macOS 10.14 Mojave and “cheese grater” Mac Pros

[KV626]

Originally Posted by jsbach

Thank you!
I'm reading up on the cards you mentioned. What would you consider to be a "decent" price for a flashed card or something that will work right out of the box?

I've seen a couple of flashed 7950s at around $200 so I guess that's what we should be aiming for...

[jsbach]

Originally Posted by KV626

I've seen a couple of flashed 7950s at around $200 so I guess that's what we should be aiming for...

Awesome. That's not too bad. If it can keep this machine "current" for a while longer then it will be well worth it.

[audiobob]

All I'll say is that hopefully Apple will not leave us cheese grater people out of the Mac OS future just yet. They still have not provided a viable workstation solution since the last Mac Pro of 2012. I know one is presumably coming...but that could be 2019 or beyond. I'll move to an HP / Windows workstation before I buy a trashcan MP. And I will not go hackintosh.

[zerodistraction]

The 2010/2012 Mac Pros are compatible with Mojave, but apparently support is left out of beta 1 at the moment with plans to add support soon. Remember that you can upgrade the GPU at any time. Personally I plan on going with a new Nvidia 4K compatible GPU soon because I want to work with 4K video.


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[jsbach]

Originally Posted by audiobob

All I'll say is that hopefully Apple will not leave us cheese grater people out of the Mac OS future just yet. They still have not provided a viable workstation solution since the last Mac Pro of 2012. I know one is presumably coming...but that could be 2019 or beyond. I'll move to an HP / Windows workstation before I buy a trashcan MP. And I will not go hackintosh.

Exactly. Since we won't have a real option until at least 2019, I think it would make no sense for them to drop the cheese grater yet. I don't think anyone is going to run out and buy a trashcan at this point. I certainly won't.

[jsbach]

Originally Posted by zerodistraction

The 2010/2012 Mac Pros are compatible with Mojave, but apparently support is left out of beta 1 at the moment with plans to add support soon. Remember that you can upgrade the GPU at any time. Personally I plan on going with a new Nvidia 4K compatible GPU soon because I want to work with 4K video.


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What will happen if you have a 2010/2012 Mac Pro without a compatible GPU? Will the OS not install at all or will some features of the new OS just not be available?

[BScout]

You pretty much already need a METAL supporting GPU now. Pro Tools 2018 supports METAL for its GUI. Sometimes I'm sure that the ones who are having issues that this is their real issue. Pro Tools has made the jump.

I'm using the 680 GTX and it works great with the Cheese Grater and 2018.4.

(as for future macOS -- if they go with a GUI that is based on METAL, if you don't have a METAL supporting card then you get no GUI. So nothing will be possible.)

[jsbach]

I keep reading about "Metal 2"

If I'm understanding it correctly, Metal 2 is not a separate API and should still be able to run on any Metal supported GPU.

So, in theory, future adoption of Metal 2 shouldn't be a problem for cheese graters that have a metal compatible GPU?

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by KV626

Also, if you want a boot screen then you either want the "Apple card" (which is the 7950 - ridiculously pricey unless you find a good deal on ebay or something) or a flashed "PC" card. Otherwise you won't see a picture until the login screen/desktop appears.

This is going to seem like a stupid question but I need some clarification. When you say 'no picture' what exactly does that mean? When I start my 2012 cheesegrater with Samsung monitor the screen sometimes stays blank (black) after the pong sound and about 15 seconds later I get a usable desktop. Other times after getting the pong sound I'll get a grey screen and a loading progress bar and again 15 seconds after the pong I have a usable desktop. HD5770 video card. I'm okay with not seeing anything until I have a usable desktop.

I should add that until the monitor sees the video card it cycles through the various connections so the various options flash up on the screen in the upper left corner.

[jsbach]

Originally Posted by KV626

The best (i.e cheapest) option for the 2010/2012 Mac Pros is AMD 7950 or 7970. I'll get one fo those for mine.

When you say AMD 7950 or 7970, you mean the HD versions, correct?

I see there is an AMD 7970 GHz Edition in addition to the AMD HD 7970.

Is the GHz Edition unnecessary? Would it add any particular benefit other than a little more speed?

Thanks again for all of your help!