Mac Pro (Late 2013) GPU Issues

[strangepumpkin]

Hi All,
I'm doing some research on an issue with the AMD Firepro D300 graphics cards installed in the late 2013 Mac Pros.

If you have a Mac Pro (Late 2013) running an AMD FirePro D300 graphics card, I would love to know if you're experiencing stability issues, graphics lag in Pro Tools, screen freezes where audio still works but GUI is unresponsive, etc.

This article discusses the issues faced by users. Having this model myself, I've been experiencing issues since unboxing in December 2016.

The issues seem most pronounced when running Sierra and PT 12.x. I've recently downgraded to Yosemite 10.10.5 and have seen a reduction in graphics lag in pro tools, but I am still experiencing stability issues, some minor freezes.

[bbtheking987]

No problems here at all


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[Southsidemusic]

Late nMP 2013 6 Core and no graphic issues at all. None on our other nMP Quad Core D500 either with 12.7.1 and 12.7.1 HD. Sierra on both. 10.12.4

[strangepumpkin]

Great, thanks!

[dford]

Yes!

We have a D300 that has had a slew of issues since the date of purchase (2014). All of the issues you describe and others (such as distorted video, etc). After checking the logs we found many GPU-Resets that coincided with the same time of day our users experienced issues.

This is the same manifestation of issues that occur on the Mac Pro D500 and D700 (that Apple created a Repair Extension Program and will repair for free). No such luck with the D300, which they have just dropped all together a few days ago.

We have just sent out our system for repair (getting outfitted with new dual D300's). I can confirm that our rental (same D300 system, with the the same image as the original on it) has been working more or less great so I don't believe the issues are inherent in the technology, but more likely a bad batch from the factory at one point.

I will update when we get the repaired unit back and it has had some time for a fair shake down.



D

[kwijibo]

Had the same issues - both D300s plus the GPU riser board replaced finally resolved it

[strangepumpkin]

Originally Posted by kwijibo

Had the same issues - both D300s plus the GPU riser board replaced finally resolved it

Just curious if before you had it replaced, was it testing positive for hardware issues?

[kwijibo]

As soon as the Geniuses looked at the GPU errors in the console logs, they started talking replacement - it seemed to be a known issue. They replaced one D300, still had issues. They replaced the other D300 - still problems. Finally they replaced the "GPU riser board" and everything has been fine since

[strangepumpkin]

I've been waiting to hear back from Apple's engineers for almost a month. Just spoke to my assigned apple rep and they were unable to give me any news. They recommended, again, that I take my mac to an Apple Store and have them look at it. He DID say that it's very likely a graphics card issue but can't say for sure.

Unfortunately, I'm in the middle of a few projects and can't afford to be without my main computer for 3-5 days (even with its issues) so I'm waiting until July to drop it off when there's more downtime.

[fsrenduro]

I had a quad core trash can that I was having this issue with for almost a year before I did anything. Took me several go arounds over the phone and finally at the Apple Store to get it resolved.

I shot several pieces of video to show the behavior when it would freeze up but continue playing audio. This was great evidence for the techs.

Of course it was always that they couldn't reproduce it and it was an OS error or Avid error or bad RAM or anything else.

How I ultimately proved it was by buying a refurbed quad core trash can. I used a clone of the system drive on an external USB 3 SSD and ran it on the bad trash can until it froze and shot video of the freeze. I did this for about a week to gather my info. Then I swapped the RAM from the bad trash can to the new trash can and ran it for a couple of weeks. No freezes. At this point there was nothing to eliminate except that it was the computer itself. They started replacing one GPU at a time and I would get it back, retest it and still get freezes. Went back to Apple Store.

I did this until a third fix didn't solve the problem. At that point they just gave me a new trash can.

I ended up selling one of them for a slight loss but was never without my work computer and now I haven't had a freeze on the new computer in almost a year.


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