Graphics Card advice for A Video Editing Ivy Build

[ggeorge]

crap, i was planning on upgrading to a gtx680 when mountain lion came out. But now your saying that wouldnt be a very good card for video editing on mac.
I currently have a 6870 card. I figured the gtx680 would perform significantly better

No that's not quite what I said.

First, you need to look at the software you will be using. That is what will determine what if anything will help/work.

It may or may not even support ANY GPU acceleration. If it does, then you need to check what works well with it. Some use OpenCL, some use CUDA (nvidia only), some have their own interface.

IF all you are doing is video editing and NO 3D modeling/rendering/effects/overlays, etc... A 6XX card will work fine. Video editing is not a task that requires double precision math, which is where the 6XX cards SUCK.

If you want to do anything involving 3D stuff, then you don't want a 6XX card. Since 3D work is definitely double precision math.

Though many of the 3D packages can use multiple cards to assist with rendering. So you could have both a 6XX and a 5XX.

 

[Shuckey]

I am really new to this. This is even my first post. I haven't built a computer or a hackintosh yet. Looking forward to doing it this summer. I have taken apart my old iBook G4 several times, though...that has to count for something, right?

Anyways, I've been riding around this forum for a couple weeks trying to gather a bunch of info. This is a great discussion. As a video/photo editor (FCP, PS currently, but future: FCPX, Adobe Premiere, Avid) and looking to get into animations (maya / after effects), I'm having problems trying to figure out a graphics card. It seems as though the 580 with 1.5 GB would be the way to go. What are the benefits of other cards? Does it matter what brand it is?

Thanks so much.

By the way, right after this message, I'm going to figure out how to add to my signature line...

(no hackintosh components...YET)

 

[ggeorge]

I am really new to this. This is even my first post. I haven't built a computer or a hackintosh yet. Looking forward to doing it this summer. I have taken apart my old iBook G4 several times, though...that has to count for something, right?

Building/working on a hackintosh has little to do with the hardware assemblage. It's much more OS details and tricks.

Anyways, I've been riding around this forum for a couple weeks trying to gather a bunch of info. This is a great discussion. As a video/photo editor (FCP, PS currently, but future: FCPX, Adobe Premiere, Avid) and looking to get into animations (maya / after effects), I'm having problems trying to figure out a graphics card. It seems as though the 580 with 1.5 GB would be the way to go. What are the benefits of other cards? Does it matter what brand it is?

I believe a 580 is what you want if you have any plans to do 3D work. The brands don't matter too much, though things like warranties will vary. Unless you plan on overclocking the card I wouldn't worry about that too much.

The major variations have to do with the amount of memory, coolers and a factory overclock.

In most cases the amount of memory on the card past the standard amount (1.5 gb for a 580) is essentially a scam to get you to pay more money, but for 3D work it may make a difference. I'm not an expert on the 3D work though. I'd consult the forums for the packages you're looking at.

The cooler is one of the big distinguishing items. Since the reference coolers for the 580s aren't that quiet. I don't know how much you care about noise from the card though.

A factory overclock is one that they guarantee will be safe, so that shouldn't affect the card's reliability. The warning above is for if you decided to push the card.

FYI, unless something changes in Mountain Lion, SLI or Crossfire is NOT supported in OSX and I've heard nothing to indicate it will change. So dual GPU cards like the 590 or 6990 are not a good choice, though as I said you may be able to tap into multiple GPUs for 3D modeling rendering. That's something different from SLI/Crossfire, which is intended for gaming.

 

[Mcfool123]

As stated before from a few people stay with amd if you are not going to be using adobe products that allow cuda acceleration. The Nvidida cards were destroyed with the launch of the 5xx series cards and the tradition continues. If you really want Nvidia than your best bet would be a 480. If you are using programs that use cuda though than either a 5xx series or 6xx but at the same time you should be able to get away with a 550 ti or 560ti I believe and have very close performance to some of the more expensive models from what I have read. Just be sure to check into it and make sure whatever model you get that it works with the cuda accelerator of the programs that can use it.

 

[Shuckey]

Thanks ggeorge!!

The cooler is one of the big distinguishing items. Since the reference coolers for the 580s aren't that quiet. I don't know how much you care about noise from the card though.

Ehhhh, not a big fan of noise. It must be pretty loud if that is what came to mind.

So where do Radeon 6970 graphic cards and others fall in with regards to working on a hackintosh and performance? What about longevity of support in osX?

 

[ggeorge]

Ehhhh, not a big fan of noise. It must be pretty loud if that is what came to mind.

So where do Radeon 6970 graphic cards and others fall in with regards to working on a hackintosh and performance? What about longevity of support in osX?

They aren't horribly loud, they're much better than the 480s were. It's just that the non-reference coolers can be significantly quieter.

AFAIK, the 69XX cards are not well supported in OSX and it doesn't look like that's going to be changing in 10.8. I believe Netkas has something to get them working, but you are probably better off with a 68XX or a 5XX nVidia.

But again check the software you are interested in working with. Some of them only use CUDA which is nVidia only.

 

[ypz801]

Great article with real-life Abode Premiere MPE benchmarks for a bunch of Nvidia cards.

http://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/PremiereCS5.htm

It really shows that the new Kepler cards were intended to perform great in games as already mentioned in Anandtech's article. I bet if a Radeon 7970 could make use of the Mercury Playback Engine in Adobe's Premiere Pro, it would outperform the newest Kepler cards. In that case you would have a card that can do well in games as well as in rendering. Something very usefull to me!

Anybody a suggestion for a new card that can do both, keeping in mind future developments? For example better AMD support in Adobe's program's? Gaming and MPE? GTX 580 (huge energy consumption!!!), GTX 670/680 or AMD 7970?

 

[moonmouse]

What do people think of the EVGA B stock cards?

GTX 580 there for $300.
http://www.evga.com/products/prodlist.asp?switch=20

or a 560 could be had at New egg for $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130770

Any thoughts on sealed cards vs extra fans for a quiet build?

thanks!

 

[ggeorge]

What do people think of the EVGA B stock cards?

GTX 580 there for $300.
http://www.evga.com/products/prodlist.asp?switch=20

EVGA makes good stuff, it's the stock cooler though, so not the best choice for a silent build.

or a 560 could be had at New egg for $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130770

That's actually the 560 SE which is a crippled version of the 560 and again it's the stock cooler.

Any thoughts on sealed cards vs extra fans for a quiet build?

If you mean cards that exhaust out the back of the case vs ones that are open. That's basically irrelevant to the noise level. That's determined by

1) the Case
2) the fans
3) cooler design

It does look like if you want quiet you would be better off with a 560ti, than a 448 core or higher. The GF114 based cards were all significantly noiser than the 560ti's.

 

[moonmouse]

I See,
so something like this EVGA DS SuperClocked 01G-P3-1567-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130657
might strike a better balance.

i probably sound dumb saying this but its amazing to me how many different kinds of cards there are on the market i'm looking forward to making something rather than just reading card specs all day.

Thanks for your help!