Officially Supported Graphics Cards?

[arsradu]

Hi guys,

 

So, I might need to upgrade my graphics card. Currently using a GTX 650 which is officially supported, as in works with either the default Apple driver and the Nvidia driver. However, I might need to update it to fix an issue I've got.

 

So, I was looking at a EVGA GTX 950 SC for an alternative. Any idea if this card works with Apple drivers? Or if any GTX 950 cards work with the default drivers? I would like a video card which is also officially supported (like the previous one was). I don't wanna mess with Nvidia drivers and all that stuff.

 

I need a better card, but I also want it to be supported.

 

Do we have such a section on this forum? Like buyer's guide? Or, I don't know, a big table with officially supported graphics card (both AMD and Nvidia)?

 

If not, which officially supported video card would you recommend? Preferably Nvidia. For as far as I know, they're known to have less issues/better compatibility with the Mac OS.

[toafk]

if I recall correctly, no nVidia GPU works beyond the 6xx series, maybe 7xx?

 

Apple haven't released a Mac with nVidia graphics in a while, they've all been AMD or Intel.

 

Having said that, nVidia have been doing a pretty decent job releasing drivers themselves - I'm using them on my 970.

[cecekpawon]

Take this as your reference

[arsradu]

Take this as your reference

 

That is AWESOME! Thank you! Yep, this is what I was looking for.

 

if I recall correctly, no nVidia GPU works beyond the 6xx series, maybe 7xx?

 

Apple haven't released a Mac with nVidia graphics in a while, they've all been AMD or Intel.

 

Having said that, nVidia have been doing a pretty decent job releasing drivers themselves - I'm using them on my 970.

 

I don't need it for gaming. I just need a new graphics card to play nicely with my monitor, preferably via DP (the Dell U2515H). Apparently using my current graphics card with Nvidia drivers (although it works with the default ones perfectly, as well) will make the resolution drop to from 2560x1440 to 2048x1152. Which is not fun to watch. I don't know why that happens, I just know it does. Tried it today.

 

So...yeah, now I'm thinking I should really get myself a fully supported graphics card.

 

The thing is that...sooner or later, probably sooner rather than later, Apple's gonna release something based on a Maxwell architecture. And then it will be supported. Problems are: we don't know when that is gonna happen, or if. And also, we don't know WHICH chipset or series will be supported.

 

Which monitor do you have? Are you connected via HDMI/DP?

 

So...9xx series Nvidia is out of the question, I guess.

 

Guys, what about this card: GTX 660 Ti OC

[toafk]

That is AWESOME! Thank you! Yep, this is what I was looking for.

 

 

I don't need it for gaming. I just need a new graphics card to play nicely with my monitor, preferably via DP (the Dell U2515H). Apparently using my current graphics card with Nvidia drivers (although it works with the default ones perfectly, as well) will make the resolution drop to from 2560x1440 to 2048x1152. Which is not fun to watch. I don't know why that happens, I just know it does. Tried it today.

 

So...yeah, now I'm thinking I should really get myself a fully supported graphics card.

 

The thing is that...sooner or later, probably sooner rather than later, Apple's gonna release something based on a Maxwell architecture. And then it will be supported. Problems are: we don't know when that is gonna happen, or if. And also, we don't know WHICH chipset or series will be supported.

 

Which monitor do you have? Are you connected via HDMI/DP?

 

So...9xx series Nvidia is out of the question, I guess.

 

Guys, what about this card: GTX 660 Ti OC

 

Ah fair enough. I have that exact same screen, connected via the included Mini DisplayPort to DP cable - it works perfectly with my 970 @ native resolution.

 

The 660 you linked should work but it's hard to say for sure -  especially since the one you have should work too but you say it doesn't :\

[arsradu]

 

Ah fair enough. I have that exact same screen, connected via the included Mini DisplayPort to DP cable - it works perfectly with my 970 @ native resolution.

 

The 660 you linked should work but it's hard to say for sure -  especially since the one you have should work too but you say it doesn't :\

 

It does.... It's more complicated than this.

 

Also, I'm not sure my previous post was clear but the resolution drop happens only with the Nvidia driver. I don't have that issue with the Apple driver. Also, with the Nvidia driver, i can't bring that resolution back again since there is no option for 2560x1440.

 

Same video card (same exact model) + same exact motherboard + a 4K display (also, a Dell monitor), in UEFI mode (CSM disabled) worked perfectly (I got someone to try it and confirmed everything was working nicely).

 

With my video card + same motherboard + the 2K display I told you about, in UEFI mode (CSM disabled), I get this freaking error.

 

 

The issue is not a compatibility issue with OS X, or any OSes for that matter. It shows the same error even with all the SATA drives disconnected, as long as CSM is disabled and I'm connected to this monitor. Funny thing is that it actually boots in the background. And if I've got it set to boot from my SSD, directly into OSX, it will! But I won't see Clover GUI and first stage boot. Everything will come back on when drivers kick in, at the second stage boot. So yeah, I'm just blind until then.

 

It even works with the iGPU (HD4600), under the same circumstances. Just the GTX + this monitor (works with my old 19" Samsung monitor) it doesn't. It's so frustrating!

 

Have you seen this before? Can you try this with your GPU, as well? Can you also try HDMI? Maybe it doesn't work only with DMI connection.

 

I don't really need the card for gaming. So...GTX 970 might be a bit too much for my needs. That's why initially I thought I would go for GTX 950 instead.

 

But you're right, Apple hasn't released something based on an NVIDIA GPU in a long time. I wouldn't mind going for an AMD card instead. But, as I said, I didn't think they have better support and less headaches compared to the Nvidia ones. I might be wrong though...

[cecekpawon]

If you prefer to stay with 6xx, google for "Confirmed and Possible Flashable GTX 680 Models".  Buy a cheaper model and flash with evga rom. Cant tell you it will work for hack / not.

[arsradu]

If you prefer to stay with 6xx, google for "Confirmed and Possible Flashable GTX 680 Models".  Buy a cheaper model and flash with evga rom. Cant tell you it will work for hack / not.

That's a little mammoth of a card. And it's nooot cheap. Not even used. ) But yeah, that's an awesome card.

[toafk]

Is there a reason to use the nVidia drivers instead of the Apple ones? Or are you just testing them?

 

 

I haven't seen that exact error, no. But based on what you're saying, it sounds like a VBIOS issue, which I have seen before. It usually results in no video output at all in UEFI mode - so your screen would just say "No signal"

A possible fix would be to flash your GPU with a UEFI compatible BIOS, if you can find one. It's also possible a newer card, such as the 950 you mentioned, could "just work".

If it was me, I'd buy a 950 to test and return it if it didn't work, not sure if that's something you can do?

 

I'm not sure either, I haven't used AMD in a while. The last AMD card I used was a 6870. it was fairly painless to get working FWIW

[arsradu]

Is there a reason to use the nVidia drivers instead of the Apple ones? Or are you just testing them?

 

Well, there is. If I'm going for the GTX 950, that one is surely not supported by Apple. So I need to know if it's supported by Nvidia and how it performs. So, yes,  out of curiosity, I installed the Nvidia driver just to see how it performs. Well...considering it drops my resolution to less than what the monitor can do, I'm now really concerned as to whether I should really go for that card, in the first place. I don't wanna buy a new card and not be able to us it, even with Nvidia driver.

 

I haven't seen that exact error, no. But based on what you're saying, it sounds like a VBIOS issue, which I have seen before. It usually results in no video output at all in UEFI mode - so your screen would just say "No signal"

A possible fix would be to flash your GPU with a UEFI compatible BIOS, if you can find one. It's also possible a newer card, such as the 950 you mentioned, could "just work".

If it was me, I'd buy a 950 to test and return it if it didn't work, not sure if that's something you can do?

 

 

I'm not sure either, I haven't used AMD in a while. The last AMD card I used was a 6870. it was fairly painless to get working FWIW

It's not a VBIOS issue. It doesn't show "no signal" and I can interact with whatever it does int he background. Like selecting a drive to boot from, or stuff like that. It will react accordingly. I just can't see what I'm selecting. If I know what I'm trying to select, its exact position and then just use the keyboard keys to navigate to it, I can access it with no issues.

 

Also, as I said, the exact same card, with the exact same UEFI VBIOS (yes, a UEFI BIOS, just like my own's), same version (I also reflashed it, just for the sake of it), with the same motherboard and the same BIOS configuration, no error with that card.

 

The guys at Dell said that the signal quality is not ok. So...it could be the cable or it could be something else. I don't know. And if it's the cable, then why the hell everything works fine with CSM enabled? It's the same cable!

 

I don't know what to do. I wish I knew what Apple is gonna do for the next generation of Macs. This way I would know if I can get the 950 or...not. I don't know. Yes, in theory I can return the card. But I would need to flash a UEFI GOP VBIOS onto it (assuming it doesn't already come with a UEFI BIOS). And then revert to the stock one in case that doesn't work for me.