• Apple OS X

  GPU required for Mac Pro 4,1 running OS X 10.6.8 and Premier Pro CS6

  Posted by Quinn Pfitzner on December 28, 2015 at 9:49 am

  I am trying to tweak my system (early 2009 mac pro) for a large edit job – a feature documentary shot on Red One. I am stuck running OS X 10.6.8 due to compatibility with my fibre channel raid. So I have chosen to edit with Premier Pro CS6 as it natively edits R3D files and is the newest software that can run under OS X 10.6.8.

  My system is full with a Red Rocket card, Blackmagic Decklink card and a Fibre channel raid controller card so I am trying to find the best single graphics card option for my system while editing with Premier Pro.

  I am looking at a NVIDIA Quadro 4000 for Mac to replace my original ATI Radeon HD 4870. I am hoping to get a good performance boost due to the higher ram and CUDA compatibility.

  I know there are far superior GPUs out there for my system, but due to being limited to OS X 10.6.8 is this my best option? or is there something else out there I should consider?

  Thank you in advance for any knowledge that you pass on to me.

  John Rofrano replied 10 years, 6 months ago 2 Members · 1 Reply
• 1 Reply

• 

  John Rofrano

  December 29, 2015 at 5:55 pm

  [Quinn Pfitzner] “I know there are far superior GPUs out there for my system, but due to being limited to OS X 10.6.8 is this my best option? or is there something else out there I should consider?”

  The other option I would consider is the ATI Radeon HD 5870 which is fully supported under OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard as well. This was the most powerful card offered as an option by Apple at the time and is what I have in my 2008 Mac Pro w/Snow Leopard. That card is slightly better than the Quadro 4000 in performance and it’s a lot cheaper.

  One thing to consider is that the Mercury Playback Engine in Premiere uses CUDA acceleration and ATI doesn’t support CUDA. The rest of the Adobe apps are OpenGL so the lack of CUDA support shouldn’t be a problem. That is the only catch to using the ATI card vs any NVIDIA card with Adobe CS6.

  Here is an article I found that compared the two and confirms that the ATI Radeon HD 5870 is more powerful than the Quadro 4000:
  The Clash of the Titans in Motion: ATI 5870 vs Quadro 4000

  I owned a Quadro 4000 and IMHO, it is overkill for video editing. I wouldn’t buy one again. I’m sure it’s great for 3D and CAD but it offers little functionality for video editors and you pay a premium price for features you’re not even using.

  I would ask in the Adobe Premiere Pro forum about the Quadro 4000 vs the Radeon HD 5870 and see what people think.

  ~jr

  http://www.johnrofrano.com
  http://www.vasst.com

Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up