Mac Pro 4.1 and 5.1 GPU Upgrade for Mojave (Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX580)

Learn how to upgrade your Mac Pro with a fast GPU for video editing, gaming, and Mojave.
Part 1a - Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX580 on Amazon ➜ http://geni.us/rX6mx
Part 1b - Unboxing ➜ (3:57min)
Part 2a - Install & Cabling ➜ (6:23min)
Part 2b - Fan Behavior ➜ (10:43min)
Part 3a - Performance - iMovie ➜ (11:49min)
Part 3b - Performance - Geekbench ➜ (18:06min)
Part 3c - Performance - Gaming ➜ (19:29min)
Part 3d - Performance - Power Draw ➜ (20:30min)
Part 4 - Summary ➜ (23:46min)

Tutorial Series # Old Mac Pro - Still Worth It?
Part 0 - Introduction ➜    • Apple Mac Pro 4.1 in 2018 - Still Wor...  
Part 1 - Bluetooth ➜    • How to Fix Apple Mac Pro Bluetooth is...  
Part 2 - High Sierra ➜    • How to install High Sierra on Apple M...  
Part 3 - SATAIII SSD ➜    • Mac Pro 4.1 SATA III SSD Upgrade (OWC...  
Part 4 - Radeon RX560 ➜    • GPU Upgrade for Early 2009 Mac Pro (R...  
Part 5 - Memory ➜    • Memory Upgrade Guide for Early 2009 M...  
Part 6 - CPU ➜    • Apple Mac Pro 4.1 CPU Upgrade Guide |...  
Part 7 - macOS Mojave ➜    • macOS Mojave on old unsupported 2009 ...  
Part 8 - Radeon RX580 ➜    • Mac Pro 4.1 and 5.1 GPU Upgrade for M...  
Part 9 - NVMe SSD ➜    • Mac Pro 4.1 and 5.1 Bootable NVMe SSD...  
Part 10 - Fan Replacement ➜    • Mac Pro 4.1 and 5.1 Fan Replacement w...  
NEW *Part 11 - USB 3.0 Upgrade ➜    • Mac Pro 4.1 and 5.1 USB 3.0 Upgrade S...  
NEW *Part 12 - NVMe Raid Card ➜    • Mac Pro 4.1, 5.1 and 7.1 NVMe Raid Ca...  

More and more people want a fast graphics card for their early-2009 or mid-2010 Mac Pro, especially because the new macOS Mojave requires a metal compatible GPU to be installed.

When I bought my used Mac Pro 4.1 last year I put in the smaller RX560 with 2GB of video memory, however, I found that as my video projects grew in size this was too small.

I noticed that iMovie would constantly read data from my SSD and move it into the GPU memory, only to dump it out shortly afterward to load in another part of my project.

While everything worked fine I wanted to reduce unnecessary read/write operations, making my video editing experience as fast a possible.

My testing shows that there is a nice improvement with this video card upgrade, partly because of the larger memory, but also because of the faster processor, and I assume the difference in lane width.

While the old RX560 was only a 6x lane card with a 128-bit memory bus, the faster RX580 is a 16x lane card with a 256-bit memory bus.

In my opinion, there is no "one best graphics card" for the Mac Pro, but rather it depends on your goal.

For example, many users can also be happy with an RX560, because it costs less and draws less power.

If on the other hand, you plan more demeaning tasks, such as regular video editing, or gaming, a more powerful RX580 or even a Vega card will be better.

You should also pay special attention to your video cards power requirements, and select the right GPU power cable.

Case A: Use the "mini 6pin to 6pin" for a total of 150 watts available ➜ https://geni.us/gBZvb
Case B: Use the "dual mini 6pin to 8pin" for a total of 225 watts ➜ https://geni.us/5ozmi

Case A - Low Power Cards ###
• Sapphire Pulse RX560 (11267-20) = 75 Watt ➜ http://geni.us/496emt
• MSI Aero RX560 (ITX OC) = 60 Watt ➜ http://geni.us/5V0VD3

Case B - High Power Cards ###
• Sapphire Special Edition RX580 (11265-21) = 250 Watt*
• Sapphire Nitro+ RX580 (11265-01) = 235 Watt*
• Sapphire Pulse RX580 (11265-05) = 225 Watt ➜ http://geni.us/rX6mx

*Always go to your card manufactures website, and use the exact model number (SKU) to identify the power draw. Because even if the card has the same chip, power draw can sometimes vary due to the card's memory, and or chip clock speed.

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// This video does not include product placement. I got the product myself. //