Should I replace dead GPU or replace Mobo?

[NicoD]

Hi all

I am using a very satisfying custo Mac see: Success: Gigabyte GA-H170-HD3 + Intel Skylake Core i5-6600 in a Corsair Carbide 200R case.
After six months of perfect bliss, one morning after restart the screen remained black: GPU stopped working. It was an MSI GTX 950.
The model is discontinued so I am getting a refund. The same type by Gygabyte is more than €30 more expensive (a little more in dollars).

The issue is that I have absolutely no use for a GPU besides its DP port. None of my softs use it (I don't play games and I don't do videos). All the photo apps I own use the CPU only.
The only purpose is the DP port that's missing on my MoBo (a mistake I made).

So for a new GPU I have only one spec: a DP port. And as silent and low consuming as possible of course. Period.

My options seem to be:

• Get a GTX 750 for a little less money. EVGA makes one with a DP port.
• Get a GTX 950 for some more money.
• Replace the MoBo but I am lost with the different specs. I don't plan to overclock. I just need to have a DP port. This would be a more complicated operation than plugging and playing a new GPU. Yet it may be a good plan in terms of consumption and noise. And it may be cheaper, right?
• There are good offers for GTX 1050 but it's still not supported by OS X, right?
• In the buyer's guide only nVidia cards are listed. What about AMD ones?

What do you advise me, folks?
TIA

Nick

 

[P1LGRIM]

What do you advise me, folks?

If you don't need a graphics card you could try an HDMI to Display Port adaptor.
Or a DVI to Display Port adaptor.

 

[NicoD]

If you don't need a graphics card you could try an HDMI to Display Port adaptor.

My monitor has an HDMI port but because of the MoBo and OS X specs it's limited to 1080. The purpose is to get 2560 x 1440.
Nick

 

[pastrychef]

In my opinion, if you are happy with your system and everything is working well, just purchase a cheap, compatible video card to replace the one that died. I would look for one that would work with with the built-in macOS drivers to avoid having to deal with Nvidia web drivers since you don't have need of a very powerful GPU anyway.

 

[NicoD]

The ideal solution would be to get 4K via the HDMI connection, if it was possible.

In my opinion, if you are happy with your system and everything is working well, just purchase a cheap, compatible video card to replace the one that died.

The EVGA GTX750TI SC 2G D5 has 1.2 DP port. It should do the job, right?
What about AMD based cards?

I would look for one that would work with with the built-in macOS drivers to avoid having to deal with Nvidia web drivers since you don't have need of a very powerful GPU anyway.

I had no issue with installation and use of the nVidia drivers.

Nick

 

[pastrychef]

Yes, the GTX 750 Ti is a popular choice.

In regards to AMD, I will simply quote Fl0r!an:
"I've had lots of Radeon GPUs in my life and I'd like to continue supporting them, but at the moment there are a few big drawbacks from a Hackintosh point of view:

1. Apple rarely provides support for high-end GPUs, as they don't fit into any Mac. HD 6970 was buggy as hell, R9 290X/390X is still "beta", Fiji was never officially supported and we'll see what happens with Vega. Only excuse in this decade was HD 7950/7970, which had perfect support thanks to HD 7950 Mac Edition & D700. Not sure this will happen again...
2. El Capitan introduced a nasty bug which breaks sleep/wake on systems with AMD GPUs unless iGPU is configured as primary graphics device. Doing so will remove any pre-OS display output on the Radeon GPU (BIOS splash screen, UEFI setup, Clover boot manager, ...). Sierra continues to show the same behavior,and we didn't find any cure yet.
3. El Capitan also introduced the "boot to black screen" bug, which will cause GCN 1.2 based GPUs to crash as soon as X4000.kext loads up. Sierra expanded this bug to GCN 1.1 GPUs and the newly added Polaris GPUs.

That's the reason why the Buyer's Guide doesn't contain any AMD GPUs at the moment. Not such a big problem yet as Maxwell can keep up very will with recent AMD cards, but Vega is around the corner..."

Installing and using the Nvidia web drivers is usually not a big deal, but it's just one less thing that you have to worry about when updating macOS. Just a convenience thing...

 

[NicoD]

OK, pastrychef, I'll go for the EVGA GTX750TI SC 2G D5 which seems to be the only 750 with a DP port and rather inexpensive. The issue is that here in France it's currently out of stock at Amazon. I hope they'll get more soon.
Thanks for the tips.
Nick

 

[DrBEN]

GF GTX 750TI ACX 2GB DDR5 PCI-E DVI HDMI DP

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00IJO1N1E/?tag=tonymacx8603-21

There is one (and only one) available new from Amazon Germany (sold and shipped by Amazon)
162,82 €
Shipping to France seems to be about 6 €

 

[NicoD]

Thanks for the tip DrBEN.
Yet it would be much more expensive than EVGA GTX750TI SC 2G D5 at €139.90 or even better Gigabyte GV-N75TOC-2GL at €112 on amazon.fr.
I am not in a rush. My monitor is connected to the HDMI port of the MoBo so I can wait until it's available again.
BTW, I had a look at MoBos with a DP port. There are very few of them and they are rather expensive. It would have been the right choice for my initial build. So by now my best option is a new card.
Cheers.
Nick

 

[Adrian B]

The GTX 750 Ti is no longer produced - that is why prices are getting more expensive. The other card to look for is a GTX 950 which is also end of line and discontinued as you already are aware. Another option is to look at eBay for a GTX760 in reasonable condition and at a reasonable price. The 760 is about the same graphics power as the GTX 950 - it is just a little older - the 2GB RAM versions should be available at around 100 Euro.