Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

bsbeamer

macrumors 601
Sep 19, 2012
4,313
2,713
Several AMD GPUs in the 5XX series have tended to keep the same model number, but part numbers have changed between versions. If you're not purchasing for several months, hold off on testing anything right now. No guarantees those versions will still be available for purchase, or at similar prices.

If you're using the MP5,1's for anything video-related the extra VRAM is worth every penny.
 

PianoPro

macrumors 6502a
Sep 4, 2018
511
385
Thanks again. And that's a good point above about the mini having the 560 being a good sign.

I'm also starting to see 560 cards with 4gb of ram going for sub $130. One advantage I'm seeing is that many of the 560 cards don't require a power-cable.

The MSI RX560 officially supported by Apple works well. I drive 2 1080p monitors and a 4K monitor from that card. No problem for 2D work. I also use it for 3D CAD work, although with complex 4K 3D rendering I'd go with Apple's officially supported Sapphire Pulse RX580 if I did more of that than I do now (I'd call that borderline, but it depends on complexity so YMWV).
 

panjandrum

macrumors 6502a
Sep 22, 2009
732
919
United States
Just added an RX560 to a MP 4,1 flashed to 5,1. Decided to try the Biostar at $119. Seems to work perfectly. After installation (no power cables needed) the card immediately worked and shows up as providing Metal support. Driving a 32:9 monitor (5120x1440) with no problems. Then updated to Mojave without issue.

Running the UNIGINE Heaven benchmark at the Extreme setting there is a substantial difference between the RX560 and the RX580 performance, with the RX580 turning in good numbers even on these older machines, and the RX560 performing only about half as well (I'll post the benchmarks later). In terms of the UI and basic things like scrolling however, there is zero discernible performance difference to my eyes.

Still not sure which way I'll go, but the reduced cost, simplicity of install, and our lack of need for high-end graphics performance makes me think the RX560 will probably be the way I go throughout the school (maybe throw just a few 580s into the MS grade-levels, as some of those students are interested in 3D modeling, game development, etc.).

I'll let you know if I find out anything more, but for now things look spot-on perfect with the RX560.

BTW, these monster 32:9 (5120x1440) monitors DO NOT appear to be working properly connected to current MacBook models over USB-C even though they are clearly well within Apple's stated specs (supposedly up to 5120x2880), but at least the Philips does work properly on the old 4,1 with this card. As did a 21:9 (3840x1600) LG I recently setup.
 
Last edited:

pertusis1

macrumors 6502
Jul 25, 2010
455
161
Texas
I had a 7970 MVC for about 6 years, but I think it died this week. Computer won't start. Screen has funny patterns, and the problem went away when I slapped the old GT120 back in.

My question is this: I was looking at getting an RX 580, which would be plenty of performance for my needs (FCPX mostly). If I leave the GT120 in with the RX580, would I have boot screens after the Mojave update? Incidentally, I also have a 5770 kicking around if that's helpful.
 

amedias

macrumors 6502
Feb 9, 2008
263
289
Devon, UK
I've got a couple of PC Nvidia GT710s in a 5,1, and another in a 4,1 both running High Sierra (native Apple drivers), both report as Metal capable in System Profiler, so potentially should work in Mojave, and other reports say most Kepler cards should work.

If I have 5 mins to check at the weekend I'll throw a Mojave install on there to check, but if they do work then they're certainly cheap, one of them cost me £10 and the other pair were £12, they're not powerful but for my use all they need to do is show a desktop!
 

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,656
8,587
Hong Kong
I had a 7970 MVC for about 6 years, but I think it died this week. Computer won't start. Screen has funny patterns, and the problem went away when I slapped the old GT120 back in.

My question is this: I was looking at getting an RX 580, which would be plenty of performance for my needs (FCPX mostly). If I leave the GT120 in with the RX580, would I have boot screens after the Mojave update? Incidentally, I also have a 5770 kicking around if that's helpful.

No, GT120 and RX580 cannot be installed together in Mojave, will hang during boot.

High Sierra is OK, but with some minor bugs.

Anyway, if your need is basically FCPX, why must get boot screen available 24/7? Why not just keep the GT120 in a safe place, and only use it when required?
 
  • Like
Reactions: pertusis1

panjandrum

macrumors 6502a
Sep 22, 2009
732
919
United States
Ugh, I always forget I can't just upload images to this forum. So here are the benchmarks quickly:

Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0 - Extreme preset, plus the now ancient X-Bench Quartz, Open GL, and UI Tests:

NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 - Zotak (Mojave):
FPS: 4
Score: 102
Min FPS: 2.5
Max FPS: 8.9
X-Bench overall UI score: 32.99

RX560 - Sapphire (Mojave):
FPS: 22.4
Score: 565
Min FPS: 6.9
Max FPS: 48.6
X-Bench overall UI score: 30.66

RX570 - Sapphire (Mojave):
FPS: 42 (what else could it be?)
Score: 1058
Min FPS: 8.2
Max FPS: 94.8
X-Bench overall UI score: 34.43

RX580 - Sapphire (Mojave):
FPS: 43.1
Score: 1086
Min FPS: 8.3
Max FPS: 101.4
X-Bench overall UI score: 56.72

I also decided to run the old X-Bench set of 3 UI benchmarks since I didn't quickly find anything else to perform a similar test. When I was using them I was unable to perceive any difference whatsoever, and only the 580 actually showed much difference in the benchmarks (being quite a lot faster). Interestingly the 710 outran the 560 on the UI tests by a tiny margin.

Problem Points:

The 710 does NOT support audio over HDMI, while all three of the AMD cards did.


All of the AMD cards detect our monitors incorrectly and set the output to YCbCr instead of RGB when hooked up with the old DVI to HDMI cables we previously used. They work fine HDMI to HDMI and things look great over DisplayPort too. This wouldn't be a problem because we *should* be able to simply switch color modes like Windows users have been able to easily do forever, but of course we can't do that in the Mac world without jumping through some unbelievable hoops. :( This may be a problem for some users. If you use multiple-monitors be sure to get a card with enough other outputs where you won't need to use the DVI output of the card. The 710 did not have this problem.

I tested all four of these cards in a MacPro 4,1 flashed to 5,1 and with the original dual-quad-core E5520 processors, and also booted the system into Catalina public beta using DosDude1's patcher. All 4 of these cards ran without any glitches or visual artifacts of any kind in both Mojave and Catalina public preview, which I think is a good sign.

So, at this point, it looks to me like any of these cards is a viable solution for every day use, with the main considerations against the 710 being no HDMI audio and absolute uselessness for gaming. The RX560 also performed poorly in the Heaven's "Extreme" setting, but did perform OK on the basic setting, but I forgot to record the results and I'm not going to bother doing so now. Suffice it to say, if you want any chance of quality gaming you have to go with the 570 or 580, but the 560 might suit older titles OK. All of them performed poorly enough at the absolutely-critical "Min FPS" test that, realistically, you may have to make a lot of quality concessions regardless of which card you use.
 
Last edited:

pertusis1

macrumors 6502
Jul 25, 2010
455
161
Texas
No, GT120 and RX580 cannot be installed together in Mojave, will hang during boot.

High Sierra is OK, but with some minor bugs.

Anyway, if your need is basically FCPX, why must get boot screen available 24/7? Why not just keep the GT120 in a safe place, and only use it when required?

Thanks! I'll probably do what you suggest. I only use the boot screen on very rare occasions anyways.
 

amedias

macrumors 6502
Feb 9, 2008
263
289
Devon, UK
In follow up to my earlier post can confirm Mojave runs with acceleration/metal using a Nvidia GT710, it’s not a powerful GPU but if you only need a GPU for the OS/Desktop then it’s a silent and very cheap option at around £10-£15 second hand and £20-£30 new.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LightBulbFun

panjandrum

macrumors 6502a
Sep 22, 2009
732
919
United States
In follow up to my earlier post can confirm Mojave runs with acceleration/metal using a Nvidia GT710, it’s not a powerful GPU but if you only need a GPU for the OS/Desktop then it’s a silent and very cheap option at around £10-£15 second hand and £20-£30 new.

Hmmm. Can't deny that's interesting. I'm seeing 2GB cards here in the US for as low as $45 on Amazon. This would really be a boon to us if they work. At that price I can definitely justify buying one for testing purposes.

Three questions: There are currently driver issues limiting NVIDIA and Apple compatibility. Is this a driverless installation (i.e. supported directly by MacOS)?

and: Boot Screen? yes or no? (I'm guessing no, at least not without a custom firmware flash).

speaking of which: Flashing required or just drop-in-and go?
 

amedias

macrumors 6502
Feb 9, 2008
263
289
Devon, UK
Native MacOS drivers

No boot screens (PC Card)

No flash just drop in and go

If you just want to try it pick one up off eBay for peanuts
 
Last edited:

panjandrum

macrumors 6502a
Sep 22, 2009
732
919
United States
Native MacOS drivers

No boot screens (PC Card)

No flash just drop in and go

If you just want to try it pick one up off eBay for peanuts

This has been extremely helpful, thank you. I'll give it a whirl and if all works out I'll add some Unigine Heaven Benchmarks for the card to my post above comparing the AMD cards.
 
  • Like
Reactions: amedias

amedias

macrumors 6502
Feb 9, 2008
263
289
Devon, UK
No problem, I imagine benchmark performance will be dismal, but it’s a perfectly good card for people who only need their GPU to run the OS/desktop.

The most demanding thing my GPU has to render is probably the screensaver ;-)
 

LightBulbFun

macrumors 68030
Nov 17, 2013
2,900
3,195
London UK
im surprised MVC has not made a ROM for the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710, its a good card for Mojave if all you need to do is run a desktop etc

and I imagine he would end up selling quite a few because of that
 

flowrider

macrumors 604
Nov 23, 2012
7,323
3,003
^^^^Nvidia is DEAD as far as the Mac is concerned thumbsdown.gif My 1080 GTX has kept me on HS. I will be ordering an RX 580 from him as soon as he says it a go. Damn Apple and Damn Nvidia. Such intransigence on both sides is appalling mad.gif

Lou
 

amedias

macrumors 6502
Feb 9, 2008
263
289
Devon, UK
im surprised MVC has not made a ROM for the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710, its a good card for Mojave if all you need to do is run a desktop etc

and I imagine he would end up selling quite a few because of that

I like them as they are one of the few passively cooled low-power draw cards available that work with native drivers.

I was (still do) using passively cooled GT 520s under El-Cap but the 710 is so much cooler again it really is a good basic card, and very cheap!
 
  • Like
Reactions: LightBulbFun

tsialex

Contributor
Jun 13, 2016
13,455
13,601
im surprised MVC has not made a ROM for the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710, its a good card for Mojave if all you need to do is run a desktop etc

and I imagine he would end up selling quite a few because of that
I bet that selling a low-end GPU won't make any financial sense for him. He has the same fixed cost for the development, consumables (SPI flash, solder paste, solder flux, time, packing material, etc) and shipping for all cards.

The markup over a $250+ GPU can compensate the fixed costs, but for a $30~40 GPU not.
 

LightBulbFun

macrumors 68030
Nov 17, 2013
2,900
3,195
London UK
I bet that selling a low-end GPU won't make any financial sense for him. He has the same fixed cost for the development, consumables (SPI flash, solder paste, solder flux, time, packing material, etc) and shipping for all cards.

The markup over a $250+ GPU can compensate the fixed costs, but for a $30~40 GPU not.

well he sells Flashed 9500 GTs and GT 630-740 cards, with a heavy markup for the service, so I could imagine him doing the same with the GT 710 (especially as NVIDIA dont sell the 630-740 anymore so I imagine finding ones to flash might be hard)
 

henchman

macrumors 6502a
Dec 28, 2004
548
6
Why the hell can't people stick to what the OP asked for.
A cheap, metal compatible cars THAT HAS A BOOTSCREEN.

Seriously, why post cards that DON'T MEET THAT REQUIREMENT.

6 pages of crap about cards like the GT 710.
 
  • Like
Reactions: macguru9999
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.