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Activity Forums DaVinci Resolve Advice on Mac Pro build for Resolve Lite

  • Advice on Mac Pro build for Resolve Lite

    Posted by Jeremy Belzer-adams on April 6, 2012 at 9:10 pm

    I’d like to turn one of my Mac Pro machines into a Resolve workstation.

    Its a 2008 3,1 2x 3Ghz Quad-core machine. This will mainly be for 1920×1080 ProRes 422 jobs. No 4k or 5k work.

    Currently it’s configured like this:

    Slot 1: Nvidia 8800 GT
    Slot 2: Kona 3
    Slot 3: Empty
    Slot 4: Atto Celerity FC-41ES

    This is how I plan to set it up for Resolve:

    Slot 1: Nvidia 8800GT (GUI)
    Slot 2: Nvidia Quadro 4000 (GPU)
    Slot 3: Black Magic DeckLink Duo
    Slot 4: Atto Celerity FC-41ES

    I’m a little confused about the DeckLink compatibility. I see people mention that you can use the $300 Black Magic i/o card for resolve, but the official config only lists the Decklink HD Extreme as compatible. Can anyone confirm that the DeckLink duo will work?

    Also, does anyone think that Black Magic might announce AJA support at NAB? I’d prefer not to buy a new I/O card if I can avoid it.

    Anyone see any problems with this setup for Lion?

    Joseph Owens replied 14 years, 2 months ago 5 Members · 10 Replies
  • 10 Replies
  • Juan Salvo

    April 6, 2012 at 9:12 pm

    Yes all decklink cards work. Save $ and get way beter performance with GTX580.

    Highly unlikely AJA support will be announce. Better to wait two weeks incase something amazing happens anayway… you never know.

  • Jeremy Belzer-adams

    April 6, 2012 at 9:21 pm

    Thanks!

    The GTX 580 will work with the Mac without being flashed? Does this have to do with the new driver just released for Lion?

    If so, if I boot my machine into 10.5 or 10.6 (lots of boot drives) will the GTX 580 in slot two give me any issues?

  • Juan Salvo

    April 6, 2012 at 9:32 pm

    Yes it has to do with the new drivers.

    No having it there won’t give you issues… but it won’t work either.

  • Jeremy Belzer-adams

    April 6, 2012 at 10:55 pm

    Thanks, again! It sounds like there may be power supply issues with using both the 8800 GT and the GTX580, do you know what people are doing to bypass that?

  • Juan Salvo

    April 6, 2012 at 11:10 pm

    I’m using gt120 and gtx580 no problems. Don’t know about 8800. Perhaps gtx470?

  • Knut Jansohn

    April 7, 2012 at 8:14 am

    If you don’t want to tinker: gtx570 is plug and play (two 6-pin powerplugs). It tops the 470 and is not much slower than gtx580.
    But take care about the dimensions, there are versions which surmount 2 pci-slots because of their cooling-design.

  • Joseph Owens

    April 7, 2012 at 10:41 pm

    as far as power supply goes, I have seen some instals that “split” the motherboard feeds. Whether this stresses the on-board resource, I have no idea. This is a strategy emplyed by gamers, usually, so they can run multiple screens for wrap-around simulators.

    jPo

    You mean “Old Ben”? Ben Kenobi?

  • Juan Salvo

    April 7, 2012 at 11:17 pm

    How can you split the mother board feed on a mac? Older MacPros have 4pin molex for the DVD caddies… you can pull those down and then pull power from that.

  • Javier Sanchez

    April 8, 2012 at 4:48 pm

    Well i have a Ati 5870 on a split cable and a nvidia 4000 both powered by the mac and no problem seen…
    Resolve work well, how ever i have Pfclean too and it has slow down since i have plug the nvidia 4000…

    How do i measure the power stress on?
    What do you think, both fans work on the cards… those power cords are just for the fans right?

  • Joseph Owens

    April 10, 2012 at 4:02 pm

    Either an external ammeter or perhaps there is an internal power-draw window in the MacPro diagnostics.

    Its the same as loading up an “octopus” multi-plug wall outlet. Eventually you overdraw the breaker box and your house burns down.

    jPo

    You mean “Old Ben”? Ben Kenobi?

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