MP 1,1-5,1 GPU Compatibility List for cMP

[mode11]

Is anyone else using an app like MonitorControl or Lunar to control the brightness (and other functions) of their monitor(s) via DDC? It's handy for controlling screen brightness using a Mac keyboard.

I've got 3 Dell monitors, a 27" and 2x 21.5" screens. Until recently, I could adjust the brightness of all 3 simultaneously. Now, only the 27" is responding to DDC control.

I don't know what has caused this. I recently upgraded from an RX580 to an RX6600XT, and from 12.5 to 12.6.2, and from OC 0.8.0 to OC 0.8.7. The 27" uses a DP-DP cable, the other two are using DP-DVI cables (the 21" monitors go blank for a moment after waking from sleep if using their DP input, which is a slight irritation). One was already using such a cable; the other previously used a DVI-DVI cable (the new GPU has no DVI ports).

If anyone else has an RX6xxx series card and multiple monitors, is DDC control working for your screens?

Edit: solved the problem. Passive DP to DVI cables worked fine with the RX580, but didn't with the RX6600XT for whatever reason (something to do with DP++?). In any case, it was fixed by fitting StarTech DP2DVIS active adapters to each of the DP ports used by the 21" displays, with DVI cables from there. Paid £13 each (new) off eBay. The monitors now respond to DDC commands again, and due to being connected via their DVI inputs, have no glitch after sleep.

 

[broly]

is it possible to even get video running lion with a vega 64?

i may need to go way back and see just how long ago IOKit became fraudulent.

i don't need much. just a picture. no acceleration. hoping there's something. i really don't want to have to swap GPUs to do this. doesn't seem like there's any happy compromise between metal in mojave and legacy functionality in lion.

****ing APPUL

 

[tsialex]

You can't boot a macOS release where your GPU is not supported, no GPU drivers/no display.

Maybe you can get OpenCore to enable EFI fail safe drivers and boot past macOS releases, but will be completely un-accelerated. Installing a Lion compatible GPU like any Apple OEM GPU will be a lot easier…

 

[mrkapqa]

there should be drivers out Radeon 7950 and for R9 280/280X,so if you need Lion, then it is probably one of the safest bet.

 

[mode11]

is it possible to even get video running lion with a vega 64?

i don't need much. just a picture. no acceleration. hoping there's something. i really don't want to have to swap GPUs to do this. doesn't seem like there's any happy compromise between metal in mojave and legacy functionality in lion.

Do you have any spare slots? If you only need basic video, a small, single-slot, PCIe-powered card could do the trick. If your monitor has multiple inputs, you could switch between them without needing to unplug anything.

Possible issues:

- Do both cards need to be AMD?

- Will Lion have issues with the Vega, or just ignore it?

- To avoid your mouse / windows getting lost on a desktop that's not being shown, you could set the spare card to mirror the Vega. Is there a performance penalty on the Vega for doing so?

 

[h9826790]

is it possible to even get video running lion with a vega 64?

i may need to go way back and see just how long ago IOKit became fraudulent.

i don't need much. just a picture. no acceleration. hoping there's something. i really don't want to have to swap GPUs to do this. doesn't seem like there's any happy compromise between metal in mojave and legacy functionality in lion.

****ing APPUL

As long as you don't need acceleration. It's possible.

OpenCore can activate the Vega64's UEFI GOP, and the UEFI GOP can continue to display inside Lion.

I tested this method by using a Radeon VII and 10.6.4 ASD. If this combination works, then Vega64 + Lion should also work.

 

[broly]

this is great news.

i dug out the box where the installer DVDs are supposed to be, but i misplaced them.

i thought i was going to be so cool showing this picture and being like 'well guys, good thing i still have a disc drive AND my install media handy'. i wonder where i put them lol.

chances are, if 10.7 works for what i need, then hopefully i can move up to 10.8.4 and get working wifi. first things first though. test out and see if building with an old xcode in an older os will restore PCI functionality.

 

[broly]

I'M IN BOYS.

takes a bit more skill than you'd think. but i'm in!

hoping the ****ing xcode will hurry up here and finish the scan for working copies.

PCI submenu in system report totally borked lol. probably from installing out of a VM but as far as i can tell, that's the only way you can do it. who cares, the card is still detected in IOREG which is all i care about rn.

spotlight taking forever. no internet as expected since i upgraded the wifi/bt chip. but the weird thing is my mouse still works haha. probably some kind of emulation mode.

i don't even feel a difference aside from dark mode and no internet

 

[broly]

lol, shut down after i triggered a panic in lion, logged back in to BROjave and it asked if i wanted to report the error from lion lol.

that's so awesome hahahaha

edit: my hope is to get 10.8.4 running similarly, so i can get wifi with the newer adapter i installed a couple years back. since it's early in cook's tenure, i'm hoping he wasn't already in "full <you know what>" mode like he clearly was in later releases.

not a jobs fan but i had a feeling 10.7 would have a properly functioning coreaudio api. not like him to push out a major feature like this and then go "full TIMMAY"x it's possible PCI actually works too, but i have to be more careful.

 

[klover137006]

Hello everyone! I just wanted to say, as a followup to my questions about GPU:s that won't trigger the "racing fan bug" earlier in this thread, that I've installed a Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3 GB in my Mac Pro 5,1 and the fans operate normally (at least when it is unflashed; I have not yet tried to flash to enable boot screen) 😀

 

[h9826790]

Hello everyone! I just wanted to say, as a followup to my questions about GPU:s that won't trigger the "racing fan bug" earlier in this thread, that I've installed a Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3 GB in my Mac Pro 5,1 and the fans operate normally (at least when it is unflashed; I have not yet tried to flash to enable boot screen) 😀

AFAIK, regardless the R9 280 is flashed or not, this bug is a bit random. And mainly happen on flashed 5,1, not genuine 5,1.

 

[klover137006]

AFAIK, regardless the R9 280 is flashed or not, this bug is a bit random. And mainly happen on flashed 5,1, not genuine 5,1.

Mine is a genuine 5,1 and the bug and I experienced the bug with a (flashed) GTX 680. Once I've flashed this card I'll make sure to report the results here.

 

[mode11]

Just use AirOut 2 to solve the racing fan issue. Works perfectly. You can increase how hard it pushes the GPU if it doesn’t work at first (mine is set to 160%).

 

[macstatic]

I've read through most of this thread (and similar ones) a while back, but put it aside. Reconsidering again a "Metal" compatible GPU for my cMP 5,1 (mid-2010) I tried to look up prices but see that most of these cards are either no longer available or cost a small fortune today! My current GPU is an ATI Radeon HD-5870.

I just want to find a way to be able to run a newer OS than 10.13.6 (High Sierra) as I'm missing out on a lot of software, but can't justify spending lots of money on this either. What are my options if I just want something which will give me "Metal" compatibility? I don't need anything fancy as I'm not into gaming etc. but a boot-screen is preferred.

 

[h9826790]

I've read through most of this thread (and similar ones) a while back, but put it aside. Reconsidering again a "Metal" compatible GPU for my cMP 5,1 (mid-2010) I tried to look up prices but see that most of these cards are either no longer available or cost a small fortune today! My current GPU is an ATI Radeon HD-5870.

I just want to find a way to be able to run a newer OS than 10.13.6 (High Sierra) as I'm missing out on a lot of software, but can't justify spending lots of money on this either. What are my options if I just want something which will give me "Metal" compatibility? I don't need anything fancy as I'm not into gaming etc. but a boot-screen is preferred.

You better just tell us your budget.

The difinition of "lots of money" can vary a lot in this forum. e.g. $100 may be a lot for you, but not for those who are running studios.

 

[macstatic]

You better just tell us your budget.

The difinition of "lots of money" can vary a lot in this forum. e.g. $100 may be a lot for you, but not for those who are running studios.

Good point.
US$ 100 or thereabouts is fine, but the ones I've found available here start at around $400 or more.
Cheaper than $100 will be fine as well 😉
Like I said, I don't have high demands. My HD-5870 is fine for me except I can't use MacOS 10.14 or higher. But I do want a boot screen (so I can select the boot drive by holding down ALT while booting, or whenever I need to troubleshoot). I don't mind flashing it myself as long as it's not too complicated, but I'd rather not send it away to someone else for that (risk of losing it in the mail, expensive shipping to/from abroad, import duties etc.).

 

[h9826790]

Good point.
US$ 100 or thereabouts is fine, but the ones I've found available here start at around $400 or more.
Cheaper than $100 will be fine as well 😉
Like I said, I don't have high demands. My HD-5870 is fine for me except I can't use MacOS 10.14 or higher. But I do want a boot screen (so I can select the boot drive by holding down ALT while booting, or whenever I need to troubleshoot). I don't mind flashing it myself as long as it's not too complicated, but I'd rather not send it away to someone else for that (risk of losing it in the mail, expensive shipping to/from abroad, import duties etc.).

You can get used card for $100, many choices, e.g. HD7950 or RX580.

For new card, RX560 should be around that range.

$400 is definitely too much if you have no GPU performance demand.

Anyway, you better search if any used card for sell in your own city. This is usually cheaper than buy from any random seller online.

 

[macstatic]

I agree about trying to find one in my own country.
So if I want a new low-cost card these days it would be the RX-560? The cheapest one I could find locally costs around US$ 170 (ASUS ROG Strix AMD Radeon RX-560 4GB GDDR5 PCIe 4.0 1x HDMI 2.0b). Would that work in a Mac?

And if I'd want other GPU cards I would have to buy them used these days?
Isn't there a lot of strain and heat on these cards (especially if used for gaming) that could shorten a used card's life considerably compared to a new one? Then again if the price is low enough....

 

[h9826790]

I agree about trying to find one in my own country.
So if I want a new low-cost card these days it would be the RX-560? The cheapest one I could find locally costs around US$ 170 (ASUS ROG Strix AMD Radeon RX-560 4GB GDDR5 PCIe 4.0 1x HDMI 2.0b). Would that work in a Mac?

And if I'd want other GPU cards I would have to buy them used these days?
Isn't there a lot of strain and heat on these cards (especially if used for gaming) that could shorten a used card's life considerably compared to a new one? Then again if the price is low enough....

$170 sounds a bit expensive to me, but still within the reasonable range. GPU price can vary a lot depends on location. Therefore, nothing wrong with that price if it's the cheapest you can get.

I suggest used GPU simply because you have no GPU performance damand, and used GPU can be quite a bit cheaper than new one.

e.g. I got my used Radeon VII for lower than $350 few years back, which should cost at least double by that time.

Of course, it's a bit like gambing. But TBH, you won't stress the GPU for your daily use, and as long as it can pass some standard tests (e.g. can complete Luxmark and Unigine Heaven benchmark), I can't see why the GPU will has a high chance to fail before you decide to retire the cMP.

Buying locally (used card) allow you to test them, and contact the seller if that doesn't work. Or even ask the seller to run the test in front of you (before you pay them).

Gamer usually care about their graphic cards, and give them proper cooling. The card you should avoid is actually the mining cards, but it's hard to tell if the card even been used for mining.

One of the reason to buy used low end card (e.g. RX560) in your case because they aren't the popular mining cards.

 

[macstatic]

Thanks for your advice!
I found a used Sapphire HD-7950 Vapor X (3GB) locally for a good price. Is this a good choice as a replacement for my ATI Radeon HD-5870, while also adding Metal support?
I found some other postings about flashing it for getting the Mac boot-screen, but it appeared quite complicated, and I don't think the firmware download links worked any more.

 

[MarkC426]

You can still select different OS's to boot from in Startup panel in Preferences.

 

[macstatic]

You can still select different OS's to boot from in Startup panel in Preferences.

That's true.
With a GPU card without Mac firmware (factory installed or flashed later), is it just a matter of plugging it on and powering up the Mac and that's it (but you don't get a boot screen), or is there still some "hacking" in order to prepare it for use?
I'm considering that Sapphire HD-7950 Vapor X (3GB) card, but don't quite know what I'm getting into. However, according to posting #1 in this thread (listing and brief description of the various GPU cards) it seems to be a matter of just exchanging my ATI HD-5870 with it. It appears even the power connectors are the same:


12. ATI Radeon HD 5870 1 GB
Performance: 69% RPI. The chip's characteristics look like to have 2x power of HD 5770, but in ordinary use is only ~ 20% faster.
Power consumption: 2 x 6 pins.
Outs: DL-DVI + two mDP.
Other: occupies 2 slots. There is "mac edition" of cards.
Unflashed (PC version): doesn't work; can be flashed.

19. ATI Radeon HD 7950 3 GB
Performance: 86% RPI. Supports Metal 2 (Mojave).
Power consumption: 2 x 6 pins.
Outs: DL-DVI + two mDP + HDMI.
Other: occupies 2 slots. There is "mac edition" of cards with DUAL BIOS (mac / PC).
Unflashed (PC version): works without Boot Screen, can be flashed.

 

[MarkC426]

That's true.
With a GPU card without Mac firmware (factory installed or flashed later), is it just a matter of plugging it on and powering up the Mac and that's it (but you don't get a boot screen), or is there still some "hacking" in order to prepare it for use?

Exactly, yes.
If it's in the list, it will work.
You just have a black screen for a few seconds.
Even if you ever had a boot problem, your mac should then see the other OS drive, or you can access it from recovery.

 

[macstatic]

That's great news!
The list is very useful, but sometimes there are multiple versions of the same card which makes it a little confusing. Then again, the forum-search helps a lot 🙂
Oh, I just came across someone selling a used Mac-flashed Gigabyte R9 280x. More expensive than the Sapphire HD-7950 Vapor X, but from what I've read here it's more powerful (and also more quiet?). But will it be overkill for "normal" use (non-graphic intensive apps)? I understand it also needs some additional power cables, taking up one of the SATA power plugs.

 

[hwojtek]

Gigabyte R9 280x. More expensive than the Sapphire HD-7950 Vapor X, but from what I've read here it's more powerful (and also more quiet?). But will it be overkill for "normal" use (non-graphic intensive apps)? I understand it also needs some additional power cables, taking up one of the SATA power plugs.

R9 280x and 7950 EDIT 7970, obv. are the same cards with different branding.
Barely enough for Monterey, but will do in HD resolutions. No 4k with this one.
Usually the power is taken from PCIe power connectors on the motherboard.