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What's the easiest GPU upgrade for a 5.1?
- Thread starter js2704
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So are the 4XX GPUs plug and play in 10.12, or do you still have to do kext modding? And are there any other issues with software not recognizing them? Problem with searching MR for this stuff is a lot of threads are all months old/beta at this point.
Yeah..I'm current looking at cyber Monday for 1.2 dp monitor. Wasn't sure if the monitors moved up to 1.3.
The RX 460 is plug-and-play, both the 470 and the 480 require the modification of a kext file.
Really, plug and play as in I install this and I’m away with boot screen and everything?
I gotta say I’m pretty confused with graphics cards. If you look here at Overclockers UK these are all 460s. But which is best?
Some of them look like they push air back into the case.
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Plug and Play without boot Screen.
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All 4K monitors, to be exact.
Aah. Gotcha. Just re-read the OPs post to. He said he was happy with no boot screen. I think I’m in the wrong thread. Before I leave though, one really stupid question.
Is it that the Mac just needs to have a supported card in the system to boot properly? That is to say;
I hear of lots of people that have two GPUs in the system so that they get the boot screen. Does this mean that at boot time they unplug their only monitor from the ’non supported’ card and go back to the 5770 for example and then change things around after the boot cycle?
No 4K monitors with DP 1.3 released at the moment.
SST support is as important. E.g. my ASUS PB279Q monitor supports SST.
Any GPU needs a (Mac specific) EFI driver to display any pre-OS video output in a Mac. So in the mentioned setup, only the Mac HD 5770 will have EFI video output, and consequently you'd have to swap cables (or switch monitor inputs) to see it.
You mean 'Only 1.2 dp monitors exist' ? Afaik yes there are only prototypes with DP 1.3, e.g.: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&tl=en&u=http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Monitor-Display-Hardware-154105/News/Displayport-13-Asus-UHD-144-240-Hz-1196883/
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Afaik the RX 470 is not PnP at the moment. Wait for the release of the iMac 2017, which could bring drivers.
So, where I’d like to be as a stop gap;
LG 34UC98 monitor.
Mac Pro 5,1 fitted with both a 7300GT and an AMD Sapphire RX470, each connected to a different input on said monitor.
When I want the boot manager or something verbose I change inputs.
Two things though, The 7300GT will not boot to the desktop with Sierra of course. But with both connected I wonder if it’ll get as far as the boot manager and verbose boot or recovery. I’ll have to give it a shot.
Why do I want the 7300GT at all? It is silent and small.
Got my Gigabyte 4GB RX460 today. Installed it in slot 1, connected a displayport cable, first try... I saw nothing... 
this is why I hate this stuff.
After a couple of retries I figured it must be the bootscreen thing... I should have asked more stupid questions(!)
So now I need to ask:
1) Is it the case that if you have filevault on (which prevents automatic log-in being an option), there is no way to use (only) a non-bootscreen card? I don't understand what else is wrong with it.
2) Should I be able to type my password and press enter anyway? (I tried this, with no luck) - Or does the computer need to actually see a display first?
As things stand, I took out my USB 3 card in order to fit both the stock Radeon HD 5770 (slot 1) and RX460 (slot2) and moved my PCIe SSD to slot 4. Once I'd logged in the display attached to the RX460 worked fine, but I was hoping it would be a replacement rather than an addition. I can live without the USB 3 card for a little while but I'd rather not.
3) from what I can gather the HD 5770 draws 108w and the RX460 draws 75w, so I presume that+ my PCIe SSD (~6.5w I think) isn't going to be too much power, right? I also have a FW audio interface and 2 optical drives all running off my cMP.
Finally,
4) If there's no other way round having 2 cards, what do people think is the lowest power-consuming cheap single-width(height?) video card that would support a 1080p display and supports the bootscreen (well, filevault/login at least)? I wouldn't be opposed to buying an old second-hand card if that's the only way.
this is why I hate this stuff.After a couple of retries I figured it must be the bootscreen thing... I should have asked more stupid questions(!)
So now I need to ask:
1) Is it the case that if you have filevault on (which prevents automatic log-in being an option), there is no way to use (only) a non-bootscreen card? I don't understand what else is wrong with it.
2) Should I be able to type my password and press enter anyway? (I tried this, with no luck) - Or does the computer need to actually see a display first?
As things stand, I took out my USB 3 card in order to fit both the stock Radeon HD 5770 (slot 1) and RX460 (slot2) and moved my PCIe SSD to slot 4. Once I'd logged in the display attached to the RX460 worked fine, but I was hoping it would be a replacement rather than an addition. I can live without the USB 3 card for a little while but I'd rather not.
3) from what I can gather the HD 5770 draws 108w and the RX460 draws 75w, so I presume that+ my PCIe SSD (~6.5w I think) isn't going to be too much power, right? I also have a FW audio interface and 2 optical drives all running off my cMP.
Finally,
4) If there's no other way round having 2 cards, what do people think is the lowest power-consuming cheap single-width(height?) video card that would support a 1080p display and supports the bootscreen (well, filevault/login at least)? I wouldn't be opposed to buying an old second-hand card if that's the only way.
Got my Gigabyte 4GB RX460 today. Installed it in slot 1, connected a displayport cable, first try... I saw nothing...
After a couple of retries I figured it must be the bootscreen thing... I should have asked more stupid questions(!)
So now I need to ask:
1) Is it the case that if you have filevault on (which prevents automatic log-in being an option), there is no way to use (only) a non-bootscreen card? I don't understand what else is wrong with it.
2) Should I be able to type my password and press enter anyway? (I tried this, with no luck) - Or does the computer need to actually see a display first?
As things stand, I took out my USB 3 card in order to fit both the stock Radeon HD 5770 (slot 1) and RX460 (slot2) and moved my PCIe SSD to slot 4. Once I'd logged in the display attached to the RX460 worked fine, but I was hoping it would be a replacement rather than an addition. I can live without the USB 3 card for a little while but I'd rather not.
3) from what I can gather the HD 5770 draws 108w and the RX460 draws 75w, so I presume that+ my PCIe SSD (~6.5w I think) isn't going to be too much power, right? I also have a FW audio interface and 2 optical drives all running off my cMP.
Finally,
4) If there's no other way round having 2 cards, what do people think is the lowest power-consuming cheap single-width(height?) video card that would support a 1080p display and supports the bootscreen (well, filevault/login at least)? I wouldn't be opposed to buying an old second-hand card if that's the only way.
1) You can still use non EFI card, but just need to type the password blindly. However, not sure if it's still true for RX4xx.
2) Yes, but again, not sure if this still works in Sierra with the RX4xx.
3) I am running 2x 7950 with internal power only, your setup's power draw is absolutely OK
4) GT120
Update 1: Seems I mixed up filevault with the normal password.
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I'm pretty sure the FileVault dialogue never loads when no EFI GPU is present, so you can't login blindly (tried it once, didn't work).
Just an update on my experience with the RX460, specifically on sleep: I can put my Mac Pro to sleep and wake it again a few minutes later and everything seems fine, but if it's been in sleep for a longer time (like overnight) the RX460 seems to not wake up with everything else, and needs a reboot.
Anyone else noticed this? (OP?)
Also, while I'm here, a few more minor questions that I think I know the answers to already but it's always good to ask and make sure:
1) If I wanted to make the overview in the 'About This Mac' window give the full name by 'Graphics' (currently reads as "AMD R9 xxx 4096 MB"), i.e. change the xxx to '460', would that involve disabling SIP and editing a file? Which file would that be, and is it something I'd have to re-do after updates (I'm thinking yes to both points which is why I might not bother)?
2) Is it likely my RX460 could get full EFI support in the future? And would that likely need doing in Windows (I'm thinking yes), or would there be a mac flashing util? I realise this is just a best-guess sort of question. (the last time I flashed anything was a DVD drive on my G3 iBook!).
3) From what I've read I understand it's normal for System Information to report "There was an error while gathering PCI device information." in the PCI section with a PC video card installed... right? Is there any way to correct this (short of removing the card) or not (I'm thinking no)?
Thanks in advance for any answers to my questions.
Anyone else noticed this? (OP?)
Also, while I'm here, a few more minor questions that I think I know the answers to already but it's always good to ask and make sure:
1) If I wanted to make the overview in the 'About This Mac' window give the full name by 'Graphics' (currently reads as "AMD R9 xxx 4096 MB"), i.e. change the xxx to '460', would that involve disabling SIP and editing a file? Which file would that be, and is it something I'd have to re-do after updates (I'm thinking yes to both points which is why I might not bother)?
2) Is it likely my RX460 could get full EFI support in the future? And would that likely need doing in Windows (I'm thinking yes), or would there be a mac flashing util? I realise this is just a best-guess sort of question. (the last time I flashed anything was a DVD drive on my G3 iBook!).
3) From what I've read I understand it's normal for System Information to report "There was an error while gathering PCI device information." in the PCI section with a PC video card installed... right? Is there any way to correct this (short of removing the card) or not (I'm thinking no)?
Thanks in advance for any answers to my questions.
1) Yes, you need to disable SIP and do a kext edit. And you need to re-do it again if any OS update including that driver update.
2) I don't think so. There was some GPU newer than the 7970 used on the iMac, but still no new / easy Mac EFI flashing procedure for any newer AMD card.
If that's avail, 99.99% you have to perform the flashing under Windows.
3) No sure if there is anyway to correct it, but that's just intermittent for me if I boot from the non Mac EFI ROM. Most of the time it can show me the correct info on that PCIe page.
hay id ask for advice in this topic as it's now covering most cards.
1 dont know
2 i dont think there will be a mac bios for any of the cards unless macvideocards makes one then you will have to pay for him to do it
3 dont know
o just checked, i always get an error in the system info for pci but my gpu shows up corectly in graphics/display
id ask for help in this topc and mention your sleep problem
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/dual-rx-480s-in-mac-pro-5-1-running-macos-w-how-to.1984213/
ps it's still like beta drivers which we hope will be improved as more ATI cards are used in new macs
1 dont know
2 i dont think there will be a mac bios for any of the cards unless macvideocards makes one then you will have to pay for him to do it
3 dont know
o just checked, i always get an error in the system info for pci but my gpu shows up corectly in graphics/display
id ask for help in this topc and mention your sleep problem
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/dual-rx-480s-in-mac-pro-5-1-running-macos-w-how-to.1984213/
ps it's still like beta drivers which we hope will be improved as more ATI cards are used in new macs
I would wait for the 10xx NVIDIA drivers for OS X, the 980ti draws too much power to work off PCIe Power, but the 1070 and 1060 should work when they become available. Fingers crossed for 10xx OS X drivers.!!
OH yeah, I do professional video and post production and AMD/ATI isn't an option for me anymore.. I would be upgrading my GTX 680 FLASHED for APPLE, ANOTHER great card.
OH yeah, I do professional video and post production and AMD/ATI isn't an option for me anymore.. I would be upgrading my GTX 680 FLASHED for APPLE, ANOTHER great card.
Then 970 and 960 also work in the cMP with lower power consumption. If you wait for the 10xx driver, then the 1080Ti can also draw too much power, what's the difference?
It's not about the generation, but which individual card you choose, right?
Right now the TI is the baseline for my line of work, so that is why I chose that as a reference point, the 980 TI, but it draws too much power, even in CUDA racks, it can be kinda annoying.. It was more of a reference point.. BUT we did test the regular 980, and they did work fine, but we read about some memory errors or something on some forums years ago so we decided to wait.. and then we ended up getting some 980TI's in an external CUDA box, and they are super fast, but at the time too much power for PCIe Power inside the Mac Pro, now it seems like a few work fine..
The 10xx will be faster using less power. I think for me its CHIP EFFICIENCY, more than anything else. Its just something in my head, that says if this CHIP draws this much power, it won't last that long..
If you can wait, wait for the 10xx that works with your PCIe Power, if not you can use the 980, NON TI..
Here is someone that bought one off of MacRumors.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/so-i-got-the-gtx-980-mac-edition-from-macvidcard.1838090/
Its a HUGE cost to buy a flashed one from them, but they are a great resource to figure out which cards work without additional power.
Example here.
http://www.macvidcards.com/do-i-need-an-additional-power-supply.html
I would look at the models they sell, that they have flashed, either don't worry about the boot screen or flash one yourself.
A 980 4GB is gonna be a rocking card..
And their even seems to be a GTX 980 TI 6GB that is running on internal power fine..
both are gonna scream..
Given the email from Nvidia's CEO in the other thread, I don't think that Nvidia has even started work on OS X Pascal drivers and may never do them.
I think Maxwell is end of the line for Nvidia in Mac until/unless AMD pisses off Apple some day and Apple switches vendors again.