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MP 7,1 Radeon VII in the 7,1 Mac Pro
- Thread starter PowerMike G5
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I can't answer about Resolve; Premiere is pretty good at making use of any GPUs it can get its "hands" on. At least in the PC world, Premiere will make use of non-identical GPUs for accelerated effects and whatnot.
Yeah Premiere would use both. I believe it will only use one GPU for playback, but both for accelerated effects/Lumetri Color/hardware accelerated exports. So is quite useful. I'm doing a 4K edit now in Premiere, and it's already using 100% VRAM and spikes to 75% of the GPU processor usage just on playback with a single Lumetri layer on, along with an average of 600% CPU usage. And this is far from an intensive project.
I'm excited to use the new Mac Pro for the extra power for video content creation.
This is exactly the scenario I am shooting for. I will use the Vega VII Pixlas Edition for the new 7.1 and migrate all other PCIe cards and switches to the new kid on the block, - although .. later next year maybe.
So far I have been very happy with the performance of my Sapphire Vega VII. I already contacted a supplier that can put a new black aluminium eloxidation coating on the Vega VII alu shroud in order to have a "full black Apple design language" inside the 7.1.
Since the Vega VII has Display Port 1.4 and HDMI, anyone like me that wants to run older Apple Displays can do so without any TB3 dongles. In other words, with this card you can have a full Apple setup using older Apple Displays, - IF - for some reason, one wants to wait a little bit for the "All new 6K nanotexture display with Pro Stand" purchase.
Now we talking. Keep us posted with how that looks.
The black inside of Mac Pro does look amazing. Feel like the ‘Mac Pro’ text should be a dark grey not white though. And those blue circles should also be grey. Oh and the case Apple logo should be something a lot more subtle colour. Oh and the whole thing should be space grey. Maybe someday?
What about a TB card with pass through? Maybe that's doable, same way Apple Ultrafine 5K is doable on the cMP..
It’s interesting to see the VII using all of its available VRAM for a 4K project.
I had planned to buy a 580 7,1 and put a VII in it, since I primarily work with 4K (as opposed to 6-8K), and assumed the 16GB VII would perform just as well as a 32GB Vega II since they’re the same processor (I didn’t think 4K would max the VRAM).
Seeing this, so you think the Vega II would indeed have a noticeable performance benefit over a VII?
I don't know for certain. Given outside the VRAM, they are essentially the same GPU, I'd probably say that performance will be similar. But having the VII and 580X together should be more powerful overall, especially for accelerated effects/processes that can utilize both GPUs.
This is why I'm interested in the 2 Radeon VII setup. Will definitely be more powerful than a single Radeon Pro Vega II at less cost, especially since I have one Radeon VII already.
Thanks for the reply.
Id like to get mine ordered tomorrow, but this is the burning question that I still can’t quite decide whether I’m making the “right” decision.
Im currently using mostly Adobe products (and Capture One for photos), but I plan to start using Divinci Resolve more over the next year.
My setup is currently a 6,1 pair of 4K monitors, plus a 4K TV via HDMI that I use as a preview monitor in Premiere.
It seems like 1 (or 2) Radeon VIIs is a tremendously better value and almost a “no brainer” in my situation. For as inexpensive as they are, and since they won’t be available in the future, it seems like the obvious choice to go ahead and buy 2 of them instead of 1.
Beyond that, I plan to go 192GB Ram and the 16 core. And this setup should last me many years. I do mainly corporate video, so now that I’m all 4K I’ll probably stay there for quite a few years with no need for anything beyond that.
Yeah my feeling is the Radeon VII pair is a much greater value. Even 2 is half the price of the Pro Vega II. I'd go with the Pro Vega II if you value official Apple hardware and want the MPX module with thunderbolt 3. Otherwise, the other options seems better.
Yes, I'm hoping this machine will last for 6-8 years, just like how I got that out of the cMP 5,1.
My usage case seems heavier than yours (broadcast and feature film editing), and I still think mine will last that long. So for corporate video, I think you'll get even longer time out of it hopefully!
Yes, I'm hoping this machine will last for 6-8 years, just like how I got that out of the cMP 5,1.
My usage case seems heavier than yours (broadcast and feature film editing), and I still think mine will last that long. So for corporate video, I think you'll get even longer time out of it hopefully!
Thanks again for the reply.
Is there any downside to the VII, other than a bit of fan noise, and not being able to run the 5/6k monitors?
Some people had mentioned the potential of being able to keep the 580 in place, and still have room for 2 Vega IIs. That seems like the ultimate solution, because the 580 could drive future 6k displays (though I really don’t see them in my future), and the 2 Vega IIs could do all the heavy lifting. Any idea if this is true/possible?
No downsides for me. And I'm the one trying to figure out about keeping the 580 and using the 2 VIIs. what you're mentioning should be doable. We'll know more soon I guess.
I just realized I mixed up my words on that last post (I meant 2 VIIs plus a 580, not 2 Vega II’s), but it looks like you realized what I meant.
It’ll be interesting to see.
I keep getting caught up on the principal of “If if too good to be true, it probably is”, in regard to the VII being the same general performance at 1/5th the price, but it sounds like this may be a rare exception.
For anyone interested, it looks like the Radeon VII has been confirmed in the 7,1, boot screen and all even without any of the MPX module GPUs inside.
macfinder.co.uk
Mac Pro 2019: Interchangeable Parts, T2 Security & Custom Configuration - MacFinder Blog
Our Mac Pro 2019 arrived today and after 15 short minutes of looking at how pretty it is, and it truly is, we set to taking it apart. Our aim was to find
macfinder.co.uk
Looks like the Radeon VII is an excellent choice in the MP 2019.
SHOOTOUT: 2019 Mac Pro versus 2010 Mac Pro.
real world speed test results for performance minded Macintosh users
barefeats.com
Very happy to read this.
My pair of VIIs came today, and I’ve been waiting to open them until I found someone else who tried against a Vega II, lol (I can return them without a restocking fee if they’re still sealed).
Now I just have to be patient and wait another week+ for my 7,1 to arrive
So we put a 5700XT, Vega 64, and Radeon VII into our 2019 Mac Pro and did a few test. First off, the power cabled do not get blocked by MPX modules (we have a Vega II full size) and with that installed I can still put in 2x Radeon VII's.
I removed the Vega II MPX and installed just the 5700XT but then I can't power my LG 5K (and soon XDR) display so you'll definitely want to order the 580 and keep it installed if you want to power displays from those other TB3 ports.
Lastly, it looks like the Radeon VII is NOT using the same drivers as the Vega II.. The performance is MUCH worst in metal even though it should be very similar, maybe just 6% worst.. I also ran Metal test on the 5700XT and Vega 64. The GPU stuff is towards the end of the video.
I removed the Vega II MPX and installed just the 5700XT but then I can't power my LG 5K (and soon XDR) display so you'll definitely want to order the 580 and keep it installed if you want to power displays from those other TB3 ports.
Lastly, it looks like the Radeon VII is NOT using the same drivers as the Vega II.. The performance is MUCH worst in metal even though it should be very similar, maybe just 6% worst.. I also ran Metal test on the 5700XT and Vega 64. The GPU stuff is towards the end of the video.
Hi Max. Its cool to see you post on here! I started following both your channels when you posted the 16" MBP videos. I also remember a few years ago, watching some of your videos on the Sony A6300/A6500.
I look forward to seeing your real world tests of the VII vs the Vega II. At this point, it's a little late for me to change course (I already have 2 VIIs sitting here, and I've already opened 1 of them). But based on the Barefeats results from the VII (they noted that it actually beat the Vega II in 2 of the 3 tests they tried), I'm still optimistic that it will be a solid performing system.
Based on what you've seen in your testing, do you think it will be possible to leave the factory 580X MPX module in place, and add 2x VIIs?
Looking forward to watching more of your great content on YouTube!
Thanks! With me Vega II which covers 4 slots there is still space to route the power cables and have 2x Radeon VII's in the two 16x slots between the MPX and Afterburner. Shouldn't be an issue with the 580X.
I saw that on Barefeats. I really wish he elaborated more on the VII in 2019 MP.
Hi Max-
I noticed you are testing the afterburner card as well. Some of us (myself included) are interested in seeing if the card accelerates transcoding to ProRes from other formats, like XF-AVC H.264.
Apple's description says AB doesn't encode but it accelerates transcoding. Is this something you can test?
I have an R7 as an eGPU and this only occurred for a few builds in early developer previews of Catalina. It is daily used by my wife for the last 3 months with a 49"5K2K monitor. The system sleeps, wakes, boot screens and doesn't full fan anymore, again since early dev previews.
Used it with a 2018 Mini, 2019 MacBook, 2019 iMac.
Installed in a Breakaway Box as well as Razer Core.
Thanks Max. That was very helpful. I know that Barefeats are doing more tests.
Some of the questions that needs to be answered are:
How much power do 2 x Radeon VII + 580X draws under a heavy load. I think the Radeon VII alone draws 295W TDP
How effective is the Mac Pro thermodynamics with 2x Radeon VII? The Radeon VII is famous for it`s own fan noise.
Will the CPU choice limit GPU expansion? The 28 core draws way more power than the 8 core.
Mac Pro power consumption and thermal output (BTU/h) information - Apple Support
Learn about the power consumption and thermal output of Mac Pro computers.
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Thanks for your great video Max!
Now that you have a VegaII + Radeon VII + Radeon VII - can you confirm that this works as a setup? And run a benchmark that can use all three cards at once? Think that would be very interesting.
I would have thought that would be too much power drawn from that and system would not allow it.
(Love how you do your real world benchmarks, doing repeated Cinebench runs to simulate a long render where thermal thrilling would happen.)
Hi Max, thanks for all these tests. Could you test the performance of graphics cards within da Vinci resolve? Eg a 4K clip with a few node corrections and then start adding Temporal noise reduction and monitoring the FPS. Would be amazing to see the difference between a vega II and vega II duo in resolve.
Thanks!
Thanks for these tests. I don't understand why the Vega 64 scores higher than the Vega VII. This sounds flawed, does Apple block the performance of the Vega VII intentionally here? This is so typical Apple prison box ....
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