MP All Models NVIDIA Kepler GPUs still supported with macOS Big Sur

[macrumor2018]

Actually, having thought about it more, it seems the two minimum requirements for Big Sur are

1. 802.11ac Wi-Fi
2. 1.5 GB VRAM

From what I'm gathering, the entire Late 2013 iMac lineup was dropped because it was contaminated with machines possessing only 1 GB VRAM, even though the low end 21.5" and high end 27" models met the 1.5 GB VRAM requirement.

 

[MisterAndrew]

That's interesting. That got me thinking about the Intel integrated graphics and according to Intel the HD 5000, Iris, and Iris Pro in 2014 models can access up to 2GB of memory. The HD 4000 in 2012 models can access up to 1792 MB of memory, but of course those lack 802.11ac wireless.

Frequently Asked Questions for Intel® Graphics Memory on...

Answers to frequently asked questions about Intel® graphics memory on systems using Windows® 10/11*.

www.intel.com

 

[vonkas]

Ops, totally forgot of MacBook Pro late 2013 and mid-2014 that still have GTX750M, so it's not yet the end of the road for Kepler GPUs and macOS.

I had compiled a list of NVIDIA Metal cards. I have reviewed it and added some comments. Perhaps it is useful in this thread. Here goes ...

This applies to officially unsupported Macs like classic Mac Pros as well as Hackintoshes up to 10gen Intel CPUs. All these should use discrete graphics cards and avoid the sluggish Intel iGPUs.

A general comment re Apple/AMD/NVIDIA. What is kind of amusing, is the fact that older Kepler cards are very well supported by Mojave/Catalina (& potentially Big Sur). Similar generations of ATI/AMD cards are mostly problematic and it is quite hard to pick models that work. This is even down to certain firmware versions causing black screens. I have bought in the order of 20 cards each Green and Red and ALL Green cards work through the range of cMPs but only half of the Reds work exclusively in 4,1 & 5,1. Conclusion: ANY Kepler card works with full Metal support in all cMP models.

A list of Metal compatible series Nvidia Kepler cards that work with native Mac drivers from Mavericks to Catalina (Big Sur ?). Take care with *) as some brands use Fermi GPUs that DO NOT work with Apple's Metal drivers.

Entry-level:
GeForce GT 705
GeForce GT 710
GeForce GT 720 *
GeForce GT 730 *
GeForce GT 740
GeForce GTX 745 *

Mid-range:
GeForce GTX 750 *
GeForce GTX 750 Ti
GeForce GTX 760 192-Bit
GeForce GTX 760
GeForce GTX 760 Ti

High-end:
GeForce GTX 770
GeForce GTX 780
GeForce GTX 780 Ti

Enthusiast:
GeForce GTX Titan
GeForce GTX Titan Black
GeForce GTX Titan Z

There are other Metal cards in 600 series and Quadro Ks.
Here's a partial list of 600 series cards:
600 series
GT 640
GTX 650 *
GTX 660 670 680 690

All Metal compatible Nvidia cards use one of the following (Kepler = GK) chipsets:
GK104
GK106
GK107
GK110
GK208
GK210

-- end --

 

[tsialex]

I had compiled a list of NVIDIA Metal cards. I have reviewed it and added some comments. Perhaps it is useful in this thread. Here goes ...

This applies to officially unsupported Macs like classic Mac Pros as well as Hackintoshes up to 10gen Intel CPUs. All these should use discrete graphics cards and avoid the sluggish Intel iGPUs.

A general comment re Apple/AMD/NVIDIA. What is kind of amusing, is the fact that older Kepler cards are very well supported by Mojave/Catalina (& potentially Big Sur). Similar generations of ATI/AMD cards are mostly problematic and it is quite hard to pick models that work. This is even down to certain firmware versions causing black screens. I have bought in the order of 20 cards each Green and Red and ALL Green cards work through the range of cMPs but only half of the Reds work exclusively in 4,1 & 5,1. Conclusion: ANY Kepler card works with full Metal support in all cMP models.

A list of Metal compatible series Nvidia Kepler cards that work with native Mac drivers from Mavericks to Catalina (Big Sur ?). Take care with *) as some brands use Fermi GPUs that DO NOT work with Apple's Metal drivers.

Entry-level:
GeForce GT 705
GeForce GT 710
GeForce GT 720 *
GeForce GT 730 *
GeForce GT 740
GeForce GTX 745 *

Mid-range:
GeForce GTX 750 *
GeForce GTX 750 Ti
GeForce GTX 760 192-Bit
GeForce GTX 760
GeForce GTX 760 Ti

High-end:
GeForce GTX 770
GeForce GTX 780
GeForce GTX 780 Ti

Enthusiast:
GeForce GTX Titan
GeForce GTX Titan Black
GeForce GTX Titan Z

There are other Metal cards in 600 series and Quadro Ks.
Here's a partial list of 600 series cards:
600 series
GT 640
GTX 650 *
GTX 660 670 680 690

All Metal compatible Nvidia cards use one of the following (Kepler = GK) chipsets:
GK104
GK106
GK107
GK110
GK208
GK210

-- end --

Look, things are not so simple as you wrote and you made mistakes on your list.

Not all Kepler cards work, there are drivers problems for some GPUs, like the GT 740 buffer overflow that crashes it after 24h. Also a lot of cards don't have a matching port layout and differ from what is expected by Apple native Kepler drivers. Some cards can't be installed on a Mac Pro without Pixla's mod, like Titan Z and some Titan Black models.

Desktop versions of GTX 750 and GTX 750Ti are Maxwell GM107, not Kepler like the mobile versions with the same name, and are supported only up to High Sierra. GTX 745 is also Maxwell.

 

[vonkas]

Thanks for clarification. I was particularly impressed by the performance of the tiny GT710 and Quadro K600.

 

[vonkas]

Thanks for clarification. I was particularly impressed by the performance of the tiny GT710 and Quadro K600.

All the cards below (pic attachm) work very well indeed. No problem with crashing or anything in either my Mac Pro 5,1 and various Hackintoshes. I also have a couple GTX760s and a GTX780. Same good. As you can guess, I'm not after hight performance but cheap utility computing with old hardware and late OS versions up to Big Sur. All this has served our family and business very well. For power computing I have moved to M1 and I'm not looking back to Intel..