2013 Mac Pro Performance

[anthonydiehl]

I recently used a new 2013/14 Mac pro on a project. It was a rental so I don't recall all the specs, but I recall it was the 6-core processor and the D500 graphic cards. I noticed a very odd performance issue that I'm wondering if any others have experienced.

When connecting multiple thunderbolt to DVI dongles to drive 4 screen @ 1920 x 1200 each (three projectors and 1 monitor) the performance in Arena, with almost nothing running at all, was around the 15-20fps mark. As I removed thunderbolt dongles, I could get the fps up again. In desperation, I tried connecting a matrox triplehead2go DP to one thunderbolt port and set the resolution to 2 x 1920 x1200 plus one thunderbolt to DVI dongle. I was still technically pushing the exact amount of pixels as before, but now I was using one less thunderbolt port. The performance jumped up to 50-60fps as I would normally expect.

Any ideas here? It seems that pushing pixels isn't the issue, using a bunch of thunderbolt ports is. Anyone experienced this same behaviour on a mac, specifically the new mac pro?

[Oaktown]

Are you using passive or active MiniDP (not Thunderbolt) to DVI adapters?

[drazkers]

Sounds more like driver issues and how OSX is handling multiple cards.

Thats just an educated guess. I'm curious what the resolume guys say about their dual firepro support/experiences.

[Joris]

Without going into dual GPU support, as far as we can tell, there is some weirdness going on with multiple outputs, Spaces and Beam Sync.

With one output monitor attached, Resolume will chug along at 60fps. Each added display will then reduce that, as if they are waiting for each other for a refresh. Four outputs will bring you down to 15fps, without any content playing.

Keeping Displays have Separate Spaces turned on somehow affects this issue, but we're not quite sure how or why. To make things even stranger, the same hardware with the same Resolume runs like a charm under Win 8.1 using Bootcamp.

We're not completely blaming Apple for this, it's also possible we haven't yet figured out the magic words needed to make the Mac Pro play nice. But to be honest, we're a bit hesitant to start pulling special workaround tricks under the hood, just to get something to work that should just work out of the box.

[Oaktown]

Which is a great reminder that Macs are some of the best Windows laptops/desktops when using Bootcamp!

Go Apple!!!!

[anthonydiehl]

This is upsetting info on the Mac Pro... I want to love it... say it aint so...

As for active/passive adapters, I don't know. I have researched this a bit and I don't actually know how you tell if an adapter is active or passive. Its very confusing and poorly documented. I suspect that this is a likely culprit. Is there a thread somewhere here (or anywhere online) that gives actually real info on active/passive adapters for thunderbolt/(mini)display port?

The only reason I'd use the mac pro on a show is for the small footprint and relatively low cost per output in a multi screen set up (3 or more external HD displays). But this is leading me to believe that a custom PC is the way to get the performance I need.

[Oaktown]

As for active/passive adapters, I don't know. I have researched this a bit and I don't actually know how you tell if an adapter is active or passive. Its very confusing and poorly documented. I suspect that this is a likely culprit. Is there a thread somewhere here (or anywhere online) that gives actually real info on active/passive adapters for thunderbolt/(mini)display port?

The best way to tell is how much you paid for your MiniDP to DVI adapter.
~$10: Passive adapter
~$35: Active single-link adapter
~$100: Active dual-link adapter

I've had issues with passive adapters too many times that now I only use active adapters for anything I do. It's a great investment especially from DisplayLink to DVI/HDMI or VGA! Some GPUs such as the AMD Eyefinity 6 cards won't work well at all beyond two displays unless of course you use Displayport or you have active adapters.

The Accell active adapters (DVI single-link - B087B-006B-2, HDMI - B086B-008B-2 & VGA - Accell B101B-002B) are my preferred active adapter: http:amzn.com/B0098HVZA0. Keep in mind that you'll need a dual-link adapter if you work with anything above 1920x1200.

[anthonydiehl]

The best way to tell is how much you paid for your MiniDP to DVI adapter.
~$10: Passive adapter
~$35: Active single-link adapter
~$100: Active dual-link adapter

Sorry, but this is exactly the type of thing I'm talking about that perpetuates confusion online... this is in no way an accurate measure of identifying the hardware you need or identifying the hardware you already own.

Can anyone point me in the right direction to a technical spec document or reference on display port/thunderbolt adapters?

As for the Accell adapters, I'll check those out, thanks.

[Oaktown]

My post was not meant to introduce confusion but rather give you a sense of what's what.

The easiest way to know is to take your existing adapters, find the brand/model # and look it up online. If you can't find any info on your existing adapters, buy new ones.

As far as buying new adapters, just read the description when you buy it and you'll know whether it's passive or active.

There is no thunderbolt video adapters, just miniDP. Thunderbolt is just a combination of DisplayPort and PCIe and it shares the same connector as the MiniDP. That's why you'll find Thunderbolt to Ethernet/FW800 adapters since it uses PCIe connection but all video connections will be using DisplayPort technology.

Note that the Apple Thunderbolt displays are unique (and proprietary) because they use both technology (PCIe and DP) and won't work with just a DisplayPort cable.

If this is not clear, take a look at these links:
https://www.apple.com/thunderbolt/
http://www.macworld.com/article/1158145 ... _know.html

[Warspite]

I just dropped idea of getting new Mac Pro for Resolume. May be PC based mapper server and Macbook Retina (with Quartz, Syphon etc) live feed into this PC is a better idea. You are getting solid DVI and full size Display Port connectors instead of this thunderbolt consumer level connectors. And all storage and capture hardware inside solid steel case, and not octopus of cables and boxes on work table.