Upgrading Graphics Card on Mid 2010 Mac Pro

[C2CPro]

Hi guys,

I was really looking forward to playing Cyan's new game Obduction on my mid 2010 Mac Pro. However, an error message* on launch basically reveals that my MP isn't Metal API-compatible even though it's running El Capitan 10.11.6.

This might be a dumb statement but I can't even find anything Metal API related on my hard drive so maybe it was skipped over when I upgraded the OS? Would I need to download Metal again from somewhere once I upgrade my graphics card?

Would simply upgrading my graphics card allow my MP to use Metal and therefore launch Obduction? I'd be open to getting a new one bc of the overall benefits anyway. Or is there something more that could be involved? Here's my current MP stats:

Processor: 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Memory: 32 Gb 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB

Thanks so much for any input!

---

* The error message states that Unreal Engine (which powers Obduction) can't find any "cooked" content. Cyan's Official Support says that this is caused by out-of-date graphics card that doesn't support Metal: http://support.cyan.com/kb_article.php?ref=1221-UPFV-9088

 

[BillyBobBongo]

You should get good results, not the best, with a GTX 680. They are readily available on eBay and easy to flash so that you can get boot screens.

http://www.game-debate.com/games/index.php?g_id=9003&compareGPU=Obduction

 

[C2CPro]

You should get good results, not the best, with a GTX 680. They are readily available on eBay and easy to flash so that you can get boot screens.

http://www.game-debate.com/games/index.php?g_id=9003&compareGPU=Obduction

Ah that's a very useful chart - thank you for finding that and your response! So I assume just once the card is in, everything should work fine? Granted - this is a game that just came out yesterday so it's hard to tell.

 

[BillyBobBongo]

Indeed, it's hard to tell.

On Steam they recommend a Core i5 2500K as the minimum requirement.

According to this list (http://www.game-debate.com/games/index.php?g_id=9003&canMyCpuRunIt=Obduction) your processor isn't supported. Although I'd be inclined to give it a go anyway.

If you want to game on your Mac Pro that 5770 needs to go anyway, a GTX 680 would be a wise investment all the same.

 

[C2CPro]

Indeed, it's hard to tell.

On Steam they recommend a Core i5 2500K as the minimum requirement.

According to this list (http://www.game-debate.com/games/index.php?g_id=9003&canMyCpuRunIt=Obduction) your processor isn't supported. Although I'd be inclined to give it a go anyway.

If you want to game on your Mac Pro that 5770 needs to go anyway, a GTX 680 would be a wise investment all the same.

Hmmm yeah might as well upgrade the processor too while I'm at it - a GTX 680 does sound like a good investment given its price. Man - crazy how fast things get outdated! Thanks so much for your help again.

 

[CapnDavey]

GTX680 worked well for me you can find some for around $100 then flash it for boot screen.

 

[orph]

a gtx 670 will work and is cheeper (unless your lucky) or if you can wait for the rx 470

 

[C2CPro]

GTX680 worked well for me you can find some for around $100 then flash it for boot screen.

Yeah I think that's a great strategy - I am thinking of getting the 680 def! Thanks for the reply.
[doublepost=1472395098][/doublepost]

a gtx 670 will work and is cheeper (unless your lucky) or if you can wait for the rx 470

I'll have to look into both - the RX 470 seems like it's a pretty good price too considering it's extremely current! Thanks for the reply.

 

[orph]

the rx 470 dose not work in osx at the mo, it looks like it will work in osx12 (ie the next version of osx).
so if you want to play the game now then a 680 is a good bet, a 670 pre OC'ed tends to be cheaper.

iv been wanting to upgrade my GPU but decided to wait for the new ATI cards as the used 680/760/770 just cost to much used for what they are. (670 is faster than 760)

gumtree is a good bet, the 680's on ebay seem to go for more

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Ported my (PC) GTX-670-FTW-4GB (bought in 2013) from my Mac Pro 3.1 -> Mac Pro 5.1 using it i.c.w. a ATI-2600-HD for bootscreens. Still alive-and-kicking, the only downside of the GTX-670 is, that there are no EFI roms available for it to flash it.

So waiting for the GTX-1080 (flashed) comes available at a sensible price range. Perhaps in the meantime I'll be buying a GTX-680 (PC) and get it flashed, so I can remove the other ATI and use it's freed PCIe slot for something much more worthwhile! Another DUO x2 (piling up dust atm) for sure and add 2 more SSD's to my config.

Good luck hunting!

Cheers

 

[C2CPro]

Good point about the RX 470 - I actually just bought a 4 gb GTX 680 for my Mac Pro 5 1 from macvidcards.com - I bet the ATI cards will make a good choice for you though since I think they're pretty much plug and play.

the rx 470 dose not work in osx at the mo, it looks like it will work in osx12 (ie the next version of osx).
so if you want to play the game now then a 680 is a good bet, a 670 pre OC'ed tends to be cheaper.

iv been wanting to upgrade my GPU but decided to wait for the new ATI cards as the used 680/760/770 just cost to much used for what they are. (670 is faster than 760)

gumtree is a good bet, the 680's on ebay seem to go for more

[doublepost=1472740509][/doublepost]Yeah I decided to buy a flashed 4 gb 680 and I don't regret it - esp since the game apparently will run great with a 4 gb GPU - and I threw in an SSD as well.

The GTX 1080 sounds amazing - too bad these things cost so much $$! But that would probably keep your machine current for a long while.

Thanks for the reply!

Ported my (PC) GTX-670-FTW-4GB (bought in 2013) from my Mac Pro 3.1 -> Mac Pro 5.1 using it i.c.w. a ATI-2600-HD for bootscreens. Still alive-and-kicking, the only downside of the GTX-670 is, that there are no EFI roms available for it to flash it.

So waiting for the GTX-1080 (flashed) comes available at a sensible price range. Perhaps in the meantime I'll be buying a GTX-680 (PC) and get it flashed, so I can remove the other ATI and use it's freed PCIe slot for something much more worthwhile! Another DUO x2 (piling up dust atm) for sure and add 2 more SSD's to my config.

Good luck hunting!

Cheers