GreenElf Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Hi folks, I have read many pages about how Apple now "officially unofficially" supports 3rd party (PC) GPUs; Is there some complied list of what works stright out of the box with which OSes? As in supported by 10.6.8/10.7.x/10.8.x. Thanks in advance for any guidance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampage Dev Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Nvidia 8xxx GTX to the latest GTX 6xx Series ATI 4xxx series (Mostly the 48xx series) through the latest AMD 7xxx series as of 10.8.3 Low end models of ATI/AMD have some issues. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenElf Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 Thanks for the response Rampage. What about a Radeon 6670? I've read a lot that these should be pretty plug-n-play in 10.8.x. I'm considering it, but would rather not have to install hacks to have it run. This is a MacPro 3.1 (2008) I'm looking to put it in. Thank you again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
styrian Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 I have read about some cards, that work on Mac Pro. But you will mostly get gfx output after reaching the desktop. You might have no bootup screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampage Dev Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Buy a AMD 6870 and then got to Netkas to flash the card with EFI to get the boot screen. Also Nvidia cards will work OOB with the Retail drivers so I would not get the AMD 6670 that you had said since I have never seen people getting that to work on a real mac. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenElf Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 So Any NVidia card, and with ML's drivers, or the ones from NVidia? Either is ok really. I don't mostly care for the EFI boot screen, though it would be nice, as much as having a stable working GPU for games & Photoshop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampage Dev Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 For Games and Photoshop especially you should get a GTX 580. There are GTX 580's that work under Mac that you can buy which for you case would be the safest bet: http://www.ebay.com/...984.m1555.l2649 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenElf Posted December 11, 2012 Author Share Posted December 11, 2012 Thanks again Rampage, for taking the time to answer my noobish questions. How about an NVidia GT 630? There's a 4Gb card there for a decent price. What are the odds of that working? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampage Dev Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 They have sleep issues and it is just a rebranded fermi card. Look around for a GTX 560 Ti or non Ti. Also you will not be able to get the performance you need with a GT 630... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenElf Posted December 11, 2012 Author Share Posted December 11, 2012 Heh! I bow to your munificence! Seriously, thanks for the help! (...and I might have other dumb questions to follow) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenElf Posted January 14, 2013 Author Share Posted January 14, 2013 heh heh! Hey there, checking in again! What're your thoughts on non-EFI versions of Apple, sanctioned cards, e.g. a radeon 5770 by another vendor? Plug 'n play, or shaky? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampage Dev Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 No Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio_multi Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 6670 works ootb in ML Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampage Dev Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 6670 works ootb in ML No He is asking about a real mac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenElf Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 Yes, a real Mac. Guess I should have said... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenElf Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 Thanks for the response Rampage. What about a Radeon 6670? I've read a lot that these should be pretty plug-n-play in 10.8.x. I'm considering it, but would rather not have to install hacks to have it run. This is a MacPro 3.1 (2008) I'm looking to put it in. Thank you again! So wait... an ATI 4870 would be plug and play OOTB? (no EFI withstanding of course) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampage Dev Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 No Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenElf Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 ha ha! OK, I though you said the ATI 4X series is compatible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampage Dev Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 I did but that was before I knew it was for a real mac. The 48xx series needs flashing and is very risky since they do not have dual BIOS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenElf Posted February 7, 2013 Author Share Posted February 7, 2013 ....And here I go again... Thoughts on a Radeon 6870, workable without flashing in 10.8? and I'm sure I know the answer, but crossfire does not work with non-EFI cards? Edit: Hrm... So some of these cards I see on NewEgg, e.g. an MSI GT620, list 96 cuda cores, but list it as a fermi card? I've done a lot of reading, but can't seem to find a definitive answer on what will work and what won't... :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampage Dev Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 No Crossfire or SLI in Mac regardless the card. GT cards are still fermi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ameris_cyning Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 ....And here I go again... Thoughts on a Radeon 6870, workable without flashing in 10.8? and I'm sure I know the answer, but crossfire does not work with non-EFI cards? Edit: Hrm... So some of these cards I see on NewEgg, e.g. an MSI GT620, list 96 cuda cores, but list it as a fermi card? I've done a lot of reading, but can't seem to find a definitive answer on what will work and what won't... :/ Get at least a 650. Its cheap for its performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonestonne Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 The GTX660TI is near identical performance with the GTX580 with much lower power usage, if that's of any concern to anyone. In testing with Adobe's Mercury Playback Engine, the difference between the two cards was 1 second. Offhand, I'm not 100% sure what the Mac Pro power supply is (likely far more than it needs), but being cautious in terms of power usage is always wise. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenElf Posted February 11, 2013 Author Share Posted February 11, 2013 The GTX660TI is near identical performance with the GTX580 with much lower power usage, if that's of any concern to anyone. In testing with Adobe's Mercury Playback Engine, the difference between the two cards was 1 second. Offhand, I'm not 100% sure what the Mac Pro power supply is (likely far more than it needs), but being cautious in terms of power usage is always wise. The spec sheet says 300W max No Crossfire or SLI in Mac regardless the card. GT cards are still fermi. I thought so about XFire. And is Fermi inherently bad, even if they state CUDA cores? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonestonne Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 A standard Mac Pro has a 980W power supply, at least from the information I can muster up. The GTX660Ti has a max TDP of 150W. The rest of the Mac will use a fair amount of wattage, under full load, probably close to 400-450W. Given the source of many parts within the Mac Pro, I wouldn't want to put the PSU under a high load, as I wouldn't be surprised if the PSU failed under a 60% load or higher in prolonged situations. The GTX580 by nVidia's website lists a TDP of 244W, significantly higher than the GTX660Ti. If you're looking to use the card for Adobe hardware rendering with the Mercury Playback engine, despite the higher boost clock of the GTX580, the GTX660TI will be nearly identical in performance, but it will use a significantly lower amount of power. The GTX660Ti also has more CUDA cores, which the Mercury Playback Engine will be able to utilize better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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