Andrew Madu
Well-known member
Can anyone confirm whether Premiere CS4 benefits from using the NVIDIA Quadro CX, on an 8-core Mac Pro, whilst processing RED projects?
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NVIDIA Quadro CX + Adobe Premiere CS4 (.RD3)
- Thread starter Andrew Madu
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- #2
Jeff Kilgroe
Well-known member
Not really. It boosts H.264 encoding and that's about it. It's a good card for CAD / 3D apps, but the GTX 285 is even better for that (just released yesterday). IMO, stick with the ATI 4870 or give the GTX 285 a shot and not the Quadro. Spend the money you save on a faster RAID or more RAM or faster CPU option if you're buying a new system.
Santiago Marti
Well-known member
jeff is right, i bought it mostly to use it with the dreamcolor monitor. it has 10bit output trough display port. other than that, nothing spectacular.
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- #4
Andrew Madu
Well-known member
Thanks Jeff, Santiago.
The ATI Radeon 4870 x2 & 4890 look very interesting.
EDIT: Nvidia GTX 295 appears to be pixel mogul at the moment. But why are most of these cards devoid of drivers for the Mac Pro?
The ATI Radeon 4870 x2 & 4890 look very interesting.
EDIT: Nvidia GTX 295 appears to be pixel mogul at the moment. But why are most of these cards devoid of drivers for the Mac Pro?
Siva Kollipara
Well-known member
Jeff,
curious to know whether 4870x2 in CrossFire has any benefits with reference to CS4..? is it better to have single 4890.
Also isn't it the conclusio that for Mac ATI is better and for Windows - nVidia..?
If that is the case is it good to have GTX 280x2 in SLi OR one single 285/295..?
Thanks,
Siva
curious to know whether 4870x2 in CrossFire has any benefits with reference to CS4..? is it better to have single 4890.
Also isn't it the conclusio that for Mac ATI is better and for Windows - nVidia..?
If that is the case is it good to have GTX 280x2 in SLi OR one single 285/295..?
Thanks,
Siva
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- #6
Jeff Kilgroe
Well-known member
...Sorry, was thinking I was still posting in the Apple Workflow forum when I mentioned the ATI 4870 and GTX 285 yesterday. @Dukeswharf, the reason these cards don't have drivers for the Mac is because Apple doesn't allow third-parties to write video drivers without specific license to do so. Additionally, video cards on the Mac need to have EFI support, which is the tech that is supposed to replace the old style BIOS. Windows supports EFI as well, but most PC component and motherboard vendors are holding onto BIOS with a death grip.
On PC systems, SLI / Crossfire offers little advantage for CS4. I would take a single 285 or 295 over an SLI GTX 280x2 if CS4 was my primary application set.
On OSX, ATI is not necessarily best. A lot comes down to which GPUs are offered at the time and how well Apple has optimized the drivers for that hardware. If you look at Apple's current line-up, other than the ATI 4870 option, all other GPUs offered in all their systems are currently nVidia. Software plays a role as well. When developers begin to optimize software for specific GPUs (a big mistake, IMO, that's what OpenCL and CUDA are for), then is when we start running into issues where ATI might be better than nVidia or whatnot. And while a certain application may perform better with one ATI card vs. a certain nVidia card, that may not hold true for the next iteration of cards offered.
In the days of the PCIe G5 systems, like the G5 Quad, the nVidia FX4500 reigned supreme on the Mac. There was hardly an ATI offering anywhere, except for the lowly ATI 9600. On Mac Pro systems now, there are low offerings for both ATI and nVidia in circulation. With the early '08 Mac Pro, the nVidia 8800GT was the best option, until Apple shipped the ATI 4870. That ATI card isn't any more powerful or faster and with current drivers the performance is nearly identical between it and the 8800GT. But the ATI offers 10bit output and the option to use a DisplayPort connector. The 8800GT support 10bit output as well in the hardware, but Apple has chosen to not support that feature within their drivers since most DVI monitors only accept 8bit input. There's also the Quadro 4800 CX Mac Edition, which has more memory and is bit more powerful. A fine option if it has the extra features you need, but they come at a steep price. And in terms of raw performance the GTX 285 Mac Edition will crush it.
The nVidia GTX 285 Mac Edition was released two days ago. I will have one on monday and a new 8-core 2.93GHz Mac Pro to test that card in and compare with the ATI 4870. Those are currently the best two options on the Mac. Crossfire is not supported on the Mac. You can install two ATI 4870 cards to drive more displays, but no Crossfire benefits. On the EVGA product page, they claim the GTX 285 Mac Edition has SLI support. But we'll have to see what the drivers actually offer. nVidia has supposedly done a lot more for the driver development this time around and it's not just Apple writing the drivers for the card.
On PC systems, SLI / Crossfire offers little advantage for CS4. I would take a single 285 or 295 over an SLI GTX 280x2 if CS4 was my primary application set.
On OSX, ATI is not necessarily best. A lot comes down to which GPUs are offered at the time and how well Apple has optimized the drivers for that hardware. If you look at Apple's current line-up, other than the ATI 4870 option, all other GPUs offered in all their systems are currently nVidia. Software plays a role as well. When developers begin to optimize software for specific GPUs (a big mistake, IMO, that's what OpenCL and CUDA are for), then is when we start running into issues where ATI might be better than nVidia or whatnot. And while a certain application may perform better with one ATI card vs. a certain nVidia card, that may not hold true for the next iteration of cards offered.
In the days of the PCIe G5 systems, like the G5 Quad, the nVidia FX4500 reigned supreme on the Mac. There was hardly an ATI offering anywhere, except for the lowly ATI 9600. On Mac Pro systems now, there are low offerings for both ATI and nVidia in circulation. With the early '08 Mac Pro, the nVidia 8800GT was the best option, until Apple shipped the ATI 4870. That ATI card isn't any more powerful or faster and with current drivers the performance is nearly identical between it and the 8800GT. But the ATI offers 10bit output and the option to use a DisplayPort connector. The 8800GT support 10bit output as well in the hardware, but Apple has chosen to not support that feature within their drivers since most DVI monitors only accept 8bit input. There's also the Quadro 4800 CX Mac Edition, which has more memory and is bit more powerful. A fine option if it has the extra features you need, but they come at a steep price. And in terms of raw performance the GTX 285 Mac Edition will crush it.
The nVidia GTX 285 Mac Edition was released two days ago. I will have one on monday and a new 8-core 2.93GHz Mac Pro to test that card in and compare with the ATI 4870. Those are currently the best two options on the Mac. Crossfire is not supported on the Mac. You can install two ATI 4870 cards to drive more displays, but no Crossfire benefits. On the EVGA product page, they claim the GTX 285 Mac Edition has SLI support. But we'll have to see what the drivers actually offer. nVidia has supposedly done a lot more for the driver development this time around and it's not just Apple writing the drivers for the card.
- Thread starter
- #7
Andrew Madu
Well-known member
Jeff,
I would appreciate any info you can provide, in regards to the performance of both the Nvidia and ATI cards, when your new system arrives.
EDIT: Ah ha! It's seems what I have been searching for is RED Rocket. That plus an ATI 4870 should do nicely methinks.
I would appreciate any info you can provide, in regards to the performance of both the Nvidia and ATI cards, when your new system arrives.
EDIT: Ah ha! It's seems what I have been searching for is RED Rocket. That plus an ATI 4870 should do nicely methinks.