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MP 5,1 Graphics Card issue?

tikku22

tikku22

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 6, 2016
19
1
Hi all...

I have a 2010 Mac Pro 5,1 with the 3.33GHz 6-core that I’ve had a myriad of issues with the video cutting out, etc. over the last 8yrs. Well yesterday the screen just shows vertical red, green, blue lines. I’ve reset, rebooted, checked the cables, all the standard stuff. There are two ports on the ATI 5770 graphics card, one never really worked except intermittently and still doesn’t. The other is the one I’ve been using. It could be the display, of course, but I don’t have one to swap out. I’ve tried to boot up into Safe Mode and I hear the bong but it never comes up. I use Carbon Copy Cloner, so I tried to plug/unplug and boot up via the back up drive but no change. The graphics card fan is spinning as fast and as loud as I’ve ever heard it. I’ve also tried to remotely log in via my MBP laptop but am not able to connect to MP.

So I’m flummoxed and thought I’d reach out to you experts. I’m assuming it’s the graphics card that finally went out and I was looking to grab a new one. The fact that I can’t remotely login bothers me but I’m ignoring this for now. Any suggestions? Any recommendations on a graphics card?

Thanks.
Paras.
 
I'd say the graphics card has failed, especially since you said one port pretty much has never worked and now the fan is roaring away. It sounds like you were lucky to get as long out of it as you did! The only other option would be to try it in a different slot on your Mac Pro and see if it works. I'm assuming you can't boot the Mac Pro because it can't detect the graphics card and it won't proceed until it does. Do you have another card laying around to try?
 
OK, thanks for confirming. I don't have another one... Any recommendations on a graphics card? I can look on eBay and find an old used one, but I'm reluctant considering the trouble I've had with this one. Seems like a lot of the newer cards require reflashing, etc. and I can't just pop in a replacement. Thanks!
 
The 5870 or 7950 Mac edition are the only OEM upgrades available. If boot screens aren’t a necessity, this opens up many alternatives. Really any of the 9 or 10 series nvidia cards are compatible using the web drivers. Or the 570/580 on the AMD side. There is a sticky thread about Mac Pro upgrades right here inside the Mac Pro forum.
 
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OK, great.. thank you! Making my way thru and see some good info.

Found this as well... LINK

Thanks, gents.
Paras.
 
Agreed. If you don’t need boot screens, then pretty much any modern card will work. Just keep in mind if you go with a higher-end card, you might also need to order a second power cable, as I believe the 5770 only uses one.
 
If you want to upgrade as simply as possible, look for cards that are powered by a single 8-pin or dual 6-pins. There are cables widely available for either of those options with MacPro5,1 and the GPU can be powered internally.
 
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tikku22 said:
Hi all...

I have a 2010 Mac Pro 5,1 with the 3.33GHz 6-core that I’ve had a myriad of issues with the video cutting out, etc. over the last 8yrs. Well yesterday the screen just shows vertical red, green, blue lines. I’ve reset, rebooted, checked the cables, all the standard stuff. There are two ports on the ATI 5770 graphics card, one never really worked except intermittently and still doesn’t. The other is the one I’ve been using. It could be the display, of course, but I don’t have one to swap out. I’ve tried to boot up into Safe Mode and I hear the bong but it never comes up. I use Carbon Copy Cloner, so I tried to plug/unplug and boot up via the back up drive but no change. The graphics card fan is spinning as fast and as loud as I’ve ever heard it. I’ve also tried to remotely log in via my MBP laptop but am not able to connect to MP.

So I’m flummoxed and thought I’d reach out to you experts. I’m assuming it’s the graphics card that finally went out and I was looking to grab a new one. The fact that I can’t remotely login bothers me but I’m ignoring this for now. Any suggestions? Any recommendations on a graphics card?

Thanks.
Paras.
Click to expand...

1) If you can't remote login, and the card's fan is very loud, most likely the card is failed. And the test is simple, remove the card, then you should able to boot and remote login again. The cMP can boot headless.

2) What's your budget?

3) Any requirement to the card? e.g. Boot screen required? Prefer CUDA? Or simple need a card to drive the display? Any plan to move to 4K display?

4) Which OS you are running now? Any plan to upgrade?
 
I picked up an AMD RX460 (Gigabyte 4GB) later in 2016, and it has worked perfectly under Sierra, albeit without boot screen, in three Mac Pros: two 4,1 single cpu MPs flashed to 5,1 and a 5,1 dual MP. Currently, the GPU it drives a 4k Samsung TV via DP>HDMI adaptor and SwitchResX software, giving me 4k @ 60Hz.

I paid $90 for the card. Prices today (for RX560s) suck.
 
DPUser said:
I picked up an AMD RX460 (Gigabyte 4GB) later in 2016, and it has worked perfectly under Sierra, albeit without boot screen, in three Mac Pros: two 4,1 single cpu MPs flashed to 5,1 and a 5,1 dual MP. Currently, the GPU it drives a 4k Samsung TV via DP>HDMI adaptor and SwitchResX software, giving me 4k @ 60Hz.

I paid $90 for the card. Prices today (for RX560s) suck.
Click to expand...


Awesome! Where?
[doublepost=1521600621][/doublepost]
h9826790 said:
1) If you can't remote login, and the card's fan is very loud, most likely the card is failed. And the test is simple, remove the card, then you should able to boot and remote login again. The cMP can boot headless.

2) What's your budget?

3) Any requirement to the card? e.g. Boot screen required? Prefer CUDA? Or simple need a card to drive the display? Any plan to move to 4K display?

4) Which OS you are running now? Any plan to upgrade?
Click to expand...


I'd like to future-proof as much as possible... I can see running (2) 4k displays at some point, but not planning on it for a few years.
[doublepost=1521600815][/doublepost]Stupid question.... what does "without boot screen" mean exactly? On my laptop, I run FileVault 2 and have to login with name/password. On my MP 5,1, my Guest account is off and it logs me into my desktop straight away. Thx
[doublepost=1521601055][/doublepost]Is the Sapphire Pulse really that different from a Nitro+. Performance wise look similar but what about install? Ty.
 
tikku22 said:
Awesome! Where?
[doublepost=1521600621][/doublepost]


I'd like to future-proof as much as possible... I can see running (2) 4k displays at some point, but not planning on it for a few years.
[doublepost=1521600815][/doublepost]Stupid question.... what does "without boot screen" mean exactly? On my laptop, I run FileVault 2 and have to login with name/password. On my MP 5,1, my Guest account is off and it logs me into my desktop straight away. Thx
[doublepost=1521601055][/doublepost]Is the Sapphire Pulse really that different from a Nitro+. Performance wise look similar but what about install? Ty.
Click to expand...

You cannot use FileVault without boot screen, this is very very important if you need FileVault.

Otherwise, boot screen means the Apple logo before driver loaded for daily use.

Or the ability of using boot manager (holding “option” during boot) if someone prefer that to switching between different OS.

And if there is any firmware upgrade. Boot screen is also a requirement to let the updater function properly.

For RX580. Nitro+ is a bit more powerful, has dual ROM design, and with a better cooler. However, the bigger cooler make it a 2.2 slots card. Which mean will infringe slot 2 even you install it in the bottom slot. Also, more powerful means need more juice to run properly.

Therefore, PULSE is less restricted on cMP. However, if for any reason you want to flash the card. I personally prefer the Nitro+ because it has dual ROM (flash proof).
 
h9826790 said:
You cannot use FileVault without boot screen, this is very very important if you need FileVault.

Otherwise, boot screen means the Apple logo before driver loaded for daily use.

Or the ability of using boot manager (holding “option” during boot) if someone prefer that to switching between different OS.

And if there is any firmware upgrade. Boot screen is also a requirement to let the updater function properly.

For RX580. Nitro+ is a bit more powerful, has dual ROM design, and with a better cooler. However, the bigger cooler make it a 2.2 slots card. Which mean will infringe slot 2 even you install it in the bottom slot. Also, more powerful means need more juice to run properly.

Therefore, PULSE is less restricted on cMP. However, if for any reason you want to flash the card. I personally prefer the Nitro+ because it has dual ROM (flash proof).
Click to expand...


OK... thank you!
- By firmware upgrade, do you mean going from MacOS 10.13.3 to 10.13.4; or 10.13 to 10.14; or something else? Isn't it important to keep the OS updated for security purposes? Seems risky if there is no FileVault and no firmware updates.. maybe I am misunderstanding?
- I do use Boot Camp to go into Windows sometimes. I'm assuming I can probably find some light-weight software to boot into Windows when needed.
- If I install PULSE instead of Nitro+, am I still going to have the same issues regarding no boot screen?

thx!
 
10.13.3 > 10.13.4 is an incremental OS update. These are fine with non-EFI cards (no boot screen). With NVIDIA, wait for the NVIDIA web driver updates to be released. Usually try to update the sticky post at the top of the forum.

10.13.X > 10.14.X is an OS update. Generally these are fine with non-EFI cards (no boot screen). Would suggest holding off until reading through forums that other people have successfully updated before proceeding. Again, with NVIDIA wait for the NVIDIA web driver updates to be released.

Firmware updates are not software or OS updates.
 
bsbeamer said:
10.13.3 > 10.13.4 is an incremental OS update. These are fine with non-EFI cards (no boot screen). With NVIDIA, wait for the NVIDIA web driver updates to be released. Usually try to update the sticky post at the top of the forum.

10.13.X > 10.14.X is an OS update. Generally these are fine with non-EFI cards (no boot screen). Would suggest holding off until reading through forums that other people have successfully updated before proceeding. Again, with NVIDIA wait for the NVIDIA web driver updates to be released.

Firmware updates are not software or OS updates.
Click to expand...




OK, got it... from looking at the other threads, I thought AMD would be better / easier because I wouldn't need to be concerned with getting firmware professionally flashed like on the NVidia cards; that's why I wasn't considering the recommended cards at Macvidcards.com.

I'm not a big gamer, but I can see using Final Cut Pro, again pointing to the AMD cards. So the PULSE and Nitro+ looked like good options, and the Nitro+ looked slightly better with the overclocking and being flash-proof, as advised by h9826790. Sticking with the AMD would also eliminate the boot screen issue, so I can use FileVault, as well. (If I am not understanding something correctly, please chime in!) The primary downside seems the taking up of 2-slots and the $500. price-point for 8GB versions. The 4GB are still $300+ used.

What about power? If I got a Nitro+, would I need to upgrade the PSU?

Ty.
[doublepost=1521644899][/doublepost]Also, if I get an 8GB GPU card with two HDMI ports or two mini-Display ports, can I expect that two displays will run just as fast as each other or will one have some latency? What if the card was instead a 4GB with one HDMI and one mini-Display port?
 
MANY native (PC style) NVIDIA cards work with NVIDIA web drivers. You do not NEED to get the card flashed unless you absolutely NEED to use FileVault and NEED to have boot screens. If that is the case, you'll need a flashed card.

If you're sold on FCPX, AMD cards will likely offer better acceleration for some parts of workflow. Would also consider Vega 56/64 style variants since those are used in the iMacPro and should be supported for quite some time with native drivers. If you're using any software that supports CUDA, that would be NVIDIA.

Look at the power requirements for PSU. Starting point would be dual 6-pin or single 8-pin are GENERALLY fine with the existing PSU (with the right cable) if you're not talking about an extremely modified card (overclocked, added fans/cooling, additional ports, etc). If the power requirements are dual 8-pin, chances are you may need an external PSU. If it's one 6-pin and one 8-pin there are workarounds, but would suggest to look at another card variant/option if you do not want to add PSU.

If you put your 2-slot card in the bottom PCIe slot, it's already configured to take up dual slot height and would not block access to the other three PCIe slots. There are cards that stack higher than 2-slots and those could block access to one of the PCIe slots.
 
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tikku22 said:
OK, got it... from looking at the other threads, I thought AMD would be better / easier because I wouldn't need to be concerned with getting firmware professionally flashed like on the NVidia cards; that's why I wasn't considering the recommended cards at Macvidcards.com.

I'm not a big gamer, but I can see using Final Cut Pro, again pointing to the AMD cards. So the PULSE and Nitro+ looked like good options, and the Nitro+ looked slightly better with the overclocking and being flash-proof, as advised by h9826790. Sticking with the AMD would also eliminate the boot screen issue, so I can use FileVault, as well. (If I am not understanding something correctly, please chime in!) The primary downside seems the taking up of 2-slots and the $500. price-point for 8GB versions. The 4GB are still $300+ used.

What about power? If I got a Nitro+, would I need to upgrade the PSU?

Ty.
[doublepost=1521644899][/doublepost]Also, if I get an 8GB GPU card with two HDMI ports or two mini-Display ports, can I expect that two displays will run just as fast as each other or will one have some latency? What if the card was instead a 4GB with one HDMI and one mini-Display port?
Click to expand...


For FCP X, and require FileVault (if you want to secure you data, you should use FileVault), IMO, there is only one choice, R9 280X (flashed with boot screen).

RX 580 does NOT support FileVault, CANNOT, not an option at all. Any AMD card newer than R9 280X is the same, NO FileVault support.

Nvidia card has very low performance to cost ratio in FCP X. So, not recommended.

Another option I can suggest is 2x HD7950 (either one of the card is flashed is good enough). I used this config before, extremely good for FCPX. Apart from limited to 3GB VRAM, compute / rendering is very fast. 15s BruceX. However, this will physically occupy 3 PCIe slots. Leave you only one for USB 3.0 or PCIe SSD etc.
 
Hi folks... so I bought the Sapphire Radeon NITRO+ RX 580 8GB and am trying to install it. I've put it in the machine and hooked-up the 6-pin connector but nothing is coming up. I've remotely logged into the Mac Pro 5,1 and can see that the card is not being recognized and, therefore, the display is saying it's not getting a signal from the HDMI port.

Am I doing something incorrectly? There is a CD but it says it's only for Windows. The card has both an 8-pin and a 6-pin connector and I've hooked up the one 6-pin. Do I need to connect the other, as well? I understand some GPU cards need (2) 6-pins to come together to connect to (1) 8-pin.

It's interesting that before with the busted GPU I couldn't even remotely log-in to the Mac Pro; but now even with no video and nothing indicating that the GPU is operational, I'm able to do so. Strange (to me).

Thank you.
Paras.
 
tikku22 said:
Hi folks... so I bought the Sapphire Radeon NITRO+ RX 580 8GB and am trying to install it. I've put it in the machine and hooked-up the 6-pin connector but nothing is coming up. I've remotely logged into the Mac Pro 5,1 and can see that the card is not being recognized and, therefore, the display is saying it's not getting a signal from the HDMI port.

Am I doing something incorrectly? There is a CD but it says it's only for Windows. The card has both an 8-pin and a 6-pin connector and I've hooked up the one 6-pin. Do I need to connect the other, as well? I understand some GPU cards need (2) 6-pins to come together to connect to (1) 8-pin.

It's interesting that before with the busted GPU I couldn't even remotely log-in to the Mac Pro; but now even with no video and nothing indicating that the GPU is operational, I'm able to do so. Strange (to me).

Thank you.
Paras.
Click to expand...

Every single time when you see these 6pin or 8pin on a GPU, connect them all.
 
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OK... so the MP5,1 motherboard looks like it has (2) 6-pin connectors and the RX580 has (1) 8-pin and (1) 6-pin. How do I connect these?
 
h9826790 said:
You cannot use FileVault without boot screen, this is very very important if you need FileVault.

Otherwise, boot screen means the Apple logo before driver loaded for daily use.

Or the ability of using boot manager (holding “option” during boot) if someone prefer that to switching between different OS.

And if there is any firmware upgrade. Boot screen is also a requirement to let the updater function properly.
Click to expand...

How about when one is installing macOS? Does the installer even start with the non-flashed cards?
 
So, Anandtech is saying that this card will have a max power consumption of ~325 Watts... LINK
The stock setup uses ~260W at Load... LINK
(4) hard drives take up ~100W
USB3 card, etc... ~100W
Total max demand ~800W
The stock power supply can do 980W... LINK

So it appears the stock power supply should be able to service the rig with the new GPU.

Am I doing this analysis correctly?
 
h9826790 said:
Yes, OS installer is Mac EFI independent.
Click to expand...

SOooo, how does one initiate it? I tried to start the reinstallation of Sierra but the Option key doesn't take me to the drive selection to select the USB drive containing the OS installation. Is there another way?
 
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