AMD FirePro D500 graphics card (Mac Pro Late 2013) doesn’t meet Oculus Rift’s specifications

[hollyhillbilly]

All good things must come to an end my friend. And new good things will spring up. Don't waste your life fighting a losing battle - it's been 3 years. Move on. Apple has changed. It's time for you to as well.

Some people will not move into the future, and will be left behind.

Ten years ago, when I upgraded some of the edit suites for the satellite/cable channel I was running, we bought 5 cheese grater mac pros at $10K a pop. Today, I would buy 4 iMacs at $3.5k per and one nMP at $8K. You just do not need a massive tower to edit anymore.

I like today's choices much better. Sure, on the top end, someone can create a bigger faster work station, but why should apple be in that business, that would probably serve only 10% of the Mac Pro sales.

 

[Synchro3]

Ten years ago, when I upgraded some of the edit suites for the satellite/cable channel I was running, we bought 5 cheese grater mac pros at $10K a pop. Today, I would buy 4 iMacs at $3.5k per and one nMP at $8K. You just do not need a massive tower to edit anymore.

I do not agree. If you need an actual dedicated graphics card a tower is the right thing to have.

 

[ActionableMango]

I like today's choices much better.

Choices?

The beauty of the cMP chassis is that there was choice. For example, 1-2 CPUs, 1-2 GPUs, and a selection of HDDs for large storage or SSDs for speed. (And that's just BTO/CTO--if you wanted, you could run 4 GPUs, go headless with no GPUs, or run a GPU not even offered by Apple. And as for drives? Pretty much anything you wanted.)

Today the choice is a very specific combination of single CPU, dual GPU, and single SSD. And what a bizarre choice to be forced into. I wonder how many nMP owners even make decent use of the second, compute-only GPU.

 

[Draeconis]

Ran the Steam VR test on my Mac Pro (specs in sig), got a 1.2, dropped a few frames, would probably just about run.

 

[shoehornhands]

Finally the Oculus Rift is available for pre-order. The people from Oculus provided a Rift compatibility tool for Windows to find out if your PC is compatible. I ran this tool in Bootcamp, on Windows 10 and it appears the pro-level AMD FirePro D500 cards in my expensive Mac Pro (late 2013) don’t meet the Rift’s recommended specification.

I’m going to order a Rift anyway because I think VR is to most exciting technology since... yeah well... the internet. I just sincerely hope I’m not going to have to buy a separate computer on top of my almost €4000 costing Mac Pro to enjoy the technology to the fullest.

What do you guys think, start saving up for a new computer?

Not sure exactly what kind of work you do, but workstation / server components are significantly more expensive than standard components, for reasons other than performance. The great majority of computer users have no particular need for stuff like Xeon processors, > 64GB System Memory, ECC, high FP64 GPU performance, 10-bit color. If you don't have a particular need for any of this, then a Mac Pro really doesn't provide much benefit over something like an iMac (and in fact, depending on configuration and application, an iMac can even surpass the Mac Pro in performance).

My advice would be to consider selling the Mac Pro, and using the money to purchasing something like an iMac (if you want / need OS X for work), and also build yourself a computer for gaming / entertainment.

For $4000, you could purchase a 5K iMac, and build yourself a monster gaming machine. You could probably even fit something like an 8-core, i7 5960X in that budget (which can surpass even the 12-core Mac Pro in performance).

Anyway, as I said, most people won't make use of much of what they're paying for with a Mac Pro. I blame this primarily on Apple, as the Mac Pro (with its expensive workstation / server hardware, dual-GPU only config, entry-level consumer warranty / service, and exceedingly compact package favoring aesthetics at the expense of functionality), would put a smile on Rube Goldberg's face with its wild impracticality.

 

[Derpage]

Say it ain't so Apple!

actually......

Just another day in the Mac Pro Schadenforum

When was the last time we got some good news in here?
Something we could all agree was beneficial for the pro market?

 

[AidenShaw]

Say it ain't so Apple!

actually......

Just another day in the Mac Pro Schadenforum

When was the last time we got some good news in here?
Something we could all agree was beneficial for the pro market?

When FCPX was first announced?

 

[hollyhillbilly]

Choices?

The beauty of the cMP chassis is that there was choice. For example, 1-2 CPUs, 1-2 GPUs, and a selection of HDDs for large storage or SSDs for speed. (And that's just BTO/CTO--if you wanted, you could run 4 GPUs, go headless with no GPUs, or run a GPU not even offered by Apple. And as for drives? Pretty much anything you wanted.)

Today the choice is a very specific combination of single CPU, dual GPU, and single SSD. And what a bizarre choice to be forced into. I wonder how many nMP owners even make decent use of the second, compute-only GPU.

I think you miss my point, in that, you now have choices from the entire Mac line where 10 years ago you were forced to buy a Mac Pro for edit stations. It is overkill to buy a nMP for 30m programming and interstitials.

 

[MacVidCards]

Ask and you shall receive.

cMP BLOWS DOORS OFF STEAM VR TEST !

Literally off the top of the scale.

I'm going to dig the 6,1 out and try with the D300s for a laugh.

Currently it is camouflaged with some wadded up paper on top, I always do that when i leave town.

 

[mtasquared]

Ask and you shall receive.

cMP BLOWS DOORS OFF STEAM VR TEST !

Literally off the top of the scale.

I'm going to dig the 6,1 out and try with the D300s for a laugh.

Currently it is camouflaged with some wadded up paper on top, I always do that when i leave town. View attachment 618035

I got about a [EDIT!]0.3 score with a GTX 760, mostly GPU bound. I think all I got to do is shoehorn a 980ti into the cMP. Bwa ha ha. I hope all us mac pro users get to play virtual reality!!!

 

[mattspace]

where would we be looking at for the minimum cpu specs for dual xeon machines?

 

[Hank Carter]

Some people will not move into the future, and will be left behind.

Ten years ago, when I upgraded some of the edit suites for the satellite/cable channel I was running, we bought 5 cheese grater mac pros at $10K a pop. Today, I would buy 4 iMacs at $3.5k per and one nMP at $8K. You just do not need a massive tower to edit anymore.

Well, good luck with that.

I work in post in LA and the late 2015 iMac still runs too hot for sustained editing. It's better than the fist 5k iMac, but the CPU / GPU are only running 10 degrees cooler and still around 80 C. If you pound that machine for 10-14 hours a day at those temperatures it's not going to last. Personally I also don't feel the mobile GPU has enough punch to run the 5k display and a secondary display. Not to mention that there is only one Thunderbolt controller for the two TB2 ports that would have to support a 2nd display, 10G network card, RAID etc. I see plenty of iMacs around town being used for second tier work in the editorial department, but the vast majority of actual editors are on souped up cMP or nMP.

 

[Demigod Mac]

Titan X on cMP 5,1 destroyed it.

 

[Flint Ironstag]

Anyone out there with a nMP and d700s? I reckon nMP + eGPU should also pass this easily.

 

[h9826790]

Anyone out there with a nMP and d700s? I reckon nMP + GPU should also pass this easily.

I think it may pass, but just, only one D700 can be used in the test, I doubt a single downclocked 7970 can keep the FPS well above 90.

It seems that the test can only be carried out in windows mode, so crossfire not avail.

Update 1:

Just did the test. My R9 280 is just capable for VR (as expected). By considering it has roughtly the same performance in Luxmark etc as the D700. The D700 should has more or less the same result, unless the 6G VRAM is cursual in this test (all 3G VRAM is fuly loaded during the test, so, my R9 280's performance may be VRAM limiting).

(I am too lazy to set the language to English just for a screenshot, the terms is in English on the others screenshot anyway)

 

[MacVidCards]

Looks like GPU is the limiter.

nMP going to sink on this one, cMP will leave in dust.

Pretty sure I called this nearly 3 years ago.

 

[armut]

Anyone out there with a nMP and d700s? I reckon nMP + eGPU should also pass this easily.

I think it may pass, but just, only one D700 can be used in the test, I doubt a single downclocked 7970 can keep the FPS well above 90.

It seems that the test can only be carried out in windows mode, so crossfire not avail.

Update 1:

Just did the test. My R9 280 is just capable for VR (as expected). By considering it has roughtly the same performance in Luxmark etc as the D700. The D700 should has more or less the same result, unless the 6G VRAM is cursual in this test (all 3G VRAM is fuly loaded during the test, so, my R9 280's performance may be VRAM limiting).

(I am too lazy to set the language to English just for a screenshot, the terms is in English on the others screenshot anyway)
View attachment 618084

I own also the nMP with D700 GPUs, but when I ran the Oculus Hardware Tester, I got the message that my GPUs are not supported.
I installed the latest Crimson driver and activated CrossFire.

 

[DearthnVader]

Looks like GPU is the limiter.

nMP going to sink on this one, cMP will leave in dust.

Pretty sure I called this nearly 3 years ago.

Apple would never engage in a strategy of planned obsolescence to sell you a new Mac as soon as your AppleCare expires.

 

[hollyhillbilly]

Well, good luck with that.

I work in post in LA and the late 2015 iMac still runs too hot for sustained editing. It's better than the fist 5k iMac, but the CPU / GPU are only running 10 degrees cooler and still around 80 C. If you pound that machine for 10-14 hours a day at those temperatures it's not going to last. Personally I also don't feel the mobile GPU has enough punch to run the 5k display and a secondary display. Not to mention that there is only one Thunderbolt controller for the two TB2 ports that would have to support a 2nd display, 10G network card, RAID etc. I see plenty of iMacs around town being used for second tier work in the editorial department, but the vast majority of actual editors are on souped up cMP or nMP.

With straight avid cutting on half hour shows or less, you just do not need a nMP.

However I get what you are saying, when editing complicated sequences with CGI, etc.
Just look at the Deadpool articles regarding using the nMP with d700 graphics card, while using adobe premier.


"NOTE: Another interesting comment was that the editorial team burned out about ten Mac Pros during editing. Apparently, the D700 graphics chip could not handle the load. All media was stored on an external SSD system holding about 180 TB.

It was also interesting that they didn’t mention using any specific media management software."

 

[MacVidCards]

With straight avid cutting on half hour shows or less, you just do not need a nMP.

However I get what you are saying, when editing complicated sequences with CGI, etc.
Just look at the Deadpool articles regarding using the nMP with d700 graphics card, while using adobe premier.


"NOTE: Another interesting comment was that the editorial team burned out about ten Mac Pros during editing. Apparently, the D700 graphics chip could not handle the load. All media was stored on an external SSD system holding about 180 TB.

It was also interesting that they didn’t mention using any specific media management software."

I noticed quite a bit of Adobe Premier Pro crew in the credits and at the very end where you see the various trade union logos they had an Adobe Premier CC Logo.

I have also run across an article about the awesome opening sequence. Was done using CUDA on Nvidia cards. No way a Mac did it. Just not capable anymore.

Was done on Z840 workstations.

http://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2016/02/15/deadpool-movie/

 

[mtasquared]

I own also the nMP with D700 GPUs, but when I ran the Oculus Hardware Tester, I got the message that my GPUs are not supported.
I installed the latest Crimson driver and activated CrossFire.

The Oculus Compatibility Test is different from the Steam Virtual Reality (VR) Performance Test. Let us know how you do on the latter. Coming from such a far reaching entity such as Steam/Valve, the VR performance test hopefully has predictive validity.

 

[armut]

So, here's my result...

 

[Flint Ironstag]

So it would appear that nMP with d700s sits solidly in the capable range. Be interesting to see how it runs with an eGPU. MVC, dying to see this!

 

[Derpage]

So it would appear that nMP with d700s sits solidly in the capable range. Be interesting to see how it runs with an eGPU. MVC, dying to see this!

That report indicates that his system is capable of showing all medium fidelity content. The report mentions that the card may not show content that is only tuned for high fidelity. The report then recommends that the graphics card be upgraded. I'm not sure if that is sitting solidly in the capable range. But it's better than nothing I guess... I mean the entry point for a mac that can do medium fidelity graphics is 4,599 dollars compared to pc's capable of high fidelity...starting at 990.00. The PC option is even cheaper if you build your own. But all the pro's around here are too busy making money or arguing about t-bolt bandwidth to spend a couple hours building a PC so I guess that option is out.

 

[Flint Ironstag]

That report indicates that his system is capable of showing all medium fidelity content. The report mentions that the card may not show content that is only tuned for high fidelity. The report then recommends that the graphics card be upgraded. I'm not sure if that is sitting solidly in the capable range. But it's better than nothing I guess... I mean the entry point for a mac that can do medium fidelity graphics is 4,599 dollars compared to pc's capable of high fidelity...starting at 990.00. The PC option is even cheaper if you build your own. But all the pro's around here are too busy making money or arguing about t-bolt bandwidth to spend a couple hours building a PC so I guess that option is out.

Ha - yeah... I don't need yet another box in the office. If I have a thunderbolt chassis with a bunch of high end GPUs I can occasionally game on, I'm good with that.