Mac Pro 5.1 and eVGA 1050 GTX

[RickKP]

Mostly a stock Mac Pro, from the Mid 2010 (5.1) series...
3.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
12 GB 1066 MHz DDR3
High Sierra Beta (but also have 10.12.6 (beta) on a separate drive
ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 GB

I know a new iMac will solve the problems of the video card, but that is not feasible at this time, so...
I have been reading and checking and also from old experience knowing that non-standard video cards can be used in the Mac if certain conditions are met. I saw several posts and replies but most (I believe) have non-standard Mother Boards.
What I want to do is use the eVGA 1050 GTX 4 GB DDR5 card in this Mac.
I know NVIDIA has a list of drivers supporting 10.12.4 and back, with requirements for some at their site - http://www.nvidia.com/object/mac-driver-archive.html - this is not a commercial for them, just a reference.

So, can I buy one of these eVGA 1050 GTX video cards and use it in this Mac? If so, then what do I have to do to have it work properly, as in flashing the ROM and so on?

 

[P1LGRIM]

So, can I buy one of these eVGA 1050 GTX video cards and use it in this Mac? If so, then what do I have to do to have it work properly, as in flashing the ROM and so on?

Your question may well be better addressed at macvidcards.com.

 

[RickKP]

OK, I went and looked around. So I am not really certain how they can better address what I ask.
They have a flashing service, but they need the card to flash it (which I have done in the past when necessary, just need the software) and they do not sell the one I am interested in. That would mean I would have to ship the card to them.
As for card installation, I worked on Macs and know a fair amount about installing cards, repairs and so on.
The prices for the cards they offer that have similar capabilities is why I am looking elsewhere. If I spent that much on the card I might as well buy a new iMac.
So, are you saying that there is no reasonable eVGA card I can use?

 

[P1LGRIM]

OK, I went and looked around. So I am not really certain how they can better address what I ask.
They have a flashing service, but they need the card to flash it (which I have done in the past when necessary, just need the software) and they do not sell the one I am interested in. That would mean I would have to ship the card to them.
As for card installation, I worked on Macs and know a fair amount about installing cards, repairs and so on.
The prices for the cards they offer that have similar capabilities is why I am looking elsewhere. If I spent that much on the card I might as well buy a new iMac.
So, are you saying that there is no reasonable eVGA card I can use?

What I am saying is that this is a site dedicated to installing Apple operating systems onto PC hardware.
macvidcards.com deals with installing after market graphics cards into Apple hardware and therefore they are better equipped to answer your questions there.

 

[RickKP]

Dang, sorry, never saw that real inference when I looked around here.
Thanks.

 

[Fl0r!an]

You'll also find a lot of information in the Mac Pro section of the Mac Rumors forum.

In short: The GTX 1050 will work with WebDrivers, but you won't have a boot screen and you won't see anything at all until the drivers are installed. This makes system updates a little tricky, as they usually mess up the 3rd party video drivers.

Flashing the GPU would solve those issues, but there's no public ROM available and MVC didn't care about the low end options yet. It's actually easier to go for an older high-end GPU (e.g. GTX 680 or HD 7950/7970 / R9 280/280X). They're very cheap right now and have a public Mac EFI available.

 

[RickKP]

Thanks, I have known that the issue with updates was there. I wonder why a work around hasn't been arrived at by now?
I know you do not need a screen to have programs run, so (thinking out loud).
The pricing difference for some available 1050s and those older high end is noticeable. And I want the larger amount of DDR5 RAM for the new Metal layer requirements.
A solution is to have a second video card in the Mac which will allow the boot and thus the (re)installation of the drivers.
Another solution is to nag (lol) someone on sourceforge to write something. They have done so in the past.