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fersy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 20, 2020
24
4
Hi guys, so my mac pro 4,1 flashed to 5,1 and on high sierra has been running the original radeon 512mb 4870 but i decided i wanted to upgrade so i went for the sapphire pulse rx580 8gb as i had seen people installing them. Instead of the original model they sent me the “lite edition” with no dvi output. Anyway i connected it all up using the 2 x 6 pin mini to 8pin cable i bought turned it on and as you can probably guess, nothing. No fans spin on it, nothing appears to happen. Now i know on these the fans only spin when under loads but i thought maybe they would even fire up for a second as it powers on maybe somebody can confirm that. Anyway it goes through the normal boot process, makes the chime you normally get before the apple logo so it sounds like its booting and theres just no video. I have tried the hdmi and the display ports. No joy in either. I can put the card in a windows pc and test its working when i come home from work but it was brand new and sealed so id say the card is probably ok. I can put the old 4870 back in and it boots straight up. I have tried resetting the pvram but it doesnt seem to work with the new card in but still works fine with the old one in. Anyone any ideas in something i may be missing? Has anyone used an rx580 lite edition? Id imagine its the same drivers and architecture just minus the dvi and the clock speed is marginally slower 1350 instead of 1366 i think. I appreciate any help going. Ive read a few posts woth similar issues but no real conclusion . Thanks in advance
 

StuAff

macrumors 6502
Aug 6, 2007
385
256
Portsmouth, UK
At the risk of asking the obvious question, are you sure the system has actually booted? There won't be a display signal until the video drivers have loaded, which is pretty late on in the boot process.
 

fersy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 20, 2020
24
4
Cheers for the reply, Yeah m8 i was aware of the no boot screen thing before i installed it so i lett it ages after the chime. Normally my mac makes the chime and within the next 10 seconds ive had the apple logo with the progress bar and im on the password screen to log into the os. Id imagine the password screen should still show up, right?
Anyway all in it notmally boots into the os in about 30 seconds and i left it sitting for about 5 mins and still nothing just a black screen
 

fersy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 20, 2020
24
4
Its a brand new cable and ive checked the connections numerous times because there really is no sign of life at all from the card when i turn on the mac. I may have to get the multimeter out and actually check for power coming thru them. Does it matter which of the mini 6 pins goes into which socket i wonder? I dont think so though. I may slot it into my old pc and check the card
 

MIKX

macrumors 68000
Dec 16, 2004
1,815
691
Japan
Send us a photo of the card and it's POWER sockets.

Theoretically the power cable should be this one.
TWO mini 6 pin to ONE 8 pin GPU cable.jpg


Link to the cable : https://www.amazon.com/COMeap-Expre...PCI+cable&qid=1590342143&s=electronics&sr=1-1
 

fersy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 20, 2020
24
4
here is a pic of the sockets. I've removed the cable to see easier. obviously. i normally have the cable plugged into them when im trying to boot up lol.
IMG_2318.jpg

[automerge]1590357287[/automerge]
and the cable
IMG_2319.jpg
 

fersy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 20, 2020
24
4
i have 2 monitors. a samsung 22" 1080p and a samsung 32" 2k curved one. i have tried using both display port and hdmi. also further to this i have voltage tested the cable plugged into the board and each of the power pins on the gpu side is getting 26.5v seems right and i have checked the entire cable for continuity and all seems good. i suppose my next step is stick the card in a pc and verify its good
[automerge]1590361728[/automerge]
Oh sorry an os high sierra installed last night from the app store so id imagine a later one but i can put back in the old graphics card and check
 
Last edited:

tsialex

Contributor
Jun 13, 2016
13,121
13,318
Please post a picture of the Sapphire label, from the back of the card, very strange that you don't have a DVI output - first time I read that a Sapphire Pulse don't have the DVI output.
 

tsialex

Contributor
Jun 13, 2016
13,121
13,318
the "lite" Version lacks the DVI port, and port layout is rather crucial for compatibility.
the systems expecting 5 ports could be the issue.


I saw it on Sapphire site just now.

This card will probably have some incompatibility with RADEON and ORINOCO personalities, but too early to tell.
[automerge]1590364207[/automerge]
i have 2 monitors. a samsung 22" 1080p and a samsung 32" 2k curved one. i have tried using both display port and hdmi. also further to this i have voltage tested the cable plugged into the board and each of the power pins on the gpu side is getting 26.5v seems right and i have checked the entire cable for continuity and all seems good. i suppose my next step is stick the card in a pc and verify its good
[automerge]1590361728[/automerge]
Oh sorry an os high sierra installed last night from the app store so id imagine a later one but i can put back in the old graphics card and check
Do you have a Windows/BootCamp drive to boot from it and check if the GPU works with Windows?
 
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fersy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 20, 2020
24
4
I saw it on Sapphire site just now.

This card will probably have some incompatibility with RADEON and ORINOCO personalities, but too early to tell.
[automerge]1590364207[/automerge]

Do you have a Windows/BootCamp drive to boot from it and check if the GPU works with Windows?
No i dont have bootcamp windows as i screwed up my mac the other night when i started to install it then changed my mind which led to me having to fix all that. I am currently in the process of installing it in my old windows pc now thos to check that the card functions in that and isnt just dead. And tsialex it is 100% a genuine sapphire card but it must be a very new version as the only place i can even find any ifo about it on the entire web is their website lol. Its not even what i ordered. I ordered the normal 8gb rx580 pulse from overclockers which have dvi etc and they sent me this without so much as a mention. They dont even have this available to buy on their site its still just showing the normal one. I figured if it was just the missing dvi and slightly lower clock speed i could live with it as i just wanted it to get the full resoluting and 144hz from my new monitor but obviously if it wont work its no use. Tbh id have thought with all the others working it wouldnt have been an issue but maybe im wrong. The thing i find strange is even if it was a compatibility issue you would image there would be some sign of life when you power up before it failed the compatibilty but this for all intents and purposes gives absolutley no sign of life when powering up the mac
 

tsialex

Contributor
Jun 13, 2016
13,121
13,318
No i dont have bootcamp windows as i screwed up my mac the other night when i started to install it then changed my mind which led to me having to fix all that. I am currently in the process of installing it in my old windows pc now thos to check that the card functions in that and isnt just dead. And tsialex it is 100% a genuine sapphire card but it must be a very new version as the only place i can even find any ifo about it on the entire web is their website lol. Its not even what i ordered. I ordered the normal 8gb rx580 pulse from overclockers which have dvi etc and they sent me this without so much as a mention. They dont even have this available to buy on their site its still just showing the normal one. I figured if it was just the missing dvi and slightly lower clock speed i could live with it as i just wanted it to get the full resoluting and 144hz from my new monitor but obviously if it wont work its no use. Tbh id have thought with all the others working it wouldnt have been an issue but maybe im wrong. The thing i find strange is even if it was a compatibility issue you would image there would be some sign of life when you power up before it failed the compatibilty but this for all intents and purposes gives absolutley no sign of life when powering up the mac
Please test with a PC, if it works then test with BootCamp/Windows 10 on your Mac Pro.

This card can have a very different personality and be incompatible with RADEON and ORINOCO framebuffers.
 

fersy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 20, 2020
24
4
Please test with a PC, if it works then test with BootCamp/Windows 10 on your Mac Pro.

This card can have a very different personality and be incompatible with RADEON and ORINOCO framebuffers.
There is the picture of the other side
7E58389C-33C0-4475-9BC2-3DF9C17EC8D7.jpeg
 

fersy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 20, 2020
24
4
Ok so i put it in the windows pc and at first attempt the fans spun up but there was no picture just thru hdmi into my small monitor so i tried plugging in the display port too of my bigger momitor and then both displays came on and i got to the os selection screen then it seems to have gone tits up again but that may be something to do with the os where i maybe need to disable the onboard graphics or something becauee im pretty sure the intel i5 uses nvidia graphics drivers for onboard graphics. So basically the cards not dead anyway. See thats why i was thinking it was maybe a power issue on the mac because even if it was a compatibility issue on the mac id have thought the fans would spin up even for a brief second and it would show some sign that there was power going to it. The problem with all the other stuff like bootcamp wimdows etc is i cant even get anything on the screen to boot into it and i cant keep my stock graphics card in too as it also requires use of the 2x mini 6 pin aux sockets?‍♂️ All fun and games lol.
 

tsialex

Contributor
Jun 13, 2016
13,121
13,318
pretty sure the intel i5 uses nvidia graphics drivers for onboard graphics.
Not one Intel processor has NVIDIA graphics. Ever.

The only partnership that Intel ever made for Core processors was with AMD, some 8th gen Intel Core i5/i7 have AMD GPUs internally.

Some very old ATOM processors have PowerVR based integrated GPUs.
 
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fersy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 20, 2020
24
4
Not one Intel processor has NVIDIA graphics. Ever.

The only partnership that Intel ever made for Core processors was with AMD, some 8th gen Intel Core i5/i7 have AMD GPUs internally.

Some very old ATOM processors have PowerVR based integrated GPUs.
Yeah its a long time from ive used this pc. I only keep it in case i need windows for something. It has imtel hd 4000 graphics. Either way id say the reason it goes to the operating system selection page then wont load into the actual os is because those onboard graphics need disabled from bios. The os is likely trying to switch to them but no displays are plugged in. Anyway it dont really matter as i want it to work in mac lol. Im debating taking the sapphire rx580 nitro + out of my daughters pc amd stickinv it in with my cable to see if if boots up but theres barely room to move in my room with all the stuff lying about lol. Is there something i can put the original gpu back in and check on the mac like i think somebody mentioned bootrom version or something
 

tsialex

Contributor
Jun 13, 2016
13,121
13,318
Yeah its a long time from ive used this pc. I only keep it in case i need windows for something. It has imtel hd 4000 graphics. Either way id say the reason it goes to the operating system selection page then wont load into the actual os is because those onboard graphics need disabled from bios. The os is likely trying to switch to them but no displays are plugged in. Anyway it dont really matter as i want it to work in mac lol. Im debating taking the sapphire rx580 nitro + out of my daughters pc amd stickinv it in with my cable to see if if boots up but theres barely room to move in my room with all the stuff lying about lol. Is there something i can put the original gpu back in and check on the mac like i think somebody mentioned bootrom version or something
BootROM version has nothing to do with your problems.

Sapphire RX 580 Nitro+ has a compatible personality and works with RADEON frame buffer normally.
 

fersy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 20, 2020
24
4
You are absolutely correct. Get this lol, so remember i put it in the windows pc and it didnt display then i plugged in both monitors and it did? Well i thought i wonder if i plug both monitors in on mac would the same happen. So i put it back in the mac, ensured all my commections were secure and swapped the 2 mini 6 pins round and plugged them into the opposite ones even tho i dont think it matters. Plugged in both monitors at the same time which i hadnt been doing on mac and as soon as i pressed the power button the fans spun up immediately and then the chime and a few seconds later the password screen. And bang were in. Im not sure if it was the 2 monitors, the swapping of the plugs or if being in the windows pc first kicked it into life. Ill try booting up with 1 display just to double check that and maybe swap the cable plugs back just to check that in case someone has the same issue and finds this
2410E90C-8394-456C-A6D5-83430AFD0729.jpeg
 
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fersy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 20, 2020
24
4
Spoke too soon it appears? i am getting random reboots every so often. I can be doing nothing at all just sitting on the desktop and it will shut down and restart. The fans aint spinning and the card aint hot or anything
 

fersy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 20, 2020
24
4
Just in case anybody finds this looking for answers after a bit of reading i seen a few saying there was known issues with rx580 and high sierra 10.13.6 so i updated to mojave and the issue went away and all seems good
 

Lakehouse

macrumors newbie
Jun 13, 2020
3
0
Just in case anybody finds this looking for answers after a bit of reading i seen a few saying there was known issues with rx580 and high sierra 10.13.6 so i updated to mojave and the issue went away and all seems good
Just a quick question as I have a similar setup and I cannot get the rx580 to kick in (when I boot in Recovery mode the card works albeit the background is a weird light purple colour); how did you upgrade to Mojave without a metal capable card if the rx580 wasn’t working?
 
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