Resolume Forum

Hey, I would like to build up a big machine, but dunno which combination would be the best?!

a.
1x graphics cards with six outputs, eg AMD Radeon HD 6990 or Radeon HD 7870 Eyefinity 6
sounds clean but problem: outputs are 4x DP and 2x DVI, so we would need adaptors and this card is ******* expensive

b.
2x graphics cards + 2xtriplehead
i'd go for this, but maybe more expensive then c.

c.
3x graphics cards with dual link (2 screens each)
is this possible? i would at least need a mainboard with 3x PCIe

.. any experiences or alternatives?!

My understanding is that Resolume uses OpenGL to process everything and is only capable of accessing a single or systems first GPU. For this reason I use 6 output hd7970 cards (which I have expanded for events with 2 tripleheads2go.) However I have mixed feelings about this card. When I purchased my first hd7970 it was the fastest single GPU card on the market. I had always been a nvidia guy so this was a big jump and I noticed some quality/jittery/tearing issues. I believe this is because to full harness the GPU you must disable horizontal sync. And updating to the latest driver can be disastrous.

But on the positive side if your looking for a card that can put out 85 fps while playing back 8-12 layers of hd this card can push some serious pixels. And with this week OS X update including a hd7000 series driver. The hd7970 may turn out to be a pretty powerful card.

To sum up. I would invest in a card that has the fastest single GPU. Multi card is not exactly supported. Expanding with triple heads has always worked for me.

kmifflin wrote:My understanding is that Resolume uses OpenGL to process everything and is only capable of accessing a single or systems first GPU...

What if the boards are the same and have a bridge connection? I have two nvidia working connected.
Anyone? Joris?

You should be able to prove this by watching a GPU metre widget. In my previous dual GPU setup Quadro FX 4700x2 all outputs worked in Resolume, but I only saw activity on one of GPU's. Leading me to believe that all the processing was limited to a single GPU.

I am interested in knowing this as well, I have a 3 output nvidia (2 DVI +mini hdmi), for the moment once i keep aside one dvi for the control display i have 2 individual outputs at my disposal.

what if i want to go further, a complex scenario where i want full control over my setup and want to project each slice with a different projector....

First of all, multiple cards with multiple outputs does work. As long as your system can recognize the outputs, Resolume can play on them.

Processing however is only done on the GPU that has the interface on it. Adding another card does not double your power, in fact it makes it harder for the computer because it has to spread the texture over two cards. So that's why we advise to use a single card as much as possible. Performance will be better with a single card with 6 outputs than two cards with three each.

It's weird, we know. What can I say? Computers work differently than humans.

I posted this this question in the new feature area, viewtopic.php?f=6&t=10223
Basically I'd like to know if you add a preference setting allow you to choose which GPU does the processing. Allowing you to use the on board GPU to run the interface but have a more powerful GPU process the video.

Its worth noting that ATI cards are not properly supported in Resolume. It is very hit and miss with drivers, i'm currently in the middle of a nightmare trying to find a working driver for my Eyefinity.

I would no longer recommend any ATI cards for Resolume. I feel the specs should quite clearly state that it is a Nvidia only app until they find out what the problems with the ATI cards are.

sleepytom have you tried AMD 13.3 beta 3. My testing show this latest driver is working