Hi all. I realize this is a lengthy post but I wanted to provide all the info possible, and appreciate all the assistance.
I have an upgraded MP5,1 with dual core x5690 procs, 64GB of 1333mhz RAM, multiple SATA drives and a PCIe SSD (not NVME) as the boot drive. The Pixlas mod has been done and the boot ROM has already been updated to 144.0.0.0. Right now I have a flashed NVidia GTX 780 (6gb) but I just purchased a Sapphire Radeon 5700 XT to replace it because I am currently stuck on 10.13.6.
Some of the software I need requires the latest version of Catalina and as this is a work desktop there is a lot of software and settings that take quite a bit of time to install from scratch. In fact, just about a month ago I had to erase the boot drive and get everything back and running. Took a few days until it was all perfect again. I would rather not go through that again if possible.
I do not run a dual boot system or need the boot picker, but I definitely want to see the boot screen, as well as be able to do software updates and get all the GPU power possible out of this new card. I have an LG Ultrawide display that connects via DP to the GPU.
After extensive reading and watching videos I see mixed information on the best way to do the upgrade. Some people say to use DOSDude’s patcher, install Catalina, then swap the video cards, then install OpenCore. Others say you have to have another hard drive, install Catalina from a supported machine and then clone it via Carbon Copy Cloner (would rather not). Others have advised to install OpenCore on High Sierra and modify the config.plist to a MP 7,1 so that the app store will allow me to upgrade to Catalina directly and bypass DOSDude altogether.
It's all very confusing and I don't want to screw this up.
So, here are my questions:
I have an upgraded MP5,1 with dual core x5690 procs, 64GB of 1333mhz RAM, multiple SATA drives and a PCIe SSD (not NVME) as the boot drive. The Pixlas mod has been done and the boot ROM has already been updated to 144.0.0.0. Right now I have a flashed NVidia GTX 780 (6gb) but I just purchased a Sapphire Radeon 5700 XT to replace it because I am currently stuck on 10.13.6.
Some of the software I need requires the latest version of Catalina and as this is a work desktop there is a lot of software and settings that take quite a bit of time to install from scratch. In fact, just about a month ago I had to erase the boot drive and get everything back and running. Took a few days until it was all perfect again. I would rather not go through that again if possible.
I do not run a dual boot system or need the boot picker, but I definitely want to see the boot screen, as well as be able to do software updates and get all the GPU power possible out of this new card. I have an LG Ultrawide display that connects via DP to the GPU.
After extensive reading and watching videos I see mixed information on the best way to do the upgrade. Some people say to use DOSDude’s patcher, install Catalina, then swap the video cards, then install OpenCore. Others say you have to have another hard drive, install Catalina from a supported machine and then clone it via Carbon Copy Cloner (would rather not). Others have advised to install OpenCore on High Sierra and modify the config.plist to a MP 7,1 so that the app store will allow me to upgrade to Catalina directly and bypass DOSDude altogether.
It's all very confusing and I don't want to screw this up.
So, here are my questions:
- What is the best way and proper order to install Catalina for the most stability and best results?
- Since the Radeon Boost is now part of the latest 10.15.5 update, I know I have to disable that but I’ve also read that to get the best performance I need to set the plist back to not being a VM. How does this work? Is it true? Do I need to make enable VM and reboot each time there is a software update?
- Any additional information that can be provided to make this as smooth and easy as possible would be greatly appreciated.