Buying a Dedicated GPU for your Monterey, Ventura or Sonoma Hackintosh

[snoopy69]

The pre-requisite once the secondhand GPU has been tested and shown to work, is to do the following:

Clean the fans, aluminium heatsink and replace the thermal paste and pads on the card.

This will help keep the thermal profile at a lower level. Yes this would void any warranty, but as you bought it secondhand, that is not important.

I do this with any dGPU I buy secondhand, it will give the card a better chance of lasting for a few more years.

Thanks @Edhawk .
It's a good idea.
I've used thermal paste a few times for my processors and motherboards, but I've never used it for graphics cards. I'll look at some tutorials on what to do, actually if I find my card maybe it will be easier, at least I think.

 

[pulpinex]

Thanks @Edhawk .
It's a good idea.
I've used thermal paste a few times for my processors and motherboards, but I've never used it for graphics cards. I'll look at some tutorials on what to do, actually if I find my card maybe it will be easier, at least I think.

Good suggestion!
I replace the paste and thermal pad on my GPU every 2 years. Easy to do, and I usually get a few degrees and decibels less (the goal is to have less noise)...

 

[pastrychef]

Thanks @Edhawk .
It's a good idea.
I've used thermal paste a few times for my processors and motherboards, but I've never used it for graphics cards. I'll look at some tutorials on what to do, actually if I find my card maybe it will be easier, at least I think.

Usually, there are quite a lot of screws you need to remove. Keep track of which screws go where because some may be different sized.

Also, when pulling the heatsink off, pay attention to where the thermal pads are. Usually, you can reuse the thermal pads.

 

[mddo]

AMD Graphics For Your Hackintosh​

If your Intel CPU's iGPU is not supported by the macOS version you want to install or you just need stronger graphics, an AMD GPU is the way to go. All 11th, 12th and 13th Gen Intel based hackintosh builds need a dedicated GPU. AMD Ryzen CPU based builds will also. If you want to edit video and/or run 3+ monitors a dGPU is a good idea.

AMD Polaris, Vega and Navi based cards are the best graphics choice for a new build. I don't recommend trying to patch Nvidia Kepler cards for use with Monterey or newer macOS versions. Too many disadvantages in doing that. There are many affordable AMD cards you can use. Find a list of 36 macOS compatible AMD cards attached below as a PDF.

Here's a slightly smaller list compiled by the BarTech TV Youtube channel. I'd suggest you check out the whole video for more important details. See the tonymacx86 GPU Buyer's Guide for links to buy a card for your specific system.

View attachment 567585

Don't forget the boot-arg needed when using the Navi Cards by AMD.

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These Navi cards also require a CPU with AVX 2.0 instruction support when running the three latest macOS versions. That means your CPU should be Haswell or newer. If not, then use a Polaris based graphics card and required patches.

If you are looking for very old pre-2016 AMD cards that work with OS X Mt. Lion, Mavericks, Yosemite and El Capitan, see the AMD graphics card guide by Dortania.

AMD GPUs | GPU Buyers Guide

About AVX 2.0: So I have an i7-3930k (sandy bridge-e, socket LGA2011), as you say it doesnt support AVX 2, then I cannot use a RX 6XXX (Navy) if I want to install one of the three latest MacOs versions, is it?, I could go for macOS Big Sur?
Thanks for the post.

 

[trs96]

I could go for macOS Big Sur?

Some of the RX6000 Navi series work with Big Sur but some don't. The RX6600 support starts with 12.1 Monterey for example. Do some more research on the Navi cards before buying one. I'd suggest Dortania's GPU section.

AMD Radeon RX 6800, 6800 XT, and 6900 XT ​

If you've installed macOS Big Sur 11.4 or later, you can use these graphics cards that are based on the AMD Navi RDNA2 architecture. Recommended graphics cards include the AMD Radeon RX 6800, AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, and AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT

 

[cccip]

Clean the fans, aluminium heatsink and replace the thermal paste and pads on the card.

I'd rather suggest to clean the card heatsink and fans, replace GPU thermal grease but AVOID changing thermal pads. Video card manufactures trying to use non standard thickness pads (like 0,7mm or 0,9mm or 1,2mm) and you can barely find them available. Moreover, they tend to change their thickness in new hardware revisions of the same GPU!
And of course - that information is not on public, if you lucky enough - some might provide it via technical support.
You always have an option to use Laird liquid pads, byt they are less effective than dirty 3-5y.o. original ones.

 

[mariomacx86]

Hey guys, will the XFX Speedster SWFT 319 Radeon RX 6800 Core Gaming, 16GB work? I've looked at the final list of compatible cards from @trs96 , and the RX 6800 is listed there. My question is more about the manufacturer, will XFX work like any other manufacturer? Has anyone successfully used this card from this manufacturer?

 

[trs96]

will XFX work like any other manufacturer? Has anyone successfully used this card from this manufacturer?

Yes

 

[mariomacx86]

Thanks @trs96 . I bought the card today, installed it, and it works without any problems.

 

[stator]

My use is just for musician work like Musescore, Reaper, and other tools. Plus office app stuff. I used a EV3A GTX 760 for many years up to Big Sur. It served me well. Sure got my money's worth out of that card.

I just purchased and received a XFX RX 580 GTS XXX card. Took out the GTX 760 and put in the RX 580 and powered up. No muss no fuss as it's a OOB card just like the GTX 760. Updating to Monterey now.