Mid 2010 Mac Pro 5.1 - MacOS Mojave

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Mid 2010 Mac Pro 5.1 - MacOS Mojave

Hi I'm from the UK. Early 2018 I stupidly bought a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB for my Mid 2010 Mac Pro 5.1 - 32GB RAM but due to this war between Tim Cook and NVIDIA there probably wont ever be a updated driver for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB to work with MacOS Mojave. I was forced to downgrade to MacOS High Sierra.

With this next question I've tried asking both Nvidia and AMD but they keep passing the buck... Basically can you tell me what is the very best NVIDIA Graphics Card or the very best AMD Graphics Card that will fit in my Mid 2010 Mac Pro 5.1 that will work with MacOS Mojave please and any drivers needed?

Also should I wait until the new new AMD Graphics Card comes out in 2019 and will that fit my Mid 2010 Mac Pro 5.1 and any drivers needed? I'm disabled so I use my Mac for everything and I'm a high end user.

I've looked on the Compactible Graphics Card link bit that doesn't tell you what the best graphics card is etc. Its just a bunch of names that mean nothing to me.

Thank you for your time.

Kain

Posted on Jan 4, 2019 12:56 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 4, 2019 2:00 PM in response to KainsTorment

This website is a store that sells flashed Graphics cards for the movie industry, and provides local pickup for the movie production companies in Hollywood. (Or will sell you one and mail it to you if you are not in Hollywood.)

This is his page of what he will sell for NVIDIA Mojave-compatible today. Seven card-families listed. Each lists specific requirements including exactly which Drivers and power cables. Stock varies daily and is subject to prior sale and new additions:

http://www.macvidcards.com/store/c16/MacOS_10.14_Mojave_Compatible.html

Remember these cards are custom-flashed, so may not be comparable with "stock" cards or flashed cards from other sources.

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Answer 2

lllaass

Level 10

210,513 points

Jan 6, 2019 7:44 AM in response to KainsTorment

It depends what you mean by best. The link provided by Grant+Bennet-Alder list the cards that show a boot screen.

If you do not want a boot screen that best card seems to be AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 Graphics Card. I costs about $1,350. Yo need to use a SATA power connector. See:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/please-help-w-video-card-power-connection-amd-radeon-pro-wx-9100-work-in-cmp-5-1.2146072/

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Answer 3

lllaass

Level 10

210,513 points

Jan 5, 2019 12:17 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

I did the upgrade with only the 580 installed. If I had both the original 120 and the 580 the installer would say I do not have metal compatiblem card. So I took out the 120 and did the firmware upgrade "blind". Then I installed Mojave with only the 580 installed too. After it rebooted from the High Sierra screen I just left and came back after an hour or so I was at the Majava login screen.

I did nove to download the installer to an external SSD from my 2013 MP since After the firmware update I repeatedly got errors that the the download could not be validated. When I installed from the external SSD I had to do the firmware update again and then Mojave installed without problems (except Apple dropped support in Mojave for the installed wifi card.

If I boot Mojava with both the 120 and 580 I get nothing on either monitor.

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Answer 4

lllaass

Level 10

210,513 points

Jan 7, 2019 1:32 PM in response to KainsTorment

I would say either the Nvidia K500 or Nvidia 780 4 GB based on the following.

https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-Quadro-K5000-vs-Nvidia-GTX-780-4GB/m9098vsm11282

Grant's first reply provided a like of Mojave compatible cards with boot screen.

Note neither support boot screen with 4K monitor

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Answer 5

lllaass

Level 10

210,513 points

Jan 5, 2019 8:55 AM in response to KainsTorment

I have a PC Radeon RX 580, 8 GB in my MP 4.1 (flashed to 5.1) upgraded to Mojave and like it.

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Answer 6

lllaass

Level 10

210,513 points

Jan 6, 2019 1:44 PM in response to KainsTorment

Without a boot screen one can't use special startups like booting to Recovery or selecting the startup disk.

However, this says that some non-EFI video cards to show boot screen.

https://www.mac-forums.com/apple-desktops/341055-efi-video-card-startup-and-recovery-screens.html

I tried on my Mojave with the RX 580 and I can't get into Recovery (not clear I have Recovery partition since I cloned disk) and I could not see anything on the screen when I booted with the Option key depressed. That gives you the boot manager to select the startup disk

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Answer 7

lllaass

Level 10

210,513 points

Jan 8, 2019 9:19 AM in response to KainsTorment

There is nothing better than your 1080 ti that will run on Mojave. The Radeon Pro WX 9100 is close

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-Pro-WX-9100-vs-GeForce-GTX-1080-Ti

Followed by Vega Frontier edition

https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-1080-Ti-vs-AMD-Vega-Frontier-Edition/3918vs3929

If you want to run Mojave your need a slower graphics card than your 1080 ti

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Answer 8

KainsTorment Author

Level 1

21 points

Jan 6, 2019 3:14 AM in response to lllaass

I downgraded to MacOS High Sierra so i have no issues.

Basically I'm trying to find out can I do better than the Sapphire Radeon PULSE RX 580 8GB GDDR5... or is the Sapphire Radeon PULSE RX 580 8GB GDDR5 the best that my Mac Pro 5.1 can have?

I live in the UK.

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Answer 9

KainsTorment Author

Level 1

21 points

Jan 6, 2019 1:13 PM in response to lllaass

By the best I mean the most powerful graphics card my Mac Pro 5.1 can handle. I mean every game setting on "Ultra High" etc

What the deal the Apple Boot Up Screen anyway? It keeps being mentoned a lot. Its just a gray splash screen with the Apple Logo, its not that important as your mac still works... Since I Installed my NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB my Apple Boot Up Screen has scrolling code with the gray splash screen with the Apple Logo, its over withing seconds so whats the big deal?

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Answer 10

Jan 6, 2019 1:33 PM in response to KainsTorment

Once you get your MacOS of choice installed, it's not a big deal in daily use.

It's a Big deal if you need to switch back-and forth to Windows, switch boot disks, or debug often.

But there are some ways around it. If you know it might be a problem, you can enable screen sharing and use any old (other) Mac to get in despite "no Boot Screens".

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Answer 11

KainsTorment Author

Level 1

21 points

Jan 6, 2019 4:38 PM in response to lllaass

Oh I see thank you so much. Its rare but I do need to boot in to Recovery or selecting the startup disk.

So whats the most powerful "gaming graphics card" my Mac Pro 5.1 can handle that has a Apple Boot Screen?

Also whats best for my mac AMD or NVIDIA? I'm more inclined to do go with AMD so I'm not waiting forever for the updated driver if they come at all. Apple told me the Sapphire Radeon PULSE RX 580 8GB GDDR5 was best due to how much VRAM it has in it. Also the fact that it is a Gaming graphics card.... Is Apple just saying that or is that the best?

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Answer 12

KainsTorment Author

Level 1

21 points

Jan 8, 2019 5:49 AM in response to lllaass

Argh! I really dont mean any disrespect at all but this is like pulling teeth.... I know nothing at all about Graphics Cards so showing me techincal data or links with info on is pointless as its like reading Chinese to me. At the moment my graphics card in my Mid 2010 Mac Pro 5.1 - 32GB RAM is a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB and my Monitor is this https://www.samsung.com/uk/monitors/curved-cf791/

All I know is that both the K500 or Nvidia 780 4 GB sound way older the my GTX 980 Ti 6GB... I dont want to get older less powerful graphics cards if I can help it.

For the moment forget abou money etc. Is there a 2018 graphics card which is a beast better than my GTX 980 Ti 6GB? I dont care if its NVIDIA or AMD... But saying that AMD would make sence due to no waiting for drivers :)

Thanks

Kain

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