Professional Upgrade Advice for MacPro 5.1

[Watashiwa]

Hello,

love this forum, was close to order today 450€ for a Samsung 512GB SSD SM951 AHCI until I found great news about the new Mojave 10.14.1 update here in the forum, so looks like my boot drive problem is solved 🙂 will wait for the update and buy the Samsung 970 Pro with Aqua Computer krypoM2. evo

I did research the forum and the web but its hard to find informations and advices, I have a 2009 4.1 upgraded to 5.1 with 2 x 3.46Ghz x5690 what I need is a GPU and RAM

I am a Photographer work all the time with Photoshop / Lightroom and will start working with 3D like Blender and Maya and After Effects to compose my Photography with 3D and I need a GPU that works stable and well with my Mac Pro. I found those cards, have a Benq SW 271 4k Screen.

- AMD Pro WX 9100
- Nvidia Titan XP (Pascal) Star Wars Edition
- RX 580

But I can't decide with one, have no experience with those GPUs, would be very nice if you can help me out guys, i would get the Titan XP Star Wars Edition for 850€ and the OpenCL results are much Higher then the other 2 Cards, the WX 9100 is around 1.700€ and the RX 580 300€ does some have experienced those cards, my screen supports 10 Bit and would be lovely to use this option in Photoshop etc. Does the Titan XP supports 10 Bit? I would love to go with the Titan XP, would be nice if I can play games sometimes also 🙂

just need some final recommendation to make the final order.

And I need RAM i read about dual and tribble channel is 6x8GB enough or is there a significant performance boost with 6x12GB.

please don't judge me is my first post 🙂 would love to stay longer 🙂

 

[AidenShaw]

Professional advice - go to http://www8.hp.com/us/en/workstations/overview.html and order a Z-series. http://www8.hp.com/us/en/campaigns/mac-to-z/index.html?jumpid=reg_r1002_usen_c-001_title_r0001

Don't piece together random upgrade bits from the interwebz for what will shortly be a ten year old system which is not supported by Apple.

It's time to give up on the cMP - Apple abandoned you long ago.

 

[Watashiwa]

Sorry can't use Windows 🙂 very long time Mac User and the MacPro 5.1 runs very stable just need a nice GPU and RAM and will wait until the new MacPro 7.1 are affordable 🙂

 

[Dr. Stealth]

Professional advice - go to http://www8.hp.com/us/en/workstations/overview.html and order a Z-series. http://www8.hp.com/us/en/campaigns/mac-to-z/index.html?jumpid=reg_r1002_usen_c-001_title_r0001

Don't piece together random upgrade bits from the interwebz for what will shortly be a ten year old system which is not supported by Apple.

It's time to give up on the cMP - Apple abandoned you long ago.

I hear they are doing auditions for Grumpy Old Men 3. You're a shoe-in....😀

 

[Watashiwa]

I hear they are doing auditions for Grumpy Old Men 3. You're a shoe-in....😀

i see you have 96GB Ram, happy?

 

[AlexMaximus]

i see you have 96GB Ram, happy?

A great Welcome to the forum!

Here are some questions you need to ask yourself:
1. Do you use Boot camp or do you have multiple OSX systems where you need the boot selector feature (alt)?
If Yes, forget AMD. In this case, the best way is to go with a flashed Nvidia card.
2. If you use a pure Apple system and only use one startup disk without using an alternative second osx disk to start, you can use AMD cards that do not have Boot screens.
3. Nvidia is way better for gaming. Assuming the Star Wars is an unflashed card and it doesnt bother you not having boot screen. I would prefer the Titan for sure. You will have an advantage for rendering with Cuda cores on some Pro apps, compared to a 1080ti or a 980ti.
4. Since Apple told us, the AMD D300/D500/D700 are Pro cards in the MacPro 6.1, I really became annoyed by those marketing lies. In the end the 6.1 cards have been nothing more but 7950 or 7970 level cards with a pro label. The WX 9100 is way too expensive for what you get. A good priced 580 might be just fine for the next two years if you don't need cuda cores and don't use boot camp.

 

[Watashiwa]

A great Welcome to the forum!

Here are some questions you need to ask yourself:
1. Do you use Boot camp or do you have multiple OSX systems where you need the boot selector feature (alt)?
If Yes, forget AMD. In this case, the best way is to go with a flashed Nvidia card.
2. If you use a pure Apple system and only use one startup disk without using an alternative second osx disk to start, you can use AMD cards that do not have Boot screens.
3. Nvidia is way better for gaming. Assuming the Star Wars is an unflashed card and it doesnt bother you not having boot screen. I would prefer the Titan for sure. You will have an advantage for rendering with Cuda cores on some Pro apps, compared to a 1080ti or a 980ti.
4. Since Apple told us, the AMD D300/D500/D700 are Pro cards in the MacPro 6.1, I really became annoyed by those marketing lies. In the end the 6.1 cards have been nothing more but 7950 or 7970 level cards with a pro label. The WX 9100 is way too expensive for what you get. A good priced 580 might be just fine for the next two years if you don't need cuda cores and don't use boot camp.

thank you very much, I don't need windows or a boot screen, looks like I will go for the titan xp I wrote to MacVidCards and they are flashing the titan xp just in case, just need to send them the card and pay few bugs, don't know yet didnt get a answer for the flash price, I think the Titan XP has a better Pro Driver Support for such 3D Apps then AMD

thank you anyway

 

[OS6-OSX]

I hear they are doing auditions for Grumpy Old Men 3. You're a shoe-in....😀

 

[BillyBobBongo]

Your choice of GPU confuses me, there is a massive difference in the performance levels of the Titan XP and the RX 580. Add to that I'm not sure why you'd throw money away asking MVC to flash your card for Bootscreens (no disrespect intended to him or his services) given that you'd be willing to use an RX 580 where boot screens are not currently available. In reality you're willing to pay for something just because you can.

As a side note I think it's also wiser to at least wait to see what happens on Tuesday 30th October, perhaps we'll see support for RTX cards appear which have native Bootscreens.

Another point of note is that you talk about using both Photoshop, Lightroom and After Effects. My understanding is that Photoshop benefits from a better GPU whilst Lightroom really likes a decent CPU. After Effects also prefers a beefier CPU. 3D programs will like that more powerful GPU though.

You can throw a lot at these Classic Mac Pros but one thing you will notice is that even if you have a top end GPU, under certain tasks/programs, it will become CPU bound by the older processors in these Mac Pros.

 

[leon771]

Professional advice - go to http://www8.hp.com/us/en/workstations/overview.html and order a Z-series. http://www8.hp.com/us/en/campaigns/mac-to-z/index.html?jumpid=reg_r1002_usen_c-001_title_r0001

Don't piece together random upgrade bits from the interwebz for what will shortly be a ten year old system which is not supported by Apple.

It's time to give up on the cMP - Apple abandoned you long ago.

This is bang on the money.

If you rely on your computer to earn you money, then a new HP is the way to go.

There is virtually no difference using Adobe apps on MacOS or Windows 10.

I use my Mac Pro 4,1 and 5,1 in a professional environment and have found in the last year that Nvidia drivers cause issues for me (the worst being kernel panics which crash my workflow and make me have to restart).

If not invest too much money in your 4,1.
Wait out for the 7,1 or just get a HP.

 

[OneyedK]

There are two problems when trying to use the Titan XP with cMP's
1) still waiting for web drivers to work with Mojave (IF they are ever released!)
2) TDP of 250Watt is a bit high for the cMP

So Sapphire PULSE RX580 8GB is still your best bet.
Performance in Photoshop/Lightroom will not be affected, could be different for 3D apps.

6x8GB should suffice 😉

 

[MarkC426]

Sounds like the op is ‘new’ to 3D.
An RX580 is more than powerful enough for basic to pretty advanced 3d stuff, unless your at the level of production rendering high end simulations or need cuda for Octane or similar.

 

[Watashiwa]

Sounds like the op is ‘new’ to 3D.
An RX580 is more than powerful enough for basic to pretty advanced 3d stuff, unless your at the level of production rendering high end simulations or need cuda for Octane or similar.

I was working many years ago with 3D on Windows NT 4.0 with Softimage 3D with the GPU 3D Laps Oxygen GMX with 96MB 🙂 was amazing fast in the past 🙂, its a long time ago, like to start again, my current computer is a Mac Book Pro Mid 2012 Retina and switching to MacPro5.1 I just spend 700€ for a 2x3.46 one without ram and GPU, the RX has decent OpenCL results in Geekbench for the money 300€ but spending 500€ more I can get the Titan XP but I can't really find real world benchmarks with Maya or Blender and don't like to switch all the time GPUs etc, that's why I will go max ram to 96GB, I really like my MacPro 🙂 most beautiful you can get I think

 

[MarkC426]

If you want an ‘out of the box’ card the RX580 is the one, no drivers.......just works 🙂
As OneyedK says above, with an Nvidia card you have to wait for updates to drivers whenever there is an OSX update.

It all depends if you need gpu rendering capability.

 

[HiroThreading]

I am a Photographer work all the time with Photoshop / Lightroom and will start working with 3D like Blender and Maya and After Effects to compose my Photography with 3D and I need a GPU that works stable and well with my Mac Pro. I found those cards, have a Benq SW 271 4k Screen.

- AMD Pro WX 9100
- Nvidia Titan XP (Pascal) Star Wars Edition
- RX 580

But I can't decide with one, have no experience with those GPUs, would be very nice if you can help me out guys, i would get the Titan XP Star Wars Edition for 850€ and the OpenCL results are much Higher then the other 2 Cards, the WX 9100 is around 1.700€ and the RX 580 300€ does some have experienced those cards, my screen supports 10 Bit and would be lovely to use this option in Photoshop etc.

RX 580. Not even a contest.

OpenCL is being depreciated on macOS. It's all Metal from here.

Does the Titan XP supports 10 Bit? I would love to go with the Titan XP, would be nice if I can play games sometimes also 🙂

If gaming is a priority, then build a seperate gaming PC. Forget about gaming on the cMP. It's a pain in the neck to get working, and your GPU will be CPU bottlenecked like crazy.

And I need RAM i read about dual and tribble channel is 6x8GB enough or is there a significant performance boost with 6x12GB.

Entirely depends on your workflows. There's also a negligible performance difference between 8*8GB and 6*8GB.


What is your budget? If this is for professional use, have you considered about getting a [refurbed] iMac Pro? CPU performance would be significantly better than the cMP, and you could write the purchase off as a tax deduction.

 

[zipgs]

I would absolutely not buy an Nvidia card until it's actually supported by Mojave. I have the RX580 and it works great out of the box, no issues.

I would wait til Tuesday, see if there's any new information during the announcement, maybe there will be some hint as to what kinds of cards are going to be supported by Apple going forward.

 

[AlexMaximus]

RX 580. Not even a contest.

OpenCL is being depreciated on macOS. It's all Metal from here.



If gaming is a priority, then build a seperate gaming PC. Forget about gaming on the cMP. It's a pain in the neck to get working, and your GPU will be CPU bottlenecked like crazy.



Entirely depends on your workflows. There's also a negligible performance difference between 8*8GB and 6*8GB.


What is your budget? If this is for professional use, have you considered about getting a [refurbed] iMac Pro? CPU performance would be significantly better than the cMP, and you could write the purchase off as a tax deduction.

I humbly disagree on the gaming side when it comes to the 5.1 cMP. I do occasionally game, and in my case, I could not be happier. I play XCOM2, Pray, Sudden Strike 4 and the newest Deus Ex title in kind of max settings.
Most VR titles run great such as Adrift on the HTC with Windows7 and I only have a 6 core with a 980Ti.
I can play 98% of all Steam titles, more then I can ever spend time on.
With a Titan XP Powerhouse card, the OP does everything right. Who cares about the newest OSX system?
Sorry, but I am not in business to jump after the newest OSX every single year just because Apple dictates it.
I want a System that is reliable, one that offers limitless spare parts and will work for another 10 years if I want it to.
Being in the ecosystem since the G4 MDD days, I think Apple lost its way to provide reliable systems. Since Steve Jobs is gone, they turned into controlled product obsolescence. (iPhone battery debacle and the intentional stop of eGPU TB2 support on the MP6.1) The 5.1 cMP in many ways represents the last system of the old value system that vanished together with Steve Jobs.

- I don't see a value in non-upgradability!
- I don't see a value to get punished for PCIe expansion and pay 1000 $ for some TB3 marketing gag.
- Why should I not have a blue ray burner in my system? Can't do that in an iMac or the all-new Mac Pro 6.1.

Sorry guys, but the Mac Pro 6.1 was a complete failure and a fist in the consumers face. It indicates that Apple became so rude and so arrogant that this company thinks it can dictate and bull&%$t the consumer. It can not. Most serious Professionals left the Mac game a long time ago. For me it feels, Apple these days only cares about money.

With a 5.1 purchase, the OP gets a Porsche 911 or an old Corvette Stingray Collectors Edition. It's a classic that will withstand the test of time. It may not be the fastest, but it will keep running. For the tiny amount of invested Dollars, the OP will get a superb bargain that is unmatched, especially for the 12 core system. But hey- Maybe a new RED inspired price tag of only 6999 for the all-new 7.1 Mac Pro + 8K GPU enabled Display will do the trick in 2019. Everyone is free to choose here.

 

[DearthnVader]

As I understand it, and maybe I'm wrong here, but nVidia cards don't support 10bit per channel color at all under the MacOS.

The RX580 is going to be a lot better card in both price and features/support. Apple ditched nVidia long ago, and most programs are going to offer better support for the RX580.

The Titan is faster, but it's not a card that is going to be optimized for by software developers, because there is no official support for it under the macOS, and the drivers will likely never be out of beta.

 

[pepetato]

Hi everyone, I have an RX 580 4gb on my cMP 5.1, it will be better to get another one with 4GB and get dual gpus or I just get another one with 8 gbs? thanks. (2x rx580 4gb or 1 rx580 8gb)

 

[OneyedK]

Hi everyone, I have an RX 580 4gb on my cMP 5.1, it will be better to get another one with 4GB and get dual gpus or I just get another one with 8 gbs? thanks. (2x rx580 4gb or 1 rx580 8gb)

What exactly do you want to improve? And how are you planning to power two RX580's?

 

[pl1984]

Hi everyone, I have an RX 580 4gb on my cMP 5.1, it will be better to get another one with 4GB and get dual gpus or I just get another one with 8 gbs? thanks. (2x rx580 4gb or 1 rx580 8gb)

I am not overly knowledgeable when it comes to video cards but I suspect 2 x RX580 w/4GB of memory is not the equivalent of 1 x RX580 w/8GB of memory. Perhaps if they're run in a Crossfire configuration they'll share their memory with one another but otherwise each cards memory will only be available to itself.

My advice is if you need 8GB of memory then purchasing a card with 8GB of memory is what you'll need to do.

 

[pepetato]

What exactly do you want to improve? And how are you planning to power two RX580's?

I use my mac for cad rendering, Pixlas mod.

 

[Hps1]

I'd get the Nvidia. You'll have CUDA for the latest render plugs when you inevitably discover them.

Then once your dreams are crushed by the 2019 Mac Pro you can pop the card in your new Windows computer and carry on.

...but get a 1080ti instead.

 

[Watashiwa]

Just got a Quadra K600 from a friend is Metal Supported, made a Firmware Update to 138 using 4k Display with Displayport 1.4 no problem at all, installing Mojave right now 🙂 yihaa looks like no new macpros long life the 5.1 🙂

 

[Hps1]

Mojave doesn’t support CUDA mate. Also 1gb isn’t enough to use gpu render plugs. Just so you know.