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

dickie001x

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 13, 2008
147
98
Please forgive my ignorance/laziness/stupidity....but what do I need to do/buy in order to get Mojave running on my Mac Pro?
I have a MacPro5,1 (Mid 2010) with the following specs: 6-Core Intel Xeon 3.33GHz, 16GB Memory, ATI Radeon HD 5770.
I understand that I'll need to upgrade the graphics card...but to what? Links please.
Also, would my current specs suffice? (will I need more RAM, etc).
Thanks in advance!
 

crjackson2134

macrumors 601
Mar 6, 2013
4,822
1,947
Charlotte, NC
Please forgive my ignorance/laziness/stupidity....but what do I need to do/buy in order to get Mojave running on my Mac Pro?
I have a MacPro5,1 (Mid 2010) with the following specs: 6-Core Intel Xeon 3.33GHz, 16GB Memory, ATI Radeon HD 5770.
I understand that I'll need to upgrade the graphics card...but to what? Links please.
Also, would my current specs suffice? (will I need more RAM, etc).
Thanks in advance!

Just to get it up and running. A GPU (video card) is all you’ll have to buy.

The top Apple recommended card, is the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX580.

You will need to read up on the firmware requirements and nuances of the install yourself however.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: bsbeamer

Squuiid

macrumors 68000
Oct 31, 2006
1,856
1,580
Please forgive my ignorance/laziness/stupidity....but what do I need to do/buy in order to get Mojave running on my Mac Pro?
I have a MacPro5,1 (Mid 2010) with the following specs: 6-Core Intel Xeon 3.33GHz, 16GB Memory, ATI Radeon HD 5770.
I understand that I'll need to upgrade the graphics card...but to what? Links please.
Also, would my current specs suffice? (will I need more RAM, etc).
Thanks in advance!
As @crjackson2134 stated just get one of these, which is approved by Apple for Mojave. The rest of your hardware is just fine.
Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 580 8G GDDR5 Dual HDMI/DVI-D/Dual DP Graphics Card - Black
 
  • Like
Reactions: bsbeamer

Cave Man

macrumors 604
I'm in the same boat, but a dual processor 2.66 gHz with 128 GB RAM.

Just to get it up and running. A GPU (video card) is all you’ll have to buy. The top Apple recommended card, is the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX580. You will need to read up on the firmware requirements and nuances of the install yourself however.

Do you have a link to these nuances? I'd like to know what I'm getting into before making the plunge!
[doublepost=1536943527][/doublepost]
As @crjackson2134 stated just get one of these, which is approved by Apple for Mojave. The rest of your hardware is just fine.
Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 580 8G GDDR5 Dual HDMI/DVI-D/Dual DP Graphics Card - Black

This is the same? NewEgg is easier for me.

Does the original graphics card have to remain in my Mac Pro, or can it be removed once the Sapphire is installed?
 
Last edited:
Jul 4, 2015
4,487
2,551
Paris
I'm in the same boat, but a dual processor 2.66 gHz with 128 GB RAM.



Do you have a link to these nuances? I'd like to know what I'm getting into before making the plunge!
[doublepost=1536943527][/doublepost]

This is the same? NewEgg is easier for me.

Does the original graphics card have to remain in my Mac Pro, or can it be removed once the Sapphire is installed?

Yes you can remove the original. You won’t get a boot selector screen but you will get macOS loading screen.
 

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,611
8,537
Hong Kong
Yes you can remove the original. You won’t get a boot selector screen but you will get macOS loading screen.

He MUST remove the original graphic card indeed. Otherwise the 10.14 installer won't run.

For GT120, it seems OK to boot 10.14. But only work AFTER 10.14 is installed, it still need to be removed when launch the installer.

But for 5770 / 5870. It seems these card will cause 10.14 can't boot.
 

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,611
8,537
Hong Kong

Cave Man

macrumors 604
He MUST remove the original graphic card indeed. Otherwise the 10.14 installer won't run.

So, just to be clear, I remove the OEM graphics card, install the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 580 and boot up in High Sierra. Run the Mojave installer and it should update the firmware and install Mojave. No other modifications to get a successful Mojave install?
 
  • Like
Reactions: crjackson2134

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,611
8,537
Hong Kong
So, just to be clear, I remove the OEM graphics card, install the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 580 and boot up in High Sierra. Run the Mojave installer and it should update the firmware and install Mojave. No other modifications to get a successful Mojave install?

Correct
 

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,611
8,537
Hong Kong
I successfully upgraded to Mohave on my mid 2010 Mac Pro. Yet, I have a need to reinstall High Sierra again. Can I put the original video card back to get the boot screen and boot install high Sierra?
Boot screen is not required, but you will need a GPU that supported by HS.

Also, you need to create a HS USB installer. You can’t just run the HS installer inside Mojave.
 

skullmonkey714

macrumors newbie
Oct 20, 2020
6
0
Boot screen is not required, but you will need a GPU that supported by HS.

Also, you need to create a HS USB installer. You can’t just run the HS installer inside Mojave.
I currently have a Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 580 installed and need to do a clean install on a new SSD. From what I see, that card doesn’t support boot screens. Doesn’t the HS USB installer require the boot screen in order to install? Like you said, I can’t run the installer within Mohave.
 

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,611
8,537
Hong Kong
If you really want boot screen, go for OpenCore. It can make non flashed AMD cards shows boot screen (and boot picker, depends on the settings) on cMP.

Like this (N.B. The Radeon VII in this video isn't flashed. In fact, I don't think there is any flash service for Radeon VII yet).
 

skullmonkey714

macrumors newbie
Oct 20, 2020
6
0
No.

The installer itself has GPU driver. As long as your GPU is one of the supported GPU (e.g. your RX580), no boot screen required.
Ok, that’s good to know. So how do I run the installer if not from the boot screen? I’m used to holding down option when turning the computer on and selecting USB. Then I do the whole disk utility thing, then install the os.

(btw...I’m really appreciating your help. I know I sound like a complete noob)
 

tsialex

Contributor
Jun 13, 2016
12,875
13,112
Ok, that’s good to know. So how do I run the installer if not from the boot screen? I’m used to holding down option when turning the computer on and selecting USB. Then I do the whole disk utility thing, then install the os.

(btw...I’m really appreciating your help. I know I sound like a complete noob)
Remove all disks from your Mac Pro, keep just the createinstallmedia USB key installer for Mojave on the USB port and an empty/fully erased/new disk on SATA/PCIe.

When there are no bootable disks on SATA/PCIe/FireWire, your Mac Pro will boot automatically from USB. Since USB has the least priority when booting, you have to remove all other disks from your Mac Pro.

You don't need to do anything, around three minutes after you press power on, you have the macOS installer on your display.
 

skullmonkey714

macrumors newbie
Oct 20, 2020
6
0
Remove all disks from your Mac Pro, keep just the createinstallmedia USB key installer for Mojave on the USB port and an empty/fully erased/new disk on SATA/PCIe.

When there are no bootable disks on SATA/PCIe/FireWire, your Mac Pro will boot automatically from USB. Since USB has the least priority when booting, you have to remove all other disks from your Mac Pro.

You don't need to do anything, around three minutes after you press power on, you have the macOS installer on your display.
Thanks for your advice. I’ll give that a try.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.