Mac GPU Recommendations - Best Bang for Buck?

[WMK]

Hi,

I was informed by RedGiant that in order to use their DeNoiser iii plugin on 4K footage, I'd have to upgrade my

Mac to a GPU with 4GB of VRAM.

I'd appreciate any recommendations for great bang-for-buck options for my 2010 Mac Pro [specs below].

Thanks,

Wayne

8 Core Mac Pro [2010],
32GB RAM, NVIDIA 4000 CUDA Card

OSX 10.10.5 (14F27)

Premiere Pro: 2017.0.1

[Peru Bob]

[Moved to the Hardware Forum]

[RoninEdits]

i think the new nvidia gtx 1000 series cards currently do not work under mac OS, so the newest you can use is the nvidia gtx 900 series with nvidia web drivers. a gtx 960 4gb model is decent card you might find for under $200, a gtx 970 or 980 are more powerful options. the gtx 900's may be hard to find for a decent price new, as they have been replace with next gen models. so you might have to look look around to find a new one at a decent price or consider buying a used card. depending on the prices you find, a gtx 970 might be the best value for performance.

these gtx 900 series cards are made for pc, but should still work with a mac. they will loose the boot screen, but you can swap out video cards to get access to the boot menu if needed or look at getting a flashed gtx card. MacVidCards.com​   you also need to be aware or the power connectors to the video card, like 6 pin vs 8 pin and even up to 2x 8pin. there are some adapters that will convert 2x 6pin to 1- 8pin. if the power supply in your mac pro cannot supply enough power to the system and video card, it will cause problems.

[WMK]

Thanks Ronin,

I appreciate the detailed information.

I'm not comfortable using PC cards inside my Mac that I have to connect with adapters or flash.

What are the recommended native [2010] MAC Pro GPU's? It's not easy to find this information online.

Thanks in advance,

Wayne

[RoninEdits · Accepted solution]

the adapters are for the power cables, which is only needed for some cards. every powerful video card will need power cables so if you aren't comfortable with that you would have to take the computer to a shop to have them insert the card into the tower...

mac cards are limited to what you can find on ebay etc, they are no longer being manufactured. there are several old mac video cards, but the quadro k5000 and gtx 680 mac versions are the only ones i'm aware of having 4gb. the quadro k5000 is likely to be more expensive as its a quadro, but its alot slower than the gtx 680. the gtx 680 4gb version is close to the gtx 960 for performance, but uses alot more watts.

[WMK]

Ah, now I understand -- thanks so much for taking the time to explain and provide excellent information.

W.