Best Graphics Card For Video Editing on a Mac Pro?

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Level 1

10 points

Best Graphics Card For Video Editing on a Mac Pro?

Hi all, I have a 2012 Mac Pro and I'm running Adobe CC for video editing purposes. I edit a lot of complex projects in AE and Premiere and the occasional HDRI, so a fast machine is critical. My processor speed and everything is pretty sweet, but I recently have had some problems with my Graphics card and I'm wondering what the community thinks is my next best choice for performace in choosing a new card.

Here are my Mac Pro specs:

Processor 2 x 3.06 GHz 6-Cor Intel Xeon

Memory 64 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 ECC

Graphics NVDIA Quadro 4000

OS Mountain Lion (10.8.5) - used to run Lion but had WAY too many problems with CS. Haven't tested out the new Maverick yet.

I was having occasional crashing and freezing problems so I took it into the Apple support team to be inspected, and they said it was my graphics card. The card was fine but it was operating at a different frequency than the computer (which didn't really make sense to me since the Quadro 4000 is considered the go-to card for a Mac Pro).

They suggested I go back to the card that came with the Mac Pro, which is the ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB. But I'm wondering if there is a better option out there. The ATI obviously doesn't run on the CUDA framework so my projects aren't operating quite like they used to, and I want to make sure I can still be able to edit in openGL. I know there is an ATI 5870 out there, would that be worth the cost to buy and install that instead? Would I see worthy improvement?

So strange to me that it is a frequency issue. All our other older Mac Pros here operate on a RAM frequency of 1066 MHz and the Quadro works just fine in them. Suggestions?

Posted on Jan 8, 2014 11:26 AM

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Answer 1

Jan 8, 2014 11:58 AM in response to Shawna

If that is the same Quadra card that is sold in the Apple Store, you need to press more strongly for support.

The notation in the Apple Store listing says service is provided by the manufacturer, (NVIDIA) not by Apple.

EDIT: Clarified sloppy use of pronouns

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Answer 2

Shawna Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 8, 2014 11:50 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

The card that was bought with the Mac was the ATI 5770. The Quadro was added later. And I know that the Quadro is fine.

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Answer 3

Jan 8, 2014 11:56 AM in response to Shawna

Then the 'story' you got from the genius Bar was predictable. They don't know about the Quadra, so they suggested that must be the problem.

So your next communication should be with NVIDIA.

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Answer 4

Shawna Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 8, 2014 12:03 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Well, my opinion, before I even sent it in, was that there was something wrong with the motherboard. But the support team said otherwise. Are you telling me that they're full of crap and the Quadro should work just fine regardless of frequencies?

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Answer 5

Jan 8, 2014 12:12 PM in response to Shawna

I don't speak for Apple or NVIDIA.

But if Apple told you the card is the problem, you should ask NVIDIA to respond. Maybe this is a 'Known problem' or there is a software version you should be running for best results.

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Answer 6

Shawna Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 8, 2014 12:29 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Well, it still doesn't answer half of my question. Aside from the Quadro 4000, what's the next best option in a graphics card for the Mac Pro? What's the next best solution?

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Answer 7

Jan 8, 2014 3:38 PM in response to Shawna

RE: Mac Pro Replacement Graphics cards

1) Apple brand cards,

2) "sold in the Apple store" cards, and

3) "Mac Edition" cards ...

... show all the screens, including Boot up screens, Safe Mode, Installer, Recovery, debug screens, and Alt/Option boot screens. At this writing, these choices include:

1) Apple brand cards:

• Apple-firmware 5770, about US$250** works near full speed in every model Mac Pro, Drivers in 10.6.5

• Apple-firmware 5870, about US$450

2) "sold in the Apple store" cards

• NVIDIA Quadro 4000, about US$1200

• NVIDIA Quadro 5000, about US$2500

3) "Mac Edition" cards -- REQUIRE 10.8.3 or later:

• SAPPHIRE HD 7950 3GB GDDR5 MAC Edition, about US$480** Vendor recommends Mac Pro 4,1

• EVGA GTX 680 Mac Edition, about US$600

The cards above require no more than the provided two 6-pin aux power connectors provided in the Mac Pro through 2012 model. Aux cables may not be provided for third-party cards, but are readily available.

--------

If you are Meet ALL of these:

• running 10.8.3 or later AND

• don't care about "no boot screens" etc AND

• can re-wire or otherwise "work out" the power cabling, THEN:

You can use many more cards, even most "PC-only cards"

.

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Answer 8

Jan 8, 2014 3:43 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

There is one more setup to consider if you are running the latest Mavericks and the latest FCP-X:

Dual 5770s:

Out of curiosity, we ran the tests with dual Radeon HD 5770s and got render times only slightly slower than dual 7970s. The 5770s require only one power feed each so we used the two factory standard PCIe power feeds. A pair of them is definitely faster rendering in FCPX 10.1 than any single AMD GPU including the Radeon HD 7970.

the above is a note in passing near the end of the article below from BareFeats:

Does Final Cut Pro X 10.1 render faster on Mac Pro towers with Dual AMD GPUs?

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Answer 9

Feb 12, 2017 1:46 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Is that really true?

Almost same rendering speeds with dual 5770 as 7970? Also just plug and play in two PCI slots for powering?

How is that possible?

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