Radeon Sapphire Pulse RX580 and Mac Pro 5.1

[rodedwards]

Hi everyone ... i wonder if i can ask some advice and pick some brains please ...

I have a 2009 Mac Pro Desktop, that's been firmware upgraded from v4.1 to v 5.1. I'm currently running NVIDIA GTX 680 Pro Mac edition graphics card and High Sierra.

I'd like to upgrade the card to a Radeon Sapphire Pulse RX580 8G GDDR5 that i found on Amazon : https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B071CQ5LRV/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_9?smid=A1AUCPBF2P18HS&psc=1

I think i need this cable too 18AWG Dual Mini 6 Pin Male To 8 Pin Male PCI-e Y Splitter Power Cable For Mac Pro :
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07GSXV3XV/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2EDXVCGEGZY9Z&psc=1

Q 1 ) Is it simply a matter of swapping over cards and cables or is life more complicated ?!

Q 2 ) Will this card show the Apple boot screen on start up as i understand the card is supported with Metal like my NVIDIA GTX680 Mac Edition ?

Q 3 ) Is this card working well with Mojave or am i best to stick to High Sierra ?

All advice would be very much appreciated ...

 

[Kris Kelvin]

I think i need this cable too 18AWG Dual Mini 6 Pin Male To 8 Pin Male PCI-e Y Splitter Power Cable For Mac Pro :
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07GSXV3XV/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2EDXVCGEGZY9Z&psc=1

That's indeed the best cable for this configuration.

Q 1 ) Is it simply a matter of swapping over cards and cables or is life more complicated ?!

Swapping them is sufficient since you're already running High Sierra.

Q 2 ) Will this card show the Apple boot screen on start up as i understand the card is supported with Metal like my NVIDIA GTX680 Mac Edition ?

The Radeon RX580 does NOT support the boot screen.
It does, however, have good Metal support.

Q 3 ) Is this card working well with Mojave or am i best to stick to High Sierra ?

The RX580 works fine in Mojave.

All of this being said, the GTX680 was a good GPU and not everything runs better on a RX580 (even though the latter is much faster in theory). Also, there are rumors that integrated Nvidia drivers are returning to macOS, which would allow recent Nvidia cards to be used again – supposedly even with support for the boot screen.

 

[rodedwards]

That's indeed the best cable for this configuration.



Swapping them is sufficient since you're already running High Sierra.

Thanks ... that's a relief



The Radeon RX580 does NOT support the boot screen.
It does, however, have good Metal support.

Must admit i like the boot screen ... but not a deal breaker.



The RX580 works fine in Mojave.

All of this being said, the GTX680 was a good GPU and not everything runs better on a RX580 (even though the latter is much faster in theory). Also, there are rumors that integrated Nvidia drivers are returning to macOS, which would allow recent Nvidia cards to be used again – supposedly even with support for the boot screen.

Now that would be interesting ...!

I assumed the RX580 was twice as fast as my current GTX680 ... but maybe not ?

Really appreciate your input. Thanks !

 

[Kris Kelvin]

I assumed the RX580 was twice as fast as my current GTX680 ... but maybe not ?

In theory, it is. In practice, it depends on the OS (macOS vs. Windows), the graphics drivers, the frameworks (OpenGL vs. Metal), the application in question, VRAM requirements etc.

 

[rodedwards]

In theory, it is. In practice, it depends on the OS (macOS vs. Windows), the graphics drivers, the frameworks (OpenGL vs. Metal), the application in question, VRAM requirements etc.

I guess you're right ! So maybe an upgrade isn't such a clear cut case. Thanks again ...

 

[macguru9999]

In theory, it is. In practice, it depends on the OS (macOS vs. Windows), the graphics drivers, the frameworks (OpenGL vs. Metal), the application in question, VRAM requirements etc.

I can feel a slight improvement between the 680gtx and the rx580. So the latter is better with many apps, however there are probably cases where the cuda support in nvidia is more important. If that EVER works again in the current OS. Also, I only have one 2560x1440 monitor attached. I would bet the rx580 could drive a couple of 4k monitors ...