Specifications

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DAVINCI RESOLVE FOR MAC - CERTIFIED CONFIGURATION GUIDE
Expander Configurations
While a single shared GPU for both GUI and image
processing is supported, Resolve is optimized for
using more than a one GPU for image processing.
Many of the compromises of the internal
configuration in the 2012 Mac Pro c an be reduced,
but not eliminated, with a PCIe expander connected
to slot two of your Mac Pro motherboard. As
mentioned previously the increased number of
slots does not increase the PCIe capabilities of the
slots nor the machine's speed capabilities so card
selection and placement within all the available
slots is important.
By using one of the PCIe 2.0 x16 slots for the
expander and placing up to four image processing
GPUs in the expander the remaining motherboard
slots can be used for the GUI GPU, DeckLink and
storage HBA or raid controller.
It's quite important for the GUI GPU to be in the
remaining PCIe 2.0 x16 slot and given the other
cards in the Mac Pro will not likely need additional
external power you can use a GPU that utilizes the
2012 Mac Pro motherboard power connectors. The
GUI monitor must remain connected to the GUI
GPU card so that DaVinci Resolve does not use the
GUI GPU for image processing.
There are a number of potential combinations for
the GUI GPU and processing GPUs. It's a good idea
however to have the same type and even the same
model of image processing GPUs within the system
as the slowest performer of your group will dictate
the fastest speed the system can operate. There are
also literally hundreds of possible slot configurations
between the Mac Pro and the PCI Express expansion
chassis.
While we expect that many slot configurations
should work fine we have certified and recommend a
few configurations and suggest that you use the Slot
Configuration tables in this section for guidance.
RED Rocket installation and use
While DaVinci Resolve and DaVinci Resolve Lite can
both decode and debayer RED R3D files using the
CPUs in real time at ¼ or ½ resolution, you can achieve
real time 2K resolution playback and grading with
premium debayer quality with the addition of a RED
Rocket card. If you using an internal configuration,
only slots 3 or 4 should be used for the RED Rocket,
which may also prevent the use of a HBA, RAID or
capture card.
For expander systems, place the GPUs in the x16
slots that are available and the Rocket card in any
remaining x8 or x16 slot. Note: You can add additional
Rocket cards with the full version of Resolve. This is
ideal for higher resolution source images as two
RED Rocket cards are needed for 5K R3D playback
and three for stereo image playback.