Q: Photoshop CS6 trigger to Upgrade Graphics Card?
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Mar 24, 2012 6:16 AMby The hatter,HelpfulSure.... if you could get a GTX 680 or 570 supported under OS X.
Take a look at what cards support that feature in Adobe's list.
http://www.bing.com/search?q=adobe+mercury+engine+video+cards
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May 10, 2012 5:14 PMby perthmacuser,Still undecided Joe.
While the options look to have improved (faster without losing boot screen) I have not seen any performance results on Photoshop/Illustrator tasks. All very well to get better game/video rendering speed but that wouldn't help me.
CS6 is 64 bit for Mac now so maybe my 16gb RAM might show more benefit ... and I can wait until I am clearer about what the newer cards offer. Also, the 8800GT is quiet ... another aspect I want to underatnd before I switch cards.
I am probably most confused about the Open GL/CL aspect (the requirement of the CS6 GPU accelerator apparently): is Nvidia better or ATI ok?
Also, the CS6 suite and a new lens have dented my budget for now.
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May 10, 2012 5:51 PMby The hatter,I have read from couple people at different times that 1GB VRAM is not enough and the "special" MVC 2.5GB GTX's have lots of... punch.
The 5770s is okay standard Mac Pro offering - two yrs ago = some had noisey fans but there have been 3 revisions since probably and they are and should be quiet.
Quiet and high performance do not always go togehter. One of the downfalls of the 8800GT is... they fail, and they don't have the best fan and cooling, they aren't dual-slot width in desgin. There are copper coolers but I wouldn't - it has just 512MB unless you got a custom flashed version.
OpenCL has improved but hard to develop, it needs too much work to optimize the code for one thing. And new compilers - great but will they get used to develop CUDA+OpenCL code?
Hope the Nvidia GTX 670 becvomes a real offering. At $399 it is actually in the same cost as a 5870 was.
A Quadro 4000 or whatever comes after it with 2GB is or should be considered as well. Yes?
64-bit kernel mode and 24GB RAM or more. 16GB and not using 64-bit mode may help from where you are of course, but might want to have more to get the most out of your system.
Check www.macperformanceguide.com for ideas lately?
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May 10, 2012 7:02 PMby perthmacuser,Ahhh ... I am very keen to avoid a card failing (swap when I can and not when I have to). That would darken my mood.
macperformanceguide was interesting. For CS5 the advice was watch open GL (can slow some tasks) and ...
my advice is to not waste your money on a “faster” graphics card, at least not for a Mac Pro for photography, because the “slower” graphics card is already very fast.
You can always upgrade the Mac Pro graphics card later if a specific need emerges, and a faster card actually shows a benefit.
Maybe a different outcome for CS6 and by slower, not talking about 8800GT. Anyhow, the "special" GTX570 looks right for me (just buy it, install it without any flashing or power mods, keep my boot screen, get a much newer and faster card).
Your point about RAM was reinforced, so off to OWC. Get 4 x 4GB and swap out 4 x 2GB to get 24GB.
Total so far, about $1000.
The Mercury Accelsior SSD looks to offer a real boost - just less on my 3.1 (with PCIE 1.0 slots only available to use). Wil wait on this for now.
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May 11, 2012 6:09 AMby The hatter,2008 does have some (thought all) PCIe 2.0 slots.
Watch for when an article is written, things true in 2009-10 or current.
The 4870 he mentions and the issues in 10.6.4 for instance on OpenGL?
CS4/5 were not good at releasing VRAM and use more, why Quadro can be popular (they come with 2-6GB, Apple though use to have an issue with more than even 1.5GB VRAM).
RAM though price wise and all is mess that you have to pull yours. Too bad there are no 8GB FBDIMMs. DDR3 right now - picked up 3 x 4GB for mere $68.
Between RAM and SSDs though you can get a lot more out of 4 yrs old for awhile - and SSD and PCIe card should work even if/when you got a newer system.
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May 11, 2012 5:09 PMby perthmacuser,2008 has 2 x 16 lane PCIe 2.0 slots plus 2 x 4 lane PCIe 1.0 slots. I have read that the PCIe SSD needs two slots for 2 x 2 lane connection (but getting beyond my depth here). Probably still the fastest option for my Mac even if not able to exploit full potential of the drive.
Yes, FB DIMM RAM is expensive vs DDR3.
Would really like to know when (if) Mac Pro upgrade is coming. I seem to face antique premia on my upgrade options now (price or performance lost). My thinking (today) is to replace the GPU with the macvidcards GTX570 and use what I have until the new Mac Pro is released or discontinued.
"Apple used to have an issue with more than 1.5GB VRAM" - a reason to avoid the 2.5GB version of the GTX570 and opt for the 1.3GB one? ... or is that a pre Lion issue?
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May 27, 2012 8:41 PMby joevt,http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2838
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pci_express
The Accelsior is a PCIe 2.0 x2 card. The x2 means that the link width can go up to 2 lanes. Physically, the card can fit into any PCI Express slot that can accept an x2 card. Electrically, the card has 2 PCIe 2.0 lanes. Each PCIe 2.0 lane can do 500 MB/s so 2 lanes can do 1000 MB/s which is enough to handle the 2 6Gb/s SATA III SSD's in the Accelsior (780 MB/s).
All PCIe slots in all Mac Pros can physically accept x16 cards. Electrically, the slots are either x1, x4, x8, or x16.
The Mac Pro 2008 has 2 PCIe 2.0 x16 slots (slot 1 and 2). The Accelsior will perform at it's full speed in those slots (PCIe 2.0 x2).
Slots 1 and 2 of the Mac Pro 2006 and 2007 are PCIe 1.0 slots. Each lane in a PCIe 1.0 slot can do 250 MB/s. If you configure the slots to be x8 or x16 using the Expansion Slot Utility, then the Accelsior will do 380 MB/s in those slots (PCIe 1.0 x2).
Slots 3 and 4 of the Mac Pro 2006, 2007, and 2008 are PCIe 1.0 slots. However, when you put an x2 card in slot 3 or 4, only 1 lane will be used because the ESB2 south bridge chip that controls those slots will not negotiate 2 lanes. According to the PCI Express specifications, slots are not required to negotiate a link width of 2 lanes. The Accelsior in slots 3 and 4 only does 195 MB/s (PCIe 1.0 x1).
