Mac Pro 2013 – anyone without GPU problems?

[Kris Kelvin]

Does anyone actually have a Mac Pro (2013) that's older than 6 months and doesn't exhibit any GPU problems (e.g. freezes)? I've read a lot about replaced GPUs, flex cables, baseboards and other stuff, but lots of people report that problems are back after a few days/weeks and it's impossible to track all responses.

If you have a fully working Mac Pro (2013) that hasn't crashed/frozen in months, what GPU do you have, what OS are you running, what peripherals are connected and do you happen to live in the arctic circle?

 

[Martyimac]

Does anyone actually have a Mac Pro (2013) that's older than 6 months and doesn't exhibit any GPU problems (e.g. freezes)? I've read a lot about replaced GPUs, flex cables, baseboards and other stuff, but lots of people report that problems are back after a few days/weeks and it's impossible to track all responses.

If you have a fully working Mac Pro (2013) that hasn't crashed/frozen in months, what GPU do you have, what OS are you running, what peripherals are connected and do you happen to live in the arctic circle?

Mine has none of those problems and I live in S. AZ. See my list below for details. I am running a Dell U2415 monitor, logitech wireless mouse,  wired keyboard, Porsche Design external HD time machine. B&W MM-1 desktop speakers.

 

[Kris Kelvin]

Mine has none of those problems and I live in S. AZ.

Thanks. You're lucky.
Running macOS High Sierra?

 

[Martyimac]

Thanks. You're lucky.
Running macOS High Sierra?

Sorry, yes HS 10.13.2

 

[pl1984]

No problems to report but I barely use it. I think I've powered it up all of half a dozen times since I purchased it a number of months ago.

 

[ixxx69]

Does anyone actually have a Mac Pro (2013) that's older than 6 months and doesn't exhibit any GPU problems (e.g. freezes)? I've read a lot about replaced GPUs, flex cables, baseboards and other stuff, but lots of people report that problems are back after a few days/weeks and it's impossible to track all responses.

If you have a fully working Mac Pro (2013) that hasn't crashed/frozen in months, what GPU do you have, what OS are you running, what peripherals are connected and do you happen to live in the arctic circle?

I got mine in early 2014 w/ D300 (still on Sierra). Been pushing two 4K displays for the last couple years. It's on 24x7, get's medium usage, a little FCPX, a little audio production, a little Handbrake. Zero issues with it. I'll also add a close friend (who doesn't frequent this site) also has the exact same setup as mine in the same time-frame has had zero issues... he's even a light gamer.

Kris, I get that when there are problems with your computer, it really sucks. I'd be really ticked if my GPU died or started exhibiting problems to, and looking for correlations to some wider issue. But this forum is NOT representative of whether ANY of the current 6,1 GPUs exhibit abnormal amount of defects. No one on this forum has any solid knowledge on this. It's just kind of crummy when people start posting in threads for other people to avoid a perfectly a good computer.

 

[jclmavg]

Got mine early 2014, D300, works fine running high sierra. Pretty much have it running 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.

 

[Kris Kelvin]

Thanks for the feedbacks!

It's just kind of crummy when people start posting in threads for other people to avoid a perfectly a good computer.

That's exactly why I started this thread. So much negative stuff has been written about the MacPro6,1 that I was starting to wonder. It's nice to hear that for a lot of people, it's working just fine. Now it's just a matter of finding the problem.

 

[Chuck Rodent]

Got my refurb 6 Core D700 in late 2014. Never a problem and use it every day for work and personal, 3 to 4 hours per day.

 

[Flint Ironstag]

Neither of the ones in my sig have given any issue. I run them hard - hash cat for days or weeks at a time, gaming. Houston, TX (it's hot).

 

[loby]

Got my refurb 6 Core D700 in late 2014. Never a problem and use it every day for work and personal, 3 to 4 hours per day.

Same here but purchased in June 2015. Occasional screen flicker, but no freezes or the issues I have read about.

 

[tomscott1988]

It is a good computer. If it were half the price.

Its old and was old when it was introduced. If your happy with it fair enough but its price per £ is poor. IMO

 

[rawweb]

I sent mine out for repair last week (D700), was showing artifacts and lines on video encodes and video playback occasionally under load. The problem seemed to get worse slowly over the last 4 years.

Apple got it back to me in record time, literally 2 days. Even surprised the store staff. Replaced GPU B, flex cable and IO board.

Problem is, the issues were even worse. Red artifacts and glitches over GUI items, video playback even worse.

I had to stand in the Apple store for over an hour and a half while a Genius attempted to re-create the issues (unsuccessfully), and heat up the machine, despite having presented video recorded proof of the issues on my phone. The employee concluded that he couldn't recreate my environment (3 monitors and a 4k preview monitor for clients) in the apple store because he only had one screen. Off it went again....I don't have a whole lot of confidence in the next repair

 

[m25h75]

I got mine in December 2017 (6-core / D700) and it's performing flawlessly. I highly prefer it to fully loaded 2017 5K iMac I have at the office. Using it mostly for photography and videography.

 

[Silencio]

I have a fleet of about 20 nMP's purchased in early 2016, all 6-cores with D500. No GPU problems as of yet — knock on wood.

 

[loby]

I have a fleet of about 20 nMP's purchased in early 2016, all 6-cores with D500. No GPU problems as of yet — knock on wood.

Don’t knock on wood where there is a homepod...

 

[MisterAndrew]

I'm bumping this thread because I know a lot of people are looking to transition to a 6,1 from an older Mac Pro and there's been a lot of discussion about GPU issues. I ordered one with D300s because I thought maybe that one was more reliable since it wasn't included in Apple's repair program. Then I started digging into some threads and read about issues people have had with them. It's hard to say how widespread those issues are though. If it's only a handful of machines out of the thousands sold then it's a tiny percentage. Hopefully mine won't have any issues. I got a refurbished one, but I could have got a used one with D500s for the same price, or less actually. I don't think there's much of a performance difference between the D300 and D500 though (it appears the D300 is faster for some things while the D500 is faster for others). Does an eGPU bypass them so the machine could be used okay in the case they do exhibit issues?

 

[MisterAndrew]

Here’s some interesting info I found about the GPUs in these Mac Pros that may help with purchasing decisions.

This post has the clocks and TDP info: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/nmp-firepro-dxxx-clocks-and-tdp.1688128/

The D300 operates at a higher frequency than the D500. In fact, it has the highest base clock out of all 3. So it would be faster than the D500 for tasks that aren't heavily double-precision reliant. They must have been able to clock it higher and give it a slightly higher TDP because it generates less heat. According to this post the D300 stays below 70 °C during heavy use. While the D500 & D700 approach 82 °C during heavy use according to this thread. That's consistent with Snow Tiger's statement that "the D500 and D700 cards suffer from thermal fatigue issues due to the poor cooling the small chassis provides." Perhaps the D300 doesn't get so hot because the Pitcairn die is much smaller. It's 212 mm² while the D500 & D700's Tahiti die is 352 mm².

There are also reports that the D500 & D700 sometimes have issues with 4K displays, while the D300 does not, according to this thread and this post. From my research so far it appears the issues some people have experienced with the D300 seems to be limited to random freezes. I haven't yet read of an instance of a total failure. According to Apple's technician guide for the Mac Pro (Late 2013), "The latest versions of macOS have addressed many issues with graphics issues on this model." So presumably, many issues have been fixed via firmware & software updates.

Based on the info I've been able to put together so far it appears it's most likely that a Mac Pro with any of these 3 GPUs won't have problems, but if you manage to get a D300 system that doesn't have glitches I think it has the potential to be the most trouble-free with greatest longevity.