CPU Usage - GPU will help, 2008 Mac Pro?
I have a 2008 Mac Pro w/ 2 x 2.8 Ghz Quad Core processors. I run 3 cameras, @ 7 FPS; 2 of them are at 2304x1296 and the other is at 3840x2160. I see about 50% idle on this system. Would a add on GPU help with this load? Any general guidance? I have tuned the various Security Spy parameters to attempt and optimize CPU usage.
Comments
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While very powerful at the time of release, your 2008 Mac Pro is rather old now, and the lack of hardware-accelerated video encoding/decoding means that the CPU has to do all the work, hence the relatively high CPU usage you are seeing (although 50% idle indicates that you have plenty of room to spare, so you don't have to worry too much).
For added hardware-accelerated video processing, SecuritySpy does support eGPU devices connected by Thunderbolt, but your Mac does not have Thunderbolt. However, there is apparently a solution for adding Thunderbolt ports to these old Macs! See The Mac Pro 3,1 to 5,1 Gets Thunderbolt 3.
Then it should be possible to take advantage of an eGPU device to add hardware-accelerated video processing to your Mac - see Use an external graphics processor with your Mac.
Note that macOS 10.13 is required for this, which you can install onto your Mac Pro using the macOS High Sierra Patcher Tool for Unsupported Macs.
This might be a fun project, however I would say that, considering the expense and hassle of the above, and the lack of official support, you may instead want to consider buying a more recent Mac. For example, the new M1 Mac mini is extremely powerful and would future proof your system, allowing you to add many more high-res cameras if you so choose. Even a second-hand 2012/2014/2018 Mac mini would perform much better than your 2008 Mac Pro due to the hardware-accelerated video processing in these more recent Macs. -
Ben as always thanks so much for your detailed response.
I'll look at getting on of the Mini's you suggest. I'm running 10.13 on my Mac Pro and it performs like a dream, so I've never had a need to replace it. Certainly for extreme cpu / gpu takes it lacks but for my daily use is does just great. -
Agreed, it's still a fantastic Mac - this exact model was my main development machine for many years and performed brilliantly. It just lacks some of the more modern features that SecuritySpy makes heavy use of, such as hardware-accelerated video processing.
