How to increase perform./most val. for money

UlfLaursen wrote on 1/12/2006, 2:06 PM

Hi,

How is the best way to increase performance on my system according to RT preview.
My system is:
P4 3.4 /2 mb - 2 GB RAM - 128 MB Nvidia quadro - 10K rpm systemdrive SATA, 2 x 160 GB stripeset for media / render.
Would I get most out of upgrading the videocard with a faster proc. and more RAM? Or maybe save for a dualcore?

Thanks in advance.

Rgds.

/Ulf - Denmark

Comments

gdstaples wrote on 1/12/2006, 2:10 PM

Dual Core.

Chienworks wrote on 1/12/2006, 2:25 PM

The video card and RAM have almost nothing to do with it.

FrigidNDEditing wrote on 1/12/2006, 5:09 PM

Dual Core

TheHappyFriar wrote on 1/12/2006, 6:56 PM

the ram will only help with HD/mpeg on the timeline. get the dulecore.

UlfLaursen wrote on 1/12/2006, 9:33 PM

The message seems really clear ;-)

Thanks a lot all.

/Ulf

Laurence wrote on 1/13/2006, 9:53 AM

Are you working with SD or HDV?

For SD, a Canopus 1394 to video box or something like it is really important for efficient realtime previewing. That and a video monitor. I use a 17" widescreen LCD TV. The thing about a 1394 to video convertor is that any video that is unchanged is displayed full resolution regardless of your preview resolution setting. Even if you are working at best resolution, the 1394 preview takes all the load off the CPU except for points where there are filters, transitions or animations,

I do a lot of straight cuts with an occasional crossfade. If I'm working at draft resolution for instance, I'm still looking at full resolution except for those occassional crossfades and any title or photo animation. This takes an incredible load of the CPU. Also, having a second firewire controller helps if you are working with both firewire preview and hard drive video stoarage.

I am using an Audigy soundcard (with external convertors in and out) which has it's own firewire port that I use for video preview and capture. This extra firewire port is one of the main reasons I haven't replaced it. I'd need to stick a firewire card in it's slot anyway!

Anyway, with my P4 3.01 and 1394 preview, the CPU is not stressed that hard most of the time. Straight cuts require no preview rendering and they are my favorite transition anyway. Any color correction or FX filters are usually added after the cutting so that's not a big deal and you can always temporarily disable them when you want smooth flow.

I'm just starting to work with HD, and using Gearshift, this setup still works really well. If you don't have 1394 preview you really should

UlfLaursen wrote on 1/14/2006, 10:01 PM

Hi Laurence,

I have the Canopus ADVC100 and love it. Thanks for your comments.

/Ulf