ASUS Strix Vega 64 in Z170 (No acceleration)

Hanuman · October 21, 2018

I'm hoping that the experts here can help me with the difficulty I've been having with the ASUS Strix Vega 64 8GB GPU.

The system I'm trying to install it on has been working very well (as a TV post production workstation) with nVidia GPUs for the last 2 years. I only want to change to AMD because I've brought the system home to use as a daily driver and I'd like to be free to do OS updates without waiting for nVidia to update the web drivers.

The system is:

MB: Gigabyte Z170X-SOC FORCE

SMBIOS: iMac17,1

GPU: ASUS Strix Vega 64 8GB (formerly Zotac 1080ti & Gigabyte 980ti)

macOS: 10.13.6 (17G65)

With the 980ti installed and IGPU enabled in UEFI I get both GPUs available for things like LuxMark, and hardware acceleration appears to be available for things like MacX Video Converter Pro, so my basic setup appears to be good. All acceleration modes are available to the 980ti: CUDA, OpenCL, Metal & OpenGL. However, when I simply switch out the 980ti for the Vega64 I get no acceleration modes at all and nothing I've tried changes this behaviour. Although I've got the IGPU in play at the moment it's not a high-priority component, rather, a validation of the system config. I have tried every conceivable permutation of IGPU settings in UEFI without any effect on the problem. Likewise I've tried all manner of Clover options relating to GPU settings, also without any effect. I have tried many system definitions without effect.

I'm currently using WhateverGreen.

I would happily give up on the GPU were it not for the fact that it works apparently flawlessly in two X299 iMacPro1,1 builds running 10.13.6. So now I'm as frustrated at not understanding the problem as much as not being able to get it to work. I suspect that the solution might be some kind of customised SSDT hot patch but, not being a programmer, I can't write one from scratch.

I've attached some screen-shots to show the behaviour with the two GPUs (980ti & Vega 64)