Mac Pro 2009 (4.1)

[Amethyst1]

Will I be able to put in say a PC RX 480 and then be able to install a fresh OS that supports the graphics card?

Yes, the card is automatically initialised as soon as macOS (Sierra or later for a RX 480) has booted to the login screen.

That means you’ll need a GPU which has boot screens to install macOS though. So it’s a bit of a shame the seller has yanked the original GPU.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Yes, the card is automatically initialised as soon as macOS (Sierra or later for a RX 480) has booted to the login screen.

I found a number of warnings by a member who claims that the RX 480 will damage a Mac Pro's PCIe slots. I'm confused as I've not really seen anyone else mention this.

That means you’ll need a GPU which has boot screens to install macOS though. So it’s a bit of a shame the seller has yanked the original GPU.

They probably didn't even get that much for it separately anyway...

 

[originaldotexe]

Yes, the card is automatically initialised as soon as macOS (Sierra or later for a RX 480) has booted to the login screen.

That means you’ll need a GPU which has boot screens to install macOS though. So it’s a bit of a shame the seller has yanked the original GPU.

now with the uefi gop hack any uefi gop card will function as a "mac edition"

 

[originaldotexe]

now with the uefi gop hack any uefi gop card will function as a "mac edition"

just about any vbios can be modded to support uefi gop as well

 

[Apolloza]

Yes, the card is automatically initialised as soon as macOS (Sierra or later for a RX 480) has booted to the login screen.

That means you’ll need a GPU which has boot screens to install macOS though. So it’s a bit of a shame the seller has yanked the original GPU.

I’m not sure what OS the unit is running. So that my worry, how to get a supported OS on the unit or onto a drive that I can then insert into the Mac pro.

 

[Apolloza]

just about any vbios can be modded to support uefi gop as well

I did some googling, looks pretty complex to flash a card?

 

[originaldotexe]

I did some googling, looks pretty complex to flash a card?

you just need to dump your mac pro firmware rom, patch the rom with their patch, boot the mac pro in programmer/debug mode (by holding power until it makes a weird sound & the power led flashes) and then flash that modified rom back to it. takes maybe 5 minutes to do

 

[originaldotexe]

you just need to dump your mac pro firmware rom, patch the rom with their patch, boot the mac pro in programmer/debug mode (by holding power until it makes a weird sound & the power led flashes) and then flash that modified rom back to it. takes maybe 5 minutes to do

99% of modern cards like rx 480/580 are already uefi gop compatible so you should not need to make your own uefi gop vbios.

 

[Apolloza]

I found a number of warnings by a member who claims that the RX 480 will damage a Mac Pro's PCIe slots. I'm confused as I've not really seen anyone else mention this.



They probably didn't even get that much for it separately anyway...

I was thinking the RX 580 initially, but read the power draw was significantly higher, but if it’s a better fit (literally and figuratively) than the 480 I’ll find the cash for a second hand 580 instead.

 

[TheShortTimer]

I was thinking the RX 580 initially, but read the power draw was significantly higher, but if it’s a better fit (literally and figuratively) than the 480 I’ll find the cash for a second hand 580 instead.

Hold on for @Amethyst1 to reply - he's the GPU guru.

Of course he's too modest to admit it but he is.

 

[Amethyst1]

I was thinking the RX 580 initially, but read the power draw was significantly higher, but if it’s a better fit (literally and figuratively) than the 480 I’ll find the cash for a second hand 580 instead.

A RX 460 or 560 is much more frugal (and cheaper). It doesn’t need any extra power on top of what the PCIe slot provides.

 

[Apolloza]

A RX 460 or 560 is much more frugal (and cheaper). It doesn’t need any extra power on top of what the PCIe slot provides.

Im finding RX580 cheaper than 460s locally. Purely between the 480 and 580 what would work the best?

 

[Apolloza]

Update. Collected the machine today. Couple of bad scrapes. Totally gutted (no HDD and graphics). Initially got a blinking power button when I turned it on. Swooped out the memory and eventually got the bong!

I got a RX560 for cheap.

I have a USB boot stick for an older (failed) hackintosh. So it boots the stick. So I know the graphics card also works i. The machine. But no surprise I can’t start the Mac OS installer.

Any Advice would be appreciated. I have a space SSD already installed. But how do I get Mac OS on it now?

 

[Amethyst1]

But how do I get Mac OS on it now?

Normally, you'd boot from a USB installer (there's no Internet Recovery on a 4,1 AFAIK) but having an unflashed GPU in there would require you to do it blindly. Do you have another Mac you could use to install macOS on the machine? Another way (if you have another hard drive or SSD) might be to install Windows and VMware on the Mac Pro, set up a VM for macOS that directly accesses the other SSD, and install macOS on the SSD using the VM.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Update. Collected the machine today. Couple of bad scrapes. Totally gutted (no HDD and graphics). Initially got a blinking power button when I turned it on. Swooped out the memory and eventually got the bong!

I got a RX560 for cheap.

I have a USB boot stick for an older (failed) hackintosh. So it boots the stick. So I know the graphics card also works i. The machine. But no surprise I can’t start the Mac OS installer.

Any Advice would be appreciated. I have a space SSD already installed. But how do I get Mac OS on it now?

You can install Mac OS on another machine, and then transfer it to your MP.