All of the ports work well on the GTX 670 that I got, which was evidently one that was produced for Dell to use in their PCs. The only weird thing is that an app that I use (porting kit) is telling me that the card isn't Metal supported, which multiple sources contradict. I would like a definitive verdict about it. The card seems to be properly accelerated in Mojave, but I am not sure going forward. It probably doesn't matter anyway, since my Mac Pro 3,1 is nearing the end of the line compatibility wise anyway.
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Mac Pro 3,1 2008 Mojave GPU verdict?
- Thread starter fhturner
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All of the ports work well on the GTX 670 that I got, which was evidently one that was produced for Dell to use in their PCs. The only weird thing is that an app that I use (porting kit) is telling me that the card isn't Metal supported, which multiple sources contradict. I would like a definitive verdict about it. The card seems to be properly accelerated in Mojave, but I am not sure going forward. It probably doesn't matter anyway, since my Mac Pro 3,1 is nearing the end of the line compatibility wise anyway.
Running an MSI Hawk GTX760 non-flashed, runs very nice in MacPro3,1 with native drivers and reports Metal support. Paid 50 € used + power cables from eBay
- black boot screen so you will need your legacy card for installs from USB boot drive etc.
- make sure to start with a clean Mojave install and DO NOT apply the legacy card patch
- black boot screen so you will need your legacy card for installs from USB boot drive etc.
- make sure to start with a clean Mojave install and DO NOT apply the legacy card patch
Hello,
I thought I'd chime in here.
One of my concerns was if my Nvidia Quadro 4000 for Mac would boot properly under Mojave on my Mac Pro 3,1. It does boot just fine, but upgrading my El Cap didn't work. Not sure why, but it wasn't hardware, it was something in the system software. So, I had to do a clean install, and then manually migrate apps, data, etc.
The system is working nicely, but there isn't any GPU acceleration at least in terms of transparency. On El Cap, I had the Nvidia drivers, and Preference Pane installed, and kept the drivers up-to-date. So I'm curious if that will have any impact on GPU performance. I use Lightroom Classic, which can take advantage of GPU acceleration, along with CUDA. I'm also not sure if LR can tap into the GPU without Mojave support. If anyone knows, love to know your experiences.
My plan is once the system is working and populated, I'll use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the internal HD to the faster SSD. ill let you know how it goes. I'll also download the load the Nvidia software, and see how the system handles it. But so far, when you drag a window on the desktop you can see a slight jitter of the GUI as you move things about quickly. That didn't happen under El Capitan.
I thought I'd chime in here.
One of my concerns was if my Nvidia Quadro 4000 for Mac would boot properly under Mojave on my Mac Pro 3,1. It does boot just fine, but upgrading my El Cap didn't work. Not sure why, but it wasn't hardware, it was something in the system software. So, I had to do a clean install, and then manually migrate apps, data, etc.
The system is working nicely, but there isn't any GPU acceleration at least in terms of transparency. On El Cap, I had the Nvidia drivers, and Preference Pane installed, and kept the drivers up-to-date. So I'm curious if that will have any impact on GPU performance. I use Lightroom Classic, which can take advantage of GPU acceleration, along with CUDA. I'm also not sure if LR can tap into the GPU without Mojave support. If anyone knows, love to know your experiences.
My plan is once the system is working and populated, I'll use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the internal HD to the faster SSD. ill let you know how it goes. I'll also download the load the Nvidia software, and see how the system handles it. But so far, when you drag a window on the desktop you can see a slight jitter of the GUI as you move things about quickly. That didn't happen under El Capitan.
Quadro 4000 is a Fermi GPU, Mojave only supports Kepler GPUs. Stick to 10.13.6, it's the last macOS that supports your GPU.
NVIDIA don't have any drivers for Mojave.
I know that now! I should have migrated to High Sierra, not Mojave. But, unless I do the entire process again, I'm stuck. But.. who knows, maybe I'll do that!
Now you are just using un-accelerated EFI drivers, since Mojave don't support your GPU. You don't have any options besides going back to 10.13.6 since Apple don't support any non-METAL GPUs with Mojave and your Quadro don't have METAL support.
Even if down the road, NVIDIA start offering macOS drivers for Mojave, your GPU won't be supported.
I just fitted one to my 3,1 yesterday. Not my first choice mind you but fool-proof with the patched Mojave install. Great result.
Previously with a Radeon HD 5770 I bought a Nvidia GTX 770 to install Mojave. Working Ok but not perfect in every situation. Should/Could I go back to the Radeon HD 5770 (Will the video patch allow that?)?
Nope, HD5xxx or HD6xxx just don't work with Mojave. Read here macOS 10.14 Mojave on Unsupported Macs Thread
Hi, I am in the same situation now. I got a Mac Pro 3,1 recently, and I am running Mac OS Mojave at the moment. It has the original 8800 GT in it, I would like to upgrade the GPU. What is the most powerful GPU this Mac and run with Mojave? Is it GTX 780? What about GTX 780 Ti? Are those plug and play? Thanks everyone
GTX 780 6GB it's the fastest one that you can install within the power limits of the MP3,1 and have native NVIDIA driver support. Apple native drivers support Kepler GPUs.
If you modify how you feed the GPU you can use GTX 780Ti, TITAN/TITAN Black. Anyway, anything faster/power hungrier than GTX 780 6GB, it's a bad fit for a MP3,1.
MP3,1 Xeons and FBDIMM throughput will limit the GPU performance too, so after a certain point it's useless to buy a faster GPU.
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Thanks tsialex! I think I will probably get a GTX 780. Is there a big difference between 3GB and 6 GB ones? I seems really hard to find a 6GB GTX 780 here in Australia.
Double memory helps a lot with 4K, but I don’t think it’s wise to pay the stupid price difference to use it with a MP3,1. Maybe you need to think about getting a MP4,1/MP5,1 and then you will have tons of options with much more performance.
Yes, I know that the upgradeability of Mac Pro 3,1 is limited. But consider I got mine with 2 x 4 cores xeon cpus and upgraded wifi bluetooth card for $150, It's not a bad deal. I am using it as is right now, and it was good enough for my need. 4,1 and 5,1 are at least $500 or more in Australia.
I ordered a set of 32GB ram for $100, I will buy a SSD for the boot drive and upgrade the GPU. So under $400 all in, I got a machine with multi core performance similar to i3-8100, 32GB ram, GPU which can handle duo 4k monitor, and most importantly native support for Mac OS.
But I think that's about it for the upgrades I will do on this machine, I will probably upgrade to a 5,1 in 2 years time. Right now I just hope I can get a working GTX 780 for the GPU.
Thanks for your help.
Hi, coming to this late. I have a 7000 series which reading the thread, I'm understanding will not work with MP 3,1 & Mojave.
So I need to change my card, & I'm gathering from here that GTX 680/770/780 is the way to go? So please confirm this if you would, or alternatively your recommendation.
Q: If I am correct, is there any preference in compatibility of these cards, etc? (cost aside). PS: Easiest to set up is best for me.
Also, do all manufactures of these cards work? ie, any 'no-no's?'... again, any manufacturer preference here? (PS: 2x HDMI's would be handy). Just checking as much as I can before I splash the cash.
Anything I've missed? Newbie here, so all info welcome. Thanks a lot for your time. H.
So I need to change my card, & I'm gathering from here that GTX 680/770/780 is the way to go? So please confirm this if you would, or alternatively your recommendation.
Q: If I am correct, is there any preference in compatibility of these cards, etc? (cost aside). PS: Easiest to set up is best for me.
Also, do all manufactures of these cards work? ie, any 'no-no's?'... again, any manufacturer preference here? (PS: 2x HDMI's would be handy). Just checking as much as I can before I splash the cash.
Anything I've missed? Newbie here, so all info welcome. Thanks a lot for your time. H.
After Sierra, the drivers for all AMD HD7xxx and newer GPUs require SSE4.2. MP3,1 Xeons don’t have it and you can’t upgrade to a newer Xeon that supports it.
So, use a NVIDIA GPU with a MP3,1 since the drivers don’t require SSE4.2. There are a hack to emulate the SSE4.2 instruction needed by AMD drivers, but if you are buying a GPU, buy one that don’t needed it.
MP3,1 (& others?) SSE 4.2 emulation (to enable AMD Metal driver)
So, use a NVIDIA GPU with a MP3,1 since the drivers don’t require SSE4.2. There are a hack to emulate the SSE4.2 instruction needed by AMD drivers, but if you are buying a GPU, buy one that don’t needed it.
MP3,1 (& others?) SSE 4.2 emulation (to enable AMD Metal driver)
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well if i need a hack for SSE4.2 to run Mojave i don't need a new video card just need you to tell me what it is
I’m using a flashed GTX 780 3GB (dual 4K monitors) on my 3,1 and Catalina 10.15.2 via dosdudes1 patcher. No issues and running stable.
It’s working great. No issues so far. I can’t compare with Mojave or High Sierra, since I jumped right into Catalina.
I've run my two 8800GTs and have gone up to Catalina with no issues. Although I have settled in Sierra. Am investigating going to MoeJáv, if my apps will fare well. I'm so thankful that it works. It makes holding off on getting a 5,1 a bit easier.
All thanks to dosdude1!
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I'm running the MSI nVidia gt710. Works right out of the box with no patches on my 3,1 running catalina.