MP 1,1-5,1 Mac Pro 5,1 graphics card upgrade

[tsialex]

… so when computer arrive in the macOS system, every material acceleration is ok/normal ?

Seriously, what you did not understood from what I wrote on my previous post and I need to improve? I even used a bold font to make it clear.

Obviously won't, since Mojave don't have support for NAVI GPUs and you only have a display working because of the OpenCore providing a shim to the UEFI GOP support that permits loading the macOS EFI fail-safe GPU drivers. The EFI fail-safe drivers are completely un-accelerated and everything will be in slow-motion.

 

[Mic-M4c]

If the RX 5700 XT is supported it means it has normal acceleration into the macOS system but not into Recovery Mode or any boot phase.
I simply want to be sure that a RX 5700 XT + EVGA PowerLink will work fine once plugged !

 

[tsialex]

If the RX 5700 XT is supported it means it has normal acceleration into the macOS system but not into Recovery Mode or any boot phase.
I simply want to be sure that a RX 5700 XT + EVGA PowerLink will work fine once plugged !

Not with Mojave - NAVI GPUs are supported ONLY with 10.15.1 and later macOS releases. No GPU drivers for a RX 5700XT with 10.15.0 and earlier macOS releases.

Recovery have absolutely nothing to do with the missing GPU drivers for any NAVI 1x GPU (RX 5700 is a NAVI 10 GPU). Recovery have the exact same GPU support as the macOS and a NAVI 1x GPU will work only after 10.15.1.

RX 5700XT will be fully supported, with acceleration, with any macOS release after 10.15.1. Same is valid for Recovery partition.

 

[Mic-M4c]

Ok thank you tsialex.

 

[bsbeamer]

If anyone is still looking for the EVGA PowerLink, it's $4 on WOOT today:

EVGA PowerLink

EVGA PowerLink

computers.woot.com

 

[cloudphrenia]

If anyone is still looking for the EVGA PowerLink, it's $4 on WOOT today:

EVGA PowerLink

EVGA PowerLink

computers.woot.com

I don't think I'll need it, but I'll buy one anyway. If I had to replace my 580, I would want to replace it with the Radeon VII Pro. However, it's probably smarter to just buy a new computer. I mean, I could buy a M1 Max Studio, or an iMac Pro for the price of the Radeon VII Pro.

 

[mrkapqa]

hello, found a reasonably priced New RX 580, but it is labeled "MINING EDITION";
can such a card still be used for MacPro? with OpenCore only?
Thanks for the help
www.senetic.it/product/AFRX580-8192D5H3-V2

 

[Matty_TypeR]

The best RX 580 for a mac pro 5.1 is the sapphire RX-580 pulse. a single 8 pin power connection which means you can use a dual Mini 6 pin to PCie 8 pin from logic board. A mining GPU will most likely have a special bios loaded which could mean it wont be seen by Mac pro 5.1. plus it could have a dual 8 pin power connector or 8 pin + 6 pin which would mean you cant power it from logic board.

 

[avro707]

If the Sapphire Pulse isn't available, the XFX RX580 GTS also works well too. It has more displayports as well so is marginally more useful. It shows up exactly the same as the Sapphire Pulse RX580 and is powered exactly the same way.

 

[mattspace]

Fun Fact* - the Sapphire Pulse 580 wasn't released in Australia, because the local distributor felt the Nitro had a sufficient overlap that it wasn't worth distributing both. I ended up buying mine from the New Zealand arm of an Australian retailer - cause NZ did get them as locally distributed stock.

*9/10 Fun Facts are in fact, not Fun.

 

[mrkapqa]

-

 

[mode11]

Not with Mojave - NAVI GPUs are supported ONLY with 10.15.1 and later macOS releases. No GPU drivers for a RX 5700XT with 10.15.0 and earlier macOS releases.

Recovery have absolutely nothing to do with the missing GPU drivers for any NAVI 1x GPU (RX 5700 is a NAVI 10 GPU). Recovery have the exact same GPU support as the macOS and a NAVI 1x GPU will work only after 10.15.1.

RX 5700XT will be fully supported, with acceleration, with any macOS release after 10.15.1. Same is valid for Recovery partition.

If one needs to boot into Mojave with an RX5700XT, e.g. in case of issues with OC, or to reflash NVRAM, what are the options?

Can‘t use OC if flashing NVRAM, so would it mean swapping the GPU for a supported one? i assume so, but just checking in case there’s some other option I’ve overlooked. Could accept no acceleration in Mojave, as typically would only be in there briefly (and occasionally).

 

[tsialex]

If one needs to boot into Mojave with an RX5700XT, e.g. in case of issues with OC, or to reflash NVRAM, what are the options?

Can‘t use OC if flashing NVRAM, so would it mean swapping the GPU for a supported one? i assume so, but just checking in case there’s some other option I’ve overlooked. Could accept no acceleration in Mojave, as typically would only be in there briefly (and occasionally).

There correct term is to re-flash the BootROM.

If you have a MVC flashed NAVI GPU, you can boot Mojave with just the basic EFI drivers. You even can boot back to Mavericks if you want to, where SIP doesn't exist yet and can re-flash the BootROM easily. If you don't have a MVC flashed NAVI GPU, you'll need to temporarily change the GPU to an AppleOEM or a Mojave supported one when flashing your never booted BootROM image.

Since you'll probably have to do this something like 3 or 4 times a year, is not overly cumbersome. Use opportunity do some preventive maintenance, like cleaning the Mac Pro internally.

Btw, since in the future someone will probably ask if a NAVI 2x GPU flashed with a @Syncretic patched firmware will boot Mojave, the answer is no - the patched firmware just make the card firmware ignore the missing UEFI 2.x HII support by the MacPro5,1 firmware and not to provide the NAVI 2x cards with pre-boot configuration support.

 

[mode11]

Considering a GPU upgrade to a Vega 56 or 5700XT. The Vega is supported in Mojave, and could be run via an eVGA PowerLink if in low-power BIOS mode. Also quite cheap now.

The 5700XT is a faster, more modern card. Bit more expensive, would require a PIXLAS mod, and I'd need to switch to a supported GPU to re-flash my BootROM.

On the other hand, I only re-flash every 6 months, and the PIXLAS mod would probably only take an hour or so (+ some time to read up, order parts etc.). Even with the Vega, I might wind up doing a PIXLAS at some point anyway, to run at full speed.

I'm now leaning towards the 5700XT, but my other consideration is fan noise. Is there a recommended model for each card? Are the Pulse models any good? I'd rather something quiet / ideally 2-slot, than an OC model like a Nitro that uses a lot more power for modest performance gains.

 

[tsialex]

If you are gonna run Monterey, get a RX 6600XT, it's a little more powerful than a VEGA 64, equivalent or faster than a RX 5700XT without the need of a Pixla's mod.

There are some models with a heatsink that is just two slots wide, not the case of my ASUS DUAL-RX6600-8G, this one is even wider than a Sapphire Pulse RX 580.

 

[mode11]

Great suggestion. Last time I looked they were over £400, but seem to be available used on eBay now for not much more than a 5700XT. Definitely seems the best choice - just need to find a suitable PC to flash it with.

My next PCIe slot just has a BT antenna socket in the slot cover, so if the cooler is a little more than 2 slots it will be fine.

Is an eVGA PL required, is not running a mega-OC version? It seems most have a single 8-pin, like my 580 Pulse.

 

[tsialex]

Is an eVGA PL required, is not running a mega-OC version? It seems most have a single 8-pin, like my 580 Pulse.

You can sure use an eVGA PowerLink to organize the cables, but a RX 6600XT is not really that power hungry, reference models have a target of 160W TDP before PowerPlay.

Just to compare with your card, a reference model RX 580 have a target of 185W TDP before PowerPlay, for half the performance.

AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT Specs

AMD Navi 23, 2589 MHz, 2048 Cores, 128 TMUs, 64 ROPs, 8192 MB GDDR6, 2000 MHz, 128 bit

www.techpowerup.com

 

[mode11]

You can sure use an eVGA PowerLink to organize the cables, but a RX 6600XT is not really that power hungry, reference models have a target of 160W TDP before PowerPlay.

Just to compare with your card, a reference model RX 580 have a target of 185W TDP before PowerPlay, for half the performance.

AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT Specs

AMD Navi 23, 2589 MHz, 2048 Cores, 128 TMUs, 64 ROPs, 8192 MB GDDR6, 2000 MHz, 128 bit

www.techpowerup.com

The only PC I have available is a Dell 7010 SFF I use in the living room. Do you think it would be safe to connect the 6600XT via a PCIe riser cable like this? And power it via one of these?

Obviously, this will only be with the card idling on the Windows desktop whilst flashing. I would never consider powering it normally like this!

Worth spending £20 on an external PSU like this, rather than relying on the internal PSU?

 

[tsialex]

The only PC I have available is a Dell 7010 SFF I use in the living room. Do you think it would be safe to connect the 6600XT via a PCIe riser cable like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Multibao-E...08YDJ6L18/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

And power it via one of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/CGTime-15-...075383P7T/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Obviously, this will only be idling on the Windows desktop whilst flashing. I would never consider powering it normally like this!

You probably can make it work, but this solution would be my absolutely last resort. Can't you borrow a PC to flash it? Or even get a cheap obsolete corporate PC from a recycler/Goodwill/etc? Anything UEFI and past 2012-ish will do.

I've used a cheap Lenovo Edge 72 Desktop that I have in my lab to interface with my scopes, the ASUS DUAL-RX6600-8G card did not fit inside the case and I had to do some teardown, but worked easily enough in the end and I took the opportunity to clean and do some long needed maintenance to the Lenovo (cleaned and oiled the fans, replaced the battery, replaced the CPU thermal paste and etc).

 

[mode11]

There's some suitably cheap old PCs available near me, but would an old Dell or HP office machine have the required 8-pin GPU connector? And if it didn't, how would I power the 6600XT?

Would it make more sense to just buy e.g. a cheap eVGA 400W PSU with an 8-pin GPU connector, to power the card during the flash?

Would a PCIe riser cable be reliable? The cheap ones only seem to support PCIe v1, but presumably bandwidth isn't much of an issue during a flash?

 

[cmphal]

If you are gonna run Monterey, get a RX 6600XT, it's a little more powerful than a VEGA 64, equivalent or faster than a RX 5700XT without the need of a Pixla's mod.

There are some models with a heatsink that is just two slots wide, not the case of my ASUS DUAL-RX6600-8G, this one is even wider than a Sapphire Pulse RX 580.

I am currently booting macOS 11.7.1 with opencore-version REL-079-2022-03-07 on 2009 MacPro4,1 flashed to 5,1 w/ dual 3.46 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon using NVIDIA NVS 510 2GB graphics card. (Prior owner did the flash and cpu upgrade.) I also own macvidcards flashed EVGA Nvidia GTX 970 4GB which I stopped using when I went from High Sierra to Big Sur. I currently would like to move to Monterey and I am considering either RX 580 or RX 6600XT currently only using 1080p monitor but considering upgrading in the coming year.

No gaming, Windows, mostly many windows of iTerm2, various browsers, spreadsheets, and Pages. I do use FFmpeg or Handbrake several times per week.

I am mostly interested in easy of install and low fan noise. That is which changes to wiring, open core, or patches might be needed. I also may need to boot High Sierra a few times a year, but would be willing to swap GPU card if necessary.

Sapphire Pulse RX 580 8GB and XFX RX 580 GTS XXX seem to be readily available at affordable prices. Also MSI RX 6500 XT 4GB are less that £200. MSI, XFX, Gigabyte, Asus, Asrock, Saphire Pulse, and Saphire Nitro+ RX 6600 XT preowned also appear to be affordable.

Any thoughts as to which variants you would recommend?

 

[mode11]

You even can boot back to Mavericks if you want to, where SIP doesn't exist yet and can re-flash the BootROM easily.

I’ve got Mojave on a spare HDD, which I use when reflashing the bootrom. Can I partition that disk and install Mavericks as well? Would have thought so, but just checking if there’s any issues due to the latter using HFS+. Would be convenient to skip messing with SIP.

Found a suitable flashing PC at work, so bought a 6600XT.

 

[tsialex]

I am currently booting macOS 11.7.1 with opencore-version REL-079-2022-03-07 on 2009 MacPro4,1 flashed to 5,1 w/ dual 3.46 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon using NVIDIA NVS 510 2GB graphics card. (Prior owner did the flash and cpu upgrade.) I also own macvidcards flashed EVGA Nvidia GTX 970 4GB which I stopped using when I went from High Sierra to Big Sur. I currently would like to move to Monterey and I am considering either RX 580 or RX 6600XT currently only using 1080p monitor but considering upgrading in the coming year.

No gaming, Windows, mostly many windows of iTerm2, various browsers, spreadsheets, and Pages. I do use FFmpeg or Handbrake several times per week.

I am mostly interested in easy of install and low fan noise. That is which changes to wiring, open core, or patches might be needed. I also may need to boot High Sierra a few times a year, but would be willing to swap GPU card if necessary.

Sapphire Pulse RX 580 8GB and XFX RX 580 GTS XXX seem to be readily available at affordable prices. Also MSI RX 6500 XT 4GB are less that £200. MSI, XFX, Gigabyte, Asus, Asrock, Saphire Pulse, and Saphire Nitro+ RX 6600 XT preowned also appear to be affordable.

Any thoughts as to which variants you would recommend?

I have both the Sapphire Pulse RX 580 and Asus DUAL-RX6600-8G, both are wider than two slots. With the Sapphire Pulse RX 580 you can still use some cards with slot-2, with the Asus DUAL-RX6600-8G, you can't use the slot-2 at all.

Several modern cards are wider than 2 slots, so, if you need the second x16 slot you need to be wise with your choice.
Seems some MSI and XFX models are not as wide as the Sapphire Pulse RX 580. I don't have much experience with another models of RX 6600, so you will have to look at the size/specs for the card you want.

 

[tsialex]

I’ve got Mojave on a spare HDD, which I use when reflashing the bootrom. Can I partition that disk and install Mavericks as well? Would have thought so, but just checking if there’s any issues due to the latter using HFS+. Would be convenient to skip messing with SIP.

Found a suitable flashing PC at work, so bought a 6600XT.

Don't do it, Mavericks doesn't work well with APFS disks and you will certainly get a corrupt disk later. Get a small disk dedicated for Mavericks or use Mojave and disable SIP each time.

I use Mavericks specifically because I test each never booted BootROM image and somedays I do it multiple times and it's a chore disabling SIP each time, so I invested ~$60 with a small SATA SSD and a Orico 5 1/4" adapter for installing the SSD below the DVD. Not a real issue for someone that will re-flash around 4 times a year, but a huge improvement for me.

Forgot to add, since no previous macOS release than Monterey have GPU drivers for a NAVI 23 GPU, you are using EFI fail-safe un-accelerated drivers and it's so slow to interact with the GUI that seems you are over molasses. With High Sierra and Mojave you will at least have the correct display resolution, but with Mavericks you only have 1024x768.

 

[mode11]

Don't do it, Mavericks doesn't work well with APFS disks and you will certainly get a corrupt disk later. Get a small disk dedicated for Mavericks or use Mojave and disable SIP each time.

I use Mavericks specifically because I test each never booted BootROM image and somedays I do it multiple times and it's a chore disabling SIP each time, so I invested ~$60 with a small SATA SSD and a Orico 5 1/4" adapter for installing the SSD below the DVD. Not a real issue for someone that will re-flash around 4 times a year, but a huge improvement for me.

Forgot to add, since no previous macOS release than Monterey have GPU drivers for a NAVI 23 GPU, you are using EFI fail-safe un-accelerated drivers and it's so slow to interact with the GUI that seems you are over molasses. With High Sierra and Mojave you will at least have the correct display resolution, but with Mavericks you only have 1024x768.

I picked up a GT710 for use when reflashing the bootrom - I assumed I’d get no video at all with the 6600XT in OS’s prior to Monterey. In any case, it will make the process a lot more pleasant.