can upgrade your firmware without the need of a Mac EFI GPU and requires that you only have Metal supported cards* installed in your Mac Pro.

 

[n8mac]

I got a Radeon 5770 mac card from ebay for $55.

 

[jvlfilms]

Hey all,
I’m noticing frame drops on my Sapphire Pulse RX 580 while playing games in Windows and overall, just poor GPU performance. In games like Fortnite, there’s constant stuttering and random drops no matter what settings I choose - I put it at 720p with all settings on low and the same issue occurs.

Meanwhile, games like WoW run perfectly fine, while older games like AC Black still struggle on high/1080p.

Is my GPU faulty? I don’t think the CPU could be that much of a bottleneck but that’s the only other thing I can think of. Thanks for the help

 

[hwojtek]

I believe this is out of scope in here, try Windows on Mac forums.
Your 580 might starve on power.

 

[jvlfilms]

I believe this is out of scope in here, try Windows on Mac forums.
Your 580 might starve on power.

Thank you for the help! I did some digging and it seems to be a common issue on some games, but in terms of power, I was thinking of using a EVGA Powerlink to help balance the load.

My RX 580 has a 8pin and I currently use an 8pin to two 6 pin for the board. Should I power the card a different way or is this way fine?

 

[joevt]

in terms of power, I was thinking of using a EVGA Powerlink to help balance the load.

If there wasn't enough power, the computer would probably turn off or something. I think maybe @hwojtek was referring to performance rather than watts?

 

[hwojtek]

If there wasn't enough power, the computer would probably turn off or something. I think maybe @hwojtek was referring to performance rather than watts?

Actually I was thinking about the wattage supplied to the card... good catch, @joevt, the computer would shut down if the card was requesting too much power. Forgot about that, since it only happened to me on my previous R9 280X.
@jvlfilms - I run a RX570 (also a single 8-pin) with an EVGA Powerlink hooked to both motherboard power outputs. I don't do Fortnite but do I play Fallout4 in 1440p ultra details and never drop below 35 fps, Project Cars2 in 4K works decent as well. I assume you do have the latest drivers, so perhaps some fine-tuning for Fortnite within the drivers would help?

 

[jvlfilms]

If there wasn't enough power, the computer would probably turn off or something. I think maybe @hwojtek was referring to performance rather than watts?

Good catch! I haven't had any unexpected shutdowns so that's good but I'll keep it in mind for the future

Actually I was thinking about the wattage supplied to the card... good catch, @joevt, the computer would shut down if the card was requesting too much power. Forgot about that, since it only happened to me on my previous R9 280X.
@jvlfilms - I run a RX570 (also a single 8-pin) with an EVGA Powerlink hooked to both motherboard power outputs. I don't do Fortnite but do I play Fallout4 in 1440p ultra details and never drop below 35 fps, Project Cars2 in 4K works decent as well. I assume you do have the latest drivers, so perhaps some fine-tuning for Fortnite within the drivers would help?

Funny enough, I've been testing so much with this game - uninstalling drivers, trying Windows ones, using Boot camp drivers, EVERYTHING. Long story short, nothing worked. But I did install Gears 5, Apex Legends, COD Warzone and everything I played performed great without doing much tweaking - I was able to play each game at 1080p on high and while I did have an occasional frame drop, it was nothing compared to what I'm getting with Fortnite. Really insane but I'm convinced it's a Fortnite issue, not GFX or CPU.

 

[hwojtek]

it was nothing compared to what I'm getting with Fortnite. Really insane but I'm convinced it's a Fortnite issue, not GFX or CPU.

OK, i installed Fortnite last night. Averages 33 fps on 4K high with some tearing and 55-60 on 1080p high (DirectX12), fully playable (not that I know how to play it). I suspect there is something fishy with your setup. Get rid of the drivers completely and use the latest AMD drivers from their website, that might help.

And one long shot - try with 64 GB of RAM (remove some DIMMs). Re-seat the GPU while you are there.

 

[jvlfilms]

OK, i installed Fortnite last night. Averages 33 fps on 4K high with some tearing and 55-60 on 1080p high (DirectX12), fully playable (not that I know how to play it). I suspect there is something fishy with your setup. Get rid of the drivers completely and use the latest AMD drivers from their website, that might help.

And one long shot - try with 64 GB of RAM (remove some DIMMs). Re-seat the GPU while you are there.

Thank you for replying back with your update!

I actually added a WiFi/BT card to my system last night so while I was there, I tried swapping out my RAM for my original 16GB DIMMs - no luck there either.

Unfortunately, I have done the complete display driver wipe multiple times and have tried stock AMD drivers/Windows Update drivers AND Boot Camp drivers, same issue all around. The only thing I have yet to try is swapping out the CPU and reinstalling Windows so that may be my next test after I get the correct cabling from my EVGA Powerlink that I didn't realize was upside down

The last option, although unlikely, is that the GPU is not working. I don't think that's the case as other games perform fine. I'm really curious if it's a Windows error that somehow screwed up my system (not out of the realm of possibility)

 

[MarkC426]

HOLY COOWWWW......just looked on Amazon at Pulse RX580 prices......
8gb card selling new from Amazon £859.

Bloomin eck, may have to sell my second (factory sealed in box) one I have on the shelf.

 

[Matty_TypeR]

I just picked up a sapphire vega 64 nitro plus from ebay for £325 for my 5.1 mac still some bargins out there. it runs perfect and cool at 65c so very happy with that. £859.00 for a RX 580 pulse is way over the top. but if your selling then profit to be made i guess.

 

[MarkC426]

Probably keep it (unless I get desperate.....)
I know if I sold it, my current one would throw its hand in the next day.....?

Nice to have a backup.
Just shocked at the overpricing.

 

[OVERKILL338LM]

No one ver got a NAVI 2x GPU, RX 6x000 series of graphic cards, working with a MacPro5,1. Install the card and your Mac Pro won't POST. Don't matter if is via PCIe or Thunderbolt, MacPro5,1 won't work with a NAVI 2x GPU.

Navi 1x, RX 5x000 series of graphic cards works fine with a MacPro5,1.

Navi 2x, works fine with MacPro6,1 via Thunderbolt.

Was thinking more like the 6600XT (2.0-2.2 slot card depending on variant) since it only needs 1 8pin power connector and is supported in Monterey 12.1. Seems like the next possible upgrade path for the RX 580 for those of us without the pixlas mod.

Possibly try a Sapphire or Asrock variant if I can find 1 priced appropriately. The worst that could happen is it doesn't work and I put it in my PC. Could try the card under Linux on the cMP 5,1 too.

@tsialex do we have any idea why they aren't working? Of course looking at upgrades, and the 6600 and 6600 XT are both available, while 580's are exceedingly rare. The 6600 XT appears to have the same power consumption as the GTX 680, so that really is unfortunate that they don't work.

@amishallin did you ever give it a try as you suggested you might?

EDIT: seems to be due to a lack of AVX support?

 

[joevt]

@tsialex do we have any idea why they aren't working?

The EFI driver on the AMD Radeon RX 6000 series cards (code name Navi 2X, nickname Big Navi, RDNA 2 microarchitecture) is making assumptions about the EFI environment that is not true for Mac Pros and the EFI driver is not checking the results. #873
People have modified the drivers to work with Mac Pros #874

 

[OVERKILL338LM]

The EFI driver on the AMD Radeon RX 6000 series cards (code name Navi 2X, nickname Big Navi, RDNA 2 microarchitecture) is making assumptions about the EFI environment that is not true for Mac Pros and the EFI driver is not checking the results. #873
People have modified the drivers to work with Mac Pros #874

Thanks!

 

[macguru9999]

has anyone tested a mavidcds europe flashed 6800 series card in their mac 5,1 yet ?

 

[hwojtek]

has anyone tested a mavidcds europe flashed 6800 series card in their mac 5,1 yet ?

AMD Polaris, Vega, & Navi GPU macOS Support

AMD RX 6600XT will not work with your Mac Pro. Navi 2x GPUs are only supported on 2019 Mac Pro. A MacPro5,1 will only work with Ellesmere/Polaris/Vega and Navi 1x GPUs. The newest GPU supported on a MacPro5,1 is RX 5700XT, the fastest is Radeon VII.

forums.macrumors.com

 

[macguru9999]

AMD Polaris, Vega, & Navi GPU macOS Support

AMD RX 6600XT will not work with your Mac Pro. Navi 2x GPUs are only supported on 2019 Mac Pro. A MacPro5,1 will only work with Ellesmere/Polaris/Vega and Navi 1x GPUs. The newest GPU supported on a MacPro5,1 is RX 5700XT, the fastest is Radeon VII.

forums.macrumors.com

thats fake news now apparently. they do work. 6800x when flashed with bootscreen etc

 

[amishallin]

Macvidcards-europe's ebay store has the 6600xt available. They are an MSI variant and appear to be 2.2 slots wide... slightly bigger then the double slot Sapphire Pulse 580. Found the MSI card on newegg and it looks like the extra thickness comes from useless plastics protruding around the fans on the shroud. However, there is an Asrock variant that appears to be only double slot by looking at the images.

Hopefully there will be other variants available from macvidcards-europe. I'll probably end up getting 1 of these eventually but not willing to give up my USB 3 card. The PCIe slots are too close together and putting the GPU in the bottom slot doesn't allow for sufficient cooling (floor it sits on gets hot to the touch).

They also have the Gigabyte 6800xt available but that requires the Pixlas mod (2 8-pin connectors) and looks to be a triple slot card.