Choppy Video playback on 2010 Mac Pro

[billy]

hi
I am experiencing choppy video playback on my Mac when viewing in FCP, Quicktime, and while it is on vimeo. The last part bewildered me but I talked to somebody at Apple and they said Vimeo actually uses some of your computer hardware to play back video even though it is online. I am not editing 4k, just 1080p, BTW. The time I notice the problem most is when viewing video footage that pans side to side or up and down.  I have the Mac Pro 2010 with 32 GB ram, running on OS 10.9.5 , ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB. Could it be my graphics card that is causing the problem? Can I replace?

[Christopher Sanderson]

There could be any number of reasons why the playback is choppy.

Try reducing the size of the playback window and see if there is a size at which playback appears smooth. If there such a size, then yes, you likely have an over-taxed GPU (or possibly CPU - although this is less likely).

[billy]

There could be any number of reasons why the playback is choppy.

Try reducing the size of the playback window and see if there is a size at which playback appears smooth. If there such a size, then yes, you likely have an over-taxed GPU (or possibly CPU - although this is less likely).

I just tested that and yes, when opened it Quicktime the smaller the window the smoother it played. That of course could have been a trick my eyes played on me since I am seeing it in a smaller less magnified area, but it did appear to be the case. Any other suggestions to test this GPU? Does this already seem like a wimpy GPU card that I have? If so, suggestions for an upgrade?

[billy]

Bump

[degrub]

http://guides.macrumors.com/Video_Card_Upgrades_for_Mac_Pro

[francois]

It's not easy to monitor GPU load but it's easier for the CPU. Checking CPU load (via Activity Monitor) could confirm that your issue doesn't come from the CPU.

On my 2010 Mac Pro, I'm using an AMD (ATI) Radeon 7970 graphic card and GPU processing power is definitely better that with the OEM Radeon HD 5770. I don't work on video stuff so I cannot help you on that.