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

which 5,1 4k Video card + Metal support

Dewdman42

Dewdman42

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 25, 2008
514
109
Well I am finally going to get a bigger monitor for my 5,1 MacPro (2010) and need recommendations for a video card. I have googled all around and the amount of information is astounding, but also extremely confusing. Does anyone know if there is a good site somewhere that explains all the ins and outs for what will run on a 5,1 Mac Pro?

I will not be doing any gaming. I care about resolution and sharpness. Will be getting 4K monitor in 42-43 inch size, viewing from 3 feet. Mostly using for Music Production. A "quiet" card is more important to me that supreme GPU power, but I want Metal support for the the future direction Apple seems to be going.

Anyway, there is so much confusing information about nvidia vs AMD, and this will work but that won't work or it will unless you do this that or the other. I am not afraid to flash one myself, but I have no idea how to pick the card at this point...kind of overwhelmed with information..

Any pointers?
 
If your not doing any kind of video/animation which could use cuda, there is no reason to get an nvidia card. It’s just too much hassle updating drivers every OS update.
Personally, best AMD option is RX580 Pulse, which is plug and play.......:)
You need at least Sierra, the ONLY negative is you have no boot screen, but you really don’t need it.
Just keep a mac ‘efi’ card around incase you need any firmware updates.

You may have read, this is the card recommended by Apple for their egpu, and is fully supported in the next OS.
 
I won't be doing any animation, but video playback is part of the music production process sometimes, would that need CUDA? Doubt it but just asking..

so is it possible to flash an RX580 so that it has a boot screen?

I saw that there were a couple cards recommended by Apple, but not sure the differences. Is the RXC580 a quiet cooling system? Low noise is very important to me.

By keeping an EFI card around, what did you mean by "efi"?
 
IF you are not looking for an EFI card, personally would only recommend either a Sapphire Radeon PULSE RX 580 8GB or an NVIDIA GTX 1080 8GB Founders Edition for a brand new purchase at the current moment. Other cards work, but these two will likely be the last card you'll purchase for a 5,1.

The RX 580 (that exact model) is on the short list for 10.14 beta with 5,1. Works with Apple's approved eGPU enclosures if you're looking for future compatibility with another machine and/or laptop.

The GTX 1080 FE is currently available directly from NVIDIA without markup. Currently using in my 5,1 with 10.13.6 and the NVIDIA web drivers without any issues. I utilize CUDA, so it was important to me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Squuiid
So let me put it this way, I have the ATI Radeon 5770 in my 5,1, and aside from the fact that it doesn't have enough resolution to go to 4K, I'm perfectly fine with its capabilities. I'm guessing that means I do not need nVidia CUDA or any of those hassles. Yes?

If Apple is recommending this RX580, I will probably grab it. Do you know if its optional for me to flash it in order to have a boot screen? Well anyway $300 seems to be the new price for that unit and definitely not outrageous...so if that will get me to 4K Metal, its probably a done deal and the way to go. Plus if Apple is recommending it, I may not need to ever flash it.
 
If, you don't need the horsepower of the RX 580, you can get its little brother, the RX 560, which also works and can drive 4K easily...
 
Specifically the MSI Gaming Radeon RX 560 card is the only other card Apple recommended for Mojave. It's half the price of the Sapphire Pulse 580 and doesn't require any additional power cables. For your needs you could get by easily with that.

https://www.amazon.com/MSI-RX-560-AERO-ITX/dp/B072J422CZ

Edit: I'm not sure if these cards can use the old 7950 EFI... I think they can but hopefully someone can tell you for sure. But you should be aware that the old 7950 EFI has some issues working with 4K monitors (not only did I not get a boot screen but the Mac wouldn't even boot with it connected to my 4K monitor).

Since Apple is recommending these two cards, there are a few of us here that are hopeful they will provide a new solution for them to display the boot screen with Mojave. Absolutely no guarantees on that, but it's a possibility.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
bookemdano said:
Specifically the MSI Gaming Radeon RX 560 card is the only other card Apple recommended for Mojave. It's half the price of the Sapphire Pulse 580 and doesn't require any additional power cables. For your needs you could get by easily with that.

https://www.amazon.com/MSI-RX-560-AERO-ITX/dp/B072J422CZ

Edit: I'm not sure if these cards can use the old 7950 EFI... I think they can but hopefully someone can tell you for sure. But you should be aware that the old 7950 EFI has some issues working with 4K monitors (not only did I not get a boot screen but the Mac wouldn't even boot with it connected to my 4K monitor).

Since Apple is recommending these two cards, there are a few of us here that are hopeful they will provide a new solution for them to display the boot screen with Mojave. Absolutely no guarantees on that, but it's a possibility.
Click to expand...
Anyone know if Mojave does HEVC decoding on this card also, like the Sspphire RX 580?
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
So there seem to be several different variations of both the RX560 and the RX580... which are the differences between these variations and which variation would I want for mac 5,1?
 
Dewdman42 said:
So there seem to be several different variations of both the RX560 and the RX580... which are the differences between these variations and which variation would I want for mac 5,1?
Click to expand...

Go for the Apple suggested ones, it’s the ones they’re testing on Mac Pros and eGPUs.
  • Mac Pro (Late 2013, plus mid 2010 and mid 2012 models with recommended Metal-capable GPU, including MSI Gaming Radeon RX 560 and Sapphire Radeon PULSE RX 580)
Click to expand...
 
also where can I find information about Apple recommending this card?
 
Thanks. will likely just get the RX580 Pulse... Looks like the way to go. Now I just need to pick the right 40+ inch 4k monitor.
 
Dewdman42 said:
aside from the fact that it doesn't have enough resolution to go to 4K
Click to expand...
I recommended a Dell P2715Q to a friend with a 5,1/5770, and it will drive at 4K (which is beyond spec). I suspect it would not be very good overall, but it will drive it.

But I agree that the right one to get is the 580 Pulse. It comes highly recommended in several other threads on this site, and as has been mentioned here, it's the recommended card. AFAIK, none of the more modern GPUs can be flashed for boot screens. Most thread responders say to keep a boot-screen capable GPU, such as 5770 (or even GT120) around for such occasions as needed.
 
Dewdman42 said:
what does EFI stand for?
Click to expand...

Long story short, on Mac it's what lets you see boot screens. Non-EFI cards are standard PC cards. If you do not have an EFI card, you'll wait until the OS (macOS 10.13.6+) loads the appropriate graphics driver before your display will show the screen with the Apple logo and progress bar.

Any standard PC GPU (like an NVIDIA GTX 1080 FE or Sapphire RX580 PULSE) do not have a Mac EFI built in off the shelf. There are vendors who flash for NVIDIA cards, but have not seen one for the latest generation AMD cards.

Worth mentioning, if you do not have an EFI card you will likely need to disable FileVault. I'm not 100% positive if there are workaround with the 10.14 Mojave beta and recommended RX580, but know for sure non-flashed NVIDIA cards need FileVault disabled.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
  • Like
Reactions: Design4
bsbeamer said:
Long story short, on Mac it's what lets you see boot screens. Non-EFI cards are standard PC cards. If you do not have an EFI card, you'll wait until the OS (macOS 10.13.6+) loads the appropriate graphics driver before your display will show the screen with the Apple logo and progress bar.

Any standard PC GPU (like an NVIDIA GTX 1080 FE or Sapphire RX580 PULSE) do not have a Mac EFI built in off the shelf. There are vendors who flash for NVIDIA cards, but have not seen one for the latest generation AMD cards.

Worth mentioning, if you do not have an EFI card you will likely need to disable FileVault. I'm not 100% positive if there are workaround with the 10.14 Mojave beta and recommended RX580, but know for sure non-flashed NVIDIA cards need FileVault disabled.
Click to expand...
Just to add to this reply, if you did not have an ‘efi’ card you couldn’t do any firmware updates, so not install newer versions of osx (your 5770 will work fine).
Another note get your cabe ordered NOW, if from China (ebay) may take about a week.
You need a dual mini 6 pin to single 8 pin.
 
If you are happy with the 5770's performance, and only need a GPU for 4k 60Hz ability, and you prefer to have boot screen. Then a flashed reference HD7950 is a good choice. You can flash it by yourself. That should be the cheapest way to get what you want. The reason I recommend this card is because it has dual ROM design, basically flash fail proof. No need to worry about brick the card because of bad flashing.
 
h9826790 said:
If you are happy with the 5770's performance, and only need a GPU for 4k 60Hz ability, and you prefer to have boot screen. Then a flashed reference HD7950 is a good choice. You can flash it by yourself. That should be the cheapest way to get what you want. The reason I recommend this card is because it has dual ROM design, basically flash fail proof. No need to worry about brick the card because of bad flashing.
Click to expand...

Do you mean for him to keep both the 5770 and the 7950 installed at the same time?

Otherwise he should know that if he gets a flashed 7950 and he's trying to do 4K @ 60Hz (=DP 1.2) then his Mac Pro won't even boot up with the monitor connected, much less get boot screens.

If he feels like dealing with the hassle, he can flash one BIOS with the EFI ROM. Then when he wanted boot screens he would have to move the BIOS switch to that position and make sure his monitor was in DP 1.1 mode (or connect via another output). Then when he wants to use 4K @ 60Hz he has to move the BIOS switch over to the other (non-flashed) position and switch monitor back to DP1.2 mode.

I dealt with that situation for 6 months and it really sucked. Eventually I broke down and bought a GeForce 750 Ti and had MVC flash it so I didn't have to jump through hoops to get boot screens (FileVault2 was what I cared about) AND 4K @ 60Hz. But that's still a hassle due to the web drivers thing.

That's why I so hope Apple will do something to enable full EFI functionality for the cards they are recommending for Mojave. Literally every available solution right now requires compromises.
 
  • Like
Reactions: h9826790 and crjackson2134
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back