MP 7,1 which 6900xt cards fit in a Mac Pro 2019?

[SDAVE]

Did you install boot camp on a separate drive or did you have to set aside a partition on your main drive?

I didn't want Windows diluting the main SSD so I just keep it off, but you can easily partition and do it that way. But SSD and NVMes are so cheap why not separate?

Here's my drive configuration:

1. Apple SSD 4TB — macOS Monterey 12.6.1, not touching Ventura for a while since this is a production machine
2. Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB NVMe (via PCIe adapter) — Windows 11 and games go on this drive
3. Samsung 860 Pro 1TB SATA SSD (Mounted on internal Sonnet Fusion Flex J3i) — Games and other Windows related stuff go on here
4. HGST 8TB HDD (Mounted on internal Sonnet Fusion Flex J3i) — Drive is used only for Time Machine.

One issue I have with dual booting is that if hold down Option on a wireless magic keyboard, the bootup menu won't show up, so I have to use a wired keyboard. However, someone super smart figured out a way to have the bootup menu always show up via some terminal commands (it is also reversible if you don't like it). But for now I am just using sys pref to reboot into Windows and rebooting back to macOS from the Windows Bootcamp utility.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

I didn't want Windows diluting the main SSD so I just keep it off, but you can easily partition and do it that way. But SSD and NVMes are so cheap why not separate?

Here's my drive configuration:

1. Apple SSD 4TB — macOS Monterey 12.6.1, not touching Ventura for a while since this is a production machine
2. Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB NVMe (via PCIe adapter) — Windows 11 and games go on this drive
3. Samsung 860 Pro 1TB SATA SSD (Mounted on internal Sonnet Fusion Flex J3i) — Games and other Windows related stuff go on here
4. HGST 8TB HDD (Mounted on internal Sonnet Fusion Flex J3i) — Drive is used only for Time Machine.

One issue I have with dual booting is that if hold down Option on a wireless magic keyboard, the bootup menu won't show up, so I have to use a wired keyboard. However, someone super smart figured out a way to have the bootup menu always show up via some terminal commands (it is also reversible if you don't like it). But for now I am just using sys pref to reboot into Windows and rebooting back to macOS from the Windows Bootcamp utility.

How did you go about doing it. When I installed windows, I only got an option to partition. I probably missed something obvious.. I agree with you. I would love to unusually my boot drive of Windows.

 

[SDAVE]

How did you go about doing it. When I installed windows, I only got an option to partition. I probably missed something obvious.. I agree with you. I would love to unusually my boot drive of Windows.

I don't remember exactly how but I think I just booted off a Windows usb stick and installed it to the NVME. I didnt use the bootcamp assistant. I only ran setup.exe for drivers after Windows was installed.

Steps:
1. Format Windows drive as FAT32
2. Make a USB installer for windows
3. Boot off the USB installer by holding option during boot

 

[Yzord]

Ok, so i have the following parts available

- AMD 6900xt reference card
- Belkin PCIe Aux Power Cables
- Huawei Belkin VR Glass Computer Connecting Cable Charge & Sync Cable

Few questions. In which slot should i place my 6900 card? And then, which connector do i use from the Huawei Belkin cable to power up my XDR monitor with my 6900xt card? Because it has DP, USBA & USBC.

My goal would be running the MP7,1 with the 6900xt without the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X in it.

 

[flowrider]

^^^^Remove the MPX 5700X GPU. Replace it with the RX6900XT Reference card in the same slot marked 2 as indicated below. Place two 8 pin to 8 pin power cables in the power connector receptacles as marked 1 as indicated below. Connect the Belkin video cable as such:

Display Port to Display Port on the RX6900.

The two USB-A cables to the USB-A connectors on the Mac.

The USB-C to the monitor.

Lou

 

[SDAVE]

Ok, so i have the following parts available

- AMD 6900xt reference card
- Belkin PCIe Aux Power Cables
- Huawei Belkin VR Glass Computer Connecting Cable Charge & Sync Cable

Few questions. In which slot should i place my 6900 card? And then, which connector do i use from the Huawei Belkin cable to power up my XDR monitor with my 6900xt card? Because it has DP, USBA & USBC.

My goal would be running the MP7,1 with the 6900xt without the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X in it.

Here's how I did it.

Slot 3: AMD Radeon RX6900XT (OEM) (The reason I put it here was because I needed an x16 slot and some breathing room so it doesn't get hot).

Slot 7: PCIe NVME adapter

Slot 8: Native 7,1 card (TB audio ports etc).

I used the upper AUX power cable port for the Belkin Aux power cable.

For the Belkin VR cable, just connect the DisplayPort part of the cable to any of the DP ports on the AMD card and connect the 2 USB cables any way to the 7,1 MP. I got a cheap $10 USB-A to USB-A x4 dongle to connect both my VR cables (4 USB cords total).

 

[Yzord]

I have installed an AMD RX6900XT into my Mac Pro 2019 and installed a fresh Ventura OS on a separate NVMe disk. I removed the MPX module and i used the original USB-C cable between my Mac Pro 7,1 and Pro XDR monitor and this is the result:

I am having 6K resolution without the Belkin cables. The only issue I am having is that I cannot control the brightness with my keyboard. But this could be controlled by an app I have read somewhere (does anyone knows which app?).

edit: never mind, I know what the fuzz is about lol. Losing the usb-c ports on my xdr which I am having right now. So, back to the belkin cables

edit2: installed the belkin cable and indeed I have my usb-c ports back from the xdr monitor and I am running 6k. So the belkin cable can display 6k specs.

 

[SDAVE]

I have installed an AMD RX6900XT into my Mac Pro 2019 and installed a fresh Ventura OS on a separate NVMe disk. I removed the MPX module and i used the original USB-C cable between my Mac Pro 7,1 and Pro XDR monitor and this is the result:

I am having 6K resolution without the Belkin cables. The only issue I am having is that I cannot control the brightness with my keyboard. But this could be controlled by an app I have read somewhere (does anyone knows which app?).

edit: never mind, I know what the fuzz is about lol. Losing the usb-c ports on my xdr which I am having right now. So, back to the belkin cables

edit2: installed the belkin cable and indeed I have my usb-c ports back from the xdr monitor and I am running 6k. So the belkin cable can display 6k specs.

Yes the USB-C on the 6900XT will only give you video with no hub or display control/functionality.

The Belkin cable lets you get the hub and functionality back like camera, speakers, display brightness, etc. However the Hub will be USB 2.0 only.

 

[Yzord]

Yes the USB-C on the 6900XT will only give you video with no hub or display control/functionality.

The Belkin cable lets you get the hub and functionality back like camera, speakers, display brightness, etc. However the Hub will be USB 2.0 only.

Do you know which PCIe USB card i could get?

 

[SDAVE]

Do you know which PCIe USB card i could get?

Just use a hub it works fine

 

[flowrider]

^^^^Part of the charm of a NcMP 2019 is that it is so expandable. I have a USB card internally and a small external hub that powers the Logitech dongle for my mouse, it sits below my monitor and I use it for my backup flash drives.

My USB Card is an old High Point RocketU 1144C. I highly recommend their cards:

RU1144E | HighPoint Technologies, Inc.

The HighPoint RocketU 1144E maximizes performance of 5 Gb/s USB 3.0 + 6GB/s SATA storage devices.

www.highpoint-tech.com

RU1144F | HighPoint Technologies, Inc.

The RocketU 1144F is the industry's fastest 5Gb/s 4-Port USB HBA. Each port can operate independently, and is powered by a dedicated USB 3.2 5Gb/s controller, and backed by the high performance PCIe 3.0 x4 host interface.

www.highpoint-tech.com

Lou

 

[Rob__Mac]

I've got a W5700X MPX module and added a Gigabyte 6900XT. It'ss a chunky fella, takes up 3x slots and requires 3x power connections, instead of the 2 easily accessible with the Belkin kit. I managed to thread another Belkin cable down past my MPX and hooked it up that way, but what I'm wondering is if I could shuffle everything around to fit a 3rd GPU in the future, would I be able to daisy chain the PSU cables or am I dumb for not noticing I needed 3 cables with this model?

 

[betovzky]

Hi @Yzord, I would like to remove the Pro Vega II from my Mac Pro and same time keep the Native 6K resolution using the RX 6900 XT (not scaled) and have the controls of brightness back. The Belkin VR cable can do that? Do you mind to share the same screens I'm sharing on my post so I can check the numbers? Thanks!

 

[SDAVE]

I've got a W5700X MPX module and added a Gigabyte 6900XT. It'ss a chunky fella, takes up 3x slots and requires 3x power connections, instead of the 2 easily accessible with the Belkin kit. I managed to thread another Belkin cable down past my MPX and hooked it up that way, but what I'm wondering is if I could shuffle everything around to fit a 3rd GPU in the future, would I be able to daisy chain the PSU cables or am I dumb for not noticing I needed 3 cables with this model?

Just remove the 5700X it's useless anyway.

I removed my 580X and put in a OEM 6900XT and never looked back. Running Dual 5k Studio Displays with the Belkin cables with no problem. Everything works.

 

[SDAVE]

Hi @Yzord, I would like to remove the Pro Vega II from my Mac Pro and same time keep the Native 6K resolution using the RX 6900 XT (not scaled) and have the controls of brightness back. The Belkin VR cable can do that? Do you mind to share the same screens I'm sharing on my post so I can check the numbers? Thanks!

View attachment 2158492

You can connect directly to the USB-C port on the 6900XT but you won't have brightness control.

The Belkin cable will let you have all the controls on the monitor and run at 6k natively with no problem.

 

[flowrider]

^^^^So will this cable:

WJESOG DisplayPort to USB C Cable 6.6ft 4K@60Hz with USB Cable Adapter,DP Male to Type-C Male Converter Support Touch with Nreal Air VR, MacBook Pro/Air 2020/2018, iPad Pro/Air, XPS

Displayport to USB C Cable 6.6ft 4K@60Hz

www.amazon.com

It's much less expensive, a reasonable length and will only use one USB port. Although the listing says 4K @ 60Hz, it is known to run at 6K.

Lou

 

[betovzky]

Lou, anybody here on the forum with the Pro Display XDR + 6900XT using this cable or Belkin?

 

[flowrider]

^^^Yes;

Hey Folks, I've been using the Belkin VR cable for awhile now. No problems really but it is a long cable, and I've had to be really careful with signal integrity through the KVM switch and to the other computers. I stumbled on a new cable on Amazon and decided to test it out. Good news: works great, it's cheap, and ships fast. I'm running stable at 6k with full brightness/etc controls via USB.

The cable made by "WJESOG" is on Amazon here for US$30. Make sure you get the "DP to USB-C" version.

If folks are hunting for a decent KVM switch, I've moved from my older StarTech DP1.2 2-port to the Monoprice Blackbird (also on Amazon for US$140 as of this writing) DP1.4 4-port. The video signal has been solid so far, but the USB HID emulation leaves a lot to be desired ... ended up with the keyboard and mouse on the non-HID ports to make everything work properly. Nothing is perfect in the KVM switch market, but it's good enough for now.

This is on a 2019 Mac Pro, AMD Radeon Pro W5700X GPU.

AGDCDiagnose output:

Stream@0 FB0    DICT    13
Stream ID    0
Is Enabled    YES
Is DPMS Off    NO
Change Flags    0
Option Flags    0
Sink Address    4.0
HW Src Viewport    6016x3384 @ {0,0}
HW Dst Viewport    6016x3384 @ {0,0}

Timing FB0    DICT    24
Display Mode    8000500f
Refresh Rate (Calculated)    60 Hz
Refresh Rate (Stored)    0.0 Hz
Window (Active)    6016 x 3384
Window (Scaled)    0 x 0
Scaled Inset    0 x 0
Pixel Clock    1286010000 Hz
Scaler Flags    0
Signal Config    0
Blanking    80 x 132
Border {left,right}    {0, 0}
Border {top,bottom}    {0, 0}
Sync Offset (h, v)    8 x 118
Sync Pulse Width (h, v)    32, 8
Sync Config (h, v)    + x -
Num Links    2
VB Extension    0
OUTPUT: Pixel Encoding    1 (RGB444)
OUTPUT: Bits Per Color Component    8 (12 bpc)
OUTPUT: Colorimetry    1 (RGB)
OUTPUT: Dynamic Range    2 (HDR10)
DSC: Num Slices    4 x 1
DSC: Slice Dimensions    1504 x 3384
DSC: Compressed BPP    12 bits, (192 bits*16) )

Current setup:

 ┌───────────────────────────┐
 │                           │
 │                           │
 │                           │
 │       Pro Display XDR     │
 │                           │
 │                           │
 │                           │
 └─────────────┬─────────────┘
               │
               │ <-- WJESOC Cable
               │
 ┌─────────────┴─────────────┐
 │ Monoprice Blackbird       │
 │ 4-port DP 1.4 KVM         │
 └───┬────────────────┬──────┘
     │                │
     │                │
 ┌───┴────┐     ┌─────┴──────┐
 │        │     │ StarTech   │
 │ Mac    │     │ TB3 Dock   │
 │ Pro    │     └─────┬──────┘
 │ 2019   │           │
 │        │     ┌─────┴──────┐
 │ W5700X │     │            │
 │        │     │ MacBook Pro│
 │        │     │ 2022 M1    │
 └────────┘     │            │
                ├────────────┤
                │            │
                └────────────┘

 

[betovzky]

^^^Yes;

But @wago have a W5700X (it's an MPX module), how this can be compared with a third-party like the 6900XT? I really need to make sure before purchase this cable as I'm on Europe. Thank you!

 

[LeonPro]

Kind of on a tangent, but still concerning the 6900XT + 2019 Mac Pro, I'm on the latest Mac OS Ventura 13.2.1 version with a Gigabyte RX 6900XT OC. I removed the Vega II awhile back.

I noticed once in a while there's a glitch on the XDR screen. Just a small portion on the screen glitching like it's refreshing. It's not occurring on the other screen - an Asus 32" PG32UQ.

So basically, the card is powering the XDR at 6K and the Asus at 4K.

I also constantly boot into BootCamp, and this refresh-like screen glitch is not appearing at all.

Wondering if someone is experiencing the same occurrence on screen as it appears to be a Mac OS driver issue.

 

[betovzky]

Kind of on a tangent, but still concerning the 6900XT + 2019 Mac Pro, I'm on the latest Mac OS Ventura 13.2.1 version with a Gigabyte RX 6900XT OC. I removed the Vega II awhile back.

I noticed once in a while there's a glitch on the XDR screen. Just a small portion on the screen glitching like it's refreshing. It's not occurring on the other screen - an Asus 32" PG32UQ.

So basically, the card is powering the XDR at 6K and the Asus at 4K.

I also constantly boot into BootCamp, and this refresh-like screen glitch is not appearing at all.

Wondering if someone is experiencing the same occurrence on screen as it appears to be a Mac OS driver issue.

Hi LeonPro, so what cable are you using? 6K@60Hz native + brightness control?

Do you mind to share this screen on your side?

 

[LeonPro]

Hi LeonPro, so what cable are you using? 6K@60Hz native + brightness control?

Do you mind to share this screen on your side?

Hi betovzky, I'm not using a specialized cable like the Belkin VR. I don't need to control my brightness because I only work in reference modes with my line of work - video editing.

I've never really made use of the brightness bar and, in fact, disable any auto brightness and True Tone setting in all my Macs. I hate them with a passion.

I'm only running both monitors under BT.709-BT1886 profile.

With my specific needs I'm only using this cable which is equally expensive in my region:

StarTech USB Type-C™ Adapter Cable | 8K 60Hz | Thunderbolt 3™ | HBR3​

6ft USB C to DisplayPort 1.4 Cable 8K/4K - USB-C Display Adapters | Display & Video Adapters | StarTech.com Canada

6ft (2m) USB C to DisplayPort 1.4 Cable 8K 60Hz/4K - Reversible DP to USB-C or USB-C to DP Video Adapter Cable HBR3/HDR/DSC | Canada

www.startech.com

 

[betovzky]

Hi betovzky, I'm not using a specialized cable like the Belkin VR. I don't need to control my brightness because I only work in reference modes with my line of work - video editing.

I've never really made use of the brightness bar and, in fact, disable any auto brightness and True Tone setting in all my Macs. I hate them with a passion.

I'm only running both monitors under BT.709-BT1886 profile.

With my specific needs I'm only using this cable which is equally expensive in my region:

StarTech USB Type-C™ Adapter Cable | 8K 60Hz | Thunderbolt 3™ | HBR3​

6ft USB C to DisplayPort 1.4 Cable 8K/4K - USB-C Display Adapters | Display & Video Adapters | StarTech.com Canada

6ft (2m) USB C to DisplayPort 1.4 Cable 8K 60Hz/4K - Reversible DP to USB-C or USB-C to DP Video Adapter Cable HBR3/HDR/DSC | Canada

www.startech.com

That’s awesome! We are one the same terms, all the Night Shift and company disabled! Image and video editing too. So this cable provides you 6K Native. I can sacrifice brightness to get steady 6K! Do you mind to share the screen that I asked you when you can please? Thank you!!

 

[LeonPro]

That’s awesome! We are one the same terms, all the Night Shift and company disabled! Image and video editing too. So this cable provides you 6K Native. I can sacrifice brightness to get steady 6K! Do you mind to share the screen that I asked you when you can please? Thank you!!

Not sure what requesting the similar screenshot will reveal to you minus the missing Brightness/True Tone box. That's all you're not seeing.

Here, I'll do one better. Screenshots of what you're requesting and detailed information of how it's connected in both Mac OS and Windows 10 Boot Camp.

 

[betovzky]

Not sure what requesting the similar screenshot will reveal to you minus the missing Brightness/True Tone box. That's all you're not seeing.

Here, I'll do one better. Screenshots of what you're requesting and detailed information of how it's connected in both Mac OS and Windows 10 Boot Camp. View attachment 2161872 View attachment 2161871 View attachment 2161870 View attachment 2161873 View attachment 2161874

Oh you are running on 5K Native and pushing scaled to 6K.