Recommendations for Graphics Cards for 2012 Mac Pro for 4K Editing (supported High Sierra/Mojave)

[Apple Master]

I’m in the same boat but I just bought the sapphire nitro+ rx 580 8gb for now. There aren’t many comps that can handle editing 4K so you might want to shoot in 2k or transcode to Apple pro res 422 HQ.

The new AMD Radeon Vega might be a more powerful option but it’s pricey.

You won’t get any boot screens with the newer cards but then again you don’t really need it.

 

[gory]

Put in an order for the SAPPHIRE Radeon PULSE RX 580 8GB GDDR5 but it looks like it will be on backorder for about a month until it ships.

Does anyone know if the easier to get Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 580 8GB GDDR5 would be acceptable to use in the Mac Pro and run Mojave? The “nitro” model is not specified on the approved list, but I’m wondering if this still would be fine? From what I understand, the nitro is pretty similar, though a larger card.

 

[bsbeamer]

Nitro larger and MAY need more power.

Try B&H:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1389772-REG/sapphire_11265_05_20g_pulse_radeon_rx_580.html

 

[gory]

The nitro seems to be more readily available and cheaper than the pulse. My only concern is that it is not listed as supported on the Apple list, but it seems that they do work on the Mac Pro?

I had ordered the Pulse from them earlier this month and it is still backordered. Their site incorrectly says the should have them in stock in 3-7 days, but apparently they won’t have stock until next month.

 

[startergo]

The nitro seems to be more readily available and cheaper than the pulse. My only concern is that it is not listed as supported on the Apple list, but it seems that they do work on the Mac Pro?

I had ordered the Pulse from them earlier this month and it is still backordered. Their site incorrectly says the should have them in stock in 3-7 days, but apparently they won’t have stock until next month.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814137244

• $189.99
• Sale Ends in 2 Days (Thu)
• $169.99 after $20.00 rebate card

 

[Apple Master]

Put in an order for the SAPPHIRE Radeon PULSE RX 580 8GB GDDR5 but it looks like it will be on backorder for about a month until it ships.

Does anyone know if the easier to get Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 580 8GB GDDR5 would be acceptable to use in the Mac Pro and run Mojave? The “nitro” model is not specified on the approved list, but I’m wondering if this still would be fine? From what I understand, the nitro is pretty similar, though a larger card.

Yeah this is very annoying by apple to only suggest one AMD card that is compatible with Mojave. There are many companies that make a clone RX 580 so I don't get why Apple only shows support for one. Sapphire makes the rx580 clone as well but basically any of the rx580s will work. The nitro and pulse are basically the same card. I got mine on ebay for $150 like new.

 

[bsbeamer]

The nitro seems to be more readily available and cheaper than the pulse. My only concern is that it is not listed as supported on the Apple list, but it seems that they do work on the Mac Pro?

I had ordered the Pulse from them earlier this month and it is still backordered. Their site incorrectly says the should have them in stock in 3-7 days, but apparently they won’t have stock until next month.

You have the list Apple specifically recommends. You have the recommendations of several on this forum.

If you decide to buy something else, pay very close attention to size/dimensions and slot width. The specs resellers post often do not match the actual size/dimensions. Many other models are larger (taller) than the Pulse and basically need to treat as 2.5 slot width, which will eliminate an available PCIe slot in your machine. The Pulse is already an extremely tight fit as it is and often needs to be partially modified (entire thread on this) so all PCIe slots can be used.

There is apparently a manufacturing change from Sapphire for the Pulse RX 580 right now. There will likely be new model numbers issued once existing stock is depleted. Unsure what the change is and I'm sure the Lunar New Year slowdown does not help manufacturing delays. Either wait for the new model, or find sellers with existing stock. Just like any other GPU that is low stock or out of stock from major retailers, prices start to soar on secondary markets.

Here's some resellers if you're desperate:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B06ZZ6FMF8/
https://www.neweggbusiness.com/product/product.aspx?item=9b-14-202-278

 

[Eschers]

Does anyone know if the easier to get Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 580 8GB GDDR5 would be acceptable to use in the Mac Pro and run Mojave? The “nitro” model is not specified on the approved list, but I’m wondering if this still would be fine? From what I understand, the nitro is pretty similar, though a larger card.

Yes, I have a 580 Nitro+ SE running since Mojave 10.14 until now 10.14.3! everything works great so far, I even noticed small improvements from 10.14.2 to 10.14.3.. No problems, black screens or whatsoever.

Its als worth mentioning that the card can use up to 2x8-Pin connectors, thats why I have a second 650W PSU mounted under the table which solely feeds the card with power.

EDIT: With this GPU you can use PCIE-Slot Number 2 only with a riser extension card for PCIE, otherwise the port is hardly accessibly without risking to break out a PCIE port.

 

[Earl Urley]

I’m in the same boat but I just bought the sapphire nitro+ rx 580 8gb for now.

How is it? I figure if I get one it's practically a drop-in replacement for my 280X which has one 6-pin and one 8-pin powerport.

Specs say it pulls less than 235W, which is good since the Mac Pro can provide up to 225W, correct?

 

[startergo]

How is it? I figure if I get one it's practically a drop-in replacement for my 280X which has one 6-pin and one 8-pin powerport.

Specs say it pulls less than 235W, which is good since the Mac Pro can provide up to 225W, correct?

The 2 mini 6 pin connectors can safely deliver 240W total power . The PCIE can deliver around 75W but most cards are not designed to draw more than 50 percent from the slot . Use istat in MAC or GPU-Z in Windows and run a stress test to see the actual power draw.

 

[MotzKopf]

Hi, I am just curious if the speed increase for Photoshop/After Effects and occasional 3D render would benefit a lot upgrading to 3.46.
I have a MP 2010 12 core 2.66.
I rather spend my money upgrading my graphics card to SAPPHIRE Radeon PULSE RX 580 8GB GDDR5 and add 64gb RAM.
Thanks

Looking at Geekbench your X5650's score around 19000, I purchased a pair of X5675's for $56 off eBay and got a Geekbench score of 24756. A pair of X5690's score just below 27000. I personally went with the X5675's because of the lower power usage, 95W vs 130W, which is closer to the stock E5520's 80W I originally had. Price was also a major factor, the X5690 is in high demand with Mac specific kits selling above $250. $200 is not worth the modest performance increase over the X5675's. Right now I found a pair of X5675's on eBay for $49 with free shipping.

 

[handheldgames]

Those looking for an IPS display, this LG 32” is on sale for a reasonable $349.99 at my Costco.

 

[bsbeamer]

Those looking for an IPS display, this LG 32” is on sale for a reasonable $349.99 at my Costco.

Same price on website for anyone who cannot find locally, but $10 shipping. Valid until March 16, 2019:
https://www.costco.com/LG-32UK50T-W-32"-Class-4K-UHD-FreeSync-Monitor.product.100459735.html

 

[Apple Master]

Those looking for an IPS display, this LG 32” is on sale for a reasonable $349.99 at my Costco.

View attachment 822440

Not a bad deal, the LG is a very cheaply made product and has little style effort but at least you get the real estate.

 

[JeffPerrin]

Seems they're on to us. Sapphire 580 8GB price just went up $50!

 

[bsbeamer]

Seems they're on to us. Sapphire 580 8GB price just went up $50!

Most are 3rd party resellers with surge pricing. Traditional direct resellers MIGHT be restocking at the end of the month. Prices should return to normal if they do. Was as low as $215 USD on sale at one point.

 

[JeffPerrin]

Includes the Sapphire website "Buy" link. (Official Sapphire Amazon page)

 

[bsbeamer]

Includes the Sapphire website "Buy" link. (Official Sapphire Amazon page)

AMAZON directly is out of stock. Only selling via 3rd party right now on product page. It is the biggest problem with direct linking to an Amazon page for direct product sales.

 

[kohlson]

Was as low as $215 USD on sale at one point.

I got mine at Newegg for $200 last "Cyber Monday." Even that seems a little high, as this is now a few generations back.

 

[Earl Urley]

Will this version of the Sapphire Pulse RX580 work?

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202278

To answer my own question, yup it works. This card works just fine with my 5,1 running Mojave. Won't drive monitors available to me at 4K/5K but I don't ever plan to get a 4K/5K monitor unless I hit Lotto. The standard variant does have a DL-DVI port, this just has a standard DVI port.

Still waiting for BOINC turnover results, but it looks like it's crunching numbers wickedly faster than my poor old 280X, which still works as an EFI video card but causes hard crashes if running BOINC projects.

 

[kohlson]

Won't drive monitors at 4K/5K

Not sure I understand this. My 580 drives a Dell P2715Q just fine. Along with a Dell 2408 right next to it. I think it will also drive the Dell 20 I have in a closet, but so far I don't need that much space...

 

[Earl Urley]

Not sure I understand this. My 580 drives a Dell P2715Q just fine. Along with a Dell 2408 right next to it. I think it will also drive the Dell 20 I have in a closet, but so far I don't need that much space...

The model of Sapphire Radeon RX580 that I bought, identified by part# 100411P8GOCL, ships with with a single-link DVI port. Most other revisions ship with a dual-link DVI port. It was also until recently cheaper than other RX580s for this reason why I bought it (typing on it right this second.) You need dual-link DVI to support 4K output.

I only have older DVI/VGA only monitors available to me at the moment, don't have access to any newer monitors that have HDMI ports which would let me connect at 4K resolution. I've modified my post to reflect this and deflect confusion.

tl;dr: I'm cheap as sh*t and bought an RX580 that won't drive the monitors I have available to me at higher res.

 

[h9826790]

The model of Sapphire Radeon RX580 that I bought, identified by part# 100411P8GOCL, ships with with a single-link DVI port. Most other revisions ship with a dual-link DVI port. It was also until recently cheaper than other RX580s for this reason why I bought it (typing on it right this second.) You need dual-link DVI to support 4K output.

I only have older DVI/VGA only monitors available to me at the moment, don't have access to any newer monitors that have HDMI ports which would let me connect at 4K resolution. I've modified my post to reflect this and deflect confusion.

tl;dr: I'm cheap as sh*t and bought an RX580 that won't drive the monitors I have available to me at higher res.

100411P8GOCL should be the PULSE RX580 8GB. According to Sapphire, that's a Dual Link DVI port.

 

[Earl Urley]

Right on the box it is identified as a Sapphire Pulse RX580, but it says "DVI-D" not "DVI-DL."

Only paid $219 for it, got it before all the prices got hiked.

 

[bsbeamer]

11265-05 & 11265-06:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/productdetial.asp?pid=77B48A1E-9FCB-4F19-BC2D-17C3087E4852&lang=eng

11265-05V2:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/productdetial.asp?pid=77B48A1E-9FCB-4F19-BC2D-17C3087E4850&lang=eng

I am still not 100% certain which model part #100411P8GOCL actually is. Believe it was only used for business/IT departments and 3rd party resellers, but cannot confirm this.

Model part #11265-05-20G was what I purchased in August 2018. That sticker on top of sticker (that says 100411P8GOCL) actually covers the EAN-13 and UPC-A codes that retailers would use. The PN on my model is 299-*****-**** (actual numbers) and below that has a SKU# that corresponds to the model/part number of 11265-05-20G.

It would be helpful if you could show the SKU# as well, not just the PN.