[Christian Schumacher]

[David Eaks] “The Sapphire Radeon 7950? From reading other threads it does seem like it would be the best for FCP X in Legacy Mac Pros. Any particular real-world FCPX comparisons with this card that I should check out? Wondering if it’s cost to benefit ratio will be worth it for me.”

If one has a FCPX-MOTION workflow – and also has a working MacPro – the AMD 7950 should be the best bet for future pro apps updates.
I’m not sure if is good only for the 4,1 and 5,1 though, but there’s the 5770 and 5870 for those older machines (or Q4000, or even PC cards )
Given the complete Mac line boosting dual GPUs now and Mavericks reportedly enhancing graphics capabilities, FCPX should eat VRAM too.

[David Eaks] “My thoughts exactly. I plan to keep it around for some time, easing the transition to the new Mac Pro and all of its extra costs of Thunderbolt devices and adapters.
“

I bet there’s a lot of people going that route. This isn’t an overnight switch like software can be.

[Christian Schumacher]

[David Eaks] “I’d be I really interested in hearing anyone’s thoughts on any of the upgrades listed above.
“

The nVidia / FCPX article is old, I’m guessing things now are more inclined to AMD, with the new Mac Pro and the recently released AMD 3Gb offering that you also linked to. So, regarding FCPX-Motion performance, anybody with a MacPro capable of upgrading should have it as the best choice for now. The truth is the Mac Pro in its current form is still viable for running standartized components such as PCIe SSd, GPU cards and general expansion. There’s has been lot’s of options in the market for the Mac Pro which is not surprising since the latest model is being sold worldwide for three years already, except for the EU recently.

But it was a great post, very useful for the swarms of people wanting to upgrade their existing Mac Pros that surely will pop in more often, from now on.
It takes only a very light knowledge to do these simple operations as it isn’t only easy to do as it is to find info about it spread all over the web.
And before anyone yells -Get an Imac instead! Riddle me this: Had these folks previously bought a 2010 Mac Pro and a 2010 iMac for instance…
-How would these two machines perform today? Fairly different, I’d say, even if we don’t consider the upgrade ability. So, unless you’re keen on
entering a fast paced two year upgrade cycle, don’t ever hop on the iMac bandwagon. And here’s hoping that the new Mac Pro doesn’t go the same way.

[Christian Schumacher]

Thanks for the amazing summary, Walter.

[Christian Schumacher]

There’s also the plethora of cards for PC, lot’s of options now ironically.
But that’s if you stay OS updated, drivers are native since late ML.

Like here from nVidia:

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1440150

And if you want to get a powerful one, simply use this to provide power.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104054

[Christian Schumacher]

[Jeremy Garchow] ”
What about fcp?”

Those are exactly the scenarios I’m trying to come up with, thank you for chiming in Jeremy. Although the studio I’m looking for to update is 90% Adobe CS, they still use some legacy and so I’m also curious if FCP 7 can run without issues with dual GPUs (Color has problems but they are “resolved” already). But my overall concern is current Mac software and current GPU hardware on “legacy” hardware. I believe that If one is dealing with MacPros in a post production workflow, there’s a lot of options today for upgrading the current Apple workstation. Since the new updates of its OS, Apple has unlocked several video cards that only could run on Windows before. And last year, both AMD and nVidia have released Mac editions of theirs products, offering for example 3GB and 4 GB VRAM options. You can have high-end Quadros 5000 that one can run two of them in tandem in a Mac Pro without any additional power. Or you could set up a smaller and a bigger one ( or a single huge one) and then use a slick power unit housed in the optical bay that costs just 90 dollars. The optical bay is also such an easy location for placing one or two SSDs. All the cabling is already there. And you know this new Mac Pro and its PCI SSD? There’s PCI SSD for current Mac Pros too. These are optimal solutions for speeding up your MacPro that also save space for your HDD bays.

[Christian Schumacher]

Yes, users who run multiple cards need that. Or even for a couple of powerful ones, sure.
Anything is valid depending on how long you need to wait to switch your systems.
But I am talking about running two (Dual=2) PCI 2.0 16X cards (single 6 pin each).

https://www.gizmag.com/nvidia-quadro-k5000-mac-pro/24045/

https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/3/930857

As far as I know, we have so far the ATI 5770 and both Quadros 4000/5000.
And people have been also mixing eg. 5770 and Q4000. So there’s that…
Moreover, I’m interested in the software implications of dual GPU support (being Open CL or CUDA)

Thanks for the reply.

[Christian Schumacher]

Then one has to factor in the new ThB IOs, external HDDs, that surely will add up!
Truth is MacPros (and iMacs and PCs) are going to go along with the new MacPro in this ride.
But I’m hopeful this new development could bring some needed benefits to other macs too.
Apple should be praised for their fresh investing on creative power, despite their often disruptive manners.
So they have the MacPro painted in black for a reason, that’s due to a monstrous money black hole…
Wait until you see the special translucent Apple’s HQ edition! 😉

[Christian Schumacher]

Here’s some tricks for Mac OS’ Preview App.

You can open Ai files and using the text select tool you can pick each vector element and copy and paste them. And when opening Psd files you can save it back to the Psd format too. Preview can save your bacon in very simple manipulations as they cover a lot of ground for most editor’s needs.

[Christian Schumacher]

[Dan Stewart] “it’s hard to get all jingo-mental..”

Give the Bay Area guys a break, they’re mourning Slayer’s great Jeff Hanneman! RIP

[Christian Schumacher]

There’s also an option of buying After Effects only…It’s a terrific video design package right there! For what? 240 one year? Not bad. You get the cloud add-ons. You can have it loaded on two machines at the same time and it’s even OS agnostic! AE also works as a conduit. You open PSDs, Ais and even Premiere projects! You get to import/export in a myriad of choices, FCP 7 and AVID support included. And I strongly believe that this will get even much better from now on, they only can improve their collaboration. Yeah, I know Ae crashes on CMYK 😉 but there’s this: https://www.cmyk2rgb.com/