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Mac Pros or HP Workstations working with 4K Davinci Resolve
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HP and Apple use those same processors. The CPU’s are the same whether you get them in a Apple, HP, Dell or other system configurator or e-tailer. The is nothing different to Xeons over I7 CPU’s that allow for any “any heavier lifting” than the I7 or workstation chips. The Xeons only have specific firmware for security and Server operations. Beyond that the CPU’s are the same and zero difference. You can also install those exact same Xeons in many X79 boards if you want. I personally run a 2697 V2 12 Core in an x79 board. That has even better performance than the equivalent Apple due to the hardware options available on the PC including NVidia cards which work better with Davinci currently. No amount of testing or benchmarks will show any performance or reliability advantage with Tier 1 oems versus other hardware.
I would not expect HP or Apple to know what you need or what works best with those applications either. Their support wont cover those applications and their functionality either. It ends at the hardware. There are other system configurators that do use standard hardware that can be upgraded with any standard hardware available online or at retail. Those configurators often know far better what hardware you need and support far more than just the hardware. Keep that in mind before you assume the Tier 1 oems are the only viable option.
BTW The Tier 1 oems purchase hardware from the same companies you find available in the channel/retail. They may have certain OEM done but the majority is industry wide hardware available in retail.
Eric-ADK
Tech Manager
support@adkvideoediting.com -
I would like to add that I failed at getting a Mac Pro 2012 setup going with Resolve 10. Specs are:
Mac Pro 2.66/6-Core/32GB RAM/10.9.3
– Quadro 4000 GUI
– CUBIX 16X host card
– BMD DeckLink Extreme
– ATTO R680 (GRAID eS Pro 12TB)CUBIX GPU -XPANDER
– Quadro 4000
– Quadro 4000
– Quadro 4000
– RED ROCKETResolve 10.1.5
Created a 4K Ultra HD config setup.
I am getting about 21fps (no extra nodes) with RED ROCKET on and 19.5fps without.
Use Display GPU For Compute off.This was my last kick at the can for the Mac Pro at work.
They have been replaced by the new Mac Pro’s and it looks like the CUBIX is not supported in Resolve 11 (I could be wrong). -
[EricBowen] “The is nothing different to Xeons over I7 CPU’s that allow for any “any heavier lifting” than the I7 or workstation chips. The Xeons only have specific firmware for security and Server operations. Beyond that the CPU’s are the same and zero difference”
There is a difference between the processors you listed and the ones used by Apple, HP, Dell, etc in their more expensive computers. Besides server class processors, you have more L3 cache on the Xeon’s, QPI hooks to replace the front side bus, ability to address more system RAM, ability to address ECC memory-types, etc.
I’m not saying you can’t use the i7 consumer-grade processors to do 4K work. You could. What I am saying is there is a difference between what processor you listed and what Apple, HP, etc spec in their high-end workstations. There is a reason for the price tag associated with those computers. The processors are different and are capable of faster access to data provided the computer is built to take advantage of that…and that is what I mean by “heavy lifting.”
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost -
I wasn’t referring to the spec differences of the CPU such as cores, GHz, cache and such. I was referring to the actual architecture of Xeon versus I7. What you mention beyond that are simply platform differences between desktop and workstation/server platforms. Both the Server ie Xeon platforms and the workstation ie socket 2011 platform have QPI. There is no difference there. The Server platform has a QPI bus between the 2 CPU’s for syncing data between then. Beyond that they both use the QPI instead of the front side bus. The Cache in the CPU’s is dependent on the cores. The more cores, the greater the cache since the cores need cache to run optimally and they share. A 6 Core CPU doesn’t require 25 Meg cache. However a 8 or 10 core will. The 12 core has 30 meg cache and Apple, HP, Dell, and all other system configurators use the same 12 core Xeons. Incase you didn’t know Apple uses the 1600 series V2 Xeons which are the same as the 2600 Xeons other than they don’t support more than 1 chip on a board. Other than that it’s the same Xeon.
ECC ram has zero bearing on performance or reliability with media applications. ECC is meant for server operations that have an operational time of 24/7 365. It has zero bearing on media applications so I am not sure why you bring it up. Yes the Server chips support more then 64GB of ram but most don’t need more than that. If the editor does then a Dual Xeon system whether from HP, Dell, or custom configurator all have the same ram options available. Once again T1’s have no advantage there. They are using the same core hardware. All are using the same Intel chips if their Xeons. All are using the same desktop or mobile chips if their those. Intel doesn’t ship special CPU’s to anyone.
As to performance, the higher clock speeds available for the workstation chips are outperforming the greater cores of the Xeon chips with GPU acceleration for most codecs. Once the system has the ideal cpu threads for decoding the data then GHz becomes far more important than extra cores or cache. You can reference benchmarks I posted here reflecting that has not changed for example with Adobe CC 2014.
Eric-ADK
Tech Manager
support@adkvideoediting.com -
Just like to add that the CUBIX XPANDER does not work with any Thunderbolt enclosure to date.
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Eric,
The Xpander you have is operating at data transfer speeds of 80Gbps bi-directional. A Thunderbolt 2 port is only capable of operating at 20Gbps bi-directional. Neither Intel or Apple currently support discrete graphics cards residing in an external PCIe slot expansion chassis connected to the host via Thunderbolt.
Cubix had planned to release its own line of Xpanders using Intel Thunderbolt 2 technology during the late June timeframe. Due to a variety of factors, not the least of which is the current lack of Intel and Apple support for discrete GPUs hosted in an external slot expansion chassis or the 20Gbps data transfer speed limitation, Cubix has opted to focus its development efforts on its new PCIe Gen3 x16 (128Gbps data transfer rate) Xpander models plus its HostEngine dual Xeon-based workstations.
Eric Fiegehen
Director, Visualization & GPU Compute Solutions
Cubix Corporation
ericc@cubix.com
https://www.cubix.com
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