MP 7,1 Choosing a graphics card for new Mac Pro

[cable]

I’m not the best when it comes to what exactly the specs mean on a graphics card. But considering how costly each choice can be, I wanted to reach out and see what everyone’s thoughts were.

I use the computer mostly for video editing, coloring, After Effects, sound.
(I basically make professional movies beginning to end at home)

The programs I generally use are:
-Davinci Resolve (editing, color).
-Premiere Pro (I’ve been transitioning to Davinci but I still go back from time to time)
-After Effects
-Audition

-Photoshop

The footage I’m working with is usually 6k though I suspect I’ll be working with 8k footage in the near future. I’m mostly at 23.976fps though I want to be able to work w high frame rates as well.

I work with Alexa and Blackmagic footage mostly, sometimes RAW, but generally the highest quality ProRes.

My MacPro will have over 768gb of RAM.

I’ve attached a photo of the graphics cards that Apple offers. My budget allows me to get any of the first 4 choices up to $4680.

The last two are confusing for me as one is a duo and the other is x2 it seems like.

 

[cable]

I guess my question is: how important are graphics cards for video editing when you don’t play computer games at all?

 

[TheRealAlex]

I’d like to see a head to head comparing an RTX 2080 Ti or RTX Titan to some of Apple more expensive options. We can’t know how good or bad the AMD cards are until we see some side by side comparisons.

Youtubers need to stop meaningless ”Unboxings” and do some real content valuable reviews.

That’s being said. I am waiting for the Mac Pro option with a W5700 XT 16GB Card and eventually sell or trade that card for a RTX 3080 Ti.

 

[cable]

^^^ But do graphics cards have a huge impact on video editing? I will never play games on my computer so I don’t need graphics cards for that.

 

[_Kiki_]

heavy CPU dependant apps, so you should be good with 580X

 

[cable]

heavy CPU dependant apps, so you should be good with 580X

Thank you!

 

[gazwas]

I’m in a similar boat and waiting for the 5700X also and have very little clue to how important the GPU is or will be in the future.

I know Adode apps are more CPU dependant so 580X is a good choice but how about FCPX and Capture One? How much of an improvement will the Vega II make over the 5700X?

I wish the YouTubers would stop brown nosing Apple and post some actual useful content.

 

[Adult80HD]

Thank you!

Yes, but DaVinci Resolve relies heavily on the GPU as well. A direct quote from their documentation:

"DaVinci Resolve performs all image processing in the GPU so selection is important based on the clip type, resolution of the clips and timeline, the processes selected within Resolve and of course final render resolution. Even the debayer of Camera RAW media is performed in the GPU so any 4K, 6K or 8K camera RAW files need a large amount of GPU RAM and compute power even if you are using just an HD timeline."

This comes from here: https://documents.blackmagicdesign.com/ConfigGuides/DaVinci_Resolve_15_Mac_Configuration_Guide.pdf

I'd suggest that the OP at the minimum upgrade to the Pro Vega II.

 

[tommy chen]

you're right there
my radeon VII make working with resolve much easier and much faster than with the RX580

so, a vega II is a must for videowork with 4k and up

 

[cable]

Ok cool I made the upgrade to the +$2160 Vega II

If I encounter problems a year or two down the line, is this upgradeable?

 

[gazwas]

Everything is upgradable in the Mac Pro as long as there is something to upgrade too.

I‘ve decided to wait for a little longer until the W5700X is released and see how it performs as the Vega II seem such a massive cost difference to upgrade and would like to see real world performance differenced before I decide.

Hopefully Apple starts shipping the new GPU early in the new year.

 

[Pro7913]

Photoshop is more like CPU friendly app. 580X is totally enough but you can buy RX 5700 or Radeon VII for better performance.

 

[cable]

Photoshop is more like CPU friendly app. 580X is totally enough but you can buy RX 5700 or Radeon VII for better performance.

Photoshop was like the bottom of my list of what I’m using it for. I think you missed it

 

[jasonmvp]

Of your apps, Resolve and Premier will make use of the GPU to various degrees. Each has a set of accelerated effects that are processed by the GPU; looking those up is an exercise left to the reader. The commercial version of Resolve will also use the GPU's built-in hardware encoder and decoder when dealing with h.264 and h.265 footage. This speeds things up dramatically if you're using that format.

AE and Audition couldn't care less about the GPU; Adobe has done a lot of work to remove GPU acceleration from AE.

 

[Pro7913]

Photoshop was like the bottom of my list of what I’m using it for. I think you missed it

After Effects and Premiere Pro also CPU centric software. Well blame Adobe for poor optimization. Davinci Resolve use a lot of VRAM. Vega 2 with 32gb HBM2 should be great.

 

[bwinter88]

After Effects and Premiere Pro also CPU centric software. Well blame Adobe for poor optimization. Davinci Resolve use a lot of VRAM. Vega 2 with 32gb HBM2 should be great.

Actually Premiere uses GPU quite a lot. To the extent where I would call it GPU-centric. Most effects, playback, rendering, are all GPU-accelerated. Don't skimp on your graphics card.

 

[cable]

Of your apps, Resolve and Premier will make use of the GPU to various degrees. Each has a set of accelerated effects that are processed by the GPU; looking those up is an exercise left to the reader. The commercial version of Resolve will also use the GPU's built-in hardware encoder and decoder when dealing with h.264 and h.265 footage. This speeds things up dramatically if you're using that format.

AE and Audition couldn't care less about the GPU; Adobe has done a lot of work to remove GPU acceleration from AE.

thank you! this clarifies things for me

 

[TheRealAlex]

^^^ But do graphics cards have a huge impact on video editing? I will never play games on my computer so I don’t need graphics cards for that.

More and More NVIDIA is partnering with software companies to leverage the power of a Graphics Card. I’ve seen some demos where a Intel 9900K can’t even play a 8K RED RAW clip but with the help of a RTX Titan it plays smoothly and you can scrub through it.

Wait til Adobe and other start making use of the RT Cores and Tensor Cores in the NVIDIA RTX Cards that’s gonna be a game changer.

Finally planning on a PC Upgrade next year to a 12 Core Ryzen 4000 and RTX 3080.

 

[_Kiki_]

Yes, but DaVinci Resolve relies heavily on the GPU as well. A direct quote from their documentation:

"DaVinci Resolve performs all image processing in the GPU so selection is important based on the clip type, resolution of the clips and timeline, the processes selected within Resolve and of course final render resolution. Even the debayer of Camera RAW media is performed in the GPU so any 4K, 6K or 8K camera RAW files need a large amount of GPU RAM and compute power even if you are using just an HD timeline."

This comes from here: https://documents.blackmagicdesign.com/ConfigGuides/DaVinci_Resolve_15_Mac_Configuration_Guide.pdf

I'd suggest that the OP at the minimum upgrade to the Pro Vega II.

really depends from workload

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/DaVinci-Resolve-15-AMD-Radeon-VII-16GB-Performance-1382/

also

DaVinci Resolve 14: NVIDIA GeForce vs AMD Radeon Vega

DaVinci Resolve is able to heavily utilize the GPU (or multiple GPUs) to greatly improve performance, but are you better off using an NVIDIA GeForce card or an AMD Radeon card?.

www.pugetsystems.com

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=pl&tl=en&u=https://pclab.pl/art80331-9.html

on this review you can se difference between NVIDIA and AMD

On 1st and 2nd graph
axis x=blur
axis y=fps

3rd Video Export
axis x=time

difference between Radeon VII and 2080Ti is very high, so the the choices you have from Apple aren't the best