[Rod W.]

So I decided to get the best Nvidia card I could, and upgrade the MacPro 5.1 machine. I got the GTX 980 and the latest web driver, and CUDA drivers. It shows up in Premiere Pro 2017 and allows me to select the “GPU based CUDA” acceleration in the project settings. But I don’t see any speed increase when rendering previews. The fan on the card doesn’t kick in at all during render. Speed boost is mimimal if any compared to a “software only” render, a few minutes on a 45 minute render of an 8 minute video (with color correction and Unsharp Mask on the clips). I notice on Adobe’s website the 980 is not listed as an “approved” card, and most of the model numbers have an M on the end…doesn’t that mean a mobile/laptop version of the card? And now some of the cards that were previously approved (we have a Quadro 4000) are not.

What’s the secret combination of Mac OS and Nvidia Card/drivers to get good CUDA performance from a current version of Premiere Pro and 5.1 Mac Pro? And given that the next version of Premiere might drop support for a few more Mac Nvidia cards, how long will this combo be viable? Beginning to think a new iMac might have been the better choice…

Thanks,

Rod

[Rod W.]

Thanks everyone for the advice.

It sounds like for the older machines a key component is the Nvidia card. Which card, where to get it, and what about the issue of drivers? It doesn’t seem like they are readily available, is it necessary to resort to eBay?

Thanks,

Rod

Rod W.
Kiel Pro Video