GTX 980 Ti vs Quadro K4200 vs AMD FirePro W7100

[Dekkers21]

I edit and colour grade raw RED 4.5K footage in Premiere Pro. I'm want to get a 10-bit, 4K monitor, and need to upgrade my GPU to run it.

The standard position seems to be "NVIDIA are way better than AMD because CUDA is way better than OpenCL", but there's a compelling case for the FirePro from specs and compatability:

	GTX 980 Ti	Quadro K4200	AMD FirePro W7100
4K @ 60Hz?
10-bit colour?
CUDA cores	2816	1344	No CUDA (OpenCL 2.0)
GRAM	6GB	4GB	8GB

• Downgrade to 1440p, 10-bit monitor and a Quadro.
• Just accept non 10-bit colour, get the GTX 980 Ti
• Go AMD, but risk worse performance (ex. Debayering R3D files).

Please advise, I'm stuck!

Thanks,

Declan

---

Windows 7 64-bit
Intel 4790K

32GB DDR3 RAM

Current GPU: GTX 750 Ti (which plays 4.5K R3Ds at 1/4 resolution without a problem).

[RoninEdits · Accepted solution]

unless you plan on running dual quadro k4200 or firepro w7100, you may not be happy with their performance. depending on your project, a single gtx 980 ti should be able to handle the red footage. as far as the 10 bit output, just get a video out card from blackmagic or aja to feed your 10bit monitor.

[Dekkers21]

Legend, I've never heard of those cards, but from a quick look, the Blackmagic Intensity Pro 4K seems to be the only reasonably priced one- yet seems only to do 4K, 10 bit at 30Hz. I'll keep looking, but if they're much more expensive than $300 then maybe a downgrade to GTX 980 (non Ti) and get a Quadro instead of an I/O card.

I wonder if you can mix a GTX 980 and an AMD FirePro in the same machine... best of both worlds.

[RoninEdits]

it is possible to use a gtx and quadro together, but can be tricky to get the drivers installed for both. its also possible to configure the nvidia control panel to tell premiere pro.exe to only use cuda with the gtx 980 ti, so a slower quadro wont slow down the faster gtx. the firepro might be easier to install, since both cards would have completely different drivers, and wouldn't compete with the gtx for cuda in premiere. i haven't seen anyone try a firepro with a gtx for premiere's mercury transmit, but i would think it would work. the firepro's start at $120, the quadro's at $170. the gtx 980 ti is also worth the extra cost over the gtx 980, so i would suggest doing what you can to stay with the gtx 980 ti. whichever card(s) you get, you may want to purchase from a place with a good return policy just in case.

[Dekkers21]

I remember reading that the NVIDIA Titan X could do 10-bit colour, but it was unclear if Adobe programs allow it. Could a Titan X be:

1. More powerful than the 980 Ti, and
2. Cheaper than 980 Ti + $200 video out card (the only one of which I can find is "Blackmagic Design Intensity Pro 4K" which only does 30Hz 4K)

If the Titan X can't do 10-bit colour then I'll just get a GTX 980 Ti, deal with 8-bit colour, and hopefully get a cheaper video out when I find a suitable one.

[RoninEdits]

the gtx titan x, gtx 980 ti, and quadro m6000 all have the same chip inside, so their performance is somewhat similar. the quadro version is $5000, which makes a gtx+i/o card a better value. the gtx 980 ti is a slightly stripped down version of the chip, but is alot closer to the titan x vs 980 in general benchmarks. that places the gtx 980 ti in the best value spot for these top end cards. 10bit output has always been limited to quadro versions, i haven't seen any reports of the titan x supporting 10bit.

looks like the blackmagic intensity pro 4k is only hdmi 1.4b, not 2.0. HDMI - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Blackmagic Design: Intensity Pro 4K Tech Specs

some of the more expensive ones support 4k 60hz, but depending on sdi or hdmi connections can cost $600-$1k.

the amd firepro w2100, w4100 and nvidia quadro k620 cards have displayport outputs not hdmi. so if you only have hdmi available on your 4k monitor, you would also need a displayport to hdmi 2.0 adapter/cable. the firepro starting at $120 seems to be the cheapest solution. while i would think it would work with the gtx, i can't confirm any reports of people using them together.