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Quadro K600 graphics card at Newegg - $39.99

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trs96

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https://www.newegg.com/p/1FT-0004-00384?

Here's the proof of the K600 recognized and fully working in Big Sur with Metal support.

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Low cost, low profile, brand new Quadro card for Catalina or Big Sur. The K600 has 1GB of Vram and can power a single 4K display at 60 Hz via DisplayPort. Something that the GT 710 can't do. So if you have an SFF Dell 7010/9010 or HP 6300/8300 and a 4K monitor these are a viable choice.

If you want native Catalina/Big Sur support and plan to stick with Mojave, Catalina or Big Sur for a number of years, these make sense for compatibility and cost savings. If your monitor has no full size DisplayPort input, then purchase an inexpensive DP to HDMI adapter.

The K600 is not for gamers, if you do any gaming more demanding than Solitaire or Chess, don't buy one.
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I wouldn't recommend this Quadro Card for a modern HDR 10 4K television. You'd want something newer with DP 1.4 instead of 1.2 and at least 2GB of Vram. Quadros are designed for PC workstations and CAD etc. Here's an Amazon review from a few years back:
The Nvidia k600 is a great entry level graphics card for CAD and photography work. It also works well for simulations for CAM toolpaths. It probably would not do well for very large CAD assemblies or complex simulation.
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If you always have to be on the latest macOS version for whatever reason, a low profile RX 560 makes more sense right now. Support for the RX560 is going to last longer than for a K600 but you'll pay a very steep price.

The LP RX560s are harder to find and can be a lot more expensive to purchase. You will get 4 GB of Vram with those, which is needed if you will be running a dual 4K monitor setup or a large 4K HDR TV. Gives you DP 1.4 and HDMI 2.0b.

So in summary, here's the key Quadro K600 points:
  • Full native support in Catalina 10.15 and macOS 11 Big Sur
  • Provides 4K/60 Hz via DP 1.2
  • 41W TDP so it stays cool, won't use much power
  • Affordable price for a new unused card
  • Fits in any SFF PC with a PCIe x16 slot
  • Well built cards that hold up longer term
  • A new MSI RX 560 LP costs about 3x as much
  • MSI RX 560 takes up a full two slots

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DP 1.2 gives you full 4K OOB with Catalina. DVI is dual link and can be adapted to VGA if you have an older monitor. This will not work @60Hz with newer HDR 10 Televisions. Best to use DP-DP cable to a PC monitor for 4K/60Hz.

Why doesn't this work with 4K HDR (high dynamic range) televisions ?

HDR or HDR10 is a new technology that requires additional color and brightness data to be transmitted from the computer to the display. This requires the host computer to support DisplayPort 1.4 or HDMI 2.0b or HDMI 2.1, the majority of adapters are designed for SDR (non-HDR) displays and convert from DisplayPort 1.2 to HDMI 2.0. They are incompatible with the HDR specification.

When connected to a HDR television, the television will attempt to enable HDR over the connection even though it is not supported causing reduced refresh rate or image quality. Some televisions provide options to disable HDR but most will enable and prioritize HDR over image quality and refresh rate.

MSI and Visiontek are the only manufacturers that sell a LP RX 560 4GB card. Prices have gotten very high due to a shortage of cards. 1080p gamers love these cards and install them in the Dell and HP models mentioned previously. The Quadro K600 of course, doesn't work for gaming. It's a workstation graphics card.

The MSI LP RX560 can no longer found at all. New or used. The RX560s for sale by Visiontek are moderately overpriced. RX 570s and 580s are all being bought by Crypto Miners again. Remember 2017 ?

The supply of K600s is very large and will remain that way for some time. Especially on the used market. The only downside to the K600 is the small and noisy fan that cools the GPU. If you are fan noise sensitive you'd need to figure out a way to blow cool air over the card and remove the existing tiny fan and plastic shroud. It's possible to do with a little work inside your case.
 

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Does an Nvidia GPU make sense at this point? Apple has moved away from Nvidia and switched to AMD throughout the line. Is an Nvidia GPU really a good recommendation in 2020, knowing it's got a shorter compatibility window with macOS? A low proile RX 560 isn't much more expensive and would seem to have longer legs moving forward, as well as offering even better performance. Am I missing something on this?
 
A low proile RX 560 isn't much more expensive and would seem to have longer legs moving forward, as well as offering even better performance. Am I missing something on this?
It's each individual's choice to figure out what level of graphics power they need for what they do. The original post does say that those who need longer term support should get an AMD card like the RX560. The downside is the over-inflated prices of these cards currently.

Does an Nvidia GPU make sense at this point?
It can for some people in some situations.

Here's a real world user scenario. Someone records and edits audio in Logic Pro X on an HP 8300 SFF with i7-3770. They are currently on High Sierra. Their plugins do not work with Catalina yet. They might currently have a LP 1050 Ti and use the less than stellar Nvidia web drivers. Their only option is a low profile card. If they buy the Quadro K600 it has native support in Mojave and Catalina. Sure they could use HD4000 graphics of the i7 but that uses up ram and stresses the CPU more, makes it run hotter. The Quadro takes that burden off of the CPU. Saves a few GB of ram that would be shared with system ram too. It also gives them the option for dual monitors, with HD4000 they only have one DP to use. VGA won't work.

They can even sell their 1050 Ti for a decent price and make some money for a ram upgrade that is needed. Max out their 8300 to 32GB so they're not always running out of ram with only 8 or 16 GB.

With a K600 they might upgrade to Mojave this year and use that for a year. Maybe they'll stay with it longer. Then when they want to upgrade to Catalina they still have the option for that 2-3 years from now. If they don't need better than 4K res. graphics, won't be upgrading to Catalina or even 10.16 soon, why pay $180 more just to get the overpriced RX 560 LP card ? Whatever new card AMD offers 3 years from now they can certainly buy that then and it will be way better than the current RX 560 in terms of energy usage and specs.

As I said in post #1 if you have to always be on the latest macOS for something like using Xcode, then get an AMD card with longer support. Not everybody upgrades to the newest macOS version right at the release. If you can get 2-3 years out of a quadro that only costs $39 or less that's a good deal in my opinion. You may even be able to get many more years out of it than that. Some are using Nvidia cards from 2009 with Catalina and they still work adequately with acceleration. Not Metal support but for general use they're fine.

 
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Does an Nvidia GPU make sense at this point? Apple has moved away from Nvidia and switched to AMD throughout the line. Is an Nvidia GPU really a good recommendation in 2020, knowing it's got a shorter compatibility window with macOS? A low proile RX 560 isn't much more expensive and would seem to have longer legs moving forward, as well as offering even better performance. Am I missing something on this?

What you are missing is that in a few seconds I found a used K600 on eBay for 20 bucks with free shipping. Who's cares if Apple obsoletes it in a couple of years, it's 20 bucks. Doesn't need a power connector, doesn't pull the full 75 watts, doesn't take up 2 slots. Still superior to integrated graphics. Not everyone needs a lot of graphics power, particularly with macOS since most Macs suck when it comes to graphics anyway as a minority even ship with a GPU and most of those are horribly underpowered. Systems with Sandy bridge or no integrated graphics at all in particularly. It's still generally easier to get a natively supported GPU working than integrated graphics.
 
It's still generally easier to get a natively supported GPU working than integrated graphics.
That was certainly the case early on with HD 530 and HD 630 graphics. When you have a card like this around, you pop it in the PCIe slot and it just works. You can then install macOS quite easily and fix the other issues post install. Also helps those with X99 and X299 systems that use Xeons and have no iGPU. I always keep a few low cost Nvidia cards around because I test many different systems. They're simply plug n play.
 
Well considering what you guys and gals can buy the K600 for in the US, I'd be happy to buy one. They are currently 3x that price where I am o_O

This thread is about "Deals" and that certainly is one. I guess the GPU may have limited appeal because of the lack of HDMI and their little, whiny fan, but if they are well-made and pro-grade then they will certainly take the strain away from the CPU. The cable adapter @trs96 mentions would be a cheap solution for connectivity.

Who knows when Apple may drop support? True, the recent Atheros wi-fi omissions were a worrying precedent...

But perhaps only to cutting-edge upgraders. As someone mentioned, a professional doesn't upgrade unless necessary as it can scupper workflow.
 
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This is the system I built initially. It is a great deal for me to start out with Hackintoshing, and came with a fully licensed Windows key. I've installed Mojave and Windows 10. I laughed at myself for putting the wifi card in at $27, compared to the prices of everything else, but I really wanted fully WiFi+BT compatibility to use AirDrop, Handoff, etc. I can upgrade the CPU and memory at any time for super cheap. And all this is achievable for the experience because of the hard work of contributions like @trs96 guide. Catalina is next!
 
Good work on that build @BillyGoatGruff

So on the topic of the Quadro K600. Works good with Mojave ? How is the fan noise level ? Any graphics glitches or problems with it ? Does it stay cool enough ? Use/test a 1440p or 4K monitor with it ?
 
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Good work on that build @BillyGoatGruff

So on the topic of the Quadro K600. Works good with Mojave ? How is the fan noise level ? Any graphics glitches or problems with it ? Does it stay cool enough ? Use/test a 1440p or 4K monitor with it ?
I like it with Mojave. I haven't had any problems with it. It sets on the desktop and I can't hear the fans. No glitches and I use a Viewsonic VX3276-QHD, at 2560x1440. So sharp. I don't own a 4K monitor yet, but when I do purchase one, I'll be connecting it to the 9020 OptiMac I am building, which will be my low cost 4K video machine. This 9010 SFF is not a screamer, but I have no expectations for that at just $200. I really was trying to build a mac mini replacement as a basic desktop and learn what it takes. What I really like is that I can, if I want, boot right into Windows if I feel the need. It is fast though, and quiet, and power friendly with a 80Plus Gold PSU inside. I really wanted out of the high-cost machine game, and I found that the price/performance with these Dells (and I have an HP8300) is incredible. I can repair it myself with readily available inexpensive parts. I can upgrade it at any time at low cost. People are selling their "old" PCs, memory, cards, etc as they continue to be on the newest hardware and for MOST needs, I can run on 2012-2014 hardware just fine for a fraction of the cost of 2020 tech. I get a kick out of that.
 
I like it with Mojave. I haven't had any problems with it. It sets on the desktop and I can't hear the fans. No glitches and I use a Viewsonic VX3276-QHD, at 2560x1440. So sharp. I don't own a 4K monitor yet, but when I do purchase one, I'll be connecting it to the 9020 OptiMac I am building, which will be my low cost 4K video machine. This 9010 SFF is not a screamer, but I have no expectations for that at just $200. I really was trying to build a mac mini replacement as a basic desktop and learn what it takes. What I really like is that I can, if I want, boot right into Windows if I feel the need. It is fast though, and quiet, and power friendly with a 80Plus Gold PSU inside. I really wanted out of the high-cost machine game, and I found that the price/performance with these Dells (and I have an HP8300) is incredible. I can repair it myself with readily available inexpensive parts. I can upgrade it at any time at low cost. People are selling their "old" PCs, memory, cards, etc as they continue to be on the newest hardware and for MOST needs, I can run on 2012-2014 hardware just fine for a fraction of the cost of 2020 tech. I get a kick out of that.

Are you able the play this video with VLC on the K600?
 
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