Mac Pro 5,1 Graphics Card upgrade suggestions?

[Éric 69]

Does anyone know if the RX 560 will work out of box on macOS 10.12.6?

I had a RX 560 (see my previous post) "GIGABYTE RADEON RX 560 Gaming OC 4G" Rev.2.

It did not work correctly on my cMP early 2009 flashed to 5.1, on 10.13.3; I had a couple of screen flickers

while others did not have these kinds of problems.

The RX560 is not recognized natively by OSX on 10.12.6 and really noisy compared to the RX580.

In my opinion,the RX560 is not a wise choice in terms of performance and evolution(EFI).

However the best solution is to test by yourself and return it back if it does not suit you ,

that's what I did with 4 graphics card .

 

[Jayson A]

I had a RX 560 (see my previous post) "GIGABYTE RADEON RX 560 Gaming OC 4G" Rev.2.

It did not work correctly on my cMP early 2009 flashed to 5.1, on 10.13.3; I had a couple of screen flickers

while others did not have these kinds of problems.

The RX560 is not recognized natively by OSX on 10.12.6 and really noisy compared to the RX580.

In my opinion,the RX560 is not a wise choice in terms of performance and evolution(EFI).

However the best solution is to test by yourself and return it back if it does not suit you ,

that's what I did with 4 graphics card .

The other card I've been eyeing is the GTX 1050. Would that work okay in 10.12.6? I've already installed the Nvidia web drivers for my OS version.

 

[bsbeamer]

Specifically, which GTX 1050 are you looking at? There are many strange variants for that card. Have not seen a reference design version or "Founders Edition" version made by NVIDIA, which could potentially be an issue or problem with NVIDIA driver compatibility. With the issues the GTX 750 is having with latest OS, personally would recommend sticking with x60/xx60 or above cards to reduce the chance of that happening down the road.

Have seen reports that the GTX 1060 FE & GTX 1070 FE work. I know for certain the GTX 1080 FE works. Also reports that the GTX 1080 Ti works.

 

[h9826790]

IMO, better to stay with GP102 and GP104, anything lower (in the Pascal series) seems have significant higher chance of having issue (in MacOS).

 

[DPUser]

Does anyone know if the RX 560 will work out of box on macOS 10.12.6?

I running an RX460 with no issue... Gigabyte 4GB, stock port alignment.

 

[TECK]

I was wondering if there is any solution for the boot screen. As I understand correctly, even if Sapphire RX580 Pulse 8GB is "supported" by Apple, it will not display the boot screen. I'm refreshing a MP 4,1 to 5,1 with latest bells and whistles, stuck at picking the right video card for heavy video editing. So far I'm set on the Sapphire, but I really want a boot screen.

Thank you for your suggestions.

 

[DPUser]

I was wondering if there is any solution for the boot screen. As I understand correctly, even if Sapphire RX580 Pulse 8GB is "supported" by Apple, it will not display the boot screen. I'm refreshing a MP 4,1 to 5,1 with latest bells and whistles, stuck at picking the right video card for heavy video editing. So far I'm set on the Sapphire, but I really want a boot screen.

Thank you for your suggestions.

FYI, the boot screen shows up about halfway thru startup with unsupported cards; if you "want" a boot screen vs "need" a boot screen, you might be ok...

 

[pierrox]

Agreed with DPUser. I really wanted a "boot screen", so I got a flashed GTX980Ti card. It had a lot of issues with Avid in Full Screen Mode - my main editing software. Issues that were present with all the non-flashed cards I tried afterwards (1080/1080Ti).
When I updated my Mac to run High Sierra, my GTX would show garbage text at startup (a known issue). I got my hands on a Sapphire Pulse RX580 for a decent price, before miners drove prices up, and I don't regret it. As said, the Apple logo appears pretty fast. And if it's about choosing a drive to boot from, I do it from System Preferences - I have 3 startup drives I juggle with, depending of the apps I need.
Bottom line: I wanted a boot screen, got one, and realised I didn't need one. This card is interesting in the sense that you don't need to think about it, you plug it and it works. The Nvidia is a bit more of a hassle because of the drivers - and now they have visual bugs to make things worse.

If you're editing, the main question should be: what app do you use. That's what should drive your choice (Nvidia for Resolve and Premiere, AMD if FCPX). I might get a 1080 in the near future as it was the fastest card per $ with Resolve.

 

[Jayson A]

I running an RX460 with no issue... Gigabyte 4GB, stock port alignment.

Do you think that card would be good enough for rocket league at 1440p?

 

[h9826790]

I was wondering if there is any solution for the boot screen. As I understand correctly, even if Sapphire RX580 Pulse 8GB is "supported" by Apple, it will not display the boot screen. I'm refreshing a MP 4,1 to 5,1 with latest bells and whistles, stuck at picking the right video card for heavy video editing. So far I'm set on the Sapphire, but I really want a boot screen.

Thank you for your suggestions.

NO at this moment.

Even the Sapphire RX580 8GB is supported by Apple. They still don’t need to provide boot screen for that card. This card only be used in the eGPU kit in Apple’s point of view. And all those Mac has boot screen already, no need to get boot screen from this eGPU.

If you “want” boot screen, may be better forget about it. Not worth in general.

But if you “need” boot screen, e.g. FileVault, then add a GT120 is the way to go.

 

[MartinSch]

Hy guys can you sent me link on Driver to Sapphire RX 580 Pulse 8GB to IOS?? I can not find it on internet... :-(
Or how you install it on your mac pro 5,1??

 

[h9826790]

Hy guys can you sent me link on Driver to Sapphire RX 580 Pulse 8GB to IOS?? I can not find it on internet... :-(
Or how you install it on your mac pro 5,1??

There is no driver for this card in iOS.

And if you want the driver for macOS. That's builded inside the macOS, no need to download, and no way to download.

 

[pierrox]

But you need to be on 10.12.6 or 10.13.4 for it to work out of the box (and previous 10.13.x too but they're rubbish).

 

[blackmatchstick]

Hello All,

First things first, i would like to thank all of you for sharing your knowledge for the upgrade of the graphics card on Mac Pro.

I would like to share my thoughts and information in regards to the upgrade of the mac
gpu. As many of us had issues and questions regarding the upgrade and running.

I know its difficult to find the right answers and that too instantly, even after spending
many hours on the internet surfing diffrent forums and websites youtube etc. we still dont get what we are looking for or the information is too much to grasp or understand.

After spending many hours and surfing forums and googling i have gathered some information
i would like to share.

I have complied all the information in a pdf and also done a video so that it may help others in future.

I have tried to get as simple as i can get, hope this helps.

The Complete Guide To Mac Pro GPU Upgrade and More.

This guide includes:
1. The graphic card
2. Things needed for upgrade
3. System Requirements
4. Booting into os
5. Bootcamp
6. Application performance.
7. Links.
8. References & Thanks.
9. Explanitory Video.
10. Additional Info.

Thank you all once again.

Link to Video
http://bit.ly/FrmToYTB

Link to PDF:
http://bit.ly/FrmToPdf

*******************

 

[AlexMaximus]

I was wondering if there is any solution for the boot screen. As I understand correctly, even if Sapphire RX580 Pulse 8GB is "supported" by Apple, it will not display the boot screen. I'm refreshing a MP 4,1 to 5,1 with latest bells and whistles, stuck at picking the right video card for heavy video editing. So far I'm set on the Sapphire, but I really want a boot screen.

Thank you for your suggestions.

I have been in the same boat. When I crossed this bridge I tried several mac editions , but I ended up with a mutant evega flashed 980Ti Super Clocked card about two years ago. Here in Germany we have about tree big eBay individuals that do that flashing, one sits in Berlin. I am sure they can do the trick if you want a flashed card that works. I am sure they do international shipping as well.
My EVGA is close to two years in age now, and I am really really positive surprised. It works perfect and eats everything I throw at it. I am monitoring the new AMD cards closely, but somehow I don't really trust them. The Vega cards still have fan issues as you can read in the VEGA GPU thread here at the forum.
The Sapphire mac edition 7950 back in the day (the glossy white design) looked great but sucked big time in games. The EVGA 680 was so much better. When the 980Ti dropped in, I couldn't believe how much better that card was to the already neat 680 Mac Edition. To be honest, for me it is hard to believe that a AMD 580 could top a NVIDIA card. So from my perspective, go with a Mutant Nvidia card, and you will be a very happy camper. The 5.1 is at the end of the line anyways, (soon to be stamped vintage) so I don't worry about a potential dwindling web driver support. My rig will be freezed up permanently as it is now. A dedicated HyperX predator pcie ssd card is for FinalCut Pro only and 4K drone footage from my Mavic Air and has High Sierra on it. A second slower SATA Samsung SSD runs my El Capitan main system, and a third samsung 951 ahci is dedicated just for Windows 7 bootcamp Steam games and a now sold HTC Virtual Reality goggle. This is easily the best mac setup I ever had in my live.

In short: Go for a Mutant Nvidia and a fast pcie SSD card. Forget the 6.1, forget all pre 2017 iMacs. If you have a 5.1 keep it like a Bitcoin.

 

[dlprod]

ditto

 

[Blackey Cole]

I had a. Gtx-680 in mine without Mac flash but I’m installing a gtx 1080 that is flashed for macs

 

[dlprod]

how did it go?

 

[dadrainer]

Your best option would be one of these:
SAPPHIRE Pulse Radeon RX 580 8G GDDR5 Dual HDMI/DVI-D/Dual DP Graphics Card - Black

I'd also highly recommend upgrading your CPUs to X5677 or X5690 models. It's a VERY easy swap and you'll see a significant improvement. (Assuming you have a 2010/2012 5,1 Mac Pro and not a 2009 model.)

Will the 8gb card run in a 2012 Mac Pro without issue? Is there a Mac edition of that card?

 

[bookemdano]

No Mac edition, unfortunately. At least not as of now. But Apple has actually recommended the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 580 8GB card (along with the MSI Gaming Radeon RX 560 4GB card) as two cards that explicitly work with Mojave, the new version of macOS. Many people here, including myself are using that card just fine in the 2010/2012 Mac Pro.

The only issue is that because it's not a "Mac Edition" it does not work in the EFI boot environment, so you will not see boot screens (nor can you use FileVault2 or flash firmware). For that reason it's not a perfect solution, but considering that it is an Apple-recommended card I think it is one of the safest cards to buy going forward, assuming you can put up with the lack of bootscreens.

 

[MoerBoer]

Has anyone tried the Sapphire RX560 2GB Pulse card?

I can get it new for a very good price locally currently. Just looking at support for Mojave and driving 2 or maybe 3 4K screens in the future.

 

[h9826790]

Has anyone tried the Sapphire RX560 2GB Pulse card?

I can get it new for a very good price locally currently. Just looking at support for Mojave and driving 2 or maybe 3 4K screens in the future.

Pure guess, should work. RX560 is natively supported in 10.14 because that's an Apple recommended card. And All RX560 has the same device ID, as long as the device ID match, the driver will load. So, the PULSE RX560 should work.

And so far, even the Apple recommended cards only use RadeonFramebuffer, not any specific Framebuffer, therefore, port lay out etc shouldn't be a big issue.

 

[yuzgen]

I don't know if it will help, but I'm leaning towards AMD cards these days. Apple is using AMD chips in their computers and @h9826790 tought me nVidia driver sucks big time.

Beside, people with GTX 680 are reporting black square glitches when using Finder.

If I were you, I would grab a used, flashable AMD card and be done with it. No GPU swapping, no OS update problems, no black screens etc.

 

[ssgbryan]

Has anyone tried the Sapphire RX560 2GB Pulse card?

I can get it new for a very good price locally currently. Just looking at support for Mojave and driving 2 or maybe 3 4K screens in the future.

I am running a RX560, albeit a 4Gb card ($100 on eBay). It works great.

 

[MoerBoer]

I am running a RX560, albeit a 4Gb card ($100 on eBay). It works great.

Thanks, which brand?