POLL: 980Ti vs AMD CF vs Mixed for Use in a Mac Pro

[StoneyMahoney]

I'm planning on upgrading an official Mac Pro with a couple of X5690's and a new GPU setup. My intention is to edit video under FCPX and game under Boot Camp using an adaptive sync monitor. I'm aware of the FCPX performance issues with the 980Ti and the spotty compatibility and scaling issues with Crossfire, but I've not found any info about using an Nvidia GPU for output and an AMD GPU for OpenCL compute. I'm also unsure exactly which AMD GPUs I'd be using - I'd like to use a pair of Nanos, but they're overpriced and hard to get right now so RX480's may be the only realistic option, which involves stepping the single-card games performance down even further.

The reason I ask all this is that I need to make a decision on what monitor I'm going to get, as Freesync and G-Sync are not cross-compatible. The G-Sync monitor I'm looking at is 1440p at 144Hz. The Freesync monitor I'm considering, factoring in the likely drop in gaming performance, is a 1080p Ultrawide 75Hz model. As you can see this is quite a lowering of expectations, but I need to realistically balance my gaming and video editing needs. I would like to hear from folks with experience of FCPX with a 980Ti - it may be worse than an AMD card, but it is bad enough to make me consider switching vendors? Also, if anyone can point me in the direction of any information on running mixed vendor GPUs in tandem, that would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for reading all this, hopefully I'll have a badass modded Mac Pro build log coming for you all soon!

EDIT: Forgot to mention, I'm also realistic about my expectations when it comes to variations in Crossfire support and scaling in games, so if FCPX performance is going to be "good enough" with a 980Ti, I'd like to know before I do something potentially stupid Although there is the cachet of running dual GPUs to consider as well....

 

[Fl0r!an]

FCPX doesn't like setups with mixed GPUs. I think it usually uses the GPU which has the displays connected and leaves the 2nd one unused.

Can't comment on the performance though, but you should find lots of BruceX benchmarks here and @ MacRumors.

 

[StoneyMahoney]

FCPX doesn't like setups with mixed GPUs.

Ok, useful to know, thanks.

...you should find lots of BruceX benchmarks here...

I've seen plenty of comparisons showing the 980ti being outperformed in BruceX by a variety of 'inferior' AMD cards in the final render process. That's not really a problem for me, but I've heard that scrubbing through footage and previewing effects takes a *huge* performance hit and can make working in the timeline a massive pain in the butt, so I'm more looking for opinions from folks who've used the 980ti with FCPX whether or not this is the case or what you have to do to make it a problem or whatever.