M2 Ultra poor performance After Effects

Hi, I've ran a couple of tests, comparing a Mac Studio M1 Ultra with a M2 Ultra.

.Mac Studio M1 Ultra 128GB Memory, 20C CPU, 48C GPU, 2TB SSD - Monterey 12.6.7

.Mac Studio M2 Ultra 192GB Memory, 24C CPU, 76C GPU, 2TB SSD - Ventura 13.5

The 2 computers have the same After Effects version 23.5.0 and settings (multiframe rendering on, disk cache enable with 256GB on computer internal ssd drive,...), and the project files are located in an external NVMe SSD OWC Envoy Pro Fx (1TB)

. Project #1 Test: UHD resolutuion, only have photos, animated graphics and an animated logo with alpha (ProRes4444). Project Color Depth 16bpc.

I opened the same project from the same external OWC ssd drive in both computers.

The M1 Ultra plays the preview in real time (once it´s stored on the disk cache).

But with the M2 Ultra, the preview doesn´t play in real time, it´s very choppy, even if I keep it playing for ever.

. Project #2 Test: 1080p project with ProRes 422 footages, lumetri, and a few animated graphics, Color Depth 16bpc.

The same result, in the M1 Ultra it plays real time.

But with the M2 Ultra, it´s unusable, very choppy, not real time at all, even in half or third resolution, or changing color depth from 16bpc to 8bpc.

Posted on Aug 2, 2023 1:18 AM

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2infuse Author

Level 1

18 points

Posted on Aug 4, 2023 4:49 AM

Hi ku4hx and dialabrain,

I was waiting to perform more tests before updating this post.

I spent the last few days talking with Apple Support.

To not make this too long, I will share the last, and I think most relevant results.

I am using my M2 Ultra with 2 displays (LG 27UK650).

I realise that the problem comes when I work with both displays.

If I unplug my second monitor, everything runs smoothly.

Using both monitors, causes After effects to reproduce preview not real time (very choppy), same with Davinci Resolve reproducing a single 4K ProRes422 clip (with no effects at all), and with Premiere.

The weird thing is that I've been working with my M1 Ultra (Monterey) for the last year, using the same LG monitors, and I did not have a single issue in terms of graphic performance using my every day softwares.

This afternoon I have an appointment in Apple Store to perform the same tests but plugging the MacStudio M2 Ultra to 2 Apple Displays and see if the issues still remain or not.

I will post the results tonight.

Cheers!

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M2 Ultra poor performance After Effects

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