Whos running an EFI flashed card successfully with metal API?

[Vertigo RT]

Just trying to see whos got what to run on their mac pro (preferably 3,1) that has (flashed) EFI and can run with OSXs metal API

Ive so far run a flashed 5770 (EFI, but no metal), a GTS250 (no efi, no metal), a 6
GTX 660Ti (no efi, metal that runs terribly and unusable), and a 7950 (read 7870) (EFI, but again, no metal)

Im looking to pick something up (hopefully cheap) around Tampa bay (CL, OfferUp, etc) for my 3,1 that can run metal so I can attempt to run Fortnite on here.

So, what have you guys got?

 

[tsialex]

Go for one of the GTX680 flashable confirmed list, you can flash it with eVGA GTX680 for Mac firmware, has Metal and it will work without doing any hacks/patches on your 3,1 10.13 install.

 

[Vertigo RT]

That does seem to be the most commonly suggested card. Probably the best way to get metal and avoid the sleep/wake issues Ive been experiencing.

 

[tsialex]

That does seem to be the most commonly suggested card. Probably the best way to get metal and avoid the sleep/wake issues Ive been experiencing.

Clean install 10.13 from 10.11 with startosinstall on a empty drive, you will need csrutil disable and boot args="-no_compat_check". Sleep works perfectly here on Nvidia cards when doing a clean install.

You problem with HD7870 without Metal derives from the obsolete kexts installed to make AMD 4/5/6/7xx work with 10.13 on MP3,1.

 

[Vertigo RT]

Is there an updated kext i can swap it out to?

Id sooner turn off sleep than reinstall again (just did a reinstall to get this on here)

 

[tsialex]

Is there an updated kext i can swap it out to?

Id sooner turn off sleep than reinstall again (just did a reinstall to get this on here)

Nope, current AMD kexts are incompatible with Xeon processors of MP3,1, seems 10.13 AMD drivers needs SSE4.2.

 

[Vertigo RT]

So, its JUST a 3,1 issue?
[doublepost=1530160950][/doublepost]So, really, my ONLY option is a GTX680 to have working metal and EFI?

 

[tsialex]

So, its JUST a 3,1 issue?
[doublepost=1530160950][/doublepost]So, really, my ONLY option is a GTX680 to have working metal and EFI?

MP3,1 and Xserve2,1.

You can try one more recent Nvidia card, but you will need to pay for EFI flashing. eVGA GTX 680 for Mac EFI firmware is public/free (only one public/free btw).

Newer than Kepler Nvidia cards, GTX 680 is a Kepler generation card, don't have macOS native driver support, so you will need to use the Nvidia webdriver if you buy Maxwell/Pascal cards.

 

[Vertigo RT]

Figures... I have a 660Ti and a GT640 laying around... and useless, lol

 

[tsialex]

Figures... I have a 660Ti and a GT640 laying around... and useless, lol

Some 6xx cards are 4xx/5xx rebadges that Nvidia did to sell out older chips, these don't have Metal. Only GKxxx chips have Metal and some have low performance.

You could try a clean install with your 660Ti, its a Kepler card, on a empty drive, maybe will correct your sleep problems and Metal will work better. Like I said before, I don't have problems with sleep on MP3,1 with GT120.

 

[Vertigo RT]

It appears that both the 640 and the 660 I have are GK1** chipsets. However, I assume niether can be flashed with any type of EFI?

 

[tsialex]

It appears that both the 640 and the 660 I have are GK1** chipsets. However, I assume niether can be flashed with any type of EFI?

Only by MVC.

eVGA 680GTX for Mac has the only public/free EFI for Nvidia cards. Because this, 680GTX are so sought after.

 

[Vertigo RT]

Yea, the 660ti and 680 both use the GK104... but theres many other differences that would likely cause issues on a reflash
[doublepost=1530162635][/doublepost]I had no sleep issues with my GTS240, but couldnt get any kind of EFI on it... I question whether having a boot screen is really worth not having the ability to put my machine to sleep, lol

 

[tsialex]

Yea, the 660ti and 680 both use the GK104... but theres many other differences that would likely cause issues on a reflash

Yep, it's not like AMD GCN1.0 cards where you can use the same EFI from Sapphire HD7950 for Mac on HD7850/7870/7970/R9-280/etc…
[doublepost=1530163012][/doublepost]

[doublepost=1530162635][/doublepost]I had no sleep issues with my GTS240, but couldnt get any kind of EFI on it... I question whether having a boot screen is really worth not having the ability to put my machine to sleep, lol

If I remember correctly, years ago some people used EFI from Apple 8800GT on GTS240(G92) cards.

 

[Vertigo RT]

How far would I have to downgrade OSX to get a working metal 7xxx?

 

[tsialex]

How far would I have to downgrade OSX to get a working metal 7xxx?

El Capitan, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Vertigo RT]

Id meant a GTS250... however, is there a chance that one could flash 8800GT bios to a GTS250 and have EFI boot?

 

[tsialex]

Id meant a GTS250... however, is there a chance that one could flash 8800GT bios to a GTS250 and have EFI boot?

I don't remember all the details, but only works if the card has the same G92 processor and memory as the 8800GT has.

 

[Vertigo RT]

Probably gonna be a solder job if I had to guess

 

[tsialex]

Probably gonna be a solder job if I had to guess

Did you ever thought on trying to find a low cost MP4,1?

 

[MisterAndrew]

I agree GTX 680 is a good choice. I have a flashed one listed on eBay.

 

[Vertigo RT]

I did notice that I had some artifacts with the 660ti... wonder if thats due to using the Mac drivers, or because it just was hating me, lol.
Would a fresh install of OSX HS really improve anything rather than dropping it in there and using it instead with my current setup? Maybe even put my old 8800GT in there with it for if I NEED to boot with BIOS.
Any harm in running both those cards at the same time?

 

[tsialex]

I did notice that I had some artifacts with the 660ti... wonder if thats due to using the Mac drivers, or because it just was hating me, lol.

I don't have artefacts with my GTX680, but I have the occasional Finder glitch, where some file names have black bars. Only on Finder, never occurs elsewhere.

Would a fresh install of OSX HS really improve anything rather than dropping it in there and using it instead with my current setup? Maybe even put my old 8800GT in there with it for if I NEED to boot with BIOS.

If you can use a almost 100% standard macOS installation of High Sierra with MP3,1, why use a patched installation made for unsupported computers that need a lot of obsolete kexts/hacks? I like a lot of what dosdude/parrotgeek are doing for us owners of old Macs, but you definitely don't need it.

To run a MP3,1 with Nvidia cards, you just need to disable SIP, set -no_compat_check boot arg and install with startosinstall from El Capitan on a empty drive. No patches.

1) Boot from your 10.11 Recovery partition or from your El Capitan installer pen-drive, open Terminal and disable SIP to enable advanced startosinstall options:

csrutil disable

2) Disable kernel checking for a supported Mac:

nvram boot-args="-no_compat_check"

3) Boot your 10.11 macOS disk and install High Sierra, use 10.13.5, with something like this:

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall --volume /Volumes/MyEmptyDisk --converttoapfs NO

4) Done.

Any harm in running both those cards at the same time?

You can run booth, no problem. People who have Maxwell/Pascal cards usually have Apple GT120 doing the EFI part.