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Mac Pro 5.1 recommendations for GPU upgrade 4k

C

corbuso

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 30, 2010
22
0
Hello,
I am working mainly on my macbook Pro, but since I was in need of using bootcamp, I am in need of my old Mac Pro 5.1 (3.3mhz hexacore), with my old radeon 5770 GPU.
However, I cannot use my 4K screen with it and I need a boot of power.
I went through this forum and the GTX 980 interested me, but almost impossible to find.

So, I would need your advice for an upgrade, considering:
- No need of external power
- Need to have a 4K resolution on 1 screen.
- Compatible with boot camp
- Ready to plug in (software update OK).
- Can remove my 5770 to free power and space...

Thank you for your recommendations!
 
I think both 680 and 7950 can shows 4k boot screen, but only @ 30Hz.

Flashed Maxwell card can shows boot screen at 4k 60Hz, but not OOTB (if that's what you mean software ready).

If you need 4k 60Hz and boot screen at the same time with single card. No solution at this moment.
 
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Thanks gudy. I will go for the Sapphire RX580, but I will certainly need to wait for a couple of months, as they are not available anywhere :-(
 
corbuso said:
Thanks gudy. I will go for the Sapphire RX580, but I will certainly need to wait for a couple of months, as they are not available anywhere :-(
Click to expand...

buy a used one that the miners are dumping on eBay. That's what I did. Sapphire Pulse RX580 8GB. Works great so far.
 
While you'll want an upgraded GPU in the long-term, in the short, I believe the 5770 will drive a 4k display at native resolution, but at 30Hz.
 
ancelrick said:
buy a used one that the miners are dumping on eBay. That's what I did. Sapphire Pulse RX580 8GB. Works great so far.
Click to expand...
This is what I will do, as the manufacturer cannot provide any delivery date...
 
do you need lots of GPU power ?
if not just grab a RX560, i think as long as you have osx10.12 that card works well i think.
 
corbuso said:
Thanks gudy. I will go for the Sapphire RX580, but I will certainly need to wait for a couple of months, as they are not available anywhere :-(
Click to expand...
This is by far the best choice. Make sure it's the Sapphire RX 580 Pulse 8GB card, not 4GB or Nitro.
And yes, it will be a wait but it will be worth waiting for.
 
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So, I would need your advice for an upgrade, considering:
- No need of external power
- Need to have a 4K resolution on 1 screen.
- Compatible with boot camp
- Ready to plug in (software update OK).
- Can remove my 5770 to free power and space...
Click to expand...

= RX560/RX580

RX560 is in shops and not at stupid price so relay worth a look.
now if you need to play games or use a app that uses the gpu that's different but for just what you listed i dont see why you want a big fancy card?
 
fairbanx said:
Why Pulse and not Nitro?
Click to expand...
Because the Sapphire RX 580 PULSE 8GB is the exact same card that Apple uses in this:
https://developer.apple.com/development-kit/external-graphics/

As a result of Apple selling this card they have added tweaks to the OS to better recognise the card. The PULSE model displays the card correctly in About this Mac for example. The Nitro does not.

What it means is that the card is semi-supported by Apple. And I mean 'semi' in the loosest possible terms! Barely would be more accurate, however barely is more than any other modern card available. I'll take it.

If you want a future-proof card that'll do 4K/5K on modern DP1.4 enabled monitors then this is the card to get IMO.
 
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ancelrick said:
buy a used one that the miners are dumping on eBay. That's what I did. Sapphire Pulse RX580 8GB. Works great so far.
Click to expand...
My problem with this, is surely the card is 'hammered' from mining.
I need manufacturers warranty (but don't want to wait), so bit of a jam really.
The pre-order ones on amazon uk have just gone up in price from £222 to £350.
[doublepost=1504029051][/doublepost]
corbuso said:
Hello,
I am working mainly on my macbook Pro, but since I was in need of using bootcamp, I am in need of my old Mac Pro 5.1 (3.3mhz hexacore), with my old radeon 5770 GPU.
However, I cannot use my 4K screen with it and I need a boot of power.
I went through this forum and the GTX 980 interested me, but almost impossible to find.

So, I would need your advice for an upgrade, considering:
- No need of external power
- Need to have a 4K resolution on 1 screen.
- Compatible with boot camp
- Ready to plug in (software update OK).
- Can remove my 5770 to free power and space...

Thank you for your recommendations!
Click to expand...
Depending on your location....
Macsales in the us have the mac edition sapphire hd7950 which supports 4k (but its $539) brand new
 
orph said:
= RX560/RX580


MarkC426 said:
My problem with this, is surely the card is 'hammered' from mining.
I need manufacturers warranty (but don't want to wait), so bit of a jam really.
The pre-order ones on amazon uk have just gone up in price from £222 to £350.
[doublepost=1504029051][/doublepost]
Depending on your location....
Macsales in the us have the mac edition sapphire hd7950 which supports 4k (but its $539) brand new
Click to expand...

Just pre-ordered by chance yesterday at Amazon UK at £220 ... but I guess I will not receive it before end of September...
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1504081540][/doublepost]
orph said:
= RX560/RX580

RX560 is in shops and not at stupid price so relay worth a look.
now if you need to play games or use a app that uses the gpu that's different but for just what you listed i dont see why you want a big fancy card?
Click to expand...
Need now more GPU to support 4K screens. My 4K screen did not work on my 5.1, only with my macbook pros (mid-2012 and mid-2017).
 
Corbuso, you will be very very lucky to get it before end of September, unless you have been given new info from Amazon. I hope you do get it quick though :)
A user in another thread was given an estimate (not sure from where) of December way back in July.
 
ancelrick said:
buy a used one that the miners are dumping on eBay. That's what I did. Sapphire Pulse RX580 8GB. Works great so far.
Click to expand...

Hey, can you give some details on the kind of display you are using, and can you let us know what you've been using your card for? I'm considering this same card, once its value is down to what it should have been in the first place. I'm gonna be purchasing a QHD display to use with it. I just want something which will power through OSX's heavy animations (especially at this higher-than-1080p resolution). My GTX 1060 is fairly good, but it has so many glitches under OSX. I need to get rid of it.
 
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A 2k display is 1920x1080!
Do you mean 4k?
What do you mean by OSX animations.
 
Doesn't the vega 56 use 2 8pin connectors?
How would you power this, do you need an additional power supply.
 
MarkC426 said:
Doesn't the vega 56 use 2 8pin connectors?
How would you power this, do you need an additional power supply.
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter how many pins are there, but the actual power draw.

Since it's a dual 8pin card, so, the power draw distribution should be relatively even. (Sometimes 6+8 can actually cause more trouble)

e.g. If the card draw 50W from the slot. And 100W from each 8pin. Then all you need to do is just connect each 8pin to one of the mini 6pin. It exceed the official 6pin limit, but within the cMP's practical limit (~120W on each mini 6pin).

In fact, this is already a very conservative estimation. The TDP of Vega56 is just 210W. That means in optimum case, it can be something like 70W from each 8pins and the slot. Despite the 8pin is there. Eventhing can be within the cMP's limit.
 
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To be safe, I think it's best to power the Vega 56 directly from the PSU (pixlas mod) or from a secondary PSU because, unfortunately for us, it seems to pull most of its' power from the booster cables and very little from the PCIe slot.
 
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If this is the case, how come you need a dual 6 pin to 8 pin for an RX 580 pulse.
Does this card draw a lot more power than a Vega?
 
MarkC426 said:
If this is the case, how come you need a dual 6 pin to 8 pin for an RX 580 pulse.
Does this card draw a lot more power than a Vega?
Click to expand...
The RX 580 pulse has a TDP of 185 W. Based on the numbers that @h9826790 posted, if it was drawing 50 W from the PCIe slot it would still need 135 W from somewhere else. This is above the ~120W on each mini 6pin that the Mac Pro can handle, hence the dual 6 pin to 8 pin adapter.

Note: From my understanding you can potentially draw 75 W from the PCIe slot, however this still puts the total power required incredibly close to the limit of power that you can expect from one PCIe slot and a 6 pin cable, using two cables and an adapter just makes sense.
 
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