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XrDarius

macrumors newbie
Jan 2, 2018
9
3
Correct, pin 4 and 6 are actually the sense pins, but connect them to the ground is correct.

Sweet! Thanks H9. Seems all rather straight forward. I'll post the mod when I'm done as It will look rather slick. I got Black & Blue braided cord wires to match my OWC Blue SSD trays ;)
 
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devon807

macrumors 6502
Dec 31, 2014
372
95
Virginia
Has anyone running dual Nvidia GPU's on 10.13.3 Experience a "safe mode" (nvidia driver failure) boot after installing a the second GPU? Wondering if it may be power related.
gtx.png
 

m3rob

macrumors member
Dec 28, 2010
41
7
Updated post #2 with a new fresh X-mas look.

Probably temporary, but I think the Vega FE looks awesome here.
@AndreeOnline,

I noticed your are now using the Vega FE. I was looking at benchmarks and it looks to be a good card for both FCP X and Resolve. Would you mind sharing how your are liking it so far? Would you recommend it at this point with the given graphics cards available? I just saw it on Newegg for $850.

Thanks!

Rob
 

AndreeOnline

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 15, 2014
704
495
Zürich
Would you mind sharing how your are liking it so far? Would you recommend it at this point with the given graphics cards available?

Hi there. Sure.

The card has been completely stable in all of my apps. So that's good. I was hoping to see support for the card solidify in order for the fans to spin down, but that never materialised. My hope peaked as we DID get some early improvements—the card was properly recognised, but since then there has been no real improvements.

Compared to my previous card, the MSI RX480, I've doubled performance in specific scenarios—most notably in DaVinci Resolve. I've never gotten the feeling that FCPX manages to leverage this card to the max. I think FCPX relies on additional technologies to boost performance, such as QuickSync and maybe other stuff.
Occasional gaming in X-Plane also got a bump in performance in the sense that min-FPS is higher on average. In many cases meaningfully so.

Regarding my recommendation.... I now feel we need to look at things in context. My Mac Pro is mounted on its horse and riding towards the sunset as I wave goodbye from the doorway. I'm not quite sure what I intend to do with it, but a replacement is coming.

In my opinion* the sweet spot for a 4.1-5.1 Mac Pro lies between a RX480 and this Vega FE. The overall feel when working with the computer is very similar between the 480 and the Vega FE. You'll get better bang-for-buck with a 480 if you find one around $300. But if you're planning on using the FE in a Mac Pro now and then move it to an external case for use with an iMac Pro later...

Most people won't get $900 worth of performance with this card. Are you one of them?

Then again, if the gfx market is so messed up right now that you're choosing between a RX480 for $650 or a Vega FE for $850, I'd take the Vega...



*= nothing against CUDA cards. They have their own set of problems and benefits.
 

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,656
8,587
Hong Kong
Hi all,

I am seriously thinking to go through the Pixlas mod. When I try to find the parts, I found this site

https://www.banggood.com/60pcs-T-Ta...&utm_campaign=pla-tool-hk-pc&cur_warehouse=CN

This looks perfect to me.

I would like to confirm that the one the I need are the 2.5-4mm^2 connectors? (In other words, I should use the BLUE connectors)

Anyway, I found this good Pixlas mod tutorial

http://thehouseofmoth.com/mac-pro-pixlas-mod/

Lots of good photos and little suggestion to make this mod easy to do.

However, when I study the 8 pin spec. I found this.
Screen Shot 2018-04-25 at 19.08.30.png

According to this, pin 4 should be connected to a 12V line. But the tutorial stated that he connected this pin to the GND line.

For me, That doesn't really matter. Because I plan to connect a 6pin cable only. I want to keep the connectors as little as possible. Either 6 or 8pin has three 12V line anyway, then I will further use my 6pin female to dual 6+2 pin to feed the card.

But I wonder how you guys connected this sense pin 1?
 
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lilins

macrumors member
Apr 25, 2018
96
29
Villeurbanne
Hi!

Just to tell you i have finished this mod and tried it with a AMD RX VEGA 64. it works.

Now here are things that doesn't work right now (10.13.4 Mac Pro 5.1 2010 2 x5690 64Gb RAM)

HiDPI is not recognized (gpu hooked to display ACER CB281K with DP)

early boot not displaying (does it work on vega frontier? maybe a problem of support maturity?)

the thing is noisy even idling on desktop (i am interested in how the VEGA FRONTIER cope with this.

thanks :)
 

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,656
8,587
Hong Kong
Hi!

Just to tell you i have finished this mod and tried it with a AMD RX VEGA 64. it works.

Now here are things that doesn't work right now (10.13.4 Mac Pro 5.1 2010 2 x5690 64Gb RAM)

HiDPI is not recognized (gpu hooked to display ACER CB281K with DP)

early boot not displaying (does it work on vega frontier? maybe a problem of support maturity?)

the thing is noisy even idling on desktop (i am interested in how the VEGA FRONTIER cope with this.

thanks :)

The fan noise bug is a hot topic now. I won't say that's normal, but definitely very common for Vega.

And can you elaborate more about the HiDPI issue?

This little app can help to set HiDPI resolution. You may try.

http://resxtreme.com

All the "2x" resolutions are HiDPI.
Screen Shot 2018-04-26 at 02.33.21.png
 
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lilins

macrumors member
Apr 25, 2018
96
29
Villeurbanne
The fan noise bug is a hot topic now. I won't say that's normal, but definitely very common for Vega.

And can you elaborate more about the HiDPI issue?

This little app can help to set HiDPI resolution. You may try.

http://resxtreme.com

All the "2x" resolutions are HiDPI.
View attachment 759646

thx for all this. i’ll try tomorrow. when i say hires issue i mean no hires. display is 4k but i’d love to have 1920x1080 x2 but it does not shows up in display prefs
 

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,656
8,587
Hong Kong
thx for all this. i’ll try tomorrow. when i say hires issue i mean no hires. display is 4k but i’d love to have 1920x1080 x2 but it does not shows up in display prefs

Usually, hold "option" key before you click "scale" in display preference should help. But I think set the resolution via this app is easier.

Anyway, I couldn't figure out Apple's standard. I've seen "HiDPI" in system preference before, but now, it's the other way around. Nothing follow means HiDPI, otherwise, will be follow by "low resolution".
Screen Shot 2018-04-26 at 04.04.39.png


But Apple did improve the system info page, now if in doubt, you can go to check what's the rendering resolution, and the "UI looks like" resolution.
3840x1080 HiDPI 10bit.png
 

lilins

macrumors member
Apr 25, 2018
96
29
Villeurbanne
@h9826790 thanks like resolutiontab, resextreme can enable me hidpi, issue is there is no such resolution directly visible in display prefs: even if i select 1080p with no (low resolution) beside it's just plain non retina 1080p:

Capture d’écran 2018-04-26 à 05.32.30.png
Capture d’écran 2018-04-26 à 05.33.18.png
Capture d’écran 2018-04-26 à 05.36.03.png
 

lilins

macrumors member
Apr 25, 2018
96
29
Villeurbanne
What monitor is 8k ultrawide?
Seems samsung 49 qleg gaming display seing the display ref
[doublepost=1524719856][/doublepost]I forgot an issue, sleeping issue, when putting the mac to sleep he,ll wake up every 10 min for a min, no display but fans spinning and then goes back to sleep
 

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,656
8,587
Hong Kong
@h9826790 thanks like resolutiontab, resextreme can enable me hidpi, issue is there is no such resolution directly visible in display prefs: even if i select 1080p with no (low resolution) beside it's just plain non retina 1080p:

View attachment 759686 View attachment 759687 View attachment 759688

The info shows that you are running 1080P HiDPI now.

You can try non HiDPI 1080P, you should able to see the difference straight away
[doublepost=1524729578][/doublepost]
What monitor is 8k ultrawide?

No, not 8k, not even 4k actually, just 3840x1080.

I use HiDPI virtual resolution to make the text looks better. Also, have better image when I zoom in, or making screen capture etc.
 

lilins

macrumors member
Apr 25, 2018
96
29
Villeurbanne
The info shows that you are running 1080P HiDPI now.

You can try non HiDPI 1080P, you should able to see the difference straight away
[doublepost=1524729578][/doublepost]
like i said it works and thanks, just it doesn't shows up in the monitor prefs. thanks :)

now i am asking myself if it's normal it is making so much noise even when idling on the desktop

i can still return the card and i am asking myself if a rx580 wouldn't be enough
 

XNorth

macrumors 6502
Feb 23, 2018
300
464
United States
the thing is noisy even idling on desktop (i am interested in how the VEGA FRONTIER cope with this

The Vega Frontier and most the of Vega 64 cards generate high noise in the cMP and there is currently no solution. Get the latest info on AMD GPU Mac Pro performance in this post updated frequently by the thread starter.
 
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lilins

macrumors member
Apr 25, 2018
96
29
Villeurbanne
The Vega Frontier and most the of Vega 64 cards generate high noise in the cMP and there is currently no solution. Get the latest info on AMD GPU Mac Pro performance in this post updated frequently by the thread starter.

are the vega 56 better? i'm tempted by a msi vega 56 air boost (wich design correspond better to the cMP gpu air flow i think)
 

XNorth

macrumors 6502
Feb 23, 2018
300
464
United States
According to some users in that thread, the Sapphire Pulse 56 and Nitro Vega 56 are the only cards working with no issues:

->Issue not present: Sapphire Pulse RX Vega 56 (model 11276-02), Sapphire Nitro+ RX Vega 56 (model 11276-01)
Solution for RX Vega 56 and 64 that have this issue: Use Pulse or Nitro+ BIOS (Apparently it's perfectly safe for the card, but of course do this at your own risk.) Note that an RX Vega BIOS cannot be flashed to a Frontier Edition or WX 9100.
 
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lilins

macrumors member
Apr 25, 2018
96
29
Villeurbanne
I’ll try again’ when i clicked on that i switched to standard 1080p from what i remember, anyway, gonna exchange the card with a sapphire nito+ :) will check again once it’s there.

Do you see a chance in future of being able to flash de cards so they’ll have boot screen? Until then i found a gt 120 :)
 

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,656
8,587
Hong Kong
I’ll try again’ when i clicked on that i switched to standard 1080p from what i remember, anyway, gonna exchange the card with a sapphire nito+ :) will check again once it’s there.

Do you see a chance in future of being able to flash de cards so they’ll have boot screen? Until then I found a gt 120 :)

You screenshot clearly slows that the screen is rendering at 3840 x 2160. But UI looks like 1920 x 1080 (which means HiDPI).
Capture d’écran 2018-04-26 à 05.33.18.png

IMO, practically impossible to flash any new AMD card. In fact, it's not totally impossible to flash the card to get boot screen. However, AFAIK, once flashed, the card can only shows you boot screen, and won't work properly once driver is loaded. So, no point to do so.
 
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krakman

macrumors 6502
Dec 3, 2009
450
511
delete
[doublepost=1524846846][/doublepost]
@h9826790 thanks like resolutiontab, resextreme can enable me hidpi, issue is there is no such resolution directly visible in display prefs: even if i select 1080p with no (low resolution) beside it's just plain non retina 1080p:

View attachment 759686 View attachment 759687 View attachment 759688

When you see options for 1080p, 1080i,720p in the system preferences it means Mac OS is recognising the screen as a TV rather than a monitor.

To make Mac os recognise it as a proper monitor and show all available resolutions you might try the Force RGB script here: http://www.mathewinkson.com/2013/03...ix-the-picture-quality-of-an-external-monitor
 
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h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,656
8,587
Hong Kong
Pixlas mod done. Everything as per this guide except I only connect a 6pin to the PSU cable.

http://thehouseofmoth.com/mac-pro-pixlas-mod/

Then use a 6pin female to dual 6+2 to feed the GPU. Still the same three 12V wire inside anyway.

And the cMP now can survive under CUDA-Z heavy test.
Screen Shot 2018-05-12 at 14.40.31.png


What surprised me is that the CUDA-Z heavy test power draw is actually very low. May be the power spike causing the shutdown issue before. Anyway, that's history now.
 
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lilins

macrumors member
Apr 25, 2018
96
29
Villeurbanne
Hi, just a question. theorically, the pixlas mod work with 1.1? (power mod for gpu)?

I am looking at a R9 390X for a 1.1, but power draw is nearing the vega64 one
 
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