Video card knowledge needed

[Thaigyver]

Hello all. A quick intro, please skip to next section for the questions if not interested here. I am new here and going to give this build a try. I will be replacing an ailing Mid 2011 21.5 iMac. I am an expat living in Thailand so finding exact parts can be challenging. I have spent a good amount of time in the forums answering my own question, but if I missed an already answered question, please just direct me to the correct area in the forums. It has been many years since I built a computer so I am learning as I go. On to my question now.


Useful info for my questions.I am still researching and picking my parts. thus far I have;

Case: Thermaltake Core X31
Motherboard: Gigabyte H370 Aorus Gaming 3 Wifi
CPU: Intel Core i5 8400


My current iMac computer is mainly used for multiple spreadsheets, stock investing (so I view multiple graphs/charts), a movie from time to time, and the occasion game like Trine(nothing to demanding on the graphics end). I use the iMac screen with an additional 2 monitors for a triple monitor set-up when looking at stock stuff. I will be dropping down to dual monitors when this build is complete. Also, I do not plan on doing any overclocking.


Question 1: Do I need a graphics card for dual monitors or will the motherboard’s built-in graphics handle 2 monitors with what I intend to use it for, as mentioned above? I am already aware of the specs of the motherboard providing an HDMI port and DVI-D port. I am asking about the integrated graphics capabilities.


Question 2: (If I need a graphics card) The motherboard I have chosen says it supports AMD technologies. With this information I came here and went to the “Buyer’s Guide” tab, scrolled down to “(NEW) AMD Graphics Cards” and the first graphics card on the list is the Sapphire RX 580 Pulse 8GB. And by the way, this is the only AMD card on the buyer’s guide list I could find here in Thailand at the moment. My question is, will only this specific name brand (Sapphire) work or can I get any name brand with the Radeon RX580 chipset? And I hope my understanding of the chipset is correct. For example, would this graphics card be supported?

Gigabyte Aorus Radeon RX580 8GB

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

 

[pastrychef]

Hello all. A quick intro, please skip to next section for the questions if not interested here. I am new here and going to give this build a try. I will be replacing an ailing Mid 2011 21.5 iMac. I am an expat living in Thailand so finding exact parts can be challenging. I have spent a good amount of time in the forums answering my own question, but if I missed an already answered question, please just direct me to the correct area in the forums. It has been many years since I built a computer so I am learning as I go. On to my question now.


Useful info for my questions.I am still researching and picking my parts. thus far I have;

Case: Thermaltake Core X31
Motherboard: Gigabyte H370 Aorus Gaming 3 Wifi
CPU: Intel Core i5 8400


My current iMac computer is mainly used for multiple spreadsheets, stock investing (so I view multiple graphs/charts), a movie from time to time, and the occasion game like Trine(nothing to demanding on the graphics end). I use the iMac screen with an additional 2 monitors for a triple monitor set-up when looking at stock stuff. I will be dropping down to dual monitors when this build is complete. Also, I do not plan on doing any overclocking.


Question 1: Do I need a graphics card for dual monitors or will the motherboard’s built-in graphics handle 2 monitors with what I intend to use it for, as mentioned above? I am already aware of the specs of the motherboard providing an HDMI port and DVI-D port. I am asking about the integrated graphics capabilities.


Question 2: (If I need a graphics card) The motherboard I have chosen says it supports AMD technologies. With this information I came here and went to the “Buyer’s Guide” tab, scrolled down to “(NEW) AMD Graphics Cards” and the first graphics card on the list is the Sapphire RX 580 Pulse 8GB. And by the way, this is the only AMD card on the buyer’s guide list I could find here in Thailand at the moment. My question is, will only this specific name brand (Sapphire) work or can I get any name brand with the Radeon RX580 chipset? And I hope my understanding of the chipset is correct. For example, would this graphics card be supported?

Gigabyte Aorus Radeon RX580 8GB

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

Will you be using 4K monitors? In macOS 4K works best with DisplayPort. macOS supports HDMI for 4K, but only at 30Hz. DVI-D does not support 4K.

Therefore, if you will be using two 4K monitors, the best you can do with the built-in Intel graphics is with a motherboard that has DisplayPort and HDMI. In this scenario, the monitor connected to DisplayPort will run at 60Hz while the monitor connected to HDMI will run at 30Hz.

If you will not be using 4K monitors, the built-in Intel graphics should be fine.

Here, you can find a list of the currently Apple recommended graphics cards for use with eGPU. That's not to say that other video cards won't work. For example, I am using an MSI RX Vega 56 Air Boost which is not on the list and it works great. Generally speaking, it's advisable to avoid XFX brand graphics cards. They have a few models of graphics cards that require firmware flashing before they work properly on a hackintosh. That being said, you can start a new post to ask if anyone has had success with the Gigabyte Aorus Radeon RX580 8GB. If I had to guess, I would say it should work.

 

[Thaigyver]

Will you be using 4K monitors? In macOS 4K works best with DisplayPort. macOS supports HDMI for 4K, but only at 30Hz. DVI-D does not support 4K.

Therefore, if you will be using two 4K monitors, the best you can do with the built-in Intel graphics is with a motherboard that has DisplayPort and HDMI. In this scenario, the monitor connected to DisplayPort will run at 60Hz while the monitor connected to HDMI will run at 30Hz.

If you will not be using 4K monitors, the built-in Intel graphics should be fine.

Here, you can find a list of the currently Apple recommended graphics cards for use with eGPU. That's not to say that other video cards won't work. For example, I am using an MSI RX Vega 56 Air Boost which is not on the list and it works great. Generally speaking, it's advisable to avoid XFX brand graphics cards. They have a few models of graphics cards that require firmware flashing before they work properly on a hackintosh. That being said, you can start a new post to ask if anyone has had success with the Gigabyte Aorus Radeon RX580 8GB. If I had to guess, I would say it should work.

Thanks for your quick reply and the information. Just an added note. I will be running 2 different Dell monitors, one at 1920x1080 and one at 1920x1200 rotated 90 degrees. I will most likely try the build without the graphics card and if all goes well just not worry about adding it.

Again thanks and I will be back soon once I have picked all my parts just to make sure everything goes well. I think the hardware side of this is going to be easier than the software side, but time will tell.

 

[john1984]

It is better to get a discrete graphics card for dual monitor setup especially for 1440p and 4K setup. You can get any brand of RX 580 card but make sure that the brand is well known and not an unheard one. The top brands that i recommend for AMD cards are Sapphire, MSI, Asus and Gigabyte.

 

[Thaigyver]

It is better to get a discrete graphics card for dual monitor setup especially for 1440p and 4K setup. You can get any brand of RX 580 card but make sure that the brand is well known and not an unheard one. The top brands that i recommend for AMD cards are Sapphire, MSI, Asus and Gigabyte.

Thanks for your advice john1984