Hackintosh GPU Choice

[Kemael]

Hi everyone!

I would use a little advice if someone can help me sort out which GPU I should/could choose for my current hackintosh.
While it is running on a Quadro FX 570 in 1080p and providing good resoolution and framerate without any issues, I plan to put the Sims 3 and Sims 4 and maybe Cities Skyline. (This whole build is for my Girlfriend)

Now, I dont need to go full 1080 or Titan X on this, it is not primarly for me and she does not need so much horse power to play those games. But the thing is I know 750/750 Ti, 950 and other Maxwell GPU's do not work out of the box and will require Nvidia Web drivers. Now are these web drivers a reliable thing enough to buy a Maxwell GPU or should I go with a GTX 760 with the Kepler architecture which work out of the box?

Best regards,

 

[Adrian B]

GTX 1050 or above running 10.12.5 with additional nvidia drivers would be my first option. If you were on a budget then the GTX 760 option would be good as long as you have a reasonable quality PSU rated at 500W or above, again Sierra for the latest Apple support.

 

[Kemael]

GTX 1050 or above running 10.12.5 with additional nvidia drivers would be my first option. If you were on a budget then the GTX 760 option would be good as long as you have a reasonable quality PSU rated at 500W or above, again Sierra for the latest Apple support.

I just realised that in my case, I do not have additional PSU cables for more demanding GTX 760. Although a GTX 1050 will not need additional power, I was wondering, budget-wise, if a 950 could work too with the Nvidia web drivers? Do you think it is a potent option?

 

[Kemael]

I just realised that in my case, I do not have additional PSU cables for more demanding GTX 760. Although a GTX 1050 will not need additional power, I was wondering, budget-wise, if a 950 could work too with the Nvidia web drivers? Do you think it is a potent option?

Or maybe if I would go with a 750 ti do you think I could get decent performance and still get it to work with the nvidia web drivers?

 

[Adrian B]

I just realised that in my case, I do not have additional PSU cables for more demanding GTX 760. Although a GTX 1050 will not need additional power, I was wondering, budget-wise, if a 950 could work too with the Nvidia web drivers? Do you think it is a potent option?

Both the 1050 and the 950 will require the additional nvidia drivers to be correctly implemented to work in macOS. The GTX 950 has a single 6 pin power connector, the GTX 1050 has no additional power connector and is a little more powerful than the 950.

Or maybe if I would go with a 750 ti do you think I could get decent performance and still get it to work with the nvidia web drivers?

The 750Ti is getting quite old now and is the lower performing GPU on your list - avoid models with a VGA port as these do not follow the reference port design and you will have problems with these. Cards from Asus that are not 'Strix' models and some MSI versions are known to be problematic.

The GTX 750Ti also must have the nvidia drivers to function correctly in macOS.

If you can find a GTX 1050 (2GB) (see buyers guide) locally, then that would now be my firm recommendation as buying a reasonable 500W PSU and a GPU will add greatly to your budget at this point in time. Both the 950 and the 1050 will run almost silent - fan(s) should only come on as the GPU is put under load.

Approximate guide to GPU performance:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...-2017-hierarchy-chart-by-toms-hardware.81325/