2 GPU`S

What happens with FCP Studio 3 if I install a second GPU (NVIDIA 4000)? Any andverse affect? Any downside?

Reasons for doing so are:

1. Resolve 7.1
2. CS5

The current card is an ATI 5770. MacPro is 2010 8 Core w/16GB Ram.

Thx,
Clay

...as I understand it for Resolve you don't hook up the 4000 to a monitor - its just there for processing - so you shouldn't have any dual display card issues with FCS3.

Whether CS5 then makes use of the CUDA cores on the 4000 or not is another thing.

Here is the config manual for Resolve. [www.blackmagic-design.com]

Let us know if you go down the mixed route - Blackmagic seem to think it works. Would be good to see if the 4000 and 5770 work together in harmony. I have the GTX285 which apparently beats the 4800 and 4000 on Resolve but I haven't got Resolve yet so I couldn't confirm that.



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Quote
Ben King
...as I understand it for Resolve you don't hook up the 4000 to a monitor - its just there for processing - so you shouldn't have any dual display card issues with FCS3.

How does compatibility with Resolve imply no issues with FCS 2009 (FCS 3)?


-Dave

The issue with Apple Color and two GPUs is that you cannot have monitors attached to both cards. Apparently Color and FCP work fine with 2 GPU cards as long as you observe this caveat.



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Ben King Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The issue with Apple Color and two GPUs is that
> you cannot have monitors attached to both cards.
> Apparently Color and FCP work fine with 2 GPU
> cards as long as you observe this caveat.

Thanks for the info, Ben!


-Dave

The thing I don't know and haven't read is whether CS5 would utilise the 4000 if it was just used as a GPU processing unit.

It might be a good idea to buy 2x Nvidia 4000s in that case [But did Apple ever sort out the FXPlug bug if using two identical cards???]

I'm going to have to do a bit of research and ask some peeps.



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Note that some third-party plugins have been known to have issues when multiple cards are present in the system.

My software:
Pro Maintenance Tools - Tools to keep Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro running smoothly and fix problems when they arise
Pro Media Tools - Edit QuickTime chapters and metadata, detect gamma shifts, edit markers, watch renders and more
More tools...

Hi Ben,

after tinkering around and corresponding with Blackmagic Support (who are Grade A top-notch excellent btw), here's where we are:

Up and running with the ATI5770 in Slot 1 (which is double wide), the NVIDIA 4000 in Slot 2 and the Blackmagic Extreme HD+ in Slot 3. A Sonnet Tempo e2p is going into Slot 4 tomorrow for a 20TB eSata Raid. Support confirmed the proposed configuration before we did the install, a step I would strongly recommend to anyone just getting started.

No issues with FCS as the ATI is connected to the dual working monitors (24" Eizos in this case). CS5 runs, but not sure yet about the CUDA support. Waiting on Adobe for the answer to that part of the equation. When running Resolve, which normally displays as a fixed-screen layout on one monitor only, one can tear off scopes and some of the other pages to the second monitor in a dual monitor situation. That may not be recommended, especially as the scopes are concerned, but it does work and still with very snappy realtime playback off the Extreme.

So yes, a 3 Brain setup (FCS, CS5, Resolve) does indeed work on a 2010 MacPro with OS10.6.6. Resolve ideally wants the big panels to run like a gazelle, but a Tangent Wave is handling the job in the meantime. A Cubix2 slot expansion module to accommodate a RED Rocket will be the next step once we're deeper in. Betting that Epic is going to be huge, a RED Rocket is at the top of the wish-list.

hth for those looking to take the leap,
Clay

Thanks for feeding back Clay; good to have confirmation.

If you have Premiere CS5 you can check if the CUDA based "Mercury Playback Engine GPU Acceleration" option shows up and works whilst using the ATI as the GUI card.

If you haven't already - you might need to get the latest CUDA drivers for Mac OS X (Check with Blackmagic and make sure there are no conflicts first though!)

[www.nvidia.com]



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