New PC NLE System - Anything Missing?

[Barry Gregg]

Building a new PC NLE system for CS 5.51 Besides a possible Rocket card, what am I missing?


6 core I7 cpu
24 GBs Ram DDR 3 1600
160GB SSD drive (boot/programs)
Nvidia Quadro 4000
Raid controller with 2x Sata III internal and 2x Esata external (Running 1TB Raid 0 array internal) 6/gbs with Sata III
Liquid CPU cooler
Blu-Ray drive
1200w power supply
Full tower case with 3 large quiet fans.
Windows 7 Pro 64bit
Blackmagic Design Mini Converter HDMI to SDI

Thanks!

 

[Olaf Blomerus]

Sounds like a pretty great setup. Only thing you didn't really mention (or that I can think of) were displays and storage.

?

 

[Matt Gottshalk]

What does a system like that run?

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Er.... What's the HDMI to SDI converter for? Are you planning on using the DisplayPort output of the Quadro, via a DP to HDMI cable, into the converter and out to a monitor for color work?

Don't do the Quadro 4000 with the mini converter. For the same money, Get a GTX580 and buy a BMD HD Extreme 3D or a Kona 3G. Most software/applications won't enable 10bit output from the Quadro, which is only available from full-screen OPEN-GL surfaces.

What are you planning on using for displays?

What RAID card? The ATTO and ARECA cards are currently the best offerings. If you want to use an LTO tape with the system, you'll do best with an ATTO host adapter -- this doesn't have to be your RAID card, you can always put in a non-RAID ATTO card like the H680, which gives you up to 8 external SAS/SATA connections, each at 6Gbps.

Your storage quantities seem rather small. 160GB is pushing it for a system and apps drive. 1TB RAID-0 internal isn't much these days... Especially on an NLE system.

 

[Tom Lowe]

The system I'm building is dual 6-core Xenon on the Intel 5520 chipset, for more CPU power.

 

[Doug Beatty]

I'd throw in a FW card

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

The system I'm building is dual 6-core Xenon on the Intel 5520 chipset, for more CPU power.

Intel is about to ship the replacement to the 5520 here in about a week... Just sayin'

 

[Barry Gregg]

The HDMI to SDI is for color grading. My grading monitor is a Panasonic LH1700W.

Storage is missing from the list, but it was intended. I don't know what Raid controller he had in mind. Good question. Thanks.

 

[Steve Das]

What does a system like that run?

...And where can one find such systems built for you ?

 

[Barry Gregg]

A good friend is building the system for me. PM and I'll be happy forward.

 

[Peter Chamberlain]

Hi, if you are looking towards also using this for color grading Jeff is correct, consider a BMD HD DeckLink Extreme 3D+ for the HD-SDI out to the monitor. When DaVinci Resolve for Win is released in Q1 2012 you can then add a second. third, fourth GPU. At IBC on our alpha Resolve on Win system we had 20+ nodes at HD with four GPU's.
CS 5.5 works well with Resolve too using XML for round trip.
Peter

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

The HDMI to SDI is for color grading. My grading monitor is a Panasonic LH1700W.

That's what I was thinking. You should question your friend on this decision -- it's not a bad decision, but you should be aware of what you are buying into. Some of this will depend on the software you intend to use. The Quadro 4000 is a poor performer compared to many lower-priced cards and there isn't an NLE software out there that utilizes any specific Quadro features to warrant the Quadro purchase. Some of the Quadro cards (the 4000 included) can output 10bit over DisplayPort and HDMI. And this is a valid reason to choose one of the new Quadro cards (4000, 5000 or 6000 model). Although, like I said above, not all software can enable or properly support the 10-bit output. You are also limited to resolutions and scanning frequencies supported by the card and/or various GUI modes available. You will gain much better results and better overall performance and compatibility by using a dedicated capture and monitoring card such as the Black Magic or AJA cards.

Given that a Quadro 4000 sells for around $650 give or take and the BlackMagic converter is approximately $400, going the route of the GTX 580 will give you a much more powerful GPU at a lower price. The money you save there, along with the money saved by not buying the HDMI to SDI converter, will pay for the better portion of the above-mentioned BMD or AJA card.

Storage is missing from the list, but it was intended. I don't know what Raid controller he had in mind. Good question. Thanks.

Definitely something to look into. Many of the better motherboards have decent RAID controllers built in. The drawback to those is that they usually have rather poor management and usually nothing in the way of intelligent error handling or fault-tolerance. Some of the newer ones over the past couple years have RAID-5 and RAID-6 support, but I try to stay away from using them for the more advanced RAID setups for the reasons I just mentioned. For creating an onboard RAID-0 set, they're often a great solution.

 

[Tom Lowe]

Intel is about to ship the replacement to the 5520 here in about a week... Just sayin'

a week? what is it? can you give me a link if you get a chance?

if it's only a week away, i guess i should delay pulling the trigger on this new system.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Hehe. Don't get too excited. The new chipsets are supposed to release to OEM's in the next week or so. That puts new motherboards at 30 to 60 days out. The new multi-CPU capable Sandy Bridge E-Series Xeons won't release until December. The EX Series SB Xeons are like January-ish...

That's pretty much all we know at this point. If you need a system now, you need one now. Just saying that the 5520, while a solid performer, is about 3 years old now. yes, really. One of the longest-lived Intel chipsets ever. I have a hunch that its replacement will be relatively short-lived, but we'll see. I'm basing that on most of the reports circulating that it won't have Thunderbolt integrated and will still have a hybrid PCIe gen2 and gen3 setup, mostly like current Sandy Bridge desktop chipsets and the Cougar Point C200 series single-CPU Xeon chipsets have. Which means that Intel will probably replace them the following year with more solidified offerings...

 

[Bruce Buck]

Some of this will depend on the software you intend to use. The Quadro 4000 is a poor performer compared to many lower-priced cards and there isn't an NLE software out there that utilizes any specific Quadro features to warrant the Quadro purchase. Some of the Quadro cards (the 4000 included) can output 10bit over DisplayPort and HDMI. And this is a valid reason to choose one of the new Quadro cards (4000, 5000 or 6000 model).

Correct. For example, if you run any other 3D or other compositing programs, such as 3DS Max, Maya, Smoke, or 3D CAD applications, only Quadro cards are certified for use with those programs. The GeForce will "work", but you'll run into issues with the 3D programs. As far as 10-bit, doesn't CS5 support 10-bit?

Also agree on upping the size of the SSD. Especially if you set your Media Cache to be on that drive. Premiere will fill that up fast. In fact I would actually avoid having your cache folder on an SSD.

 

[Paul Ellington]

Sounds amazing, can you post transfer times and workflow?

 

[Jean Wallez]

In CS5.5,for instance,you can only use the second port of a Nvidia card for monitoring and benefit of Red(Adobe)presets and Mercury hardware acceleration.With other I/O cards which you have to use the presets,monitoring is jerky.
The quadro 4000 with the SDI daughter card is ideal for 10 bit monitoring through HDSDI and alone for 10 bit monitoring through Displayport(Dreamcolor) on PC in Premiere.
The GTX serie is more powerfull and less expansive but only 8 bit.
Since you monitor on a 8 bit display,a GTX with a DVI to HDSDI converter is ok...

 

[Michael McLaughlin]

Tom,

I guess a sumnation of what Jeff is saying might be buy now on the system you spec'd.

Think of it this way although the chipset is around 3 years old (minor iterations included) it is going
to be very solid driver wise etc.

By the time the new stuff comes out, kinks and bumps ironned out, it will be well into the summer fall.

Prices are not going to drop that much at all; Intels really holding price points this cycle with what looks like
new stuff actually coming in at higher price points this time and current stuff barely dropping.

So all in all, pull the trigger is what I would do, because Jeff is right about the absence of Thunderbolt full
PCI 3 etc.; this chipset etc. probably won't have a long shelf time.