Upgrading GPUs

[Pepin]

Hello,

I built a Hackintosh a few years back that was more or less a carbon copy of this build.
It was rather turnkey, and I'm still running OS X 10.9.5 on it. However, now I'm looking to upgrade to a new GPU, and possibly a new monitor as well.

I've searched the forums for information, and I see a lot of people talking about things that go way over my head (I don't even know what a 'DropOEMDSDT' is). I am familiar with the so-called 'web driver' (if this is indeed the web driver), but I was wondering exactly what the procedure was for getting a new GPU in place.

 

[Stork]

No, that's the CUDA driver (http://www.nvidia.com/object/macosx-cuda-7.0.36-driver.html). The nVidia Wed Drivers are show here in tonymacx86's http://www.tonymacx86.com/graphics/...ate-graphics-drivers-10-10-4-346-01-03-a.html, and are needed for the newest nVidia Maxwell chipset graphics cards (GTX 750, 750 Ti, 900 series and Titians) for Yosemite. (These cards are only supported in Yosemite; there is no support in the earlier OS X.)

The drawback with using the latest nVidia Maxwell chipset cards is that they are not supported natively in Yosemite. So, you must use the nVidia Web drivers for Yosemite. When Apple updates the OS X, nVidia takes a couple of days to publish the new Web Drivers that work with the update OS X. So, you have to wait for nVidia to catch up.

But, if you're a game hound, then you will probably need to look at the GTX 900 series cards. The good news is that use less power than previous nVidia cards and AMD cards. So, you don't need a new PSU.

Good luck!

 

[slim.jim]

Hello,

I built a Hackintosh a few years back that was more or less a carbon copy of this build.
It was rather turnkey, and I'm still running OS X 10.9.5 on it. However, now I'm looking to upgrade to a new GPU, and possibly a new monitor as well.

I've searched the forums for information, and I see a lot of people talking about things that go way over my head (I don't even know what a 'DropOEMDSDT' is). I am familiar with the so-called 'web driver' (if this is indeed the web driver), but I was wondering exactly what the procedure was for getting a new GPU in place.

If you currently have a 770 then I would assume you are looking at a 970 or better. Those cards work very well but require the web drivers to work and you will have to upgrade to Yosemite.

As far as what you linked for the web driver, that is not correct. What you linked was for CUDA which can be used in conjunction with the web driver. You shouldn't need to worry about any dsdt edits to use a 900 series card.

 

[Pepin]

I was actually looking to buy a 980ti. Obviously, the Windows side of my computer stands to benefit the most from it, but I would like to know that it can work with OS X before I commit to it.

So, if I understand this right, all I need to do is upgrade the OS to Yosemite, physically install the GPU, and follow the guide for the web browser that Stork linked?
Seems simple enough.

Is the CUDA driver necessary in any way, then?

 

[slim.jim]

CUDA is only necessary if you are using software that can utilize it such as Adobe CC products.