MP 1,1-5,1 Help! Quadro P4000 / Titan X GPU in Mac Pro 4,1

[ccrivia13]

Hey!

I’m still looking for a possible GPU for my planned (Mac Pro 4.1, 2009) GPU upgrade.

I came across the Quadro P4000 8GB which is listed on blog.greggant.com in his “The Definitive Classic Mac Pro (2006-20012) Upgrade Guide” under “Nvidia Professional GPUs”.

According to the table there it supports metal, doesn’t require web drivers and doesn’t require a pixlas mod.

Now, I found a manual of said GPU and it requires a “PCI Express 3.0 x16 system interface”.
As far as I know my Mac Pro doesn’t have a PCI Express 3.0 (2.0 as far as I know). Will I still be able to use the card?

I’d also like to mention the Titan X 12GB. So far I found only mixed answers on it’s functionality in such a Mac. Some said I could use the card with an EVGA PowerLink Adapter.
I was also shown a video of Brennan Ferguson, who says you can get 120W per mini 6-pin + 75W from a PCIE slot which means a total of 350W. This would be enough to power the Titan X. What are your views on this?

Would be very thankful for your answers. I’m a complete beginner and still trying to get my head around all of this. And from what I’ve read those cards would be amazing for my CAD works, 3D modeling and rendering.

My “plan C” option would be the 1070 8GB. Has anyone a Mac Pro running this card and wants to share his experience?

 

[tsialex]

Hey!

I’m still looking for a possible GPU for my planned (Mac Pro 4.1, 2009) GPU upgrade.

I came across the Quadro P4000 8GB which is listed on blog.greggant.com in his “The Definitive Classic Mac Pro (2006-20012) Upgrade Guide” under “Nvidia Professional GPUs”.

According to the table there it supports metal, doesn’t require web drivers and doesn’t require a pixlas mod.

Now, I found a manual of said GPU and it requires a “PCI Express 3.0 x16 system interface”.
As far as I know my Mac Pro doesn’t have a PCI Express 3.0 (2.0 as far as I know). Will I still be able to use the card?

I’d also like to mention the Titan X 12GB. So far I found only mixed answers on it’s functionality in such a Mac. Some said I could use the card with an EVGA PowerLink Adapter.
I was also shown a video of Brennan Ferguson, who says you can get 120W per mini 6-pin + 75W from a PCIE slot which means a total of 350W. This would be enough to power the Titan X. What are your views on this?

Would be very thankful for your answers. I’m a complete beginner and still trying to get my head around all of this. And from what I’ve read those cards would be amazing for my CAD works, 3D modeling and rendering.

My “plan C” option would be the 1070 8GB. Has anyone a Mac Pro running this card and wants to share his experience?

Do you know that Maxwell and Pascal NVIDIA GPUs only work up to High Sierra and only with NVIDIA web drivers, no?

Quadro P4000 is a Pascal GPU, Titan X is Maxwell, Titan X Pascal is Pascal. Web drivers are needed and support ends with 10.13.6.

NVIDIA web driver support ends with 10.13.6, there are no support of Maxwell or Pascal generation of NVIDIA GPUs with Mojave/Catalina/Big Sur whatsoever. Only Kepler generation of NVIDIA GPUs that can work with Apple NVIDIA native drivers still work with Mojave/Catalina/Big Sur and up to the moment that Apple removes 2014 Macs official support.

Other thing, Apple support for High Sierra ends today with the Big Sur release, tomorrow it will be obsolete with just Mojave/Catalina/Big Sur being supported. It's not sane to invest on GPUs that only work with an obsolete macOS release - remember that updated releases of major apps will not work anymore since support is tied with what Apple supports itself.

Each mini-PCIe (PCIe AUX Boost A and B) is rated to deliver 75W, but it's capable of sustaining around 90W safely without backplane power traces/fuses burn-outs. The 120W expectation is totally irreal and will damage the backplane, don't ever try to use more than 190W from both the PCIe AUX Boost connectors A and B balanced by an eVGA PowerLink, you will get PSU cut-outs from the SMC detecting over-current draw on the backplane. Anything power hungrier, use a Pixla's mod.

Btw, the last GPU that used 75W from the PCIe slot was the AMD RX 480 reference model, the GPU famously known for burning PCIe slots and damaging Mac Pro backplanes. Any newer PC GPU is designed to draw 45W or less from the PCIe slot and to get the remaining power from the PC PSU. Never calculate power draw of a GPU post 2016ish timeframe with more than 45W from the PCIe slot.

 

[ccrivia13]

Do you know that Maxwell and Pascal NVIDIA GPUs only work up to High Sierra and only with NVIDIA web drivers, no?

Quadro P4000 is a Pascal GPU, Titan X is Maxwell, Titan X Pascal is Pascal. Web drivers are needed and support ends with 10.13.6.

NVIDIA web driver support ends with 10.13.6, there are no support of Maxwell or Pascal generation of NVIDIA GPUs with Mojave/Catalina/Big Sur whatsoever. Only Kepler generation of NVIDIA GPUs that can work with Apple NVIDIA native drivers still work with Mojave/Catalina/Big Sur and up to the moment that Apple removes 2014 Macs official support.

Other thing, Apple support for High Sierra ends today with the Big Sur release, tomorrow it will be obsolete with just Mojave/Catalina/Big Sur being supported. It's not sane to invest on GPUs that only work with an obsolete macOS release - remember that updated releases of major apps will not work anymore since support is tied with what Apple supports itself.

Each mini-PCIe (PCIe AUX Boost A and B) is rated to deliver 75W, but it's capable of sustaining around 90W safely without backplane power traces/fuses burn-outs. The 120W expectation is totally irreal and will damage the backplane, don't ever try to use more than 190W from both the PCIe AUX Boost connectors A and B balanced by an eVGA PowerLink, you will get PSU cut-outs from the SMC detecting over-current draw on the backplane. Anything power hungrier, use a Pixla's mod.

Btw, the last GPU that used 75W from the PCIe slot was the AMD RX 480 reference model, the GPU famously know for burning PCIe slots and damaging Mac Pro backplanes. Any newer PC GPU is designed to draw 45W or less from the PCIe slot and the remaining power from the PC PSU. Never calculate power draw of a GPU post 2016ish timeframe with more than 45W from the PCIe slot.

Thank you for your response!

I definitely know that! And to be honest, I don't mind being stuck at High Sierra. Until recently I've been using El Capitan and even there all of the software I use runs perfectly fine (also, I have Windows 10 and Linux on my system and don't mind switching). So in a sense I put my GPU choice over the macOS version I can run. And if I really need a higher macOS I still have a new iMac running.. well Big Sur soon!

But as you see, especially power consumption confuses me, since I asked in many Mac Pro related groups and forums, and get a different answer each and every time. I would love to have a more powerful GPU in my Mac for my 3D artwork, but of course I don't want to damage my Mac or deal with system shutdowns.

And so far I'm quite unlucky when it comes to finding a fitting GPU, since it either is too strong or takes to much power.

 

[tsialex]

Thank you for your response!

I definitely know that! And to be honest, I don't mind being stuck at High Sierra. Until recently I've been using El Capitan and even there all of the software I use runs perfectly fine (also, I have Windows 10 and Linux on my system and don't mind switching). So in a sense I put my GPU choice over the macOS version I can run. And if I really need a higher macOS I still have a new iMac running.. well Big Sur soon!

But as you see, especially power consumption confuses me, since I asked in many Mac Pro related groups and forums, and get a different answer each and every time. I would love to have a more powerful GPU in my Mac for my 3D artwork, but of course I don't want to damage my Mac or deal with system shutdowns.

And so far I'm quite unlucky when it comes to finding a fitting GPU, since it either is too strong or takes to much power.

Without modifying the PSU or using an external PSU, you can safely install GPUs that have up to 235W total power draw:

• NVIDIA TITAN + eVGA PowerLink (Kepler TITAN works up to Big Sur)
• NVIDIA GTX 1070 non-OC model (works up to 10.13.6)
• NVIDIA GTX 1080 non-OC model + eVGA PowerLink (works up to 10.13.6)
• AMD RX 580 non-OC model
• AMD VEGA 56 reference model configured to use low power firmware + eVGA PowerLink
• AMD 5700 nonXT model + eVGA PowerLink (needs Catalina)

TITAN X uses too much power when in full usage, lot's of shutdowns even with an eVGA Power Link.

Reference model of AMD VEGA 56, the blower one, is the best compute GPU that you can install with just an eVGA Power Link.

 

[ccrivia13]

Without modifying the PSU or using an external PSU, you can safely install GPUs that have up to 235W total power draw:

• NVIDIA TITAN + eVGA PowerLink (Kepler TITAN works up to Big Sur)
• NVIDIA GTX 1070 non-OC model (works up to 10.13.6)
• NVIDIA GTX 1080 non-OC model + eVGA PowerLink (works up to 10.13.6)
• AMD RX 580 non-OC model
• AMD VEGA 56 reference model configured to use low power firmware + eVGA PowerLink
• AMD 5700 nonXT model + eVGA PowerLink (needs Catalina)

TITAN X uses too much power when in full usage, lot's of shutdowns even with an eVGA Power Link.

Reference model of AMD VEGA 56, the blower one, is the best compute GPU that you can install with just an eVGA Power Link.

Thank you so much!

The GTX 1070 is actually among my other choices, so I’ll probably go for that one.

I would have one last question if you don’t mind.

The 980ti is also listed as being capable of running in a Mac Pro without a PSU mod and I also read of many using or having used that card in a Mac Pro with a PowerLink adapter, having used it for gaming, video editing,... .

From what I’ve found the card uses 250Watt at full stress (in comparison, the Titan X uses around 255 Watt). How come some are able to use such cards without any modification?
Is it hard to reach that “full stress”-state?

 

[tsialex]

Thank you so much!

The GTX 1070 is actually among my other choices, so I’ll probably go for that one.

I would have one last question if you don’t mind.

The 980ti is also listed as being capable of running in a Mac Pro without a PSU mod and I also read of many using or having used that card in a Mac Pro with a PowerLink adapter, having used it for gaming, video editing,... .

From what I’ve found the card uses 250Watt at full stress (in comparison, the Titan X uses around 255 Watt). How come some are able to use such cards without any modification?
Is it hard to reach that “full stress”-state?

Forget any Ti or OC cards.

Video editing and most games won't make the GPU to use full power. Furmark and some Compute jobs will.

Most cards on my list can trigger the over current protection when running Furmark, probably only VEGA 56 with the power saving BIOS and the GTX 1070 won't. Even a Sapphire Pulse RX 580 can trigger it easily when running Furmark.