Quote:
Originally Posted by the.engineer
Howard thanks for being a tesing bench for all of us, it's really helpful to see the processes you're going through. I've been experiencing a graphical issue in PT 2018.12 on 10.13.6 with an updated graphics card (AMD Radeon R9 280X 3GB) with an old Apple 27" LED Cinema display. I was getting so fed up I plugged in a cheap Asus 24" 1080p screen via HDMI and not only did my graphical lag go away but my CPU spikes were less frequent as well.
I noticed in your system specs that you still have the stock 5770 card, I would replace that ASAP with a Metal compatibile graphics card https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208898
You may run into isses with power connectors but if you're handy with a soldering iron (or know someone who is) you can splice the HDX power cable into one of the graphics card power cables. The HDX power cable is only used for the fan.
There is also the AMD RX 560 4GB which doesn't require power cables. There's a lot of information about graphics cards and some don't show the boot screen, so check before you buy.
Also, your system drive is a 6G drive and, though I'm sure it isn't a problem, the Mac Pro 5,1 is maximum 3G speed on the SATA bus. I am about to upgrade to a PCIe M.2 SSD blade for my boot drive, I will report back!
Lastly, have you considered upgrading your 2.93 CPUs for the 3.46 X5690?
I know it's yet more money to drop (especially when, like me, you've just paid the premium for Pro Tools Ultimate) but could be cheaper in the long run.
You may have done some of the things I've suggested, but if you haven't good luck! |
Thanks for your post and info.
I will go thru it in more detail... just running errands with my wife right now, but she’s shopping so I can sneak in a post..
Although my original video card is working well with my displays, it certainly could be a culprit. I have been procrastinating on that because I don’t know which card to get yet and really like to be able to hold option on startup to select system drive. Yes on soldering and it would be good to be ready for Mojave.
The most curious thing to me is that it seems the system seems to work well with Pro Tools 10 on Mountain Lion, with HDX card... no CPU Spikes are apparent there!
I have tried the 6G SSD on the drive slide on the slow Sata buss as well as on a Sonnett PCIe card that fits two SSD drives, no diff.
I am filling a notebook with a log of tests, the short story is nothing seems to make a difference with Pro Tools 2018-12 or -10.... CPU Spikes seem to go from bad to worst depending on the weather, so to speak.