MP 1,1-5,1 Which Graphics Card for my Mac Pro 5,1 with High Sierra

[Sossity]

Hello all, I read the wiki for updating a mac pro 5,1 to Mojave, and it looks like I have done the first couple of steps; I updated or got the boot, and have installed macOs high sierra on it.

However, it seems I need a high sierra metal card? and I would like one that I can just pop in, and one that has a boot screen or without having to do any other extra tweaks if that is possible. I would like it to make my mac function and boot up normally just like if Mojave was native to it, if this is possible.

 

[Macsonic]

@Sossity
The metal supported graphic cards are Radeon RX 560, RX 570, RX 580, Sapphire 7950, Nvidia Quadro K5000, Nvidia 680 GTX You can run a GPU without a boot screen in High Sierra or Mojave and best to keep an official Apple GPU should you need a boot screen.

Apple Outlines Metal-Capable Cards Compatible With macOS Mojave on 2010 and 2012 Mac Pro Models

Apple's new macOS Mojave update is not compatible with mid-2010 and mid-2012 Mac Pros with stock GPUs, but it is supported on 2010 and 2012 Mac...

www.macrumors.com

If I’m not mistaken, Nvidia GPUs are not supported in Monterey. Not sure if there is a patch for this.

 

[Sossity]

@Sossity
The metal supported graphic cards are Radeon RX 560, RX 570, RX 580, Sapphire 7950, Nvidia Quadro K5000, Nvidia 680 GTX You can run a GPU without a boot screen in High Sierra or Mojave and best to keep an official Apple GPU should you need a boot screen.

Apple Outlines Metal-Capable Cards Compatible With macOS Mojave on 2010 and 2012 Mac Pro Models

Apple's new macOS Mojave update is not compatible with mid-2010 and mid-2012 Mac Pros with stock GPUs, but it is supported on 2010 and 2012 Mac...

www.macrumors.com

If I’m not mistaken, Nvidia GPUs are not supported in Monterey. Not sure if there is a patch for this.

Thank you for the breakdown, so which of the metal supported ones do you recommend for keeping it all Apple, and with an official boot screen, and possible Monterey support? it looks to me like the Sapphire 7950 mac edition looks best? I looked it up, and it got ok reviews. Some are also fairly expensive, can I get one from eBay? is it best to get one new? I would prefer new.

 

[MarkC426]

The last official OS for the 5.1 is Mojave.
Most people don't need the boot screen, and you probably won't miss it.
Everything will start the same, the screen will just take a bit longer to display.

Anything after Mojave will need you to start installing patches/hacks.

Any new GPU is gonna be hard to find and/or expensive in the current climate.

Also depends what your needs are with the Mac.
You may not need a high powered gpu....there are some cheap metal cards available.

 

[Sossity]

I am reading about compatibility issues with Adobe CS6 apps of photoshop, illustrator, indesign, and bridge and Mojave, and I am beginning to wonder if it is worth it to go to Mojave and risk not being able to use my CS6. It was an expensive purchase and the only way I could afford it was through a student discount, and I have used it ever since, it has been my go to for alot of things.

I read that high sierra was the last mac OS to properly and completely support CS6.

I also have some other legacy apps; phase one photo pro, and expression media.

I also like my CS6 because it came with the install disk and downloads, it was before it all went to a subscription based format. Can I get any free upgrades that are not subscription based? that would work with Mojave?

Perhaps I would be better just keeping this mac as one for all my older content, and getting a mini, and sticking it right on top of my tower, if I need a new modern desktop for newer stuff.

 

[vonkas]

Too much flack so I deleted it

 

[sfalatko]

I had compiled a list of NVIDIA Metal cards. I have reviewed it and added some comments. Perhaps it is useful in this thread. Here goes ...

Re boot screen. Use OpenCore as boot manager, that is the cleverst way to get a boot screen. Reliance on on-board firmware code severly limits your options and is expensive. A must however is to keep the original Mac card handy but not plugged in.

This applies to officially unsupported Macs like classic Mac Pros as well as Hackintoshes up to 10gen Intel CPUs. The latter should use discrete graphics cards and avoid the sluggish Intel iGPUs.

A general comment re Apple/AMD/NVIDIA. What is kind of amusing, is the fact that older Kepler cards are very well supported by Mojave/Catalina (& potentially Big Sur). Similar generations of ATI/AMD cards are mostly problematic and it is quite hard to pick models that work. This is even down to certain firmware versions causing black screens. I have bought in the order of 20 cards each Green and Red and ALL Green cards work through the range of cMPs but only half of the Reds work exclusively in 4,1 & 5,1. Conclusion: ANY Kepler card works with full Metal support in all cMP models.

Notable exceptions are Sapphire RX460, 470, 480, 570, 580 for Mac Pro 4,1 & 5,1. These are my favorite Metal cards, no tinkering required just as the listed NVIDIAs below but better graphics performance.

A list of Metal compatible series Nvidia Kepler cards that work with native Mac drivers from Mavericks to Catalina (Big Sur ?). Take care with *) as some brands use Fermi GPUs that DO NOT work with Apple's Metal drivers. These work in all Mac Pro 1,1 to 5,1.

Entry-level:
GeForce GT 705
GeForce GT 710
GeForce GT 720 *
GeForce GT 730 *
GeForce GT 740
GeForce GTX 745 *

Mid-range:
GeForce GTX 750 *
GeForce GTX 750 Ti
GeForce GTX 760 192-Bit
GeForce GTX 760
GeForce GTX 760 Ti

High-end:
GeForce GTX 770
GeForce GTX 780
GeForce GTX 780 Ti

Enthusiast:
GeForce GTX Titan
GeForce GTX Titan Black
GeForce GTX Titan Z

There are other Metal cards in 600 series and Quadro Ks.
Here's a partial list of 600 series cards:
600 series
GT 640
GTX 650 *
GTX 660 670 680 690

All Metal compatible Nvidia cards use one of the following (Kepler = GK) chipsets:
GK104
GK106
GK107
GK110
GK208
GK210

-- end --

As @tsialex responded in the other thread you posted it is not this simple. Where you should start is the dedicated thread for cMP GPU compatibility - GPU Compatibility List for cMP

 

[GlynH]

Thank you for the breakdown, so which of the metal supported ones do you recommend for keeping it all Apple, and with an official boot screen, and possible Monterey support? it looks to me like the Sapphire 7950 mac edition looks best? I looked it up, and it got ok reviews. Some are also fairly expensive, can I get one from eBay? is it best to get one new? I would prefer new.

I ended up purchasing a genuine Mac Edition PNY Quadro K5000 4GB which is very close in age/performance to the HD7950 but with a lower rated power requirement needing only a single 6-pin connector.

Price was less than £150 (£2,499 when new) which I was pleased with as didn't want to spend a fortune on what is basically an obsolete machine albeit the best computer ever built IMHO!

-=Glyn=-

 

[Sossity]

I ended up purchasing a genuine Mac Edition PNY Quadro K5000 4GB which is very close in age/performance to the HD7950 but with a lower rated power requirement needing only a single 6-pin connector.

Price was less than £150 (£2,499 when new) which I was pleased with as didn't want to spend a fortune on what is basically an obsolete machine albeit the best computer ever built IMHO!

-=Glyn=-

Thanks for the suggestion, just looked it up, it is fairly expensive as well, but I will keep looking around, I am hoping to keep the cost to a max of $350.00 and below this.

 

[tsialex]

I am reading about compatibility issues with Adobe CS6 apps of photoshop, illustrator, indesign, and bridge and Mojave, and I am beginning to wonder if it is worth it to go to Mojave and risk not being able to use my CS6. It was an expensive purchase and the only way I could afford it was through a student discount, and I have used it ever since, it has been my go to for alot of things.

I read that high sierra was the last mac OS to properly and completely support CS6.

I also have some other legacy apps; phase one photo pro, and expression media.

I also like my CS6 because it came with the install disk and downloads, it was before it all went to a subscription based format. Can I get any free upgrades that are not subscription based? that would work with Mojave?

Perhaps I would be better just keeping this mac as one for all my older content, and getting a mini, and sticking it right on top of my tower, if I need a new modern desktop for newer stuff.

Mojave is already obsolete since last year, no more Security Updates since September 13. Catalina will also be obsolete after September/October. Upgrade your Mac Pro thinking on BigSur/Monterey and not Mojave.

Get one SSD for modern stuff/web browsing, install Big Sur to it and get another one just for HighSierra/CS6/legacy apps. This way you will continue to use CS6 without any issues and will also run current web browsers and apps.

Get a GPU that works with High Sierra to Monterey, like AMD Polaris GPUs (RX 460/470/480 and RX 560/570/580/590), NVIDIA GPUs only work up to Big Sur. If you need Wi-Fi/BT, upgrade to an AirPort Extreme BCM94360, original mid-2010/mid-2012 Wi-Fi and BT adapters don't work anymore after Mojave.

 

[Sossity]

Mojave is already obsolete since last year, no more Security Updates since September 13. Catalina will also be obsolete after September/October. Upgrade your Mac Pro thinking on BigSur/Monterey and not Mojave.

Get one SSD for modern stuff/web browsing, install Big Sur to it and get another one just for HighSierra/CS6/legacy apps. This way you will continue to use CS6 without any issues and will also run current web browsers and apps.

Get a GPU that works with High Sierra to Monterey, like AMD Polaris GPUs (RX 460/470/480 and RX 560/570/580/590), NVIDIA GPUs only work up to Big Sur. If you need Wi-Fi/BT, upgrade to an AirPort Extreme BCM94360, original mid-2010/mid-2012 Wi-Fi and BT adapters don't work anymore after Mojave.

I found that the CS6 I have on both my desktop and laptop is a 64 bit version, and my laptop does have Mojave on it, and I have used and opened my photoshop on it. So I guess it will work, maybe get my CMP 5,1 up to Mojave, and keep it for legacy, and install another drive like suggested for newer OSs.

I like the dark mode in Mojave, and high sierra does not have that, the dark mode would be nice and easier on my eyes, for working in my apps on my desktop.

Thanks for the suggestion of another hard drive, I forgot about that, and I think my 5,1 CMP can accommodate that. Would I then boot up and switch back and forth?

Do those AMD polaris support mac boot screen? could I install them right out of the box? or would they need some tinkering to get it to work with my mac? do any of them come in a mac version?

 

[tsialex]

I found that the CS6 I have on both my desktop and laptop is a 64 bit version, and my laptop does have Mojave on it, and I have used and opened my photoshop on it. So I guess it will work, maybe get my CMP 5,1 up to Mojave, and keep it for legacy, and install another drive like suggested for newer OSs.

I like the dark mode in Mojave, and high sierra does not have that, the dark mode would be nice and easier on my eyes, for working in my apps on my desktop.

Thanks for the suggestion of another hard drive, I forgot about that, and I think my 5,1 CMP can accommodate that. Would I then boot up and switch back and forth?

Correct.

Do those AMD polaris support mac boot screen?

No, there are no Mac Edition cards since 2012/2013. Last were Sapphire HD 7950 and eVGA GTX 680 Mac Edition cards.

could I install them right out of the box?

Sure, but you will need OpenCore to have GOP pre-boot configuration support, or buy already flashed from eBay or etc.

or would they need some tinkering to get it to work with my mac?

You need OpenCore anyway to install unsupported macOS releases (Mojave is the last officially supported macOS release for a MacPro5,1). So, you solve two issues at the same time.

do any of them come in a mac version?

Not from factory, but you can get it flashed by third parties. Don't make sense nowadays.

 

[Sossity]

Correct.

No, there are no Mac Edition cards since 2012/2013. Last were Sapphire HD 7950 and eVGA GTX 680 Mac Edition cards.

Sure, but you will need OpenCore to have GOP pre-boot configuration support, or buy already flashed from eBay or etc.

You need OpenCore anyway to install unsupported macOS releases (Mojave is the last officially supported macOS release for a MacPro5,1). So, you solve two issues at the same time.

Not from factory, but you can get it flashed by third parties. Don't make sense nowadays.

OK, thanks for this info, so what would I look for on eBay? flashed ones? or the keywords for some ones to look for on eBay?

 

[Sossity]

I have gone ahead and got an AMD RX 460 polaris 2 GB for upgrading my mac. I have read that Adobe CS6 will not run on a mac with Big Sur. So I might want to avoid Big Sur for now for the current hard drive I am using, which also has CS6 installed on it.

When I install the new card into my mac, how do I get it to install Mojave, since software update may detect the new card or something, and offer me to update my OS, and it might just jump to Big Sur.

 

[tsialex]

Just clean install Mojave via createinstallmedia USB installer to an erased disk?

 

[Sossity]

Just clean install Mojave via createinstallmedia USB installer to an erased disk?

ok, I get a one of those install usb thumb drives with Mojave on it, from eBay?

Then do i erase my main startup disk, and do a fresh install?

I will make a time machine backup my my startup drive, and then us it it to install all my applications.

I think Adobe CS6 is one of those apps that can only be installed on 2 computers at once, and it is on my laptop and this desktop, so i might have to uninstall it before erasing my startup disk.

 

[bsbeamer]

@Sossity

Adobe CS6 activation and authentication has changed a lot over the years. New activation with an older OS is a mess. Unless you have a previous clone, be prepared to get on the phone with Adobe support and fully explain your situation without trashing the company and jumping down the service rep's throat. They may require receipts of purchase to verify. There are/were many illegal resales of CS6 on eBay/similar that recently have stopped working.

License is for two machines not actively being used at the same time, intended to be desktop and personal laptop. Rarely is there an issue with two machines running at the same time if they are your ONLY machines it is installed on and they are on the same network connection... but this was really meant for people to work on laptop while AE was rendering or similar. The deactivation process for older CS6 installs does always work through the web interface.

As for OS compatibility, you really want to be on Sierra or older to guarantee working with CS6. Anything newer and things start to break, especially if you're in the print world or work with InDesign. Many broken features did not impact most users until Mojave, but most who stuck with CS6 stayed with High Sierra as their end of the road. Catalina breaks nearly everything and most apps will not even launch with lack of 32-bit support.

Important to remember: CS6 was released in 2012 and "technically" only had 3 years of OS support baked in. You're talking Mountain Lion 10.8 released in 2012, Mavericks 10.9 in 2013, Yosemite 10.10 in 2014. Separately, the OS typically has ~4 years of support and security updates from release date.

 

[tsialex]

ok, I get a one of those install usb thumb drives with Mojave on it, from eBay?

Why? You can create yourself, just get a 16GB USB key and download Mojave from Apple, then use createinstallmedia to make the installer.

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

You can use a USB flash drive or other secondary volume as a startup disk from which to install the Mac operating system.

support.apple.com

Then do i erase my main startup disk, and do a fresh install?

Identify the disk you want to erase with diskutil list, then nuke it with diskutil erasedisk jhfs+ GPT diskXX. Something like this, change diskXX to the correct device name:

diskutil list
diskutil erasedisk jhfs+ "Macintosh HD" GPT diskXX

I will make a time machine backup my my startup drive, and then us it it to install all my applications.

Ok.

 

[tsialex]

@Sossity

Separately, the OS typically has ~4 years of support and security updates from release date.

Since Apple started with yearly releases, the support window changed to current macOS release and the past two, so, three years from the release date.

 

[MarkC426]

ok, I get a one of those install usb thumb drives with Mojave on it, from eBay?

Seconding @tsialex, absolutely DO NOT do this.
You have no idea what is on a USB bought on eBay.

 

[Sossity]

Ok, well, I can do what one of the posters here suggested, I think it was @tsialex, was to use two boot hard drives in my 5,1, one for older stuff on High Sierra for CS6, and another for modern Mac OSes, like Mojave onward.

Maybe I will do that, I do really want to make sure my CS6 works and keeps working.

My late 2014 MacBook Pro has Mojave on it now, with Adobe CS6 installed of which runs in 64bit, and all seem to work ok on it, I have used photoshop on it.

 

[tsialex]

Ok, well, I can do what one of the posters here suggested, I think it was @tsialex, was to use two boot hard drives in my 5,1, one for older stuff on High Sierra for CS6, and another for modern Mac OSes, like Mojave onward.

Maybe I will do that, I do really want to make sure my CS6 works and keeps working.

My late 2014 MacBook Pro has Mojave on it now, with Adobe CS6 installed of which runs in 64bit, and all seem to work ok on it, I have used photoshop on it.

CS6 runs perfectly with High Sierra. Just get two SSDs for your boot drives and a AMD Polaris GPUs (RX 460/470/480 and RX 560/570/580/590). You will have the best of the old world and can run current macOS releases.

You don't need a MacEFI or flashed card, since OpenCore already provide BootPicker support for GPUs with UEFI/GOP support.

If you need wireless and bluetooth, buy a BCM94360CD AirPort Extreme, don't buy a BCM943602CDP (this model is prone to mess with the NVRAM when installed on a MacPro5,1 and booting between Mojave/earlier macOS releases and Catalina/newer macOS releases.

802.11ac, BT 4.0 and Continuity & Handoff are working on Mac Pro 2010 (Keep Updating)

Hello everybody. In the last weeks I read a lot about Wifi / Bluetooth in the MacPro 4,1/5,1. I'm aware there are guides on installing Wifi Cards in the MacPro nevertheless I wanted to share my experiences here. My primary goals were: 802.11ac / Bluetooth 4.2 (or at least 4.0) no kext...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Sossity]

CS6 runs perfectly with High Sierra. Just get two SSDs for your boot drives and a AMD Polaris GPUs (RX 460/470/480 and RX 560/570/580/590). You will have the best of the old world and can run current macOS releases.

You don't need a MacEFI or flashed card, since OpenCore already provide BootPicker support for GPUs with UEFI/GOP support.

If you need wireless and bluetooth, buy a BCM94360CD AirPort Extreme, don't buy a BCM943602CDP (this model is prone to mess with the NVRAM when installed on a MacPro5,1 and booting between Mojave/earlier macOS releases and Catalina/newer macOS releases.

802.11ac, BT 4.0 and Continuity & Handoff are working on Mac Pro 2010 (Keep Updating)

Hello everybody. In the last weeks I read a lot about Wifi / Bluetooth in the MacPro 4,1/5,1. I'm aware there are guides on installing Wifi Cards in the MacPro nevertheless I wanted to share my experiences here. My primary goals were: 802.11ac / Bluetooth 4.2 (or at least 4.0) no kext...

forums.macrumors.com

Is the card here you are discussing a wifi card? if so, right now, I have my 5,1 connected through internet cables hardwire to my internet connection, but that is a thought. I am with att, and they are kind of strict on how I can connect to the internet. They provided a box for us, and we can connect either with wifi or hardwire. I a cannot mess with that, since the internet service was not acquired by me.

I can only mess with it on my end with my mac, but I recall trying an airport extreme a few years back connected with my att network, and it created all kinds of problems, I ended up having to go back to the att provided dsl modem. We are on a new kind of DSL, and for us to get any kind of tech support, we can only use their provided router.

Aslo, right now, I have a Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB as my startup disk with OS 10.13.6 on it. What other kind of disk would be good for/as my second startup drive for newer OSes?

 

[Sossity]

@Sossity

Adobe CS6 activation and authentication has changed a lot over the years. New activation with an older OS is a mess. Unless you have a previous clone, be prepared to get on the phone with Adobe support and fully explain your situation without trashing the company and jumping down the service rep's throat. They may require receipts of purchase to verify. There are/were many illegal resales of CS6 on eBay/similar that recently have stopped working.

License is for two machines not actively being used at the same time, intended to be desktop and personal laptop. Rarely is there an issue with two machines running at the same time if they are your ONLY machines it is installed on and they are on the same network connection... but this was really meant for people to work on laptop while AE was rendering or similar. The deactivation process for older CS6 installs does always work through the web interface.

As for OS compatibility, you really want to be on Sierra or older to guarantee working with CS6. Anything newer and things start to break, especially if you're in the print world or work with InDesign. Many broken features did not impact most users until Mojave, but most who stuck with CS6 stayed with High Sierra as their end of the road. Catalina breaks nearly everything and most apps will not even launch with lack of 32-bit support.

Important to remember: CS6 was released in 2012 and "technically" only had 3 years of OS support baked in. You're talking Mountain Lion 10.8 released in 2012, Mavericks 10.9 in 2013, Yosemite 10.10 in 2014. Separately, the OS typically has ~4 years of support and security updates from release date.

Ok, thanks for the heads up, my laptop has CS6 and Mojave on it now, but my 5,1 mac pro has CS6 and High Sierra on it.

Should I downgrade the laptop to High Sierra? get a newer one and install High Sierra on it myself? or just leave my laptop alone?

As for my 5,1 I will get another boot drive just for newer Oses, and keep the High Sierra drive for my older apps as per another poster here advised for me.

 

[Sossity]

This whole thing has me thinking about my laptop too, I am facing the same issue of newer versus older, since my laptop is not a mac pro, and I cannot install multiple drives in it, what would be a good strategy for handling the newer versus older apps and OSes?

I could have 2 laptops; one for older OS and apps, and a newer M1 laptop for newer oses, but this might be expensive.