MP 7,1 Thunderbolt 3 displays with custom graphics cards

[legareal]

Hi all,

I have a 12 core Mac Pro on order. I'm not doing any graphics work so would like to stick with using my LG Ultrafine 5k display.

I'm stuck between the Radeon 580X (ordered, inadequate) and the Pro Vega II (too expensive for me) MPX modules.

The plan was to buy and install something like the Sapphire Vega 64 or 5700XT. However, only the MPX modules seem to feature Thunderbolt 3 ports to drive the LG display.

Is there any way I can install third party cards like above and be able to connect / accelerate the LG display?

Thanks!

 

[s66]

To get the MP7,1 TB3 ports on top and on the apple IO card to have display signal on them. you need a MPX module from Apple (it uses that extra wide connector to hook up to the TB ports).

So, if you can't find another card with a TB3 interface and your monitor only wants TB3 input, you'll have to leave the MPX module in the system. (you can add other GPUs but the MPX will drive the monitors)

 

[legareal]

Thank you! Do you know if it's possible with Catalina on the Mac Pro to set an app to prefer to use secondary GPUs as opposed to the one in the MPX?

Something similar to the "Prefer External GPU" option when using an eGPU?