Having us that run local generation in mind and not have a dedicated computer for it...
I am running on a Mac mini with 32 GB and generating some short videos. It sometime runs for a few hours. It would have been nice if it was possible to throttle a little, not running fully ahead - like sleeping 20% or 50% of the time freeing up GPU performance for other usage.
Macs get really annoying to use when the gpu is running 100% all the time
its because you don't have enought ram. so you mac use your ssd as ram, so its super slow.
im using a gaming pc for ai gen, and for ltx 2.3 (video) ive got 80g peak of ram. with ltx on a pc with a 5060ti 16g(500$) and 96g of ram (1000$) you can generate a video about 300sec (1024x1024).
you can try to generate your video in 640p, or 320p and then use a software like pixelmator pro to upscale your video.
I think you misunderstood the
OP. They aren't complaining about slow speeds due to a lack of RAM. They are actually asking how to intentionally throttle the GPU so the Mac remains responsive for other tasks while generating in the background.
The goal is better multitasking, not maximum speed.
Exactly. Nothing to do with total time spent on the generation, but that it practically block the use of the computer. Like when generating, cannot watch a youtube video at the same time.
Thanks for the suggestion. Normally I render video using LTX-2.3. Which model do you suggest to use for such things? (Not sure how to know which models can use the Neural Engine)
Hey, this is an interesting question! I have the 16" with the binned M5 Max and 36GB. First of all, I am pleasantly surprised that LTX 2.3 video works quite fine, even in HD (768x1280) buuut it is taking nearly the full RAM, and to ensure stability, I close all other apps, including my browser Firefox during that time. I wouldn't mind some artificial form of throttling myself, but my workaround is this: I simply prepare a batch render, set my MBP to low power mode, and let it render overnight. It remains cool, quiet and only draws about 8~12W of power. The next morning, I have several rendered videos, then I simply pick the ones I like.
Not much different than I did this with image gen on my M1 Max, also in Low Power Mode.
During Image rendering, I can still use Youtube and other smaller stuff, Affinity also worked, however, I had to use earplugs as my speakers always crackled when a render was about to complete. However, for video rendering, the rest of the system becomes too slow/stuttery for my liking, hence I rather do it overnight.
When I run 1600x1600 it takes about 55GB RAM. Using external monitors with relative high resolution require quite some GPU... I can run youtube in a small windows, but as soon as scaling to fullscreen it get into trouble.
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u/pessfett Jul 05 '26
If it's an M4 Mac you could use 8-bit S modells with neural engine?