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

Need help with Graphics Card for Mac Pro, 5,1

A

Adamapple

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 21, 2012
47
4
Picked up an '09 Mac Pro recently. Added a 128gb solid state drive to run OSX and games (mainly WOW legion). CPU/Memory performance is fine, however the bottleneck is the graphics card. I need some recommendations please. Something that I can run the game on Ultra settings, and perhaps purchase soon, ie. Cyber Monday, on a deal.

Thanks!!!
 
Search function is your friend, there are plenty of thread talking about this topic (even on the 1st page).
 
You did not mention the resolution of your monitor. For playing WOW at 1080p a GTX 750 Ti/RX 460 will do. For 4K a better Maxwell GPU would be an advantage.

Maybe the CPU is the bottleneck. Which one is in your Mac Pro?

If you need boot screen buy a flashed card.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: bernuli
Adamapple said:
Picked up an '09 Mac Pro recently. Added a 128gb solid state drive to run OSX and games (mainly WOW legion). CPU/Memory performance is fine, however the bottleneck is the graphics card. I need some recommendations please. Something that I can run the game on Ultra settings, and perhaps purchase soon, ie. Cyber Monday, on a deal.

Thanks!!!
Click to expand...

Hi

Rx460 works very easily - take out the old card, stick this one in. No boot screen but then I never turn the machine off. Games surprisingly well at 2560x1440; at lower resolutions it would be even better.

If you search the boards you'll find more details on more exotic / better / difficult options
 
Adamapple said:
@js2704 ... sent you a pm.

I was wrong about my model. It's a 3,1. This is the card I plan to purchase:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/xfx-amd...ess-3-0-graphics-card/5549901.p?skuId=5549901

Will this still work?? I don't care about a boot screen, machine is always on.
[doublepost=1480487401][/doublepost]Also this is my mac:

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_pro/specs/mac-pro-eight-core-2.8-2008-specs.html
Click to expand...

That one should work. Anyway, if you use 3,1 for gaming, the bottleneck should be at the CPU, a RX460 actually should be a good choice. Anything too strong most likely will be overkill.
 
Is there a workaround for 3,1 to run Sierra already? RX 460 would only run in macOS 10.12 and newer.
 
Okay, Sierra is now running great on my 3,1. I purchased a XFX Radeon RX 460, 4gb graphics card. Just installed it (replaced my 8800GT). Just getting a black screen now. The fans, light, etc are "On" on the 460. Can anyone help? What do I need to do to get the card to work?
 
Adamapple said:
Okay, Sierra is now running great on my 3,1. I purchased a XFX Radeon RX 460, 4gb graphics card. Just installed it (replaced my 8800GT). Just getting a black screen now. The fans, light, etc are "On" on the 460. Can anyone help? What do I need to do to get the card to work?
Click to expand...

Did you connect the 6pin power cable?
 
Yes I did. The fans are a spinning, blue light is on. Using the DVI port ... nada. With the old card, all was fine.
 
I just installed a Asus 460 2GB card in my Mac pro with installed Windows 10.
I installed the latest drivers from AMD.
I tried some games with Steam, some doesnt work like Doom III. Some does work.
This card didnt have a separate power cable as my previous gfx card that came with the Mac Pro.
Can this be an issue? I got the 460 just because it should be energy efficient.
 
kave said:
I just installed a Asus 460 2GB card in my Mac pro with installed Windows 10.
I installed the latest drivers from AMD.
I tried some games with Steam, some doesnt work like Doom III. Some does work.
This card didnt have a separate power cable as my previous gfx card that came with the Mac Pro.
Can this be an issue? I got the 460 just because it should be energy efficient.
Click to expand...

AFAIK, the normal / reference RX460 do not require extra cable, but that particular XFX RX460 do have a 6pin input.
 
Last edited:
I've just added a Gigabyte RX460 to my 5,1. Quieter, cooler and seems no different in (my non gaming) use to the HD7950 that I took out.

Finally able to run 3 monitors (although I don't have a 4K, the RX460 will run one) - 24" Dell via DP, and 19's" connected by HDMI>DVI adapter and the other via DVI direct.

Thing is, seems like the setup works on and off - sometimes I have to unplug and replug the DP cable to make it work again. Is that normal ?
 
Thanks for the input, so now I have my old card and the new XFX 460 card in the machine. Again, the 8800 GT works fine. When I switch over to the XFX 460 - 4gb, it boots, but no screen. I have tried an HP DVI monitor, and a HDMI TV/Monitor, neither gets a boot screen, just black. I have tried using the 6 pin connector (the light on the card turns blue) and without the 6 pin connector (the light on the card is red). I still get the boot chime, but no display either way.

Sierra is working fine, version 10.12.1. I have verified that the AMDRadeonx4000.kext is there. I'm tempted to make changes to the package as shown in some youtube videos for the RX 480 models, but not sure yet.

Do you guys have any other ideas? Should I reset PRAM/NVRAM???
 
I use a flashed (MacVidCards, you remember him ;)) 280X in my MacPro5,1, and it does the job. However, the new 400 series has issues with OS X/macOS as pointed out in this thread: Radeon Compatibility Guide - ATI/AMD Graphics Cards.

Although the thread is at a hackintosh site, Fl0r!an is, well, an expert on graphics cards running in OS X/macOS systems (yes, including Macs). He summerizes the 400 series cards in the AMD9500Controller.kext (4th Gen GCN architecture) Table. His latest post sums up the 480 problem(s) in Sierra.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bernuli
h9826790 said:
AFAIK, the normal / reference RX460 do not require extra cable, but that particular XFX RX460 do have a 6pin input.
Click to expand...
I have the "normal" 460 card without extra power.
I will try to replace it tomorrow, it might be broken.
In Mac OS X Minecraft hangs the display every 1 minute or so and then returns.
In Windows 10 I can't get Minecraft to work more than 30 seconds, then it just quits.

Geekbench computer result in Mac OS X is 71517.
 
XFX RX 460 is known not to work with the Mac Pro. I tried one 3 months ago and returned it. I'd recommend getting the Gigabyte RX 460.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheStork
Yeah, I did read that after I purchased it :( ... gonna try a few more things, then I guess return it.
 
Yeah. I have the Gigabyte RX 460 4GB VRAM working on mine, too. No editing, just plug and play. Also, no power cable required. :)

I wonder what's different about the Gigabyte ones that work and the XFX and others that doesn't?
 
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