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12core MacPro or Red Rocket card? Opinions please . . .
So I’m currently running Resolve on a 2008 MacPro, which is the bottom of the Davinci-approved MacPro line. For uncompressed 1080, it delivers plenty of nodes at 24fps. I’ve ordered the Cubix Desktop 4 expansion chassis and a second Quadro 4000 for additional GPU muscle. As I am grading more Red Epic material, I am torn between purchasing a 12core MacPro for CPU debayering or a Red Rocket card. I would love to have both, but if You had to choose between one or the other, which would you choose to get the best overall debayering performance at 1/2 res good? My delivery requirements are generally 1080 and I don’t mind monitoring 8bit at 1/2 res good. Thanks for your valuable input!
Perry Trest
POSTDIGITAL, Inc.MacPro 8-core 2.8Ghz
8GB RAM
Slot 1 = GT120
Slot 2 = Quadro 4000
Slot 3 = DeckLink SDI
Slot 4 = Nitris DX
Internal 6TB 4-Drive software RAID-0
Tangent Wave -
5 Replies
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Two things:
1. Forget the 12 core. Its the GPU/CUDA core count that is important, which brings us to —
2. Forget the QuadroFX4000, its the lamest nVidia card you can buy for Resolve.Get one of MacVidCards flashed 480s, and specify that its for a Cubix outboard installation.
Do not install slower cards in the Xpander, as the PCIe lanes run at the weakest-link speed.
jPo
You mean “Old Ben”? Ben Kenobi?
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I would agree with JP on the 4000. I run 3 480’s and a RR in my cubix. It works fantastic although I don’t really see a difference between 2 480’s and 3. In a Cubix because of the extra power required I think think bang of the buck the 480’s are the best solution right now (we can pray Dave a MacVid cards figures out the 580s/590s)
You’re right though with out the RR debayering is done on the CPU’s so they more the merrier. I will say that even with the Rocket I have I can’t get consistent Epic playback in realtime if I go higher that half rez good.
Robbie Carman
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Colorist and Author
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I have a 12-core 2.93GHz Mac Pro with 24 gig of RAM and do not use a Red Rocket card, and I get very reliable playback on 1/2 Res good on 4K and 4.5K footage in 1080p or 2K, but a few caveats: I use Ultrascopes, but if you have to use DaVinci’s scopes, they will put more demands on the CPU. Also, I believe that the bezier curves when you create a power curve require CPU computation, and so power curves can slow you down.
And I never was able to get 1/2 res good with Epic 5K footage, and 1/4 res good not doing the trick for me. I’m currently planning on borrowing a rocket card or pre-rendering to DPX when I deal with Epic, at least until I can see how a 16-core Mac Pro would perform…
KC
Prehistoric Digital
PhD Grading Suite -
Thank you gentlemen.
So are you guys saying that I should forget the 12core and Red Rocket, and concentrate on GPUs for Red debayering? I was under the impression that the GPUs don’t assist with debayering Red raw files.Perry Trest
POSTDIGITAL, Inc.MacPro 8-core 2.8Ghz
8GB RAM
Slot 1 = GT120
Slot 2 = Cubix PCi exp.
Slot 3 = DeckLink SDI
Slot 4 = Nitris DX
Internal 6TB 4-Drive software RAID-0
Tangent WaveCubix Desktop4 = Quadro 4000 x 2 + ATTO dual 320 SCSI
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[Perry Trest] ” I was under the impression that the GPUs don’t assist with debayering Red raw files.”
That’s correct. But if you’re doing color correction, GPUs are more important as most Correctors ignore the CPUs.
In any event, I’m still not convinced that a 12-core is much of an advantage over 8, and whether 16s ever come to the market is crystal-ball gazing.
jPo
You mean “Old Ben”? Ben Kenobi?
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