Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 on 5.1

[gr8pics]

A question, does it have to be the Nvidia reference card to be able to flash it, or use it on a Mac without boot screen?
Like this one fex https://m.finn.no/bap/forsale/ad.html?finnkode=90215777&WT.synd_type=agent
[doublepost=1486202723][/doublepost]

Do you have a Mac laptop or another Mac system around? If so then it is actually very easy. NOTE: You basically need to use the GTX 680 drivers. The GTX 980 is not "officially" supported. I have only encountered a few issues with it. No ground-breaking issues.

Get a GTX 980
Before you install it, make sure you enable Screen Sharing
Install the 980 and start your mac
Give it a few minutes to start up, then go to another mac and use Screen Sharing to control the Mac Pro with 980.
Download the GTX 680 drivers for the macOS version you are running.
Restart
It should work now.

You WILL lose the ability to access the boot menu. I keep my old Radeon card around in case I need to use it.

So just keep in mind that

1. The 980 is not officially supported. You are using drivers for a different card. A future OS X update might cause this to completely fail.
2. You will be losing the boot menu. You will not get anything on the display until you can log in.

I wonder, what happens if i install the drivers before i install the card, then power off, and switch card, will it not boot up with the new drivers then, or does the card physically have to be installed when installing the drivers?
Could i ask you a favor, point me to the correct driver for OSX 10.11.6?
Cheers

 

[flowrider]

^^^^Yes. If there is no Nvidia card, the Web Driver will not install. The Web Driver for El Cap 10.11.6 with the latest security update is here:

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

In the Operating System window, you need to click on it and scroll down to "Show all Operating Systems" then choose 10.11.6.

Lou

 

[gr8pics]

^^^^Yes. If there is no Nvidia card, the Web Driver will not install. The Web Driver for El Cap 10.11.6 with the latest security update is here:

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

In the Operating System window, you need to click on it and scroll down to "Show all Operating Systems" then choose 10.11.6.

Lou

Thanks, will it work with any 980ti card?
[doublepost=1486227844][/doublepost]But, there were no OSX drivers there, either under 900 series or 9 series?!

 

[flowrider]

^^^^Yes!

Did you reach this page?

Lou

 

[Ethosik]

Thanks, will it work with any 980ti card?
[doublepost=1486227844][/doublepost]But, there were no OSX drivers there, either under 900 series or 9 series?!

You have to use the 600 series drivers.

 

[flowrider]

^^^^They're not "600 series" drivers. the Nvidia Web Drivers are drivers for any card supported in the Mac environment. Sadly not the Pascal series. I have a GTX 780 with the "a" chip. this card works with Apple drivers as well as Nvidia's drivers and the Cuda driver.

 

[ActionableMango]

But, there were no OSX drivers there, either under 900 series or 9 series?!

For the MacOS Nvidia drivers, you don't pick the download based on the hardware, you pick the download based on the MacOS version (down the specific build number in fact).

By far the easiest way to get the right driver is to look up your exact OS version and then go here:
http://www.macvidcards.com/drivers.html

Also, when there is a new MacOS update, there won't be a matching compatible Nvidia driver immediately--it usually takes a couple of days at least. So turn off automatic MacOS updates, and don't manually start a MacOS update for a few days or else you may find yourself without a compatible driver.

 

[Asgorath]

For the MacOS Nvidia drivers, you don't pick the download based on the hardware, you pick the download based on the MacOS version (down the specific build number in fact).

By far the easiest way to get the right driver is to look up your exact OS version and then go here:
http://www.macvidcards.com/drivers.html

Also, when there is a new MacOS update, there won't be a matching compatible Nvidia driver immediately--it usually takes a couple of days at least. So turn off automatic MacOS updates, and don't manually start a MacOS update for a few days or else you may find yourself without a compatible driver.

The latest OS (i.e. 10.12) usually gets a new web driver within 24 hours of the Apple release. Older OSes usually lag behind by a day or two longer than that. It seems reasonable that NVIDIA prioritizes the most recent OS.

 

[RhymeAnimal]

How about this one then?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nvidia-GeFo...ed-for-Apple-Mac-Pro-2008-2012-/172490174170?

I bought the same card, from the same ebay seller and installed on my 5,1. No problems at all, it's a great card. Very easy installation.

 

[Ethosik]

^^^^They're not "600 series" drivers. the Nvidia Web Drivers are drivers for any card supported in the Mac environment. Sadly not the Pascal series. I have a GTX 780 with the "a" chip. this card works with Apple drivers as well as Nvidia's drivers and the Cuda driver.

They ARE 600 series drivers. Why don't the drivers show up if you select 700 or 900 series? Try it. The drivers will NOT show up if you tell it you have a GTX 980. No OS X is available in the operating system selector. You HAVE to say you are using a 680 for it to show OS X. The GTX 680 was the last "officially" supported NVIDIA card on the 2010 Mac Pro. As I have said, I have already encountered a few issues running my 980 on my system.

Also, did you even take a look at the driver's supported products?

Supported Products
GeForce 600 Series
GeForce GTX 680
GeForce 200 Series
GeForce GTX 285
GeForce 100 Series
GeForce GT 120
GeForce 8 Series
GeForce 8800 GT
Quadro Series
Quadro K5000 for Mac, Quadro 4000 for Mac
Quadro FX Series
Quadro FX 4800, Quadro FX 5600

Where is the GTX 900 series in that list?

Having it work does not equal it being supported. These are officially 600 series drivers that work OKAY with the 980. Does not change the fact that these are 600 series drivers. Just like, in some cases, Windows 8 can install Windows 7 drivers (not sure if the same applies with 10). Does not change the fact that the driver was specifically made for Windows 7.

 

[Fl0r!an]

Well, than try running a Maxwell GPU on simple GTX 680 drivers (e.g. any Apple or Nvidia WebDriver starting with revision 313).

It will not work unless you install the WebDrivers based on revision 343 or later (-> initial Maxwell support), which introduces NVDAGM100Hal.kext (-> driver specifically made for Maxwell GPUs).
Maxwell cards are definitely driven by a different kernel extension than GTX 6xx GPUs.

Obviously Nvidia doesn't call them "supported" since they don't want to be held responsible when Apple breaks the drivers over and over again.

 

[Ethosik]

Well, than try running a Maxwell GPU on simple GTX 680 drivers (e.g. any Apple or Nvidia WebDriver starting with revision 313).

It will not work unless you install the WebDrivers based on revision 343 or later (-> initial Maxwell support), which introduces NVDAGM100Hal.kext (-> driver specifically made for Maxwell GPUs).
Maxwell cards are definitely driven by a different kernel extension than GTX 6xx GPUs.

Obviously Nvidia doesn't call them "supported" since they don't want to be held responsible when Apple breaks the drivers over and over again.

And as I said, in some cases, you can install Windows 7 specific drivers on a Windows 8 system. It works, but you cannot expect it to work reliably all the time as it is not an official supported card/os.

If these were true 900 series drivers, they would show up when you search for 900 series drivers.....

 

[h9826790]

The Maxwell card is actually officially supported, but just in beta. Nvidia did state that in their blogs.

https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2015/08/31/mac-driver/

 

[Fl0r!an]

And as I said, in some cases, you can install Windows 7 specific drivers on a Windows 8 system. It works, but you cannot expect it to work reliably all the time as it is not an official supported card/os.

And as I said, this is not how it works with Nvidia's drivers. The Kepler drivers will give you nothing on a Maxwell card, they'd even crash the system when forced to load.

The kind of "support" you're talking about is currently happening with some AMD cards though (Ellesmere / Fiji), they're running on drivers which they were never meant to be paired with.

 

[itdk92]

Well, than try running a Maxwell GPU on simple GTX 680 drivers (e.g. any Apple or Nvidia WebDriver starting with revision 313).

It will not work unless you install the WebDrivers based on revision 343 or later (-> initial Maxwell support), which introduces NVDAGM100Hal.kext (-> driver specifically made for Maxwell GPUs).
Maxwell cards are definitely driven by a different kernel extension than GTX 6xx GPUs.

Obviously Nvidia doesn't call them "supported" since they don't want to be held responsible when Apple breaks the drivers over and over again.

^^this

 

[gr8pics]

Let me know when you guys come to an agreement
[doublepost=1486807714][/doublepost]

^^^^Yes!

Did you reach this page?

View attachment 687049

Lou

No, this one :-/

 

[Ethosik]

And as I said, this is not how it works with Nvidia's drivers. The Kepler drivers will give you nothing on a Maxwell card, they'd even crash the system when forced to load.

The kind of "support" you're talking about is currently happening with some AMD cards though (Ellesmere / Fiji), they're running on drivers which they were never meant to be paired with.

Um....I do know how NVIDIA drivers work. Do you?

Then why don't they show up if you search for 980 drivers if they are fully supported and functional drivers? They are NOT. They are not even in the support products section of the GTX 680 drivers. If I search for the GTX 680 drivers for Windows 10, guess what shows up in the SUPPORTED PRODUCTS listing? The GTX 10 series as well! Guess what else? The GTX 400 series too! So I obviously know how NVIDIA drivers work when one driver supports more then one series. Is the GTX 400 series a Kepler card? Is the GTX 1080 a Kepler card? How are those supported in one driver download? I searched for the GTX 680 and got a driver, but it includes those other series as well. They do not offer "Kepler only" drivers.

As I have said, I have already encountered several issues using my GTX 980 on macOS. Nothing ground breaking, but the performance is absolutely piss poor (meaning not as good as the GTX 980 SHOULD be performing) and I have some UI issues. My card runs perfectly on Windows 10 through Bootcamp because, you guessed it, there are actual GTX 980 drivers for it! My GTX 680 performs the same on this system as my GTX 980 does, except for two important things, no hi-resolution and high hz support for my monitors, and 2GB more VRAM.

Look we all know the GTX 980 "works" with the GTX 600 drivers, I am running one as I have pointed out. Just like Windows 7 drivers can sometimes "work" with Windows 8 OS. Does not mean it is fully functional and 100% error free. That is why they do not list it in the supported products page.

Why are you guys fighting with me on this? Does NVIDIA officially support the GTX 700 or 900 series on these drivers? No, because they are not in the supported products page. Therefore, these are INDEED 600 series drivers. There is no denying that fact. Just like if I am able to run a Windows 7 specific driver on Windows 8, does that SUDDENLY make that driver a Windows 8 driver? NO.

 

[Fl0r!an]

I won't argue on the "no Maxwell driver" anymore, as you're desperately trying to misunderstand me. I never called the Maxwell cards "supported" (in fact I did the opposite and even explained a possible reason why Nvidia doesn't call them "supported"), so I don't know what you're talking about.

Just one more thing:

As I have said, I have already encountered several issues using my GTX 980 on macOS. Nothing ground breaking, but the performance is absolutely piss poor (meaning not as good as the GTX 980 SHOULD be performing)

That's due to the high CPU overhead in macOS graphics APIs and affects all GPUs, no matter if they're "not supported", "supported" or official Apple ones.

In my Skylake Hackintosh, the performance of a GTX 980 is virtually identical in macOS and Windows 10, since the CPU isn't bottlenecking the GPU anymore. Just have a look at this Heaven benchmark, it's just 2 FPS (~6%) difference, not notable at all:

 

[gr8pics]

It depends, but I don't think it worth in your case. FCPX is so optimised for AMD card. For the same cost, you can easily setup a AMD system that beat the TitanX. e.g. my dual 7950 setup (as per my signature) can do better in FCPX than a single TitanX. Of course, we are talk about dual GPU vs single GPU, and it will cost you extra PCIe slot(s). But in terms cost to performance ratio, dual AMD card is a much better choice. And everything has native Apple support.

For Flight Sim, if you mean X-plane, then cMP is CPU single core performance limiting, no matter how strong the GPU, it won't make any difference.

However, is the flashed TitanX a good card? Definitely yes.

Is it strong? Also a big yes. And it should be the strongest.

In terms of power management, strange enough that TitanX rarely cost any problem. The 980Ti has less VRAM but may shut down the cMP because it draw too much from the 8pin.

If you really interest in these flashed cards. Please only consider MVC, he is the person that develop the Mac EFI for Maxwell card. Please don't pay for the others to encourage them to steal his effort.

Does your dual 7950 require power mods like the 7970, or can it be powered the normal way?
I also read somewhere that dual 5770, is just slightly slower than dual 7970 for Fcpx rendering, is that true?

Also, ive been trying to find how many watts the 5.1 PSU is, do they come with one standard, or different models and outputs?

 

[h9826790]

Does your dual 7950 require power mods like the 7970, or can it be powered the normal way?
I also read somewhere that dual 5770, is just slightly slower than dual 7970 for Fcpx rendering, is that true?

Also, ive been trying to find how many watts the 5.1 PSU is, do they come with one standard, or different models and outputs?

No, the beauty of dual 7950 is the power consumption is just with in the power available on the cMP (reference non OC card) even under full stress (dual Furmark). The test is at here.

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...or-approaching-silence.1982499/#post-23120938

As you can see, for FCPX, even 4K video editing / rendering, the power consumption is at a comfortable level.

Anyway, for your reference, my setup is here.

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...mac-with-2-d700s.1732849/page-5#post-21722712

 

[Ethosik]

I won't argue on the "no Maxwell driver" anymore, as you're desperately trying to misunderstand me. I never called the Maxwell cards "supported" (in fact I did the opposite and even explained a possible reason why Nvidia doesn't call them "supported"), so I don't know what you're talking about.

Just one more thing:

That's due to the high CPU overhead in macOS graphics APIs and affects all GPUs, no matter if they're "not supported", "supported" or official Apple ones.

In my Skylake Hackintosh, the performance of a GTX 980 is virtually identical in macOS and Windows 10, since the CPU isn't bottlenecking the GPU anymore. Just have a look at this Heaven benchmark, it's just 2 FPS (~6%) difference, not notable at all:
View attachment 688349 View attachment 688350

Did I say "no maxwell driver" anywhere in my post? My entire argument was that these drivers are specifically for the 600 series (and the similar Quadro cards). That doesn't mean NO maxwell cards are supported, because they are. I am running ONE! The fact that it is not "officially" supported means that these are STILL Kepler drivers OFFICIALLY. That is all I meant. And my post that started this all "You need to use the 600 series drivers" was in no way false. You have to dive into the Quadro line, or say you are running a 600 series card to get these drivers to appear. And the 700 and 900 series are not OFFICIALLY supported. So please tell me why you were all fighting me about this? I was referring to OFFICIALLY supported - as in these are INDEED 600 series drivers. Just like getting a Windows 7 driver to work on Windows 8 does not MAGICALLY make it a Windows 8 driver.

Also, that is good to know that macOS has CPU overhead.

 

[Synchro3]

And the 700 and 900 series are not OFFICIALLY supported.

Just one remark: GTX 700 are supported (except last revision of GTX 780 with 6 GB VRAM), there are iMacs with GTX 780M.

 

[Ethosik]

Just one remark: GTX 700 are supported (except last revision of GTX 780 with 6 GB VRAM), there are iMacs with GTX 780M.

I meant that they are not in the supported products page of the latest NVIDIA web driver. 600 series is as high as it goes.

Supported Products
GeForce 600 Series
GeForce GTX 680
GeForce 200 Series
GeForce GTX 285
GeForce 100 Series
GeForce GT 120
GeForce 8 Series
GeForce 8800 GT
Quadro Series
Quadro K5000 for Mac, Quadro 4000 for Mac
Quadro FX Series
Quadro FX 4800, Quadro FX 5600

 

[gr8pics]

No, the beauty of dual 7950 is the power consumption is just with in the power available on the cMP (reference non OC card) even under full stress (dual Furmark). The test is at here.

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...or-approaching-silence.1982499/#post-23120938

As you can see, for FCPX, even 4K video editing / rendering, the power consumption is at a comfortable level.

Anyway, for your reference, my setup is here.

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...mac-with-2-d700s.1732849/page-5#post-21722712

Thats sweet!

But in regards to cooling, will it be possible with all 4 drive bays occupied? 2 of those card must produce a great amount of heat around the disks and gpus?
[doublepost=1486993598][/doublepost]Btwm will the AMD XFX Radeon HD 7950 also be the same as the reference card?
[doublepost=1486994093][/doublepost]

No, the beauty of dual 7950 is the power consumption is just with in the power available on the cMP (reference non OC card) even under full stress (dual Furmark). The test is at here.

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...or-approaching-silence.1982499/#post-23120938

As you can see, for FCPX, even 4K video editing / rendering, the power consumption is at a comfortable level.

Anyway, for your reference, my setup is here.

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...mac-with-2-d700s.1732849/page-5#post-21722712

And oh, one more question, if i buy a "PC" version of the 7950 card, it will still run under OSX built in drivers, just without boot screen, right?

 

[h9826790]

Thats sweet!

But in regards to cooling, will it be possible with all 4 drive bays occupied? 2 of those card must produce a great amount of heat around the disks and gpus?
[doublepost=1486993598][/doublepost]Btwm will the AMD XFX Radeon HD 7950 also be the same as the reference card?
[doublepost=1486994093][/doublepost]

And oh, one more question, if i buy a "PC" version of the 7950 card, it will still run under OSX built in drivers, just without boot screen, right?

YES, I have drives in all 4 bays, but only 3 of them are 3.5" HDD, and the remaining one in bay 2 is a 2.5" SSD (which clearly won't block the cooler's fan). However, depends the card you choose, I am sure it's ok to install all 4 3.5" HDD.

2x 7950 can produce a lots of heat, that's why the blower type card may work better. BTW, both of my cards are blower type, the PCIe compartment only warm up few degrees even when both card under full stress. The HDD can reach 40C in summer, and usually around 33C in winter time. I do closely monitor this after the upgrade, and I put the hottest HDD in bay 1, and the coolest one in bay 4. That works well, and eventually all HDD running at more or less the same temperature.

I will avoid all XFX card, not about their quality, but XFX is a well known brand that produce card not working in the cMP.

And YES, most 7950 PC card should work fine (again, apart from XFX), my 2nd 7950 (this one) is actually a PC card. In fact, I am now running both my 7950 (including the MAC Edition card) with just the PC ROM. Because I don't need the boot screen (I can switch to the Mac ROM in few seconds anyway), and I do crossfire gaming in Windows 10, boot from Mac EFI ROM can cause BSOD in Windows . So even though one of my card is the Mac Edition card, which basically still run as a PC card.

P.S. In my above link, I ran through the R17 mod to get PCIe 2.0 speed. I ONLY recommend to run this mod if the card run at x4 slot. As you can see in my sharing, the PCIe 2.0 x4 bandwidth can bottleneck the 7950 a little bit. I am not sure what's the penalty if further cut the bandwidth by another 50%. However, if you manage to run both card in the x16 slots. There is no need to mod anything.