GT 710 or HD4600

[Antonios]

Ok so I know this question is kinda dumb but I'm still gonna post it.

I just successfully installed macOS Big Sur on an optiplex 7020 (I5 4690T + 8gb ram) I am currently using the iGPU with the DisplayPort connector the motherboard has and it's working just fine (only need to make some patches). I also have an MSI GT 710 laying around which is compatible with Big Sur. So my question is: should I keep using the iGPU with DP connector or insert the dGPU and use it with HDMI?
Will the addition of gt710 increase performance?

Thanks,
Antonis

 

[jaymonkey]

@Antonios,

In terms of just running the MacOS GUI and basic MacOS APPS you wont see much difference as both the G710 and the HD 4600 have a similar specification when it comes to 2D / Desktop acceleration that said depending on your motherboard spec the GT 710 might support more monitors and/or higher refresh rates than the IGPU.

The GT 710 will have an edge in apps that need 3D acceleration using OpenCL / Metal and of course allow the use of any Apps that require the CUDA API. However CUDA is no longer officially supported by Nvidia on MacOS so there are only old CUDA drivers available which are only compatible with older versions of MacOS.

Its important to remember that the GT 710 is a very low power GPU in terms of 3D performance and it is mainly used by Hackintosher's as a cheap means to get MacOS running if they have problems with the IGPU and just need basic Desktop / 2D acceleration.

If you need better compute or 3D performance than the IGPU then something like a AMD RX 580 is a good and easy GPU to go for and is significantly more powerful than a GT 710.

Cheers
Jay

 

[Antonios]

Alright, thanks for the reply!