MP 1,1-5,1 Upgrading a non mac EFI video card for a Mac Pro 3.1

[meanideal]

Hi,

I'm currently running a Mac Pro 3.1 with a patched version of Sierra (using the Dosdude method). My current video card is a Nvidia GTX1070, which is just a standard PC video card with no mac bootup EFI. I've been using this setup for quite sometime, but I really want to try and upgrade this older mac to run more modern MacOS's. I'm looking at using Open Core Legacy Patcher to install Monterey, but I'm aware the GTX 1070 won't work with this (or will it? I don't know). I still have my old Radeon HD5770 Mac video card, so I can install Monterey with that as a way to get Monterey installed, but I like to play more modern Windows games, so the HD5770 won't be very good for that. Plus the HD5770 isn't a metal card either.

Is there a suitable non mac video card I can upgrade to that is better for gaming than the Nvidia GTX 1070 but that works with my Mac Pro 3.1 and in Monterey? I'm finding it really hard to find any answers through google, etc... and I realise that my case is quite specific. I'm quite old school so I don't really care much for 4k, 6k, etc... I play in pretty much old HD resolutions (my monitor is an old 2008 mac monitor that only goes up to 1680x1050 - which is perfectly fine for me - the monitor itself still works flawlessly BTW). I'm finding it hard to find a better video card performance wise than the GTX 1070, but I'm aware that an AMD Radeon might be the only best option.

Secondly, with Windows I'm using Windows 10 and don't plan to upgrade to 11 (I don't think I can on my MP3.1 anyway, but I may be wrong...). I'm aware that Open Core Legacy Patcher might not have this version of Windows in it's boot menu, but can I still manually boot to my Windows partition from the standard mac boot menu once Open Core is installed?

Thanks in advance, take care!

 

[Dayo]

Is there a suitable non mac video card I can upgrade to that is better for gaming than the Nvidia GTX 1070 but that works with my Mac Pro 3.1 and in Monterey?

Nvidia cards are not neccesarily "easy" on cMP and Pascal ones such as your GTX 1070 are even more limited. On cMP, I would suggest the AMD RX580 (or equivalent) as a good choice that should run on LoSierra and on Monterey. Nvidia's GTX 680 is also good but if not going for something older than LoSierra (to have a natively supported instance present for instance), an RX580 might be better as your DosDude patched LoSierra can stand in as a natively bootable Mac OS instance.

You could possibly stick with your GTX 1070 and use the OCLP to install OpenCore/Monterey after going through a bit of a roundabout route. With an RX580, the route is more straightforward and does not need OCLP system patches for Monterey.

For implementation, use MyBootMgr (see link in my signature) to install RefindPlus and OpenCore from your LoSierra instance with the GTX 1070 in place.

When MyBoootMgr's ConfigFactory app asks whether you want to install Monterey, you should answer "YES" but you will overwrite the OpenCore instance MyBootMgr creates with one from the OCLP later as you want to use a GPU that needs system patching for Monterey. If you had something like the RX580, you could answer "YES" and get a working OpenCore instance for Monterey directly.

When the process is complete, boot into LoSierra via the "installations/updates" OpenCore instance created by ConfigFactory (OC_VMM) and run the OCLP package to install Monterey and to apply the system patches the GTX 1070 needs. You need to start the installation when booted via OpenCore for the bootscreen OpenCore provides.

When done, replace the OpenCore instance created by MyBoootMgr's ConfigFactory app for Montery (OC_AAA) with the contents of the "OC" folder created by the OCLP. As said before, this replacement would not be needed with RX580 and you would be able to use that instance directly. Both the OCLP and ConfigFactory need the GPU you intend to use installed when setting things up as they both configure for the hardware that is present.

The MyBootMgr instructions will also point you to how to get Windows installed on your MP31; which you will be able to boot from RefindPlus. This it would detect and present this automatically (same with Linux if you ever go down that route). You will need Legacy/CSM Windows on MP31.

Alternatively, you could just use the setup created by MyBootMgr to facilitate installation and ditch this for an OCLP configured setup once up and running (if you prefer). You will need to refer to the OpenCore manual to configure this to boot Legacy Windows. The installation guide for Legacy Windows will work for both.

Good luck!


EDIT: Note to Self ... Look into updating ConfigFactory to allow setting OpenCore up for GPU that is not present

 

[meanideal]

Thanks a lot for the response. I would prefer to stick with the GTX 1070 because it's served me well so far, although I noticed in the sticky thread about video cards (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/gpu-compatibility-list-for-cmp.2174600/) it says the GTX 1070 is only compatible up to macOS 10.13.6, so does RefinedPlus solve this macOS compatibilty issue with the GTX 1070?

Would it be easier to use the Radeon HD 5770 just to get the Mac bootscreens and once everything is installed then setup the GTX 1070?

Thanks again for your response, it gives me hope of still using the GTX 1070

 

[Dayo]

Would RefindPlus allow running an unsupported version of Mac OS and/or use a GPU on a version of Mac OS that does not support the GPU?

No, it would not. Booting with RefindPlus is equivalent to booting natively. It mainly just provides a bootscreen when this might not be otherwise available. So, with RefindPlus in place when you start your unit, there would be a bootscreen provided. If you then select unsupported stuff, such would fail; just as they would if you tried to run such directly.

An unsupported GPU would probably "run" but this would be unaccelerated. Unaccelerated means "barely-to-not usable" on any Mac OS since Yosemite at least and degrading with each subsequent release given the increases in bloat over time.

You will note that the earlier post does not say to run the Monterey installer from RefindPlus but from OpenCore; which is what can be used to run unsupported stuff.

Would it be easier to use the HD 5770 just to get a bootscreen and once everything is installed, setup the GTX 1070?

I suppose you can install Monterey with the HD 5770 via OCLP. This would set everything up for that GPU unit but after installing Monterey, you might then be able to put the GTX 1070 in, boot into LoSierra natively, run the OCLP tool again, revert the previous patches applied for the HD 5770 and get it to apply new ones for the GTX 1070.

You will have to try and see how it goes but I think it should be possible.

 

[meanideal]

Ah, thanks for clearing that up. So it would be best to just leave the GTX 1070 in and setup Monterey with that.

Does anyone have any experience running more recent MacOS's like Monterey with OpenCore and the unsupported GTX 1070? I know the GTX 1070 does support Metal, so that's got to be one positive!

A note about Windows; I want to keep my current Windows 10/Bootcamp partition and I don't want to have to-reinstall that. Will I still be able to boot to that partition once I've installed Monterey through OpenCore? I only ask because I've read on the Open Core LP site that Windows needs to be re-installed in a different file system for it to show up in OpenCore's boot screen. I'm not too fussed if it deson't show up in the OC's bootscreen, just as long as I can still boot to my existing Windows/Bootcamp partition.

 

[Dayo]

So it would be best to just leave the GTX 1070 in and setup Monterey with that.

What was written for pure OCLP use was: "Install Monterey with the HD 5770 and afterwards, try to put the GTX 1070 in and apply patches for this". If using MyBootMgr first, then yes, you can go with the GTX 1070 directly as you should be able to run the OCLP to install Monterey and apply patches from an existing OpenCore setup with this.

Does anyone have any experience running Monterey with OpenCore and the GTX 1070?

I don't use the OCLP myself but I'll assume that if it can make Monterey work with an HD 5770 from 2009, it most likely can with a GTX 1070 from 2016. All said and done though, changing to RX580 is better if possible.

I'm don't mind if Windows doesn't show up in the OC bootscreen, as long as I can still boot my Windows/Bootcamp partition.

The OCLP sets OpenCore up to create persistent boot coups whereby this is what is always loaded every time you start your Mac. You will therefore typically want to set everything up to boot via OpenCore if OpenCore is installed via OCLP on MP31.

There is an option to disable the OCLP's OpenCore boot coup setup by changing the LauncherOption key in the config file to Disabled. You will need to weigh implications up. The change should be done before you ever boot into OCLP configured OpenCore if you decide on this as the boot coup thing is put in place on first boot and can be hard to disable after the fact.