How many GPUs does the cMac Pro currently support ?

[serge-m]

Hi All,

after a couple of weeks of research, I decided, that I want to buy the Netstor GPU Expander (http://www.netstor.com.tw/_03/03_02.php?MTEx#) for my cMP.
But right now a t the moment I'm insecure how many GPUs the current macOS actually support...
In this thread from macrumors (http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/el- ... r.1925054/) a guy managed to have 5 ! GPUs running with his cMP and macOS 10.11.
I own 10.11.5 and from what I've heard, it is good to run cards of the same type (e.g.: 5x 980 Ti’s).

So, here are my questions:

1. Does anyone of you fellas have a similar setup running successfully with his cMP ?
2. Does Sierra supports the same amount of cards or even more ?

Any advice is appreciated

[glimpse]

Hi there.

the most I've seen running out here is also 5GPUs.. more than that & Your device do not boot at all (I'll post screen shot later..). Overall, if You want an advice.. add only one or two GPUs in Your mac & build a render node - much more stable & much more reliable solution compared to eGPUs on mac (that's my personal experience & opinion so far).

[serge-m]

Tom,

thanks for joining into my thread
I read a lot of your tips and tricks. With your knowledge, you can actually start a business

Yes, I know the idea of a render node and all its advantages, but 5 GPUs is fairly enough for me right now. And I want to stay just with the Mac.
Of course I hope, Apple will eliminate the limit of connected GPUs somehow in the future, but as I said, 5 GPUs will make my freelance business more efficient.

So, if I put in 5x 980 Ti in the box (1 MVC card in my cMP) and 4 in the Netstor, it will work ?
If so, I will probably wait until the 1070 runs with macOS - cheaper, more engergy efficient and nearly the same speed.

The Netstor is also quite expensive, but it should run more solid and with better speed than the Amfeltec.
Or do you know a plug and play chassis for the cMP, that is cost-efficient ?

[Collider]

Hi serge-m, I'm currently trying a few different things, and a 12 core cMP was one of them. I have 4 980Ti's I'm playing with right now in various configurations. After crap-tons of rebooting, re-installing, swapping etc. I was able to get 3 of the 980Ti running in the cMp, all hooked to an amfeltec 4 way splitter. I could never get the 4th one to go, the machine wouldn't even boot. I discovered the posts that confirmed no more than 3 980Ti's will run after the fact. I had to rip Sierra out all together and reinstall El Capitan, I never got Sierra to run more than 1. I have no idea how stable it is - I ran it for a couple hours and seemed fine. The octane bench for the 3 980Ti was 353.

I also have 3 e-GPU Akito cases I'm experimenting with on a nMP. So far I've only gotten 2 (with the 980Ti's) to load successfully on one machine.

I'm now looking up parts to build a PC server based on Tom and Sebastian's rig: http://tomglimps.com/7_gpu_workstation- ... tanebench/
Let me know if this is hijacking the thread, but since you may be asking some of the same questions soon as well, I may as well post here.

So... Tom (glimpse) or Sebastian or anyone else in PC land...

The parts you used are European, so I'm trying to look up equivalents here. I've seen a few lists of parts for 4 gpu machines on these forums, but if anyone has any info on a 7-8 gpu server only rig I'd love to hear about it. I won't use it at all for anything other than gpu render, so I don't need massive cpu or ram, just space and cooling for a bunch of gpus, and enough of a motherboard to turn the thing on. Looking around, it seems like the 1070's are probably the best bang for buck currently, would that be accurate? Are there water blocks for the 1070's? I have no problem with the idea of modding the cards to fit single slot like you do with the 980ti's, I assume the same mod needs to happen for the 1070. I believe you used the Asus P6T7 WS... is that still the one you would choose now?
My other (and easier/cheaper) option would be to open air this thing ala bitcoin rig and 3M extension cables, but it seems everyone that has gone down that route has come around to water cooling.

[Collider]

Tom,
So, if I put in 5x 980 Ti in the box (1 MVC card in my cMP) and 4 in the Netstor, it will work ?
If so, I will probably wait until the 1070 runs with macOS - cheaper, more engergy efficient and nearly the same speed.

The Netstor is also quite expensive, but it should run more solid and with better speed than the Amfeltec.
Or do you know a plug and play chassis for the cMP, that is cost-efficient ?

I wrote my last post before I saw this one... I mentioned it above, but you can not use any more than 3 980Ti's in the cMP. The guy that was popping 5 cards in was doing a combination of 2 980Ti's and 3 780Ti's.

[philliplakis]

Im P.L from MacRumours.

Nothing has changed,
You can not have more than 3 Maxwell cards in a cMP.
5 is the limit ideally 780 6gb

One option that i prefer to use instead of trying to get things to work is building a PC to render.

I use a mac to model and texture then transfer the file to my PC and render it out.