MP 6,1 Mac Pro 2013 // Slow 4K 60fps Playback

[caner0]

Dear friends, I have done my research but I am sure that there are people using their Mac Pro for 4k editing so wanted to ask you here as well.

I have just bought a Gopro Hero 9.
I am recording on 4K, 60fps. Only supported compression is H265/HEVC.
My Mac Pro (6,1, quad core, 96 GB RAM, dual D300) is not able to play it properly from the local disk.
I am on Catalina.

Do you have any advice?

(I know that our poor trashcans does not support hardware decoding of HEVC - I am sure that there must be a solution!)

 

[h9826790]

If you don't want to transcode, you may need a eGPU to gain HEVC hardware decoding function.

Or most likely you can upgrade to CPU to decode them via software decoder.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Dear friends, I have done my research but I am sure that there are people using their Mac Pro for 4k editing so wanted to ask you here as well.

I have just bought a Gopro Hero 9.
I am recording on 4K, 60fps. Only supported compression is H265/HEVC.
My Mac Pro (6,1, quad core, 96 GB RAM, dual D300) is not able to play it properly from the local disk.
I am on Catalina.

Do you have any advice?

(I know that our poor trashcans does not support hardware decoding of HEVC - I am sure that there must be a solution!)

As your hardware does not support HEVC decoding, below a some options:

You can search for a suitable video player that support HEVC decoding and use up all CPU power in software decoding.
Xeons are powerfull CPUs, and they can decode HEVC, just with high CPU usage.

Check the below links for more reference:

Encoding/decoding in H.264 or H.265 (HEVC)

With some Mac you can use the hardware acceleration to encode and decode to H.264. This is very nice as it can lower the use of the CPU. But there are some limitations. Computers limitations Ba...

softron.zendesk.com

iMac Pro HEVC / H265

So I've noticed VLC has done a horrible job playing HEVC, & that led me to assume there's no hardware decoding support of HEVC on the iMac. For grins, I tried Blu-Ray Player Pro & found that has no problems playing HEVC at all...IOW, VLC stinks at decoding HEVC right now by default. There may...

forums.macrumors.com

Upgrade to handle HEVC/h.265: PC Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Expert news, reviews and videos of the latest digital cameras, lenses, accessories, and phones. Get answers to your questions in our photography forums.

www.dpreview.com

 

[h9826790]

As your hardware does not support HEVC decoding, below a some options:

You can search for a suitable video player that support HEVC decoding and use up all CPU power in software decoding.
Xeons are powerfull CPUs, and they can decode HEVC, just with high CPU usage.

Check the below links for more reference:

Encoding/decoding in H.264 or H.265 (HEVC)

With some Mac you can use the hardware acceleration to encode and decode to H.264. This is very nice as it can lower the use of the CPU. But there are some limitations. Computers limitations Ba...

softron.zendesk.com

iMac Pro HEVC / H265

So I've noticed VLC has done a horrible job playing HEVC, & that led me to assume there's no hardware decoding support of HEVC on the iMac. For grins, I tried Blu-Ray Player Pro & found that has no problems playing HEVC at all...IOW, VLC stinks at decoding HEVC right now by default. There may...

forums.macrumors.com

Upgrade to handle HEVC/h.265: PC Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Expert news, reviews and videos of the latest digital cameras, lenses, accessories, and phones. Get answers to your questions in our photography forums.

www.dpreview.com

Most likely won't work.

The E5-1620 V2 is even weaker than my W3690.

If my W3690 cannot decode 4K 60FPS HEVC smoothly (of course, depends on the video's parameters), there is no way the E5-1620 V2 can do better.

He is with Catalina already, don't need any 3rd party player. QuickTime itself has HEVC support. The problem is that his CPU isn't strong enough to decode the video in real time. Change player may able to lower the CPU processing power requirement, however, usually won't make a computer magically can play demanding HEVC video smoothly.

 

[MisterAndrew]

My quad core 6,1 also struggled with 4K HEVC video. The 6 core and 8 core models perform better.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I assume that the CPU of MacPro 6,1 can be changed easily as the GPU, is it? The CPU is becoming cheaper now, if you can change it, you will have a more powerful machine.
The GPU can be changed as well. A cheap RX560 can decode HEVC at ease.

 

[tsialex]

I assume that the CPU of MacPro 6,1 can be changed easily as the GPU, is it? The CPU is becoming cheaper now, if you can change it, you will have a more powerful machine.
The GPU can be changed as well. A cheap RX560 can decode HEVC at ease.

Nope, you are mistaken. MP6,1 is the late-2013 Mac Pro - the trashcan.

You can't install a RX 560 to a MP6,1, unless you use an eGPU.

 

[caner0]

Do you think upgrading to 12 core processor (E5-2697v2) will help me to overcome this challenge? Because I am on the edge of getting rid of this - I am very happy with the general usage, I believe it is still good enough for me to fulfill my tasks but this HEVC problem is a bit rough for me. It can't even smoothly playback!

 

[h9826790]

12 cores should be OK, but it’s just estimate.

You better get a 12 cores 6,1 user in this forum, send him a short video to test it.