Need views on TitanZ, 980Ti and R9 295x2

[rueyloon]

Hello

The long render time during these few days of work is making me go bonkers as I explore how can I upgrade my computer.

I'm thinking of these 3 cards (unflashed) on an Akitio thunderbox. What do you think?

This may also opens up a possible route to go back to my OMP instead....
[doublepost=1482245056][/doublepost]answering my own question, since I use FCPX and it uses OPEN CL, seems like the best card we have today is the 980ti

https://browser.primatelabs.com/opencl-benchmarks

 

[Flint Ironstag]

I'll add that the TitanZ and R9 295 x2 will only be seen and utilized as single GPU solutions in macOS.

 

[666sheep]

I'll add that the TitanZ and R9 295 x2 will only be seen and utilized as single GPU solutions in macOS.

Nope, each of these would be seen by the OS as 2 separate GPUs. And would be useable as two in software based on OpenCL and CUDA acceleration. Of course if R9 295x2 would work in OS X (macOS) at all Titan Z will.
Both listed cards are power hogs and will need modding the PSU or using external one (if you'd want to put them in cMP).

 

[Flint Ironstag]

Pretty sure this has been hashed out here and other sites ad nauseam. However, I have not personally tried a dual GPU card in macOS. One example of such a thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/anyone-tried-radeon-7990-with-mac-pro.1632479/

As the OP mentions FCPX, they must be working in macOS, hence no recognition of both GPUs on dual GPU cards.

 

[666sheep]

That's BS. Only true thing in that thread is that 7990 doesn't work in OS X at all.
Look, I wouldn't claim something that I didn't try.
And many other people as well.
You're reading wrong threads. Check Tutor's threads for example here or on otoy forum.

 

[Flint Ironstag]

I'm making my way through an epic 70 page thread of his on OTOY right now for different reasons (best practices for building multiple GPU setup (I believe it's called)). Haven't seen any mention of those type of cards being used in OS X.

[edit] Found this Tutor link from 2014. #1161 Seems the last dual GPU card OS X recognized is a GTX 590. If anyone's running newer hardware I'd love to hear about it (seriously).

 

[666sheep]

You can skip the beginning to about the 10:20

...and so on.

 

[Flint Ironstag]

Holy cow - thanks for the link! Too bad (like everything else eGPU) it requires tinkering to work, and could break with any update. Antithetical to the Apple MO of "it just works".

Hmmm... wonder how cheap Titan Zs are going for these days...

Anyway - OP, take my initial post with a grain of salt. Looks like you just need to be extremely careful which dual GPU card you get, and be prepared to do some ongoing tinkering / maintenance.

 

[Daniel Reed]

...I use FCPX and it uses OPEN CL, seems like the best card we have today is the 980ti

Maxwell 12GB GTX Titan-X is the best NVidia card supported for macOS.

If using a nMP, D700s outform it in OpenCL by about 40%

If you're stuck on D500s, the best option for performance on Mac is to sell the nMP and buy another one w/ D700s.

Or buy two titans + two eGPU enclosures; but the egpu route will cost at least $2k (and upwards of $4k)

Used nMPs w/ D500 are selling used at near full value new prices on eBay.

It may be cheaper to sell your nMP and buy another nMP w/ D700s. A side benefit is the last builds of the nMP offer 50% faster read/read speeds for the 1TB option.

OR just wait for the new Macs early next year if only doing 4K editing & mild CC/grading.
[doublepost=1482372078][/doublepost]A colleague tried a Titan-Z, but traded it out for a Titan-X

The impression I got was beyond being overly finicky, the pcie 4x bus on TB was not enough for the two-cards-in-one Titan-Z

I only have direct experience w/ the Titan-X over eGPU. While its amazing for iMacs and MBPs(even over TB1), I ended up just sticking w/ dual D700s w/ the 12-core.