Octane Render configuration on Mac

[jbecaud]

Hi,
i would like to install Octane Render on my Mac.
Can you tell me the based configuration to begin please ?
The goal for me is just to be able to render keyframes and then send the animations development to a rendering farm

I have two Mac computers :
> A Mac Pro debut 2009 with a Nvidia GeForce GT 120 512 Mo card
> A Mac Pro end 2013 with a AMD FirePro D700 6144 Mo card


Thank you in advance for your answers,
best regards,
Julien Bécaud

[bepeg4d]

Hi,
with Mac Pro 2013 (or any Mac with Thunderbolt port), you need High Sierra, an eGPU box with Thunderbolt 2, or 3 with Apple adapter:
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMEL ... -2-adapter

You can use the internal AMD GPU for system/monitor/OpenGL, while the external GPU is used only for CUDA rendering, at full power and with all the available VRAM per GPU.

At the following link you can find an extensive guide about eGPU solutions via Thunderbolt under Mac:
The Beginner’s eGPU Setup Guide for Mac

Here are a couple of eGPU solutions used by other Mac Octane users:
https://www.sonnettech.com/product/egfx ... y-box.html
https://www.razer.com/gaming-laptops/razer-core-v2
https://www.akitio.com/expansion/thunder3-pcie-box
the last solution needs an external PSU to work, as explained here:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=43439&start=170#p276341

At the following link you can find the OctaneBench results of the currently supported GPUs:
https://render.otoy.com/octanebench/res ... ingleGPU=1
New Volta and Touring architecture RTX 2070/2080/2080ti are not currently supported under Mac.

From the software side, you need to follow the steps described at the following link:
for High Sierra
At the end of the process, you can finally install Octane, and start rendering.

Note that tat the moment it is not possible to update to Mojave:
https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topi ... cos-10-14/

With Mac Pro 2009 (like mine), you need to upgrade to Sierra or High Sierra, then use the GT 120 for display, and add a couple of Pascal GPUs, like 1060/1070 without external power supply:

Or add a couple of 1080ti with external power supply:
https://youtu.be/5FWXgQSokF4

ciao Beppe

[jbecaud]

Thank you very much for your reply!

[jbecaud]

Hi Beppe,
what type of graphic card do you recommend with the egpu solution ?
One Geforce GTX 1070 can it suffice ?

What is the best solution to begin, you think : install a graphic card inside the Mac Pro 2009 or an egpu on the Mac Pro 2013 ?

For the egpu, a friend advised me this product Mac Pro 2013 : https://www.macway.com/fr/product/91245 ... 0UQAvD_BwE

And for the graphic card he advised me this product : https://www.topachat.com/pages/detail2_ ... .html#ae47

What do you think ?

Best regards,
Julien Bécaud

[bepeg4d]

Hi,
both Mac Pro 2009 and 2013 work well with 1070, while 2070, and all Volta RTX GPUs should not be currently supported under High Sierra.
About the eGPU solution, nice with 2x PCI double slots with space in between, but the internal PSU seems not enough for 2x GTX cards, and I suspect that you need to use this trick to make it works:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWXgQSokF4
ciao Beppe

[jbecaud]

Hi Beppe,
thank you very much again for your answer!
So if I understand your answer, only Geforce cards work on Mac, is that it?

For example if i buy this model it won't work on Mac : http://www.kfa2.com/kfa2/graphics-card/ ... 70-ex.html

Best regards,
Julien

[bepeg4d]

Hi Julien,
I would really like to be denied, but I think that, at the moment, only GTX GPUs can work under Mac.
ciao Beppe

[J.C]

Hi Beppe,
thank you very much again for your answer!
So if I understand your answer, only Geforce cards work on Mac, is that it?

For example if i buy this model it won't work on Mac : http://www.kfa2.com/kfa2/graphics-card/ ... 70-ex.html

Best regards,
Julien

Beppe is right. RTX cards are not supported yet. Currently the best available card for OSX would be GTX 1080Ti.

[jbecaud]

Hi,
I think I have found the type of card I need which will be installed on my Mac Pro 2009, I have the choice between these two GTX 1080 graphics cards:

This first on Macvidcards.com: http://www.macvidcards.com/store/p95...080_8_GB.html#

and this second on Macvidcards-Europe: https://www.ebay.fr/itm/MacVidCards-NVI ... 0903.m5276

What difference do you see between the two? I have the impression that the second is a "Founder Edition" with a more developed ventilation system
In both cases, these are NVIDIA cards modified to work on Mac.

What do you think ?

Thank you !