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Help replacing graphics card/ORIGINAL 2010 APPLE MAC PRO TOWER 5.1 (Mid 2010) OS High Sierra v.10.13.6.

Trying to replace the original ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB with a new XFX Radeon

RX-560 in order to upgrade from High Sierra to OS Mojave, which requires a “metallic” graphics card. I removed the old 5770, plugged in the 560, turned everything back on and got nothing--no picture, nada. After about 30 seconds, the computer shut itself down. Replugged the 5770 back in & everything came back, with an ERROR message that the computer did an emergency shut-down-”crash?” 


I never put the install disk in the computer as I had no picture to work with, so now with the 5770 installed, I checked the install disk--programs are there including a setup.exe.  Do I somehow have to put the install disk in the drive, shut everything down, pull the old 5770, plug in the new 560, then turn it on & hope that the install disk will automatically load the driver as the computer boots up? 


This 560 came w/a STOP--IMPORTANT DRIVER INFORMATION:  The driver on the included installation disk are recommended for systems NOT CONNECTED to the internet...” and to “download the latest drivers from the internet,” but I can’t do that when the monitor is blank. Is there a step-by-step process I should be following?


It looks like there’s an identical (twin) power plug to the left of the mini power plug on the motherboard, and I have the necessary 6-pin mini to 6-pin standard power cords to use for both cards, so I COULD plug in both graphics cards at the same time, but I don’t know if one should have a “metallic” card online with a regular card.


I also don’t know if those two 6-pin mini motherboard plugs are, in fact, identical power supplies for two separate graphics cards, or if that other plug is for something else entirely.


This 560 came with a power cord that has a 6-pin standard (for the card) on one end and two “split”

3-pin cables on the other (like from a Windows PC ????), but Best Buy (and others) said this 560 card would work on the Mac Pros, as well.  As I had no second power cable at the time I used the old 5770 cable, which is also 6-pin mini to 6-pin standard, on the new 560.  Hope THAT wasn’t a mistake???


I would much appreciate all the help I can get. Thanks.



Mac Pro, macOS 10.13

Posted on Jan 26, 2020 6:41 PM

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Posted on Feb 1, 2020 10:29 AM

Ultimately, it looks like this was my mistake--either forgot that the Apple compatible listed card was an MSI or somehow got to thinking that all Radeon 560 were the same, just diff manufacturers. Lesson learned, which hopefully will help to spread the information--they're NOT; always check with the specific manufacturer to see if the card will work in YOUR specific computer, model, etc. Meanwhile, I'll sort thru the recommends for my next choice, and if anyone is interested in my "almost new just out of the box XFX 560, let me know. Interesting that BBuy had it on sale $100 with only a 15 day return period. I'd like to try & recover 50% of my cost. Thanks everyone, for all the help!


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14 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 1, 2020 10:29 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT

Ultimately, it looks like this was my mistake--either forgot that the Apple compatible listed card was an MSI or somehow got to thinking that all Radeon 560 were the same, just diff manufacturers. Lesson learned, which hopefully will help to spread the information--they're NOT; always check with the specific manufacturer to see if the card will work in YOUR specific computer, model, etc. Meanwhile, I'll sort thru the recommends for my next choice, and if anyone is interested in my "almost new just out of the box XFX 560, let me know. Interesting that BBuy had it on sale $100 with only a 15 day return period. I'd like to try & recover 50% of my cost. Thanks everyone, for all the help!


Jan 30, 2020 5:18 AM in response to terrencefromhayward

What Grant said.

https://graphicscardhub.com/graphics-card-pcie-power-connectors/


You only need a dual mini 6-pin split cable for 8-pin cards such as a typical RX 570 / 580. For a 6-pin card your mini to standard cable is the correct one.


In addition to the MSI 560 and Sapphire Pulse 580 specifically listed by Apple (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208898) I can also personally vouch that the Gigabyte Windforce and PowerColor Red Dragon cards work with the native MacOS drivers and have seen second hand-reports that the XFX issue is limited to the 460/560 with 570/580 cards working.


The Apple logo and progress bar should appear at ~50% progress when the GPU drivers load.

Jan 29, 2020 11:00 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks, Grant. Good to have YOU helping me again. So...does this mean that the 560 card is drawing more power that the 5770 did? Is that alternate plug (on the motherboard, to the left of the original one used for the 5770) a different (greater power?) power plug that I should be plugging the 560 into, instead? It looks like the 6-pin mini will fit, but I'm afraid to plug into something, not knowing what it is. The first plug (on the motherboard, on the right) is what the 5770 runs on, but apparently not the 560.

Jan 29, 2020 11:15 AM in response to terrencefromhayward

the 5,1 logic board provides 75W from the PSU to the PCI, 75W from the logic board to the power directly to the board, so 150W total power

if the draw from the 560 exceeds 150W then you will need to use a cable with two mini 6 pin attached to the logic board that meet into on 6pin GPU power cable, provided the card does not exceed 225W

and the 5770 would have to be pulled (since the power from the logic board that went to it is now going to the 560 and the 75W on the PCI is not enough to power it alone) and removed entirely (which would leave you without a boot ROM to watch the apple logo and the progress bar or boot into multi boot screen AFAIK), find a card that runs with less than 75W (the GT120's that shipped with the 5,1's did) or you could power the 560 with an external PSU

There are a few different 560 models, do you know what the power requirements are for the one you have?


Grant is this the case?


Jan 29, 2020 1:07 PM in response to terrencefromhayward

I may be wrong but this is the one apple recommends

https://www.amazon.com/MSI-RX-560-AERO-ITX/dp/B072J422CZ

the power from the logic board is recommend at between 60 - 80 w so for a single mini6 from the logic board you should be able to power this card and leave the 5770 in there as well since the EFI Bios (that makes the boot screens visible) in the 560 doesn't work out-of-the-box unless you hack it. I tend to stay clear of that stuff.

Jan 29, 2020 1:41 PM in response to JimmyCMPIT

The two 6-in ports on the mainboard are identical. Each can supply 75W of additional Power.


Some cards need none, like the GT120 that shipped in a few of those Macs (but it not much of a card). Some require two like the 4870 and 5870 that shipped with some of those Macs. Some require only one like the 5770.


The ports are all 12 Volts on one side of the connector and 12V return on the other side.


A concern is if you have an 8-pin receptacle on the card, but only a 6-pin cable powering it.

Jan 29, 2020 6:07 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

OK, so from the responses I see, either I've got the wrong card (the XFX brand from Best Buy--uses a custom vbios that doesn't work with the native MacOS drivers) vs the MSI brand from Amazon, which supposedly does), OR, at the very least, I need a different power cable--one that has a standard 6-pin on one end, and split (2) cables with 2 6-pin mini plugs on the other, in order to plug both in to the motherboard to provide enough power. But the box for the 560 I have, under System Requirements, says it requires 400w. So, if the two power supply pins on the motherboard only supply 75w each, then I've got the wrong 560 graphics card--UNLESS there is additional power being supplied thru the slot pins. And I've also seen comments that this board will not show me the Apple Logo or progress bar unless it is "flashed." So I opened up my bathrobe and, as you might surmise, that did not work. At my age, it never does. Thanks, all, for the support. Will wait for replies.

Jan 29, 2020 6:30 PM in response to terrencefromhayward

as others have said:

75W from the slot

75W for a six-pin connector, and you can connect two if the card has two.


if the card has an 8-pin connector, those are said to be good for 150W (and yes I realize that math does not work out correctly).


A number like 400W is more likely to be a spec for the power supply required, not the power budget for one card (although I guess it is possible, it just does not seem likely).


Jan 30, 2020 12:52 PM in response to terrencefromhayward

the MSI card appears to draw 65W at peak and does not have a 6 or 8 pin plug. Theoretically the card should operate directly from the PCIe slot and not need to be connected to any other power. Different providers may have different power requirements so make sure you have the right cable, however in the case of this MSI card it would not need any cable, it's getting all it's power from the slot.


the mini6 to mini6 that fits into the 5770 was very specific to that mac and that time period, newer cards will need a mini 6 to a 6-8 pin adapter.

Many of the 8 pin cables allow you to detach the last two (making it 6) or don't connect the card's slot but will fit and work anyway.

If you find a mini6 to to whatever cable that the vendor lists as "mac G5" it will work on the cheese-grater cMP's, they have the same power sleeve for the mini6 on the logic board.


Always check with the vendor.


One other quick tip is I bought my first MSI card this summer, I was an ASUS connoisseur in all my prior PC builds ;-) it's a Nvidia 1660ti, I need it for windows not mac.

The MSI in my 5,1 Mac, but it did NOT fit in the bottom slot without being forced into some slight angle. I kept the 5770 on the bottom and put the MSI on top, which is fine, I still need the 5770 because I'm using the 1660ti for a single display and a single purpose, I run the other displays on the 5770 for palettes and web browsers and less intensive stuff.

Feb 4, 2020 5:11 PM in response to JimmyCMPIT

Jimmy, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think (as I plan to upgrade to Mojave) that I could leave the 5770 installed alongside

the MSI RX 560--I don't think the 5770 will run on Mojave, & I don't want to risk any conflict between the two graphics cards. In fact, since I am not a gamer, and looking at the $350 cost w/s&h of the MSI, I'm seriously reconsidering whether I should just stick w/my High Sierra 10.13.6. Only problem I have is, with the recent upgrade to an SSD, it seems like the 5770 can't keep up, or else something else is causing the hangups, LONG pauses and beach balling when I'm moving thru links on various websites.

Feb 4, 2020 6:55 PM in response to terrencefromhayward

terrencefromhayward wrote:
it seems like the 5770 can't keep up, or else something else is causing the hangups, LONG pauses and beach balling when I'm moving thru links on various websites.

Nonsense. That card can run three BIG displays with ease. If you are seeing slowdowns, it is not because of the graphics card, unless they are slow shading, slow cross-fades, slow wireframe analysis. Running displays is simple for a card like the 5770.

Feb 5, 2020 5:28 AM in response to terrencefromhayward

On the 5770 uninstallation: Sounds right. I've heard the Mojave installer won't run if any non-Metal cards are installed.


On the MSI RX 560 Price: That card has been discontinued and only scalpers have inventory remaining. I'd strongly suggest using a different card. The Biostar RX 560 has amazon verified purchase reviews claiming it works, while the 6-pin Sapphire Pulse RX 570 ITX has the same branding as Apple's endorsed 580 and has positive reddit reviews.

Help replacing graphics card/ORIGINAL 2010 APPLE MAC PRO TOWER 5.1 (Mid 2010) OS High Sierra v.10.13.6.

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