Mac Pro 2,1 Working incredible well with Resolve 8.0 GTX285,GT120 combo

[Matt Ryan]

I don’t own that Mac pro anymore and I’m still looking for the screen grabs from that setup.

What version of Resolve are you running? If your only using Lite I’m not sure if the second card gt120 is being used.

[Matt Ryan]

These are the only grabs I have left of my previous system. Wish I had one of the Source settings tab…
This timeline is Red R3D files in 4KHD running in the 1080p timeline.

[David Steiner]

We bought the GT120+GTX285 from macvidcards for a 3,1 2008 Mac Pro.

I get realtime performance on Resolve 8.2:
– in 2D, almost all the time except with noise reduction or image resize
– turning on monitoring with the Intensity Pro seems to break the realtime except I set it to 8 bit and use Desktop Video 8.6 (unconfirmed, not to check more)

but with Stereo 3D, it’s NEVER realtime – even with small 35mbps XDCAM EX wrapped in QT mov files. as soon as I check “display both eyes for 3D”, realtime breaks.

anyone managed to get realtime perf in S3D in Resolve 8.2 on a Mac Pro?

I’m not sure GPU is the limiting factor but it seems logical. Would it be possible to install 2 GTX 285 on a 2008 Mac Pro?

D.

[Paul Golden]

In my attempt to build a system that can run DaVinci Resolve and FCPX, I just tried a change that led to mixed results. (I know that the 2,1 is not a “supported” machine due to its PCI 1.0 setup and 32bit EFI)

Machine: MacPro 2,1
RAM: 24gb
Storage: 6tb CalDigit Raid 0 (Slot 4 8X) (350-400mb playback)
Graphics: Nvidia GT120 for GUI (Slot 2 1X)
Graphics 2: GTX285 for GPU (Slot 1 16X)
Video: Black Magic StudioLink SDI (Slot 3 1X)

Before the DaVinci experiment, I had a Radeon 4870 as my only graphics card. FCP X played flawlessly at speed. So did FCP 7 and Premiere

After swapping out the 4870 for the 2 Nvidia cards, here’s what happened:

1) FCPX is really choppy and now playing back at about 8 – 10 FPS on both my main screen and my external AV monitor. (This performance is a deal-breaker for the the 120)

2) FCP7 plays fine on the main screen and through the AV Monitor

3) Premiere plays choppy on the main screen but fine through the AV Monitor.

4) Resolve plays choppy on both the GUI screen and AV Monitor (which might be OK compared to working in an NLE)

So here’s what I want to know: Is the unacceptable FCP X performance from the GT120 related to:

1) being a crappy, low-spec card?,
2) being in a 1X slot (it’s hard to put it in a faster slot because of the CalDigit card)?
3) being in a 2,1 MacPro?
4) all of the above?

Has anyone had acceptable FCPX performance from a GT120 on any MacPro (of the same or higher spec)?

Is there another setup that lets me use a Radeon Card for the GUI, an NVIDIA card for GPU and doesn’t use more than 2 power slots AND will work in my 2,1 beater?

Any thoughts?

[Tony Van mellaert]

I have resolve 9.1 playing realtime Prores 1080 on my Mac Pro 2.1
with this config:
slot 1 x16 : GTX570
slot 3 x4 : GT120

The problem is when I add my Decklink card to slot 4 (x4)
playback in resolve drops to 7fps…

Any ideas on how to fix it?
Could it be it takes too much power?

[Rohit Gupta]

Try enabling the optimized playback in the video monitoring section.

[Tony Van mellaert]

With optimized playback I get 16 fps but that’s nowhere near the perfect realtime I get without the decklink installed…

update: when I move the decklink to slot 2 (x1) I get realtime playback but the image on the monitor is part green…

Then I used Expansion slot utility to change to

slot 1 x8 (GTX570)
slot 2 x8 (decklink)
slot 3 x4 (gt120)

The image on the monitor is perfect now but playback speed is 12fps.

It must be all about PCI speed, that’s the only thing I can think of…
Any idea’s anyone?

[Guillaume Cottin]

Hi everyone,

I also have a Mac Pro 2,1 with 16GB ram and an Nvidia 8800GT. I work on OSX 10.6.8 to ensure compatibility with Final Cut Pro 7, and use Resolve 9.

I am very interested in the GT120 + GTX 285 GPU solution for Resolve. How fast is it ?

Could someone explain how it works exactly ? Do you just put the cards in the right slots and it works ?
I know the first card, the EFI32 GT120, is only used to have the other card (GTX285 -or any other ??) EFI64 card work…

Does the more powerful card have to be in a slower slot ?
Is there any specific software to use to make it work ?
Is it still possible to expand with a Cubix PCI-E expansion box with this configuration ?

Sorry for asking so many questions at the same time!! 🙂

Cheers,

[Guillaume Cottin]

Oh and : Can I use my standard GeForce 8800GT as a helper card instead of the (apparently less powerful) GT120 ?