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

Will a GTX 980 Work?

E

Ethosik

Contributor
Original poster
Oct 21, 2009
8,186
7,173
Do I need to do anything special to get the GTX 980 to work in my Mac Pro 5.1 system? Will the Mac Pro have enough power? I am currently using an EVGA GTX 680. The boot menu does not bother me, so I never flashed it or anything.

Are there any plans on a Mac Edition? I got my GTX 680 and a few weeks later they announced the Mac Edition of the 680 :(

Also, how much of a boost is it compared to the 680? Will it be beneficial? I have a 27" monitor at 2560x1440 and some games on Very High get low FPS.
 
This forum has an excellent search function. You should learn how to use it:eek:

Lou
 
xWhiplash said:
Do I need to do anything special to get the GTX 980 to work in my Mac Pro 5.1 system? Will the Mac Pro have enough power? I am currently using an EVGA GTX 680. The boot menu does not bother me, so I never flashed it or anything.
Click to expand...

It's the best all round card you can get for a Mac Pro and doesn't need mods or Mac edition unless you are fussy. Install the driver first and then the card.

On your monitor you can run any game in ultra settings and also enable DSR (Windows only) to get 4K rendering scaled to fit your screen.

Barefeats.com benchmarks all cards. Their 980 test is based on an older driver though.
 
Last edited:
EdDuPlessis said:
It's the best all round card you can get for a Mac Pro and doesn't need mods or Mac edition unless you are fussy. Install the driver first and then the card.

On your monitor you can run any game in ultra settings and also enable DSR (Windows only) to get 4K rendering scaled to fit your screen.

Barefeats.com benchmarks all cards. Their 980 test is based on an older driver though.
Click to expand...

What happens if I do not install the drivers first? OS X does not come with them like with the 680s?

What happens if I need to format and cannot install the drivers if I cannot see?
 
xWhiplash said:
What happens if I do not install the drivers first? OS X does not come with them like with the 680s?

What happens if I need to format and cannot install the drivers if I cannot see?
Click to expand...

(Afaik) You don't get a picture on your screen when not installing the drivers first under OS X. And you should keep your original card for the case you need to reinstall everything.
After initial reinstallation it's easy as installing drivers again and then switching cards.
 
cathul said:
(Afaik) You don't get a picture on your screen when not installing the drivers first under OS X. And you should keep your original card for the case you need to reinstall everything.
After initial reinstallation it's easy as installing drivers again and then switching cards.
Click to expand...

So it is not built in to OS X Yosemite like the GTX 680 drivers? That is a shame :(
 
Do you guys know how much faster the 980 is compared to the 780GTX? I have the latter and love it (Mac modded so I see boot screen). I'm not trying to have the latest and greatest on the 5,1, but it would be nice to know!


Cheers
 
SDAVE said:
Do you guys know how much faster the 980 is compared to the 780GTX? I have the latter and love it (Mac modded so I see boot screen). I'm not trying to have the latest and greatest on the 5,1, but it would be nice to know!


Cheers
Click to expand...

About 10% faster. You don't need to upgrade yet.
 
SDAVE said:
nice, 10% is nothing.

either way i don't plan to keep the 5,1 that long yet, i still have to upgrade the CPU's though to x5690s when the prices drop.
Click to expand...

X5680 are almost the same performance and almost half the price.
 
SDAVE said:
wouldnt it be better to top out the cpu's so i dont have to worry about it in the future?

either way im sure i'll get the trashmac a few years down the road.
Click to expand...

If you wait a year maybe the x5690 will come down in price to a good price but they are being kept at an artificially high price just to make more profit out of people who want them. They should cost less than that by now. They are only 5% faster than the x5680 but nearly twice the price.
 
EdDuPlessis said:
If you wait a year maybe the x5690 will come down in price to a good price but they are being kept at an artificially high price just to make more profit out of people who want them. They should cost less than that by now. They are only 5% faster than the x5680 but nearly twice the price.
Click to expand...

someone's giving me x5680's (2x) for $375 for pair. Good deal?
 
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