Customac 2015-03, GTX 780 Ti, Clover and Sierra?

[digital.discuss]

I have working system based on the March 2014 Budget Customac with

• Gigabyte GA-Z97M-D3H
• Intel Core i5-4460
• 2 x Crucial DDR3 BallistiX Tactical 4GB
• Seagate Barracuda 1TB
• Corsair CS 550 W
• Corsair Carbide 300R Midi Tower
• Benq 22" display over VGA at the moment, has HDMI
• Using Chameleon boot

I runs great. I plan to significantly improve the gaming experience of Shadow of Mordor (Steam) by getting a dedicated GeForce GTX 780 3 GB or GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3 GB. I assume this would mean moving graphics to HDMI.

I also intend to move to Clover and macOS Sierra.

Given the objective of better graphics for the SoM game and maybe other games in the future, are there anything to watch out for or even rethink here? Are there currently any issues with either of these cards I should be aware of?

Can PC tests, published on the web or elsewhere, indicate somewhat correctly about at what level either card will perform, provided I use the latest drivers?

 

[slim.jim]

You'll need to use the Nvidia Web Drivers and the performance of a game in OS X generally depends on the game and how well it was ported. Usually there is a bit of a drop in performance compared to Windows.

 

[izo1]

I have working system based on the March 2014 Budget Customac with

• Gigabyte GA-Z97M-D3H
• Intel Core i5-4460
• 2 x Crucial DDR3 BallistiX Tactical 4GB
• Seagate Barracuda 1TB
• Corsair CS 550 W
• Corsair Carbide 300R Midi Tower
• Benq 22" display over VGA at the moment, has HDMI
• Using Chameleon boot

I runs great. I plan to significantly improve the gaming experience of Shadow of Mordor (Steam) by getting a dedicated GeForce GTX 780 3 GB or GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3 GB. I assume this would mean moving graphics to HDMI.

I also intend to move to Clover and macOS Sierra.

Given the objective of better graphics for the SoM game and maybe other games in the future, are there anything to watch out for or even rethink here? Are there currently any issues with either of these cards I should be aware of?

Can PC tests, published on the web or elsewhere, indicate somewhat correctly about at what level either card will perform, provided I use the latest drivers?

Just buy a Windows 10 license and dual boot. Pretty easy to do.

Windows is going to be miles better for gaming.

Steam and Mac App Store games are usually well optimized, but not all.

 

[digital.discuss]

Just buy a Windows 10 license and dual boot. Pretty easy to do.

Windows is going to be miles better for gaming.

Steam and Mac App Store games are usually well optimized, but not all.

Thanks. But this is a given. This is not possible. Windows 10 is out, now and forever. SoM is the only game with graphical requirements played at the moment.

 

[digital.discuss]

You'll need to use the Nvidia Web Drivers and the performance of a game in OS X generally depends on the game and how well it was ported. Usually there is a bit of a drop in performance compared to Windows.

Yeah, that figures. I was thinking I should try overclocking the 780 Ti. The important thing is that it works. I can live with lesser performance as long as it's well beyond 40fps in 1080p.

 

[Adrian B]

If you wish to get an idea of the approx performance level of different cards then use the following link.
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...-2016-hierarchy-chart-by-toms-hardware.81325/

A GTX 980 is worthy of consideration - it is a little newer, well supported and runs really quiet. It should be available at around the same price as a 780Ti although that may vary from week to week and the part of the world that you live.

A RAM upgrade would be worth considering in the near future.

 

[Adrian B]

Yeah, that figures. I was thinking I should try overclocking the 780 Ti. The important thing is that it works. I can live with lesser performance as long as it's well beyond 40fps in 1080p.

You will need a windows licence to overclock the GPU. There is no way to do this in macOS. Guides on the web use apps like MSI Afterburner.

 

[Fl0r!an]

You can also OC with Kepler BIOS Tuner (runs in VM or Crossover). Flashing the modified ROM to your GPU (using Clover's LoadVBIOS feature might also work, never tried) will retain the OC in OS X.

 

[digital.discuss]

If you wish to get an idea of the approx performance level of different cards then use the following link.
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...-2016-hierarchy-chart-by-toms-hardware.81325/

A GTX 980 is worthy of consideration - it is a little newer, well supported and runs really quiet. It should be available at around the same price as a 780Ti although that may vary from week to week and the part of the world that you live.

A RAM upgrade would be worth considering in the near future.

Thanks for the suggestions. I have considered this card but it's twice in price on the second hand market.

What would more RAM do for me in this case? Is it for better game caching in RAM or other improvements related to graphic card communication? Given free memory when playing SoM that isn't obvious to me.

 

[digital.discuss]

OC with Kepler BIOS Tuner

Very interesting. I wasn't aware of this tool. Thank you!