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BARE FEATS LAB - real world Mac speed tests

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 in the Mac Pro tower

Posted June 8th, 2016 by rob-ART morgan, mad scientist

Just received the new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080. Bad news: it does not work under OS X... yet. Good news: it does work in the Mac Pro tower running Windows.

GPU GRAPH LEGEND
GTX 1080 = NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition (8GB GDDR5X)
GTX 980 Ti = NVIDIA (EVGA) GeForce GTX 980 Ti (6GB GDDR5)
TITAN X Hybrid = NVIDIA (EVGA) GeForce TITAN X Hybrid (12GB GDDR5)
GTX 980 = NVIDIA (EVGA) GeForce GTX 980 (4GB GDDR5)

All tests were run under Windows 7 Ultimate (BootCamp) on a 2010 Mac Pro tower 6-core 3.33GHz.

Tomb Raider
Using "Ultra" preset, we ran the built-in benchmark. (HIGHEST in Average Frames per Second = FASTEST)

Left 4 Dead 2
We use the console command "timedemo" to playback a recorded game session. Settings were Fullscreen, 8X AA, Anisotropic 16X, Vsync Disabled, Shader Detail Very High, Effect Detail and Model/Texture Detail both High, Multicore Rendering Enabled. (HIGHEST in Average Frames per Second = FASTEST)

Diablo III (Patch 2.4.1)
My character is standing next to the New Tristram Waypoint. Settings were Fullscreen, AA enabled, Reflections DISabled, all other settings "HIGH." (HIGHEST in Average Frames per Second = FASTEST)

World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draener
Our character is standing at the entrance to the Dark Portal watching the forming crowd assault each other. Settings were Fullscreen, Ultra Preset, Anti-Aliasing = SSAA4x. Average FPS was calculated by Titan Performance Addon.
(HIGHEST in Average Frames per Second = FASTEST)

DaVinci Resolve 12.5 Studio
Using the Candle Benchmark Project, we performed a "render on the fly" playback using 3 nodes of Noise Reduction, a GPU intensive function. (The GTX 1080 was not recognized by the CUDA driver as a CUDA capable GPU so its slower result below is using OpenCL.)
HIGHEST in Average Frames per Second = FASTEST

ANALYSIS
This was our initial test session with the GeForce GTX 1080. In the tests featured above, it is 55% to 83% faster than the GTX 980. Though the GTX 1080's advantage over the 980 Ti and TITAN X is less pronounced, it is still faster than both (except for DR test with caveat) while requiring much less power than either.

Once there is a CUDA driver that recognizes the GTX 1080, we will post some CUDA benchmarks including Blender and Octane Render.

And, yes, the GTX 1070 is on our "to do" list.

We hope there will soon be a web driver that will allow the GTX 1080 to be run under OS X.

BIG MAHALO to MacVidCards for the loan of the GTX 980 and TITAN X Hybrid.

Comments? Suggestions? Feel free to email me,
Follow me on Twitter @barefeats

WHERE TO ORDER DESKTOP GPUs
Order the new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 direct from NVIDIA. Also check with B&H Photo/Video -- who also lists a super clocked gaming version.

  • Order the Mac modified NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (and other NVIDIA GPUs) from MacVidCards.
  • Order the unmodified NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti from B&H Photo/Video.

WHERE TO BUY MACS and OTHER APPLE products:
USA readers can help us earn a commission by using this Apple Store USA link or by clicking on any Apple display ad.

Live outside the USA? No problem. We are affiliated with these Apple Stores:

OTHER SOURCES FOR MACS

WHERE TO BUY FACTORY REFURBISHED MACS
Apple Store USA has refurbished Macs with 12 month warranty that can be extended to 36 months with AppleCare. Pay attention to the GPU it comes with.

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copyright 2016 Rob Art Morgan
"BARE facts on Macintosh speed FEATS"
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