Best Vegas platform

LSHorwitz wrote on 8/14/2007, 7:28 AM

Specifically for the best / fastest / smoothest Vegas performance:

Would the better choice be a Clovertown-based Intel 5365 8 core dual Xeon 3.0 GHz PC (as in MacPro 8 core Intel box) or the Conroe Core Duo Extreme Quad machine as offered in several alternatives from Dell, HP, etc.?

Is anyone knowledgable about the relative pros and cons? Intel offers both Xeon and Core Duo Extreme motherboards and processor families, each with their own features and strengths / weaknesses.

Thanks very much.

Larry

Comments

busterkeaton wrote on 8/14/2007, 8:27 AM

I think the quad would be best.

Search this board for rendertest. You'll see a lot people using quads. I don't see why Xeon chips would be better.

Coursedesign wrote on 8/14/2007, 8:33 AM

The rendering is very scalable in Vegas 7, so the 8-core will blow the quad out of the water on that.

Ditto with After Effects, which also scales well.

rmack350 wrote on 8/14/2007, 8:43 AM

If I'm reading this right, the Xeons are quads too, but you get two of them.

There are other things that dual quad xeon system might get you, like PCIX slots for high end scsi controllers or Xena I/O cards. If you are planning on getting those with the system the this could inform your choice.

You need to compare your motherboard choices in addition to the processor support. You might decide that the the single Quad desktop processor is enough and that a desktop board gives you options that a server board lacks. Like PCI Express slots.

Rob Mack

LSHorwitz wrote on 8/14/2007, 9:36 PM

Thanks for the replies.

The Conroe Core Duo Extreme X6850 has been out for a while, and the HDV-rendertest results are pretty consistent at around 2 minutes for the 3 GHz quad core part.

The Clovertown Xeon 5365 is also 3.0 GHz Quad core, same size 8 MB cache, and same 1333 FSB. The MacPro 8 core uses 2 of them, and is the only commerciallly shipping mobo I am aware of. Unfortunately there are no rendertest results posted, although Cinebench, another rendering benchmark, shows about 50 percent additional gain going from 4 to 8 cores by using two Xeons each of which has 4 cores. I am especially interested in knowing whether Vegas can take advantage of this 8 core configuration or not.

The forthcoming Intel "V8" motherboard, shown earlier this year as a demo at CES, will have 2 Xeon 5365s as well. Should be a great machine. But not neccesarily better for Vegas.

Larry

busterkeaton wrote on 8/15/2007, 12:02 AM

I see, it's one Quad vs dual Quad Xeons. This then becomes a question about Vegas 8 and we won't know the details of that before Sept.

Currently Vegas 7 allows for a maximum of 4 render threads in the preferences UNLESS YOU GO to the internal preferences and set that to 8.

LSHorwitz wrote on 8/15/2007, 5:24 AM

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Currently Vegas 7 allows for a maximum of 4 render threads in the preferences UNLESS YOU GO to the internal preferences and set that to 8.
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Excellent information!! How do you set the "internal preferences"?

LSHorwitz wrote on 8/19/2007, 6:59 PM

Anyone know how to set the "internal preferences" in Vegas to 8 as recommended???

Many thanks,

Larry

Spot|DSE wrote on 8/19/2007, 7:24 PM

In internal prefs, keyword "thread"

****WARNING**** if you don't know what you're doing in internal prefs, you can screw up Vegas, and have to reinstall/reset all.

LSHorwitz wrote on 8/19/2007, 8:11 PM

Thanks Spot/DSE!

I see that "Maximum video render threads", presently set to 4, can be changed to 8. Is this the recommended change?

Thank you again.

Larry

Wolfgang S. wrote on 8/20/2007, 5:36 AM

If at all, then it should be that.

However, the question is the actual Vegas 7 will support a higher number of render threads beyond 4 at all. I do not know, but would assume that 4 is the maximum supported at the moment.

Douglas is right really: be aware, that you could kill Vegas by changing internal preferences - it would be wise to have an image ready, or to be prepared to deinstall and install Vegas, if necessary.

LSHorwitz wrote on 8/20/2007, 7:11 AM

Thanks for the warning! I do use Acronis True Image as my primary backup approach and will image / backup this machine before making the change.

Thanks again for the guidance.

Larry

Wolfgang S. wrote on 8/20/2007, 8:27 AM

Yes, True Image is a fne tool for such tests... I use it too.