Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Register Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

New 2018 MacBook Pro's and BlackMagic eGPU

Zeb B said:
Wow! I’ll keep that awesome advice against being so eager to jump on brand new technology and being so learned up about keyboard defects and crap code before it’s publicly known . . .
Davinci Resolve: V15
MacBook Pro: 12 years after introduction
GoPro: 16 years after introduction
Click to expand...

Since the beta version of Davinci Resolve 14(and probably a lot earlier) it was known that the next version DR15 would need potent GPU hardware.
Since the trash can (end 2013) it has been hard for Apple to deliver hardware that can handle heat comming of the electronic components, but still people where buying it, so apple tried to put other low quality components in their equipment to scare customers off, but they just keep buying whatever apple throws at them.
GoPro footage works perfect on Davinci Resolve.

Just look for some thrusted reviewers and then decide what to buy.
 
FWIW - Post-update, my i9/32GB 15" MBP is debayering 4K/6K footage at 1/2 & full res faster than my 2013 6-core/D700/32GB nMP. Around 7-10% faster in my tests so far in RCX.

2018 i9 MBP is massively (At least..massive to me. Difference between not wanting to use RCX on it and being very happy using it) faster than my full-spec 2016 MBP in RCX.
 
Misha Engel said:
Since the beta version of Davinci Resolve 14(and probably a lot earlier) it was known that the next version DR15 would need potent GPU hardware.
Since the trash can (end 2013) it has been hard for Apple to deliver hardware that can handle heat comming of the electronic components, but still people where buying it, so apple tried to put other low quality components in their equipment to scare customers off, but they just keep buying whatever apple throws at them.
GoPro footage works perfect on Davinci Resolve.

Just look for some thrusted reviewers and then decide what to buy.
Click to expand...

What thrusted reviewers do you recommend?
 
Zeb B said:
What thrusted reviewers do you recommend?
Click to expand...

For apple products with respect to content creators http://barefeats.com/
For intel/NVidia https://www.pugetsystems.com/all_news.php, they are biased towards intel and NVidia but it gives a good indication.
For PC stuff http://www.guru3d.com/, https://www.tomshardware.com/, https://www.anandtech.com/, https://techgage.com/.
CB R15 gives a good indication of the raw CPU power https://www.cpu-monkey.com/en/cpu_benchmark-cinebench_r15_multi_core-8
The number of TFlops (fp32) gives a good indication of the GPU power in Davinci Resolve https://videocardz.com/ "top line of the website, Computing Power (FP32) is the power at base clock of the GPU".

For tips and tricks about Davinci Resolve https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewforum.php?f=21&sid=75e6bb084d7d8c8a58ba409dbaee784b or Rand Thompson on this site.

Phil Holland and Jeff Killgroe

Never forget the bias of the different review sites and keep thinking for yourself, an 8 millimeter thin laptop can't dissipate 200 watts of thermal power.
 
Mohammed Almedfa said:
FWIW - Post-update, my i9/32GB 15" MBP is debayering 4K/6K footage at 1/2 & full res faster than my 2013 6-core/D700/32GB nMP. Around 7-10% faster in my tests so far in RCX.

2018 i9 MBP is massively (At least..massive to me. Difference between not wanting to use RCX on it and being very happy using it) faster than my full-spec 2016 MBP in RCX.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mohammed,
good to know. I was wondering how the new i9 MBP compared to the 2013 Mac Pro, this confirms what I was hoping.

Has anybody tried the Blackmagic eGPU with the new Macbook Pro in Redcine X ? Does it work ? How much faster does it get ?
Thanks :)
 
Yup so far I'm very happy with the performance for a laptop that is still light enough to carry everywhere.

The only caveat I would add is that I haven't done very long tests, but I've tested with 3000 frame long 4K clips (6K clip was only a few hundred frames). So I do need to do more testing to see how it is under a lengthy sustained load. Other caveat is that my nMP is still on Sierra, while the i9 is on High Sierra. Not sure if there is any greater efficiency to RCX performance under High Sierra vs Sierra. Will explore more and add any other observations/comparisons.
 
D Fuller said:
Any reason why the eGPU won't work with the 2017 3.1Ghz MacBook?
Click to expand...

When it has Thunderbolt 3 and an eGPU with an AMD GPU in it, it will always work, with NVidia you can expect some difficulties.

for more information look at barefeats.com
 
Are there any laptop cooling solutions that make sense? For our use case, an auxiliary cooling pad/fan/whatever might just change the equation.

Yes, I know that we "shouldn't" have to add a cooling kludge, that Cupertino has lost it's mojo, etc. That said, from a pragmatic POV, I like the idea that a MBP and a cooler might offer a nice combo - small and light for everyday tasks, but still able to shred with a simple outboard addition. Just sayin'

Cheers - #19
 
Blair S. Paulsen said:
Are there any laptop cooling solutions that make sense? For our use case, an auxiliary cooling pad/fan/whatever might just change the equation.

Yes, I know that we "shouldn't" have to add a cooling kludge, that Cupertino has lost it's mojo, etc. That said, from a pragmatic POV, I like the idea that a MBP and a cooler might offer a nice combo - small and light for everyday tasks, but still able to shred with a simple outboard addition. Just sayin'

Cheers - #19
Click to expand...

Dave Lee used a freezer and it worked.
 
Blair,

I have not tried this myself but noted earlier that Pyrolytic material can wick heat away 7 times faster than Aluminium.

Putting a thin (17um thin) sheet on the top and bottom of a laptop is likely to cause the entire surface to be one temperature rather than have hot spots near CPU and GPU.

On the table the laptop is Placed - it could sit on something like this:
Pyrolytic sheet (top of table under laptop)-> on top of Peltier Cooler -> on top of Heat sink (or to 1000 BTU passive convection radiator behind desk)

https://www.amazon.com/BQLZR-TEC1-12730-Thermoelectric-Peltier-Cooling/dp/B00EQ1X5EC

Hook up to a power source (with a lot of current) - this set up should cool the laptop FASTER then putting the laptop in a freezer.

AJ

MISC : This would be a >250 Watt cooling action. It might freeze everything in sight. If anyone does do this - start smaller! One side of the Peltier cooler willl be sub zero, and the other will be very very hot.
 
Last edited:
Zeb B said:
Or maybe we are too impressed with expensive gadgets that don’t perform the basic tasks they are designed for.
Click to expand...

Yes that's it.

More accurately, it's a combination of consumeristic mentality combined with power user requirements and hyped marketing.

To be fair, today's tools have become very complex to be able to achieve highly complex functions and tool makers have exceptionally difficult task of making it all work because variables to juggle are rising exponentially.

So...you combine that with race for profit of insatiable dinosaurs with planned obsolescence tactics on one side and consumeristic mindset expecting everything better yesterday on the other and you get products released in beta widely accepted as normal. And unrealistic expectations and arrogant desires eventually bitch slapped by Reality through the endless loop of needs to compensate by constant fiddling and problem solving.

Is today this really progress or just trading reliability, practicality and intuitiveness for peak performance chasing, i.e. quality for quantity...is another discussion.

So...I got rid of Mac Pros, keep my "old" MBPs for everyday non-power usage stuff and for more intensive work use PC workstations I built myself, kept disconnected from the web. Greatly reduced need for fiddling, problem solving, hardware fixation, overall tool pampering and therapy.
 
Blair S. Paulsen said:
Are there any laptop cooling solutions that make sense? For our use case, an auxiliary cooling pad/fan/whatever might just change the equation.

Yes, I know that we "shouldn't" have to add a cooling kludge, that Cupertino has lost it's mojo, etc. That said, from a pragmatic POV, I like the idea that a MBP and a cooler might offer a nice combo - small and light for everyday tasks, but still able to shred with a simple outboard addition. Just sayin'

Cheers - #19
Click to expand...
I heard about these kind of cooling systems, but haven't tried them yet :
https://www.amazon.com/Laptop-Cooling-Pads-External-Fans/b?ie=UTF8&node=2243862011

What do you guys think ? (except the fact that most of them are ugly as hell :001_unsure: )
 
Nils Ruinet said:
What do you guys think ? (except the fact that most of them are ugly as hell :001_unsure: )
Click to expand...

A must if you plan on rendering anything longer on newer machines with deadlines ticking and preserving sanity.

With older retinas I used the one like Thermaltake aluminum model and it prevented freezes and shut downs. In most cases.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top