MP 2009 and Metal GPUs

[Loa]

Hello,

I don't know how many people here play World of Warcraft on a classic Mac Pro, but I'll ask the question anyway. The next WoW patch (coming in a few weeks) requires a Metal compatible Mac. That officially puts my 2009 MP out.

But what if I buy a Metal compatible GPU for my MP? Would that work? (I currently use 10.13, if that makes a difference.)

Thanks

 

[t8er8]

Hello,

I don't know how many people here play World of Warcraft on a classic Mac Pro, but I'll ask the question anyway. The next WoW patch (coming in a few weeks) requires a Metal compatible Mac. That officially puts my 2009 MP out.

But what if I buy a Metal compatible GPU for my MP? Would that work? (I currently use 10.13, if that makes a difference.)

Thanks

It definitely should work just fine, I’m guessing you’ve already done the firmware upgrade to get you to 10.13, with this it opens up many options to metal capable gpus like the RX series that’s plug n play after 10.13.4, I have an rx 560 that I upgraded from my Radeon HD 5770 in my 2010 Mac Pro and it fully supports metal, I can play games like fortnite that require the metal API and don’t support open GL. As long as you’re sure that whatever GPU you upgrade to supports metal, you shouldnt run into any issues.

 

[Loa]

Great news!

Any idea which cheap GPU would do the trick? I currently use an old 6870 and it's alright for my needs. Can I assume that any card of the current RX series are more powerful?
[doublepost=1529867747][/doublepost]Ok. After doing some research, I'm hesitating between the rx 550 and the GT 1030. Besides Wow, the only other app I use that might require some GPU power is Photoshop (CC 2015 version).

Will both cards be plug and play on a 2009 MP with 10.13?

Thanks.

 

[t8er8]

Great news!

Any idea which cheap GPU would do the trick? I currently use an old 6870 and it's alright for my needs. Can I assume that any card of the current RX series are more powerful?

Keep in mind when upgrading gpu’s, unless you’re getting a flashed card, you won’t have a boot screen, boot screen (flashed) gpu’s will allow you to boot into recovery mode and startup manager and all that but they come at a much higher cost. Cards like the 7970 Mac edition will serve you well if you want that boot screen but it’s quite pricey. If the boot screen is something you don’t care about, I can’t help but reccomend the rx 560, that comes at a reasonably lower price than most GPU’s and supports metal well, I have experience with it and it works flawlessly for me after 10.13.4, if you’re looking for something more high end, go for the rx 570 or 80 but those are much more expensive because of bitcoin mining but they offer more power. My rx 560 works great for games like csgo and a bunch of other esports games I don’t have much experience with WoW but I’m guessing it’s not too demanding, that gpu should work just fine for you. Another thing to remember is to avoid XFX and favour brands like sapphire, sapphires are well knows to work in macs and XFX cards are not. Good luck searching!

 

[Loa]

Thanks for the info.

I'll probably get the 550 as I only need metal compatibility. I also have my stock GT120 handy for when I need a boot screen...

(But I realized that I only have 10.13 on my laptop, not my MP, and install didn't go well. It crashes on boot... I'm starting another thread for advice.)

 

[t8er8]

Thanks for the info.

I'll probably get the 550 as I only need metal compatibility. I also have my stock GT120 handy for when I need a boot screen...

(But I realized that I only have 10.13 on my laptop, not my MP, and install didn't go well. It crashes on boot... I'm starting another thread for advice.)

Warning warning please read this DONT buy the 550! It doesn’t work and has no support! It’s a new addition to the series and it’s not supported! I’ve tried it before and it didn’t work!

 

[Loa]

Ha! Thanks for the heads up!

In that case, the GT1030 seems like a much better deal for my needs. Do you know if it works just like the 560?

 

[t8er8]

Ha! Thanks for the heads up!

In that case, the GT1030 seems like a much better deal for my needs. Do you know if it works just like the 560?

There’s very little info on it but if you can do the research online and feel comfortable enough using NVIDIA web drivers with it, it may or may not work. And even if it does work, it won’t be plug and play and may not support metal!

 

[Loa]

Ok. I'll stick with the 560. But it's quite a lot more expensive than the 1030 and even the small 1030 would be more powerful than I need.

 

[ssgbryan]

I intend to find out if the GT 1030 works with a flashed 4,1 next week (away from computer this week). There is a YouTube video with a guy running it, so it should be doable.

 

[Loa]

Great. Let me know how it goes!

 

[Loa]

Hello,

Quick question: do I have to upgrade to 10.13 to be able to take advantage of Metal compatible GPUs? I don't really want or need 10.13. Would a rx560 work on 10.12.6?

 

[t8er8]

Hello,

Quick question: do I have to upgrade to 10.13 to be able to take advantage of Metal compatible GPUs? I don't really want or need 10.13. Would a rx560 work on 10.12.6?

It works on Sierra, but with possible problems like screen artifacting, not waking up from going to sleep and countless other problems that are fixed in 10.13.4+

 

[Loa]

Ok. I'll try installing 10.13 again, but if it fails, I'll give 10.12 + Metal GPU a try.

Thanks for the info.

 

[ssgbryan]

Great. Let me know how it goes!

So far, no joy.

OSX sees the card, but no matter what I do, it won't load the drivers. I have checked those, I have the correct driver for my build number, I have reset the pram, & I have the web driver selected. I reboot and the system drops back to the installed Nvidia drivers.

I am sure it is something simple, but whatever it is, I can't get it working....