RX 460 - 480 on Sierra - Best Brands

[dafar]

Hi,

Is there any brand recommendation for the rx 480 to work with Sierra 10.12.1?
Should I avoid any brand?

In my country I have Sapphire, MSI, Powercolor, Asus and XFX to choose from.

I'll be using FCPX daily for 4k editing (1080p timeline) on a i7 6700k, h170m-d3h, 32gb ddr4 ballistix sport and SSD samsung 850 evo.
Today it's running with iGPU, but it's too slow to export in FCPX. Slower than my Mac Mini late 2012.

I'm also considering to go with RX460 (almost 1/3 the price).
Will it be a bad decision? Is it too slow for rendering?

I've read too many threads that I'm lost. Every time a new info about brandings that work, or don't... and different models..

Thanks for your kind help!!

 

[trs96]

When we have a clear cut, works OOB RX 480 brand it will most likely be listed in the Buyer's Guide. None of them meet all the requirements yet. Watchful waiting is advised right now. If you want to post questions in the RX 480 specific threads that is your best option right now.

 

[dafar]

When we have a clear cut, works OOB RX 480 brand it will most likely be listed in the Buyer's Guide. None of them meet all the requirements yet. Watchful waiting is advised right now. If you want to post questions in the RX 480 specific threads that is your best option right now.

There's only nvidia cards in the buyers guide, although r9 280x appears in other list as OOB (no issues) list.
I opted for the xfx rx 480 8GB after several hours of research. Hope I did the right choice!

Thanks!!

 

[Going Bald]

There's only nvidia cards in the buyers guide, although r9 280x appears in other list as OOB (no issues) list.
I opted for the xfx rx 480 8GB after several hours of research. Hope I did the right choice!

Thanks!!

Hope you have not bought it yet. XFX is a low tier OEM that modifies the reference design sometimes so far that their GPUs will not work in OS X. Recommend you stay away from that brand.
Forum and google searches for xfx + hackintosh will net you a whole lot of complaints.
Personally, I prefer the Sapphire VaporX cards.
See https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/radeon-compatibility-guide-ati-amd-graphics-cards.171291/

 

[dafar]

Hope you have not bought it yet. XFX is a low tier OEM that modifies the reference design sometimes so far that their GPUs will not work in OS X. Recommend you stay away from that brand.
Forum and google searches for xfx + hackintosh will net you a whole lot of complaints.
Personally, I prefer the Sapphire VaporX cards.
See https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/radeon-compatibility-guide-ati-amd-graphics-cards.171291/

Here is what I've read in the link you posted:
"******RX 480 models now working with full acceleration: XFX RX 480 (reference and aftermarket multi fan models), Sapphire Nitro RX 480 8gb, Powercooler Red Devil 8gb.
RX 480 models that are not working as of 10/26/16 Gigabyte, Asus. HIS, MSI."

That's why I opted for the XFX. Hope they are correct in that statement!

 

[trs96]

Here's the best deal for an RX 480 at Newegg right now.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202225&ignorebbr=1
Just 185 USD after rebate. It's a Sapphire so should be very good build quality.

 

[dafar]

Unfortunatelly I'm in brazil, so I have to deal only with the options and high prices they practice here, but thanks for sharing the link. Can help other people.

 

[Adrian B]

Be cautious updating MacOS - have and maintain a backup strategy, even a security update could change how cards work. Keep up to date with the RX 480 threads and help others by providing information. Treat AMD RX 480 MacOS support as experimental.

Good luck.

 

[dafar]

Maybe this is a good news: The store called me to say the xfx is now out of stock and they'll send the Sapphire for the same price.

Adrian,
I'm totally new into the hackintosh world.
Could you please help me how to backup hackintosh before I install the new GPU?
Is it as simple as using Time Machine? Or should I do anything else?
Should I copy any files to that Pendrive I used during first install?

I'll update you guys with information about the install process.
I hope it will be as easy as it was for the whole hackintosh.
I really thought I could spend a week trying to put things to work, but it took me only one night thanks to this forum and youtube videos.

 

[Adrian B]

I have a couple of older AMD cards that are Sapphire; the oldest is a HD5770 vapor-X and a HD6870. They are a good brand that often works very well with OS X/MacOS. I think the 8GB version is the one that has been suggested.

Time machine is a good backup system to use for MacOS, but when also running a CustoMac it is worth having your original USB installation drive - make a fresh one if required. I consider having a cloned drive or a second practice installation at hand that you can also test with before updating - it would give you a dry run and is often a useful backup even for the more seasoned CustoMac users.

The changeover should go reasonably smoothly, but one thing I will stress right now is that when updating disconnect all HDD/SSDs that are not required during the process. This is were many get things wrong and have all sorts of issues to try to then fix.

You can use Disk Utility to clone your working drive as well as Carbon Copy Cloner. Some clover basics may come in handy:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/clover-basics-and-switching-advice.171680/#3