Single slot PCI card w EFI Boot screen in Mojave?

[macjunkie2013]

Is there a single slot card that could have Mac EFI Boot screen fully supported in Mojave and can be use in conjunction with AMD Radeon cards?

As far as I can tell only the MacVidCards Nvidia GT 640 2 GB Dual DVI/HDMI Single Slot might be one, but I have read that in Mojave mixing Flashed (not not flashed?) Nivdia cards with AMD cards causes the Mac Pro 55.1 to not boot properly or be unstable?

The other might be a flashed AMD Firepro W7000, but so far only one person on Netkas has gotten to to work? http://forum.netkas.org/index.php?topic=13642.0 On youtube too, not flashed...

Not tested in Mojave ether..

Happy turkey day!

 

[eksu]

I think the W7000 will be the best in the long run if flashing it can be reproducible.

 

[rippiedoos]

I’m currently in the process of getting a Radeon 7750 to work. So far it is working perfectly in Windows 10 but in HS I’m getting artifacts. I guess I need to dump my BIOS and need to add the EFI part to it.

But it is also a single slot card without the need of an extra PCIe connector.

 

[zedex]

Is there a single slot card that could have Mac EFI Boot screen fully supported in Mojave and can be use in conjunction with AMD Radeon cards?

As far as I can tell only the MacVidCards Nvidia GT 640 2 GB Dual DVI/HDMI Single Slot might be one, but I have read that in Mojave mixing Flashed (not not flashed?) Nivdia cards with AMD cards causes the Mac Pro 55.1 to not boot properly or be unstable?

The other might be a flashed AMD Firepro W7000, but so far only one person on Netkas has gotten to to work? http://forum.netkas.org/index.php?topic=13642.0 On youtube too, not flashed...

Not tested in Mojave ether..

Happy turkey day!

The card you want is a WX4100, I looked at this card and was on the threshold of buying it when I came across a RX 480 for $100 less.

I mention it because I'm obsessed with the 'single-slot width' theme and minimising the role of the GPU in the cMP relative to more exciting and useful technologies like AMFELTEC SQUID, HIGHPOINT 7101A, THUNDERBOLT 3 AIC's -- I have purchased the RX480 to install in PCIe Slot 4 by cutting the metal bracket in two (horizontally) and removing the HDDs from SATA Bays 1 through 3....
THEN, the AMD RX480 card (now occupying only one of the minor slots) connects at 5GT/s and functions perfectly whilst never needing more than a PCIe 2.0 x4 interface.
AT THIS POINT, you have both SLOT 1 and 2 free to do anything you want.. that's 32 lanes worth of anything you want..

I get the metal cutting done by a professional, after the work is done I'll post photos of a very clean* "single-slot" GPU installation

*fingers-crossed(!)

 

[h9826790]

The card you want is a WX4100, I looked at this card and was on the threshold of buying it when I came across a RX 480 for $100 less.

I mention it because I'm obsessed with the 'single-slot width' theme and minimising the role of the GPU in the cMP relative to more exciting and useful technologies like AMFELTEC SQUID, HIGHPOINT 7101A, THUNDERBOLT 3 AIC's -- I have purchased the RX480 to install in PCIe Slot 4 by cutting the metal bracket in two (horizontally) and removing the HDDs from SATA Bays 1 through 3....
THEN, the AMD RX480 card (now occupying only one of the minor slots) connects at 5GT/s and functions perfectly whilst never needing more than a PCIe 2.0 x4 interface.
AT THIS POINT, you have both SLOT 1 and 2 free to do anything you want.. that's 32 lanes worth of anything you want..

I get the metal cutting done by a professional, after the work is done I'll post photos of a very clean* "single-slot" GPU installation

*fingers-crossed(!)

WX4100 can shows Mac EFI boot screen? You figured out how to do that with a Polaris card on a 5,1?

 

[zedex]

Hi h9826790 - thanks for all your contributions. I've found them very helpful and interesting over the past couple of years. To your point (and the titular point of the thread)....
I don't know/cannot confirm that the WX4100 offers a boot screen (my guess is probably not).

I have answered the question with a focus on cards that are known to work in MOJAVE and I listed the WX4100 in this context (courtesy of the research assembled by misterandrew in the AMD GPU compatibility thread).
Forgive my ignorance (I haven't bothered with my own testing in MOJAVE yet), but the information I've gathered from reading through these threads is that (depressingly) there is no known GPU in existence (double-width or single-width) that provides ALL of the following:
(a) a boot selector (EFI boot screen)
(b) Correct [native] card identification within the Mac Pro in 'About This Mac' and 'System Information' regarding:
- card name
- PCIe lanes negotiated (x16)
- data transfer rate (5 or 8 GT/s NOT 2.5GT/s)
(c) basic and essential modern card functions such as the ability to drive multiple 4K monitors @60Hz and above
(d) basic fan management software support for the narrow list of third-party cards for which Apple has provided a 'soft' blessing for the purposes of improving overall MOJAVE access /compatibility.

I know you're a GPU expert. Am I wrong in my understanding? It seems like some choices (K5000 maybe?, RTU 2080 perhaps?) come close but it's not always clear.....

 

[tsialex]

Hi h9826790 - thanks for all your contributions. I've found them very helpful and interesting over the past couple of years. To your point (and the titular point of the thread)....
I don't know/cannot confirm that the WX4100 offers a boot screen (my guess is probably not).

I have answered the question with a focus on cards that are known to work in MOJAVE and I listed the WX4100 in this context (courtesy of the research assembled by misterandrew in the AMD GPU compatibility thread).
Forgive my ignorance (I haven't bothered with my own testing in MOJAVE yet), but the information I've gathered from reading through these threads is that (depressingly) there is no known GPU in existence (double-width or single-width) that provides ALL of the following:
(a) a boot selector (EFI boot screen)
(b) Correct [native] card identification within the Mac Pro in 'About This Mac' and 'System Information' regarding:
- card name
- PCIe lanes negotiated (x16)
- data transfer rate (5 or 8 GT/s NOT 2.5GT/s)
(c) basic and essential modern card functions such as the ability to drive multiple 4K monitors @60Hz and above
(d) basic fan management software support for the narrow list of third-party cards for which Apple has provided a 'soft' blessing for the purposes of improving overall MOJAVE access /compatibility.

I know you're a GPU expert. Am I wrong in my understanding? It seems like some choices (K5000 maybe?, RTU 2080 perhaps?) come close but it's not always clear.....

Flashed GTX 780 maybe the only card that have anything on your list and work with native Apple drivers.

 

[macjunkie2013]

Hmm, seems that no single slot EFI Metal card exists, except MAYBE the Macvidcards GT 640. I sent him a message asking about that, but never got a response.

 

[saulinpa]

I got a GT 640 from Macvidcards to play with. Single slot. Mojave is fine with it. Just tried it with an RX460 in slot 1 with the GT in slot 2. Both cards recognized with the GT 640 primary on the System Information screen. So far seems fine.
Now strange stuff. Monitor on GT 640 works fine. When I move it to the RX460 the UI becomes almost unusable with spinning beach balls.

 

[macjunkie2013]

I got a GT 640 from Macvidcards to play with. Single slot. Mojave is fine with it. Just tried it with an RX460 in slot 1 with the GT in slot 2. Both cards recognized with the GT 640 primary on the System Information screen. So far seems fine.
Now strange stuff. Monitor on GT 640 works fine. When I move it to the RX460 the UI becomes almost unusable with spinning beach balls.

Thanks for checking this!

I had read that in Mojave, that systems would simply not boot with AMD/Nvidia cards installed together. So it seems you can boot but it is not useable. In earlier Mac OS, this seemed to be more stable?

I had asked Macvidcards about this and did not get a response.

 

[h9826790]

Thanks for checking this!

I had read that in Mojave, that systems would simply not boot with AMD/Nvidia cards installed together. So it seems you can boot but it is not useable. In earlier Mac OS, this seemed to be more stable?

I had asked Macvidcards about this and did not get a response.

Don't expect any quick respond form MVC. They run out of manpower.

 

[zedex]

I can add one interesting possibility to the mix. I once purchased an NVIDIA EVGA GTX 750 for testing in my Mac Pro (first generation Maxwell, low power draw/slot-powered). This card can easily be modded in to a single slot card by removing the fan housing* and bracket from the front of the card. I then used this card in SLOT 4 (x4 lanes) for over a month and it allowed me to work in 4K@60HZ with no major problems that I can recall..
OVERVIEW
- EVGA GTX 750 (I was not using the 'Ti' model).
- My card was not flashed with a ROM (no boot screen).
- If I recall correctly, this is a card that works really well WITH or WITHOUT nVidia webdrivers.
- no issues with 4K@60HZ through displayport.
- cosmetic issues: card WAS fully-functional but looked ugly / unfinished with bracket removed for SLOT 4 operation.

* I'm sure others may see this as a high-risk initiative but I do not need special GPU cooling solutions for my Mac Pro use.

 

[h9826790]

I can add one interesting possibility to the mix. I once purchased an NVIDIA EVGA GTX 750 for testing in my Mac Pro (first generation Maxwell, low power draw/slot-powered). This card can easily be modded in to a single slot card by removing the fan housing* and bracket from the front of the card. I then used this card in SLOT 4 (x4 lanes) for over a month and it allowed me to work in 4K@60HZ with no major problems that I can recall..
OVERVIEW
- EVGA GTX 750 (I was not using the 'Ti' model).
- My card was not flashed with a ROM (no boot screen).
- If I recall correctly, this is a card that works really well WITH or WITHOUT nVidia webdrivers.
- no issues with 4K@60HZ through displayport.
- cosmetic issues: card WAS fully-functional but looked ugly / unfinished with bracket removed for SLOT 4 operation.

* I'm sure others may see this as a high-risk initiative but I do not need special GPU cooling solutions for my Mac Pro use.

Both GTX 750 and 750Ti should belong to Maxwell family (GM107 and GM206), web driver should be required. And no support in Mojave yet.

Are you sure that's 750 but not 740? (if that ever work without web driver)

 

[JeDiGM]

I got a GT 640 from Macvidcards to play with. Single slot. Mojave is fine with it. Just tried it with an RX460 in slot 1 with the GT in slot 2. Both cards recognized with the GT 640 primary on the System Information screen. So far seems fine.
Now strange stuff. Monitor on GT 640 works fine. When I move it to the RX460 the UI becomes almost unusable with spinning beach balls.

saulinpa, try this. Boot the system with only the AMD card plugged into your monitors. I had a GT120 with a GTX1070 running in HS prior to Mojave. I would get artifacts and crashes when i tried to run them both together but as long as i only used the GT120 for the bootscreen and Filevault and unplugged it from my monitors before it started loading the OS it would work totally fine. I'm looking at a GT 640 single slot now to be able to get FV working and have a boot screen for recovery. I bet if you're running an AMD with an NVIDIA it will be even worse for crashes and stability. Maybe you can try it with your setup and answer if this will be a solution before i buy mine I'd like to use a Vega FE with the GT640 for boot options.

 

[saulinpa]

I tried booting with monitor plugged into the AMD. Get a black screen. Remote desktop in and response is sluggish. Shut down and removed Nvidia. Boots fine with monitor plugged into AMD all by itself.

 

[JeDiGM]

I tried booting with monitor plugged into the AMD. Get a black screen. Remote desktop in and response is sluggish. Shut down and removed Nvidia. Boots fine with monitor plugged into AMD all by itself.

It's weird that it's not reading the RX460 as your primary card. Maybe try plugging the NVIDIA into your PCIe slot 3 or slot 4? I'm assuming the RX460 is natively supported? If that doesn't work, SMC and PRAM reset maybe?

 

[macsforme]

Seeing as they don’t play well with AMD cards, I wonder what to expect with an MVC-flashed single-slot card, like the GT 640, with another NVIDIA Kepler card like the 780 or TITAN. I’ve heard that MVC’s flashed cards generally don’t play well with secondary GPUs in the system, but it would be great to find something that works. Finding a GPU that is powerful by modern standards, has EFI/boot screen support, and works in Mojave seems extremely difficult these days.

 

[Mac_User 0101]

Seeing as they don’t play well with AMD cards, I wonder what to expect with an MVC-flashed single-slot card, like the GT 640, with another NVIDIA Kepler card like the 780 or TITAN. I’ve heard that MVC’s flashed cards generally don’t play well with secondary GPUs in the system, but it would be great to find something that works. Finding a GPU that is powerful by modern standards, has EFI/boot screen support, and works in Mojave seems extremely difficult these days.

You're not kidding. I have a flashed MVC GTX980 and I'm ready to downgrade it because I can't stand needing or waiting for web drivers anymore. I held out for a while in hopes that Apple would one day approve NVIDIA drivers into Mac OS but I highly doubt that day is ever coming. I don't need much in a GPU. I just want a native supported card with EFI that is Metal/Mojave compatible. Also, low power consumption. It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack.