what are the better choices of AMD GPU's for PP / CC on an 8 core macro?

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david_p

Veteran
i realize that the GTX680 is probably the better choice but I'm looking at a few cheaper cards for an 8 core macpro (2.93ghz 4,1) I'm wondering about the AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB @ $230 or the Radeon HD 7970 @ around $400.

being OpenCl and with PP CC now supporting this how do you think either of these cards would do? accepting that they are probably lesser performers compared to the GTX680 do you all think there would be reasonable performance acceleration considering their price?

thanks
david
 
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ok, ive found out a bit of info on my own as to PP / CC performance with an ATI/AMD GPU.

i used to have a 5870 on my 8 core but it broke awhile back and had to put back in my older ATI 4870 (512mb). with the 4870 in PP / CC i could NOT get the option to choose GPU acceleration. if I'm correct you need to have at least a 1 gig GPU for PP CC to give you the GPU acceleration option.

so tonight i installed the full CC on my sons 12 core macpro which has the 5870 (1 gig). when i went to project settings in PP CC it "DID" give me the option for GPU acceleration but...when i clicked it the first time i gave me a message basically saying that the card was not certified but... it STILL WORKED.

the 3 way CC in PP can suck up serious CPU usage in mercury / software mode real fast to the tune of 600-1000%. in GPU mode on the 5870 1 gig GPU worked very good although i have no way of comparing performance to something like the GTX 680 which I'm sure would kick the ass of the 5870. on the 5870 though the activity monitor showed almost NO HIT to the CPU's with hardware enabled.

so im thinking i can estimate that if a 3year old 1 gig GPU will perform decent GPU acceleration then im thinking a newer AMD 2 gig card should be better. yes/no?

if the people here can't speak to what AMD card on a mac will do can you at least what nVidia cards do you use? i know a $600 card would do really good. what are the 200-300 priced nVidia GPU's being used but are still able to satisfy in PP?

come on people! i need help!!!

thanks
david
 
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I would say have a look at the gtx 560 or GTX 570 or even the little older recomened gtx cards by adobe . I hope you will be happy with adobe CC, I still uses CS6 and moved to Canopus Edius Pro ,which does not need high end hardware or cards to run better on my current i7 ,which has saved me a lot of cash in the end not needing to upgrade everytime Adobe launchse a new version of their software.
 
hi gavin,

are the gtx 560 & gtx 570 ready to work on a mac or do they have to be "flashed" in order to work on a macpro? the newer GTX 680 says "mac edition".

thanks!
david
 
Sorry it somhow slip me when I started posting about the Mac. Sorry I am not able to anwser your question correctly As i am a PC user. Maybe your solution is to use bootcamp or similar , due you the MAC's been intel base these days. I have friend your side that use mac's and edit via Bootcamp using Edius which were PPro users, they all seem to use Radeon , sorry I am not much help
gavin
 
David the 680 is a solid card and a good option, Studio1 info is very good and i used it and "cuda hacker" made my life eazy
 
hi gavin,

i just ordered the GTX 680 (4 gig) [flashed] card from "mac*pro" off of ebay. this company has so far been very accessible with quick answers as to the card plus shipping tracking numbers etc. should have it mid next week. I'm not a typical ebay user but this companies ratings plus his staying in contact with me has me feeling confident that it will be a solid purchase.

ill report back on performance in PP/CC. i still need to get one more powerful GPU for my sons 12 core macpro. would have liked to hear about the AMD GPU's but looks like no one has an opinion or experience with those cards as to opencl (as well as several other forums ive posted on). if the GTX680 works out good ill just go with another one of those.

david
 
i took delivery today on the GTX 680 (4 gig) flashed for Mac from ebayer [mac*pro].

installed the card into my Mac Pro with 10.7.5 and the card properly showed up in my "about this mac" system report properly but did not show itself in PP/CC as to a GPU acceleration option. i knew i would have to update to ML before it would work so i did.

after updating to ML i ran PP and now it showed an option for GPU acceleration BUT...not CUDA...only OpenCL. i tested PP with OpenCL GPU acceleration and it was excellent and what i expected it might be. then i updated the nVidia drivers and then was able to use CUDA acceleration option.

interestingly...the OpenCL & CUDA choices appeared to be nearly "identical" as too GPU performance in looking at my Activity Monitor's LED usage.

i get the impression that i could have gotten an AMD / OpenCL card now and it probably would have been pretty much the same. {?}...

performance is impressive as to the GPU accelerated plugs and is doing what i had hoped it would do.

on another note...AE.
AE is not recognizing the GPU in "ray trace" hardware options. I've tried 3 different drivers and currently am using the latest driver from nvidia. i plan to check with the seller to see if he has any suggestions or if this card just wont play nice with AE for this feature.

im happy with the card for PP/CC.

it also seems good on Resolve "Lite" as well.

i need to get another beefy card for my sons 12 core Mac Pro as well but want to see why this GPU does not yet work for ray trace. i understand that AE isn't as specific as to its CUDA optimization so i may look into others options before i drop another $640.

on a final note...me not being an ebay user i was nervous about purchasing this thru ebay but have to say that this seller was solid as a rock. i had quick response emails with all the answers i threw at him. also the card showed up 2 days earlier than i expected. glad he supplied me with tracking so i could be home to recieve it.
 
Hi David great to see you got the card ,If you search cuda hack for adobe , you find the issues resolved, I do not know how to active it in Mac i cannot help.
I hope you get it right
Good luck
Gavin
 
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