Mac Pro 5.1 and F1 2016 Mac

[Mattww]

Can't say for sure until I sort out a new GPU but I've used the old Logitech Momo wheel with their racing games to date. It doesn't have as many buttons as more recent ones or a huge rotation (neither do F1 cars) but is better quality than many new cheap wheels and can be had second hand for little money.

 

[AndreeOnline]

Alright. I'm not sure what happens if you connect a modern PC only wheel to the Mac. Will it still run in a basic mode with at least default axis for steering, accel and brake?

 

[Mattww]

Alright. I'm not sure what happens if you connect a modern PC only wheel to the Mac. Will it still run in a basic mode with at least default axis for steering, accel and brake?

I don't think there is anything on Feral's site yet but they normally have a list of supported ones, and even though the Logitech ForceFeedback driver (kext) is no longer supported they even wrote a work around with some wheels in the last GRID game.

 

[Mattww]

Might not be allowed to launch the game but have found the manual. This says:

The wheels in the following list have been tested:

• Logitech Driving Force GT
• Logitech G27
• Logitech G920
• Logitech MOMO
• Thrustmaster Ferrari GT Experience Racing Wheel 3-in-1
• Thrustmaster Ferrari Moderna 360 wheel

 

[AndreeOnline]

The wheels in the following list have been tested:

…as in tested on a Mac? Not Windows via Bootcamp or anything like that?

 

[Mattww]

…as in tested on a Mac? Not Windows via Bootcamp or anything like that?

it will be on MacOS as it's from Feral's own FAQs/manual - you can get to it from the menus at the top of the screen when you see the pre-game launch panel

 

[Mattww]

Ok having read the thread about flashing these cards I'm pretty much settled on going with an MSI R9 280X, just a case or weighing up a pre-flashed one (simplest but expensive) vs. a cheaper PC one and trying the flash myself.

Either by digging out a spare hard disk to use and trying to install Windows 10 by downloading an iso from Microsoft and making a bootable DVD - assuming I don't need to then activate it to run ATIflash. Finally of course removing the resistor to get the 5Gt/s speed back. I do also have possible access to an old Mac Pro 1.1 at work so maybe I could do all this in that first?

Just hope when I put all my regular disks back in I get the boot screen and it works as well as the genuine Mac 7950.

I understand that the device ID on the R9 280x is identical to the D700 still being sold with new Mac Pro cylinders today so surely it will then be expected to be supported for a little while?

 

[BillyBobBongo]

I flashed my HD 7950 myself. Had never done anything like it before, but found it to be a pretty simple process. I picked up a card with a dual bios just in case. You'll save money by doing it yourself.

With regarding to removing that resistor, I personally haven't done it. There was a discussion somewhere on this board that it really wasn't worth the risk as the real world gains were virtually zero.

 

[h9826790]

Yes, the 280X is expected to be supported for few more years.

Anyway, I recommend you do NOT do the resistor mod. I did that myself. Not too hard, but not worth either, real world gain is practically zero. So why take the risk?

 

[Mattww]

I've been reading a fair bit about the R9 280X in various forums to try and make my mind up and one concern I have is the odd warning I read about power consumption and the risk of shutdown or damage - which I'd not considered.

When I upgraded the CPU's in my 09 I stuck with the 90W x5675 rather than going up to the 130w variants so I would not have to change fans speeds and got delidded chips so they were identical (and easier) for me to fit - I do like stuff to just work which is putting me off a more recent NVIDIA card because of having the wait for the web driver and no basic video for troubleshooting.

I'm using all the disk and optical bays (4xHD, 1XSSD plus optical drive) along with driverless eSATA PCI-E card and a separate USB 3.0 PCI-E (innatek) card (both with power only via the slots no cables).

I would want to still power the replacement GPU like the 7950 with just the pair of 6-pin connectors on the logic board - is this how most of you are running that card?

I should add I just run one 1440p dvi display and don't see that changing before a new computer. Hoping to continue gaming at that with reasonable graphics (Doesn't have to be maxed out) and I'm mainly playing single player and find I'm quite happy with frame rates in the 30-40's it only bothers me when there are regular drops to low 20's.

 

[h9826790]

It's easy to to power the 280x is you share the load. e.g.

Dual mini 6pin -> single 8pin -> dual 6+2 pin

As long as you don't let the card heavily rely one just one mini 6pin, the cMP should be fine (won't trigger the shutdown protection).

Also, if you have no plan to OC the card, you can actually downvolt it a bit, which will make it use much less power and run cooler.

I don't have 280x, but running a 7950 + 280 by just the mini 6pins. Both card run at stock frequency 800/1500, but downvolt from stock 1.094V to ~0.9V. As you can see, it's 20% lower than the stock voltage, but the card still OK for that. My 7950 Mac edition can go as low as 0.888V, and still run flawlessly. Since less power means the GPU will run cooler, and lower temperature will help the card to draw less power. Each of my 7950 / 280 can be powered by just one mini 6pin and still OK even stressed by Furmark.

If you do the same "optimization" to the 280x, I am sure even you power the card by just the mini6 -> 8pin cable, it can still stay within the power envelope that the mini 6pin can actual deliver.

Of course, if you want more performance, share the load, and then OC the card is the way to go.

P.S. You have to spend few hours in Windows to determine the minimum stable voltage, or max frequency if you want downvolt / OC. And then use VBE7 to edit the BIOS. Use the script to make Mac EFI ROM base on that modded ROM, and flash it back to the card. There is no other way then VBIOS edit to downvolt / OC a card under macOS.

 

[Mattww]

Thanks for the very detailed reply. Interesting that you can run two 7950 spec cards with only one six-pin connector to each by reducing the voltage. I wouldn't have a issue lowering the power draw or even the performance a little but changing anything always needs a Windows install so I'd first have to arrange that.

I don't know what the current is to calculate power draw but I'd assume 2 x 7590(280) even with the voltage dropped is at least the same or more that a single R9 280X using both 6-pin connectors would draw at stock voltage?

I've been OK with the performance of my 7950 Mac so far and feel sure I could make another year on similar performance (anything better is a bonus). I just need to fit a card with a device ID likely to be supported for Mac titles a little while longer.

As I need the boot screen and, with this being my only computer, the ability to always at least start up with basic video to troubleshoot it seems the only cards I can realistically go with are a GTX-680 or this R9 280X. I think going down to 2GB of VRAM will be a problem for maintaining 1440p and the 280X seems to be cheaper and more available than 4GB GTX-680's which have a large mark up for the extra VRAM.

 

[h9826790]

The total power draw is definitely more than a single 280X (stock setting).

Here is my power draw test.

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...or-approaching-silence.1982499/#post-23120938

As you can see, each card can draw >100W from the mini 6 pin, but the cMP still running.

The advantage of running dual 7950 is that i can have extra 75W from the 2nd slot, and easy to share the load (when both card under stress).

Since the shut down protection is more about how much current drawing from either mini 6 pin but not the total power draw. That's why I suggest you make a bridge to share the load.

0W from mini 6 pin A + 150W from mini 6pin B = shut down

75W from mini 6pin A + 75W from mini 6 pin B = normal

Both cases are delivering 150W, but the distribution make the difference.

Since your card will automatically more rely on the 8pin, so, even the totally power draw is less then my setup. The uneven power draw may still cause the issue. Anyway, the goal is to keep the power draw below 120W on any mini 6pin. If your card doesn't shutdown your cMP, you don't have to do anything.

 

[KBvsg]

Sorry for the wait, but i don't plan on playing this game so i had to find it on some other "store" rather than MAS or Steam (it would be stupid to spend 50 bucks just for testing)

The game works with my MSI R9 280X Gaming 3G
View attachment 695870 View attachment 695869
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Not one warning on compatibility or anything like that.

This is a good news for you, since you can buy R9 280X for cheap, still be able to play Dying Light and after flashing (quite easily done in Windows) there will be no downsides compared to Mac HD7950.

Thing that bugs me now is why is R9 280X supported and HD7950 isn't and does game looks for name of the card or Device ID. In other words, will it run on HD7970 since they share Device ID and HD7xxx are not supported...
If I grab some spare time, i'll reflash R9 to read HD7970 and test again. In the meantime, if there is anyone with HD7970 willing to try this out it would be great. Also, what would happened if you flash HD7950 with R9 280 (non X) rom, or just use the stock PC one (for those with flashed R9 280s) - will it run the game?

I have a Mac Pro 4,1, and I don't want to pay $50 with out knowing if the game will work, are you able to share your "store" location?

 

[AndreeOnline]

Picked up a Logitech G920 Driving Force wheel today. It gets recognised out of the box in the game and you can just start driving. There is no Force Feedback, so I'll have to look into that when I get some time.

 

[andreestrazulas]

Picked up a Logitech G920 Driving Force wheel today. It gets recognised out of the box in the game and you can just start driving. There is no Force Feedback, so I'll have to look into that when I get some time.

Hey, did you figure out the Force Feedback issue?

Im also buying one, and eventually run into the same problem lol

 

[BillyBobBongo]

Hey, did you figure out the Force Feedback issue?

Im also buying one, and eventually run into the same problem lol

You can install Feral's 'Free The Wheel' application to get it all going, apparently: https://support.feralinteractive.com/en/faqs/free_the_wheel/

 

[AndreeOnline]

Hey, did you figure out the Force Feedback issue?

You can install Feral's 'Free The Wheel' application to get it all going…

The thing is, when the game starts up, it takes control of the wheel and starts a calibration by turning the wheel quite a bit in both directions. It feels like the 900 deg turning works with the 920 out of the box. And since the game is turning the wheel by itself, it can obviously also activate the motor. But while driving, there is no 'immersive' FF feel. But it's quite OK to use anyway as a steering device. Slightly better than keyboard... =)

Product quality is quite nice. Especially the wheel itself, the paddles and pedals.

 

[BillyBobBongo]

But while driving, there is no 'immersive' FF feel. But it's quite OK to use anyway as a steering device. Slightly better than keyboard... =)

Wonder if @edddeduck can offer some advice here. According to something I read on reddit from him it should all work with newer games.

"We added support for Force Feedback directly into our game libraries meaning all our new games have FFB support for Logitech without the need for a driver."

 

[JaguarGod]

A few points about F1 on my Mac Pro....

I have run the game on my Mac Pro 5,1 with an R9 280x with the default OS X graphics driver and a GTX970 with the nvidia web drivers installed. The game runs great with both cards, but there are texture resolution issues with both cards on my machine. I am running the game on ultra settings and some textures look really good while others, like the asphalt textures along with some of the trees and others, are piped in at a very, very low resolution. When I run the game on an iMac 5K, everything looks as it should and is quite beautiful. Even if I turn everything down, the low res texture issue remains. I have played with the settings quite a bit and this aspect does not change. Anyone have better output in this area?

As far as wheels, the G27 runs great with the game and the FFB is tight and responsive. I have a the Logitech Driving Force GT and a Momo that I can also try out. I have not tried the G29 or the 920 yet to see whether or not FFB is actually supported, but I have a feeling they may not be.

 

[H2SO4]

I know this is a thread for OSX but for any of you guys that own a PS4, they have it at 70% OFF!!! (Until May 17th).

 

[Socket]

Hi
I try to play with F12016 in my cMP and Nvidia GTX960 (not flashed) but, after few minutes, the screen freezes and it makes artifacts and "bumps" in the screen...do you have some ideas?

 

[JaguarGod]

Hi
I try to play with F12016 in my cMP and Nvidia GTX960 (not flashed) but, after few minutes, the screen freezes and it makes artifacts and "bumps" in the screen...do you have some ideas?

It looks like it might a problem with the nvidia web drivers themselves. I have the same issue with my GTX970. The screen freezes and jumps and I have to force quit. I have switched to my R9 280X which uses the OS X default driver and it works great. We will probably have to wait for an update to the nvidia web drivers to see if it gets fixed.

 

[Socket]

It looks like it might a problem with the nvidia web drivers themselves. I have the same issue with my GTX970. The screen freezes and jumps and I have to force quit. I have switched to my R9 280X which uses the OS X default driver and it works great. We will probably have to wait for an update to the nvidia web drivers to see if it gets fixed.

I will install the new sierra 10.12.5 and nvidia drivers...I hope will works!

NO...it doesn't works!

 

[JaguarGod]

I noticed that my Mac App store version of F1 2016 had an update so I updated the game. I'll have to try the new update with the 10.12.5 update along with the new nvidia drivers to see if any good comes of it when I get home from work. It's pretty disappointing that the game crashes constantly with these cards.