MP 1,1-5,1 Help With Radeon Pro WX7100 for Mac5,1

[ToborMP51]

Hello all, newbie here. Like the title says, I need a little help. I'll try to keep it short and simple:

Researched for days to find a gpu to upgrade from the default Radeon HD 5770 in my MP5,1
Settled on the Radeon Pro WX7100 because it seemed like the least hassle (no extra power mods, single slot) and it fit my current budget

However, after placing the order for it, I realized I still wasn't sure if I need to get a special cable to connect it or if I can use the current one hooked up to the 5770.
I tried searching around the forums and doing a general search but I couldn't find anything that specifically answered my question.


This is my first "major" upgrade, so I'm still rather new at this. I installed a USB card a while back but upgrading the gpu seems a tad more complicated.

I would appreciate any help I can get on this matter. Thank you!

 

[tsialex]

WX7100 have the same 1x6-pin power input as the HD 5770. Same cable.

 

[ToborMP51]

WX7100 have the same 1x6-pin power input as the HD 5770. Same cable.

oh really? that's fantastic! so, in basic terms, I will just need to remove the old card, put in the new one and I should be good to go? that's a relief.

thank you so much!

 

[tsialex]

so, in basic terms, I will just need to remove the old card, put in the new one and I should be good to go?

Yes, electrically and physically. Don't forget that the WX7100 is basically a variant of RX 480, same macOS driver support (starts with 10.12.6) and no pre-boot configuration. If you need BootScreens/BootPicker, you can use EnableGop.

 

[dataharvested]

I'm running a Radeon Pro WX7100 in both my workstation and home server purposed CMP. I also am using EnableGop and the cards work perfectly. I have the boot picker and boot progress screens. It's a great setup.

 

[ToborMP51]

Yes, electrically and physically. Don't forget that the WX7100 is basically a variant of RX 480, same macOS driver support (starts with 10.12.6) and no pre-boot configuration. If you need BootScreens/BootPicker, you can use EnableGop.

Yes, I learned about that small snag while researching into gpu upgrades. But, luckily, I don't need to worry about that for now.
Also, I'm not yet brave enough to mess with it. As it's my main working machine, I'm worried I might mess something up and maybe brick my CMP. But, thank you for letting me know. perhaps in the future, when I need to swap partitions or OSes, I at least know where to start looking

Anyway, even with the HD5770, I already don't see the bootscreen so, I'm pretty used to that by now. I used to see it when I first got the machine but, I don't know when or what I did that stopped it from showing at some point.

I'm running a Radeon Pro WX7100 in both my workstation and home server purposed CMP. I also am using EnableGop and the cards work perfectly. I have the boot picker and boot progress screens. It's a great setup.

That's great! thank you for posting this. It inspires confidence knowing that particular card works really well with EnableGOP.

 

[JedNZ]

If you haven't done so already, you could consider getting your BootROM reconstructed by @tsialex (good insurance for your main working machine) - he also adds in EnableGOP at the same time so that would sort both things at the same time. I had mine done a year or more ago and it's a wonderful thing to have boot screens, especially with all the upgrades I've done to macOS using RefindPlus and OCLP – it would have been hopeless trying to navigate blindly without boot screens.

 

[ToborMP51]

If you haven't done so already, you could consider getting your BootROM reconstructed by @tsialex (good insurance for your main working machine) - he also adds in EnableGOP at the same time so that would sort both things at the same time. I had mine done a year or more ago and it's a wonderful thing to have boot screens, especially with all the upgrades I've done to macOS using RefindPlus and OCLP – it would have been hopeless trying to navigate blindly without boot screens.

Reconstructing my BootROM? I haven't heard of that before. Will it affect the OS or software I have installed in any way?

At this point, I'm not so sure I want to tweak anything more on my CMP. It's already a bit unstable as it is and I fear modifying something else will just make things more complicated.

 

[ToborMP51]

Alright, so the video card arrived but instantly I noticed something I had not noticed in the pictures before and I’m not sure if it’s something I need to worry about or what.
Near the metal plate with all the video ports, I noticed this odd connection:

Can anyone please explain what that’s for or if I need a cable of some type to connect it to my cMP?

 

[tsialex]

This is the connector for a external framelock/genlock.

No, you probably don't need it.

 

[ToborMP51]

This is the connector for a external framelock/genlock.

No, you probably don't need it.

Ohh, I see. Thank you! I kept looking and looking but, without knowing what it's called I could not find anything on it. Every article and video I saw, they all seemed to overlook that connection, as if it didn't exist.
You're right though, that looks something geared more towards high-end production studios. It's a relief knowing I won't have to hunt down the cable that goes with it.

 

[JedNZ]

Reconstructing my BootROM? I haven't heard of that before. Will it affect the OS or software I have installed in any way?

At this point, I'm not so sure I want to tweak anything more on my CMP. It's already a bit unstable as it is and I fear modifying something else will just make things more complicated.

Nope - it won’t affect the OS or software, but what it will do is enable you to flash a completely cleaned and never booted before version of your BootROM which eliminates errors and corruption that could lead to the earlier demise (bricking) of your BootROM. I can’t do full justice as far as explaining it, so check out this thread (from the start) which digs a bit deeper, or PM @tsialex for more info.