mac version dual graphics usage

[starbuck]

My questions is with regards to the new Mac Pro. They are equipped with dual graphics cards, but OSX won't, by default, use both GPU's unless it's written in the software code. Will X6 take advantage of the dual GPU's under OSX? I am conteplating purchasing a new Mac Pro and would like to know if Chief will take advantage of this technology with OSX (not windows). Thanks!

[dshall]

Great question, I hope you get an answer from CA.

[Doug Park]

The new Mac Pro has dual FireGL cards in it. We have not yet received the two Mac Pros we have ordered to test with yet. We ordered the low end model and a high end model 12 cores with the faster video card configuration. The high end model set us back over $8000.

I think the primary need for two cards is to drive multiple 4K displays.

My major concern is whether the FireGL card will work with Chief or not. We have had problems with FireGL cards on Windows in the past. When we get the new hardware we will first work out any issues with them functioning properly.

My sense is that the biggest 3D performance bottlenecks in Chief would not be helped much by trying to take advantage of dual cards.

For anyone wanting to buy a Mac Pro, I can't promise that Chief will work on the FireGL cards. We will do our best to work around any issues that might exist and I'm hopeful that we won't have any issues, but we have already experienced driver issues with at least one of the more recent revs of the iMac that we were able to work around after buying one that exhibited the problem.

I would recommend holding off buying one of these until we get ours in house to either verify that they do work or attempt to work around any bugs the drivers may have.

In any case they look like very fast machines on paper, but I'm pretty sure you could build a Windows machine with faster graphics and equivalent Xeon processors for quite a bit less.

[starbuck]

Doug.

Thanks for the quick reply. My interest in only on the Mac side of things, as I want to eliminate running windows on my machine. Yes, please let me/us know what the results are of your testing. I am ready to pull the trigger, but don't want incompatabilities with the fire pro cards.

Thanks

[starbuck]

I finally received my new mac pro. This is the 6-Core / D700 fire pro card version. I received it last Friday. I have been running Chief and viewing, creating many small renovation plans. Everything is sailing as smooth as can be. Rendering, 3d views, are super-fast. I haven't had any issues or crashes.

If you need any testing done let me know! I am very happy with my setup now!

[Doug Park]

Good to hear. We are still waiting for the ones we ordered for testing purposes. Let us know of any issues you have.

The things I would suspect that would be problems would be 3D and elevation views. Shadows, reflections, the various rendering techniques, etc. Try some ray tracing as well. You might try some larger plans. Also, try sending some views to layout.

What sort of monitor configuration are you running? Multiple monitors could have an effect.

You may also want to try the various rendering settings in preferences that affect the video card.

[starbuck]

I have tested larger plans and raytracing with different settings. I am not very technical when it comes to raytracing, but I haven't seen any issues. No issues, with sending to layout or even 3d elevations and views so far. I tried quite a few today. Maybe it will work better than expected?

[Steve C.]

So far I'm not blown away with CA on my new iMac. I'm hoping it's mostly software related but I may have set my expectations too high. I actually debated on waiting for the Mac Pro but it just seemed like overkill. Guess I may have been wrong about that.

[starbuck]

So far I'm not blown away with CA on my new iMac. I'm hoping it's mostly software related but I may have set my expectations too high. I actually debated on waiting for the Mac Pro but it just seemed like overkill. Guess I may have been wrong about that.

What seems to be the problem? Maybe my expectations are lower? Is is the speed or trouble somewhere else?

[dshall]

So far I'm not blown away with CA on my new iMac. I'm hoping it's mostly software related but I may have set my expectations too high. I actually debated on waiting for the Mac Pro but it just seemed like overkill. Guess I may have been wrong about that.

I too had a tough time with my expectations. But FYI, I have adapted to the MAC , and would not go back to MY PC. ( I am sure it's just me and PC's work as well as MAC and vice versa).

Give it a little more time, it might get better. Sometimes I wonder if the computer learns to get faster the more you use it.

[Rich Winsor]

Give it a little more time, it might get better. Sometimes I wonder if the computer learns to get faster the more you use it.

Not unless you are using IBM"s Watson. My observation has been that proficient users get better/faster over time not their computers. Sadly your computer's performance only degrades over time.

[Steve C.]

What seems to be the problem? Maybe my expectations are lower? Is is the speed or trouble somewhere else?

Speed is not a problem that's for sure, but I've had isolated quirks pop up in other programs, issues I was not expecting considering the near-legendary persona surrounding Mac. Nothing major, just the kind of things that used to frequent my Windows system that I expected to magically disappear when I made the switch. CA however has been a disappointment, but I still think it is mostly beta related and I'm hoping it clears up with the update. Isolated lags, crashes, opening older files, etc. have been the majority of the issues. The randomness of the lags are what lead me to believe that the software just needs an update. Some files created in X6 have the same issues as files created in X5, others have no issues at all. I do know this, I've submitted more support tickets in the last 30 days than I have the previous 8 years that I've been using CA. I could have submitted more but I'm waiting on a few other minor problems until the update is released.

I too had a tough time with my expectations. But FYI, I have adapted to the MAC , and would not go back to MY PC. ( I am sure it's just me and PC's work as well as MAC and vice versa).

Give it a little more time, it might get better. Sometimes I wonder if the computer learns to get faster the more you use it.

Don't get me wrong, I love the OS a lot better than Windows. Maybe that's from too many years looking at the same boring interface, but I think mostly it was because of the Windows issues that seemed to plague my systems over the years. I am a huge fan of how Mac enables me to organize files, particularly the ability to tag folders, an option Windows did not offer (they only allow the tagging of individual files). The ability to create notes in the folder info tab is nothing short of genius. Combine that with the fact that my desktop syncs perfectly with my iPhone and iPad and it was worth the investment. It really is a much more stable platform for the most part, and it seems to me that much more thought goes in to the design of the interface.