Resolve 8.0 Configuration options

[Eric Fiegehen]

Hi Kevin,

I just contacted BMD about your question regarding the GPU-Xpander Desktop 2, and we should hear back from them shortly.

Eric Fiegehen
Director, Visualization & GPU Compute Solutions
Cubix Corporation
ericc@cubix.com
https://www.cubixgpu.com

[Eric Fiegehen]

Kevin – DaVinci has assured me that GPU-Xpander Desktop 2 is still part of the certified list of 3rd party hardware components for Resolve.

Cubix part numbers to reference with your DaVinci Resolve dealers (most of whom carry or sell GPU-Xpanders) for Desktop 2 are XPDT-X16-24-OSV (No. America) and XPDT-X16-24-INT (International). GPU-Xpander Desktop 4 part no’s are XPDT-X16-4QF-OSV (No. America) and XPDT-X16-4QF-INT (International)

Eric Fiegehen
Cubix

[Kevin Cannon]

Thanks Erik,

Good to know, you should encourage them to correct that in the configuration guide!

KC

prehistoricdigital.com
hardworkingpixels.com

[Kevin Cannon]

Sorry, Eric…

prehistoricdigital.com
hardworkingpixels.com

[Eric Fiegehen]

LOL – Yes, Peter C at DaVinci has already told me that he will amend this information in the next couple of weeks.

Eric F

[Adam Hendershot]

[Eric Fiegehen] “Cubix part numbers to reference with your DaVinci Resolve dealers (most of whom carry or sell GPU-Xpanders) for Desktop 2 are XPDT-X16-24-OSV (No. America) and XPDT-X16-24-INT (International). GPU-Xpander Desktop 4 part no’s are XPDT-X16-4QF-OSV (No. America) and XPDT-X16-4QF-INT (International)”

Does a 2 GPU Desktop 2 offer the same performance as the same exact GPUs in a Desktop 4?

I guess what I’m asking is: where does the 40Gbps limitation of the Desktop 2 really factor in? Also, so you still see a benefit from 3 GPUs as opposed to 2 or are you already bottlenecked?

[Eric Fiegehen]

The answer to your question will depend upon the processes in use, the resolutions you’re trying to support, and the types of PCIe cards you’re loading into the GPU-Xpander. For instance, a RED Rocket has an 8-channel interface (feel free to correct me if I’m wrong on this), so that card’s bus signals will never saturate a x16 PCIe bus.

However, even PCIe x16 cards, like Quadro 4000 for Mac, will not be hitting the bus at 100% GPU capacity all of the time. What Cubix has typically seen with most CUDA applications is that loading the executable on to the GPUs located across the data link in the Xpander is what saturates the bus in most instances, but once loaded on to the GPUs the PCIe bus traffic decreases significantly. Mental Images iray or Bunkspeed SHOT are perfect examples of this type of situation.

I won’t try to speculate on the subject with Resolve 8, since there could be processes in the new features which may require sustained GPU-CPU interaction, and DaVinci can best answer this question within the context of using GPU-Xpander. They’ve tested many more Resolve configurations with 3rd party I/O adapters in their GPU-Xpander test units than Cubix Engineering does with their Resolve-configured support units.

To answer your first question, my recommendation to customers has usually been to go with Desktop 4 if you’ve got any plans to go beyond 1-2 Quadro 4000 for Mac cards. However, check first with DaVinci about the new GPU-accelerated features in Resolve 8 (like Noise Reduction), which may benefit from using Desktop 4 even if you’re not going to use more than 1-2 Quadro 4000 cards.

Apologies if the answer seemed a bit long-winded.

Eric