InDesign CC2017 does not see GTX970 but...

[drscott11]

We recently upgraded our 5,1 Mac Pros to run Nvidia GTX 970 video cards for accelerated Premeir rendering but we ran into a problem with InDesign 2017 not seeing the card. Premier, Illustrator & Photoshop CC2017 see and use the card without any issues but for some reason InDesign does not.

There are two parts to the GPU Prefs in ID (see pic), the upper part says GPU Performance with checkboxes to enable acceleration... both of which are grayed out and unselectable. The strange part is that the lower section of the prefs says GPU Details then shows the card, its model and memory. As far as I can tell it sees the card but refuses to use it as the checkboxes are grayed out.

Before we upgraded we were using factory ATI Radeon 5770 cards and they worked fine in all CC2017 apps.

Is there any workaround to fix this issue? Has anyone else ran into this problem?

 

[MassMacMan]

I just verified your problem. I have a GTX 970 in my 12-core 5,1 which runs Photoshop and Premiere just fine. I don't use InDesign, so I was surprised to see essentially that same screen (the version number is different). I have no idea how to work around. Probably Adobe tech service can help you.

 

[joebclash]

I have premiere pro on windows but I have to edit a file call cuda_supported_cards.txt. I add my card name in that file. After that I get gpu support in premiere. No sure if indesign works the same way...

 

[rudo.ba]

Answer from Adobe forum (Steve Werner):

The requirements for GPU are different for InDesign. In addition to the fact that it requires a Mac with the proper GPU, you must have a Retina Display (HiDPI):
https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/gpu_performance.html

https://forums.adobe.com/message/9659293#9659293

 

[filmak]

We recently upgraded our 5,1 Mac Pros to run Nvidia GTX 970 video cards for accelerated Premeir rendering but we ran into a problem with InDesign 2017 not seeing the card. Premier, Illustrator & Photoshop CC2017 see and use the card without any issues but for some reason InDesign does not.

There are two parts to the GPU Prefs in ID (see pic), the upper part says GPU Performance with checkboxes to enable acceleration... both of which are grayed out and unselectable. The strange part is that the lower section of the prefs says GPU Details then shows the card, its model and memory. As far as I can tell it sees the card but refuses to use it as the checkboxes are grayed out.

Before we upgraded we were using factory ATI Radeon 5770 cards and they worked fine in all CC2017 apps.

Is there any workaround to fix this issue? Has anyone else ran into this problem?
View attachment 721413

Have you noticed any particular performance problem?

 

[itdk92]

Answer from Adobe forum (Steve Werner):

The requirements for GPU are different for InDesign. In addition to the fact that it requires a Mac with the proper GPU, you must have a Retina Display (HiDPI):
https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/gpu_performance.html

https://forums.adobe.com/message/9659293#9659293

Damn, such a bad, useless, and incompetent answer

 

[rudo.ba]

Damn, such a bad, useless, and incompetent answer

Hmm, please, what on "In addition to the fact that it requires a Mac with the proper GPU, you must have a Retina Display (HiDPI)" is bad, useless and incompetent" answer?

It is correct answer! With direct link to Adobe site about GPU acceleration support in InDesign:

Supported machines

• iMac 4K
• iMac 5K
• MacBook Pro Retina
• Mac Pro connected to a HiDPI monitor
• Mac mini connected to a HiDPI monitor

What you need more?

To primary question: "Is there any workaround to fix this issue? Has anyone else ran into this problem?"

- it is no problem at all. Your InDesign is working as intended, with no GPU acceleration, same as with your older ATI 5770 card. To activate GPU acceleration in InDesign, you must have a suppored card (as your new GTX 970) AND HiDPI monitor connected to this card.

 

[mattspace]

Hmm, please, what on "In addition to the fact that it requires a Mac with the proper GPU, you must have a Retina Display (HiDPI)" is bad, useless and incompetent" answer?

probably the part where he doesn't define what an "HiDPI" monitor is - specifically, is a 4k display set to hidpi mode a solution, is a 5k display like the Dell 27" an option, or is it specifically restricted to displays shipped by apple, or the LG 5k.

Then he blows off the person asking if his 4k display can be made to fulfill the requirements of "hidpi", he simply yells his unhelpful response louder.

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

The spec requirements appear to not only state the need for HiDPI but also a native Mac driver instead of the third party driver provided by Nvidia. The specs might also indicate Radeon chips only.

Best way to confirm is connect a HiDPI monitor to a 2013-2014 MacBook Pro that shipped with a Geforce chip. That would be the only machine on the requirement list that features Nvidia.

 

[rudo.ba]

probably the part where he doesn't define what an "HiDPI" monitor is - specifically, is a 4k display set to hidpi mode a solution, is a 5k display like the Dell 27" an option, or is it specifically restricted to displays shipped by apple, or the LG 5k.

OK, here is longer article from same author (with no answer to above quotation):
https://indesignsecrets.com/gpu-support-and-animated-zoom-arrives-for-mac.php

Also this topic was often discussed at adobe forums:
https://forums.adobe.com/community/indesign

Look like GPU acceleration in InDesign is still buggy even on limited supported configurations (strange HiDPI reqiurement, mac only, zero support on Windows at all for now). Probably in future versions will this work with any display on both mac and win. Can not test it personally (MacPro 5,1 with GTX 680, but no HiDPI display yet).

 

[chrfr]

The spec requirements appear to not only state the need for HiDPI but also a native Mac driver instead of the third party driver provided by Nvidia. The specs might also indicate Radeon chips only.

GPU acceleration is available in the Mac Pro 5,1 using a GTX 970 and a 4k display. I have this configuration at work and the option is available.
[doublepost=1507390653][/doublepost]

We recently upgraded our 5,1 Mac Pros to run Nvidia GTX 970 video cards for accelerated Premeir rendering but we ran into a problem with InDesign 2017 not seeing the card. Premier, Illustrator & Photoshop CC2017 see and use the card without any issues but for some reason InDesign does not.

See my response above. I'm using the same computer and GPU with a 4k display at work, and do have the option to enable GPU acceleration in Indesign.

 

[Dr. Stealth]

I gave this a test also.

Yes, the 5,1 cMP with a 4k display running Nvidia Web Drivers and dual 1080 TI's works. But you have to put the display in HiDPI mode. I tried running it at full 1:1 resolution 3,840 x 2,160 but got this.

I then put the display in HiDPI mode and it all works fine.