Upgrading GPU options for MacPro (2010) running Yosemite for photography and games

[dadama]

I've been combing the threads in various forums for the past few days and haven’t been able to resolve what is the best route to go. My usage is Photoshop CC (2014) and gaming via steam or bootcamp. I am still running the original AMD 5870 in a 2010 3.2 Quadcore MacPro (5,1) w/12g ram powering 30" and 24" Displays (Dell). I've upgraded to Yosemite, which is run off a 1 TB SSD and I will be upgrading to 24 or 48 G Ram in the near future.


As for a new GPU, I have looked at a variety of GPU's and have arrived at the following conclusions:

GTX 680 Mac edition
Pro: Plug and Play
Con: high cost, moderate performance

GTX 7xx
Pro: Good performance, can be flashed
Con: Power consumption (may require PSU), price, requires flashing.

GTX 970
Pro: Great performance, reasonable power consumption (additional PSU not required), very good value
Con: EFI not flashable (yet).

Various AMD 7000's
Pro: Flashable, 7950 Mac edition is plug and play but poor value.
Con: Moderate to high cost, moderate performance, PC version requires flashing. Some require PSU.

AMD R9 280x
Pro: Great Performance, can be flashed
Con: requires flashing, Power consumption (requires PSU), soldering required for 5GT/s.

My preference is not have to get an additional PSU so my inclination is to spring for a GTX 970 and hope for an EFI update in the near future. I hear Gigabyte and MSI are well branded cards. As I understand it, flashing modern cards is no longer DYI as it was previously (I flashed a 4870.. eons ago).

Some feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Doug

 

[ilikewhey]

i throw in a pny 970 in mine, besides not able to see the apple boot logo for 10 seconds on startup, everything else is pretty much the same, so unless you have boot camp or need EFI support, get the 970,

 

[h9826790]

If I were you. I may wait for the MVC 980.

 

[dadama]

If I were you. I may wait for the MVC 980.

That'll likely be our of my price range. Perhaps a MVC 970.

i throw in a pny 970 in mine

For the display ports ? Other than that they don't sound like a better value than other 970 offerings. A shame they only offer a one year warranty.

 

[omvs]

i throw in a pny 970 in mine, besides not able to see the apple boot logo for 10 seconds on startup, everything else is pretty much the same, so unless you have boot camp or need EFI support, get the 970,

NOTE: 970 requires the nvidia web drivers. Even 10.10.1 doesn't support it yet (got surprised when i let it install the public beta), so might be a while before stock OSX drivers supports it.

I installed a PNY card too - 3x mDP & a heatsink that doesn't color outside the lines.

 

[MacVidCards]

NOTE: 970 requires the nvidia web drivers. Even 10.10.1 doesn't support it yet (got surprised when i let it install the public beta), so might be a while before stock OSX drivers supports it.

I installed a PNY card too - 3x mDP & a heatsink that doesn't color outside the lines.

Might be a LONG while.

Still have to use Web Drivers for Titan Black and 780Ti.

Apple dragging their feet. (all the way to the bank)

 

[ToroidalZeus]

gtx 980

or 970 if you are poor

 

[dadama]

gtx 980

or 970 if you are poor

or have a family, mortgage, etc...

Aside form the performance increase, are the 980's running any better out of the box on Yosemite than the 970 's? I've read mixed results (here, insanely mac) but I must admit I don't live and breathe this stuff.

 

[nigelbb]

I have asked the same question several times recently & not got a straight answer but for regular professional applications on the Mac e.g. video editing etc are the newer generation Nvidia cards significantly better than a GTX570? I accept that a GTX980 might be better for games under Windows but what about Premiere Pro under OX X? I am still waiting to hear from someone who has swapped out a GTX570.

 

[Gav Mack]

gtx 980

or 970 if you are poor

Or if a real cheapskate buy a used PC reference 4Gb GTX 680 cheap on ebay with a return option and DIY flash it in bootcamp for EFI boot screen. With a PCIe power cable about 200-250 bucks in total and in effect a GTX 680 Mac Edition card. If you dont have bootcamp any windows box with a PCIe slot and Nvidia drivers will do and the roms plus instructions are in this forum.

Drivers work out the box too.

Then if that isnt quick enough re-sell it for probably more money then get a faster card. The 680 is more than quick enough for me.

 

[Sharky II]

As far as I've been told, the r9 280x doesn't require an additional psu (unless you to overclock - as a gamer perhaps you are)! Plenty of folk on here are running them without one.

 

[ToroidalZeus]

I have asked the same question several times recently & not got a straight answer but for regular professional applications on the Mac e.g. video editing etc are the newer generation Nvidia cards significantly better than a GTX570? I accept that a GTX980 might be better for games under Windows but what about Premiere Pro under OX X? I am still waiting to hear from someone who has swapped out a GTX570.

Well considering the 570 won't even play assassins creed unity, I'd wager the 980 would be much better at everything.

 

[Redneck1089]

Might be a LONG while.

Still have to use Web Drivers for Titan Black and 780Ti.

Apple dragging their feet. (all the way to the bank)

I'm using a 780 Ti Classified and don't seem to require Nvidia's web drivers...

 

[Zwhaler]

As far as I've been told, the r9 280x doesn't require an additional psu (unless you to overclock - as a gamer perhaps you are)! Plenty of folk on here are running them without one.

Careful, it is rated about 250W (at least mine is... and it is slightly over overclocked ... it was an MSI Gaming 3G to start with) and if you do heavy rendering like I do it can fry stuff ... to put it nicely. I got an ePower 450W GPU PSU and it runs fine.

 

[nigelbb]

Well considering the 570 won't even play assassins creed unity, I'd wager the 980 would be much better at everything.

Not sure what a Windows game has to do with professional OS X applications but I want a little more evidence that a GTX980 is that much better than a GTX570 before shelling out $600-700.

 

[m4v3r1ck]

gtx 980

Good advice for max performance yet less power draw!

or 970 if you are poor

POOR judgement!

 

[Macsonic]

For Photoshop and photography tasks the Nvidia 680gtx or the GTX 700 series are more than adequate. Even the Radeon 5870hd is still good for Photoshop work. I could not comment on gpus good for games as I don't play games. Though as others suggested, the OP can wait and see on the flashed Nvidia 970 or 980 and get more feedbacks on performance before deciding.

 

[ilikewhey]

Not sure what a Windows game has to do with professional OS X applications but I want a little more evidence that a GTX980 is that much better than a GTX570 before shelling out $600-700.

gtx 570 is 2 generations behind the gtx 980. 570 is fermi, thn came kepler, and the 980 is the new maxwell. but if money is issue, get the 970 like i did, much better bang of the buck and even less power draw.

 

[nigelbb]

gtx 570 is 2 generations behind the gtx 980. 570 is fermi, thn came kepler, and the 980 is the new maxwell. but if money is issue, get the 970 like i did, much better bang of the buck and even less power draw.

Why do people keep recommending the GTX980 when it costs so much & doesn't even have working CUDA? Nobody has yet produced any evidence that a GTX9xx is any better than a GTX570 for Mac OS X professional applications e.g. Photoshop, Premier Pro, FCP etc

 

[MacVidCards]

Why do people keep recommending the GTX980 when it costs so much & doesn't even have working CUDA? Nobody has yet produced any evidence that a GTX9xx is any better than a GTX570 for Mac OS X professional applications e.g. Photoshop, Premier Pro, FCP etc

It isn't ...yet.

The GTX570/580 have remained competitive for GPGPU but you are right, they aren't mentioned much.

This was because GTX680/770 were not moves forward for GPGPU.

GK110 (780/Titan) were, and 970/980 will be once the drivers get finished.

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Why do people keep recommending the GTX980 when it costs so much & doesn't even have working CUDA? Nobody has yet produced any evidence that a GTX9xx is any better than a GTX570 for Mac OS X professional applications e.g. Photoshop, Premier Pro, FCP etc

As very often happens, many pro users/tweakers here on MacRumors are ahead of the companies who need to get their apps drivers firmware ready to comply!

Thats why I like being a forum member, NEVER A DULL MOMENT!

Just be patient and every thing will be alright

Cheers

 

[lowendlinux]

Why do people keep recommending the GTX980 when it costs so much & doesn't even have working CUDA? Nobody has yet produced any evidence that a GTX9xx is any better than a GTX570 for Mac OS X professional applications e.g. Photoshop, Premier Pro, FCP etc

They're not, but the 9xx are new and have a great deal of promise not only for the electric bill but compute too.

 

[ilikewhey]

the maxwell architecture is very impressive, i dont know about you but for my old 4.1's psu i want the least power draw possible. and maxwell does that very efficiently without sacrificing computing speed, like the other said its only a matter of time before the software side catches up.

 

[dadama]

Or if a real cheapskate buy a used PC reference 4Gb GTX 680 cheap on ebay with a return option and DIY flash it in bootcamp for EFI boot screen. With a PCIe power cable about 200-250 bucks in total and in effect a GTX 680 Mac Edition card. If you dont have bootcamp any windows box with a PCIe slot and Nvidia drivers will do and the roms plus instructions are in this forum.

Drivers work out the box too.

Then if that isnt quick enough re-sell it for probably more money then get a faster card. The 680 is more than quick enough for me.

That's a good suggestion at least for the short term. Rather than a 680 I may opt for a AMD 7950 HD. Newegg has refurbished PC units for $150.00, which I can put in my old 1,1 Mac Pro in a few months once the dust has settled on the 970/980. More RAM will likely do more for photoshop than a higher end video card.

 

[Gav Mack]

That's good suggestion at least for the short term. Rather than a 680 I may opt for an AMD 7950 HD. Newegg has refurbished PC units for $150.00, which I can put this my old 1,1 Mac Pro in a few months once the dust has settled on the 970/980. More RAM will likely do more for photoshop than a higher end video card.

For a 1,1 a boot screen won't matter anyway. My 680 does give CS6 a very noticeable kick and its power consumption will not over stress an old PSU.

Ram is king when it comes to Photoshop though, I am wondering whether I am going to actually notice the drop going from 32 to 24 by going up to single socket 4,1! There is always a dual CPU tray but x5690's are silly prices over here right now used. For the images and layers I use I think I will be fine though. Reckon you're right - buy one of those 2 cards and get some used ram. I got 24gb of used but guaranteed 8gb ddr3-133 pretty cheaply to go with the used w3680 I stuck into the 4,1 that arrived this morning. I was quoting you UK ebay prices for the 680, over the pond they may be cheaper with gamers wanting the newest cards and selling.

I might be interested in the 980 one day but I don't need its blistering performance. The 680 more than does the job. Like with being happy with a 5s I bought cheap I do not like paying over the odds for anything that is brand new, will depreciate pretty fast or even bend