Suggestions for system upgrade

OldSmoke wrote on 11/6/2013, 6:39 PM

Well usher, I disagree with you.
VP11 & 12 GPU acceleration are working perfectly well and that right out of the box. But it depends what you else you put into your system including 3rd party plug ins. I don't use any 3rd party plug-ins nor any additional hardware.
Are you still using the GTX550Ti? If so I am not surprised that you are unhappy with the GPU acceleration. With 192 CUDA cores there isn't much you can expect from it and you are sure better of switching GPU acceleration off. I had a GTX470 before the GXT570 and that already had 448 cores and did very well with HDV footage.
Edit:
And yes, I am sure a GTX580 will cut your render times in half.

MikeLV wrote on 11/7/2013, 3:50 PM

Are any of the EVGA GTX 570's good or should I be zeroing in on a specific model as there are several? Might be able to grab one of these:

012-P3-1572-AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130595

OldSmoke wrote on 11/7/2013, 3:57 PM

@MikeLV

My preferred choice is ASUS but that is just me. I also like to match the board to the GPU brand, but then again that is just me.

Newegg shows it out of stock, where would you get it from? It seems to be a Nvidia Reference design because it is only 2 slots wide. It doesn't make much of a difference for Vegas but it could be that the fan is running more often and at higher speeds.

Have tried eBay and maybe even get a GTX580?

MikeLV wrote on 11/7/2013, 4:04 PM

they're available on eBay,, and there were many positive reviews on newegg when it was available there. I haven't looked at 580s at all, just 570. Is there any benefit to having an ASUS card in an ASUS board? 2 slots is plenty, I have a sound card in there because the onboard sound never worked on my board =(

OldSmoke wrote on 11/7/2013, 4:10 PM

I always felt there is a difference but I got no proof for it. The ASUS 570/580 are both 3 slots wide.

Do you have the GEN3 board?

MikeLV wrote on 11/7/2013, 4:26 PM

I'm not sure, just know the model # of the board.. 3 slots might be too many because of this sound card I have in there..

MikeLV wrote on 11/7/2013, 4:27 PM

I can get that evga card for possibly under $100 on ebay,, should be worth a shot for that price, no?

OldSmoke wrote on 11/7/2013, 4:33 PM

Sure a good deal!

If you have the PC open the board model is usually printed on it. I never had an issue with onboard audio and I am sure yours is ok too. Most of the time it is a conflict with the VGA card and driver. Did you install the Chipset driver for the board?

MikeLV wrote on 11/7/2013, 4:36 PM

I was on the live chat with asus last night for a while, then I googled this issue and several people have the same problem. When windows boots up, you keep getting this "you just plug/unplugged into the jack" message notification every few seconds. I fooled with it for several hours last night, and eventually just put the sound card back in =( I think I updated the chipset drivers, I know I updated the BIOS last night without a problem but that didn't fix it. (Has anyone suggested to Sony to change their forum software so we can get email notifications of new replies?)

OldSmoke wrote on 11/7/2013, 4:58 PM

That would be the best feature. In general, this forum software is from the last millennium.

I am sure your onboard audio works. I know that board very well. I would start by resetting the BIOS to it's default setting; disable all the onboard devices that you don't use, remove the graphic card and any other additional hardware you have in there and then start over again. I suspect it is an IRQ conflict. Did you enable Lucid?

MikeLV wrote on 11/7/2013, 5:01 PM

Actually, I did hear a bit of sound, VERY faint, barely audible when I clicked the test button in the Realtek HD Audio Manager (only on my headphones). If I take out the video card, then the computer won't work, right? What is Lucid?

OldSmoke wrote on 11/7/2013, 5:11 PM

The computer should work. You have a 2600K? It does have a GPU build in. Your motherboard should have a DVI connector but you have to enable it in the BIOS.

MikeLV wrote on 11/7/2013, 5:13 PM

Had no idea, I'm not nearly as techy as I used to be back when they were 486 DX2 66Mhz lol - thanks! meanwhile, I think I might try and grab that EVGA card for the first part of this upgrade...

OldSmoke wrote on 11/7/2013, 5:14 PM

If you need help with BIOS and so on, send me a PM... that might be easier.

MikeLV wrote on 11/7/2013, 5:53 PM

Got the card for $108.50!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/EVGA-NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-570-SSC-FTW-1280mb-GDDR5-/161140579625?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&nma=true&si=sL6Yx9WI6jTqM6TYnmVuQXTgppE%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

ushere wrote on 11/7/2013, 7:09 PM

@ oldsmoke...

i was using a 550ti, but just got a 650 simply cause i wanted 3 monitors off one card (at a fraction of the power consumption) along with my bm intensity.

i don't doubt (having read this forum closely) that a 560/570 would have given me a considerable boost in cores, but as i was / am thinking of major upgrade next year the 650 was the cheapest 'temporary' option.

i'm not so much concerned with render times, more preview - and as i wrote, i can live with most (suitable) preview rates anyway....

what concerns me (and i repeat, 12 is stable on my current system), is the whole mess that gpu has become. i read you're running a clean 12 system, but i'm sure many of us aren't - we have assorted plugins and other apps, in my case cs6 ae, ps, ppro, handbrake, sf, etc., and many people are apparently having gpu problems, many of which seem to be solved by turning it off. surely this ISN'T how gpu acceleration should work?

also, 5xx is 'obsolete', nvidia has moved on with keppler, and though obviously done so with gamers in mind, we're still here talking about looking for 5xx cards. i know it's not scs's problem that nvidia has moved on, but surely they should be looking at implementing newer technology / coding to factor this in?

anyway, i'm happy enough with 12, and plodding on with my existing setup - as i'm fast approaching 65 i think i'd prefer to spend my clients money on my retirement rather than continue trying to shave off a few more minutes of rendering time.

as and when, and even if, i can double my present setups 'power', then i'll jump. getting tired of spending profits on hardware companies rather than myself ;-)

btw. i see you're also shooting with a z5. are you using the cf recorder too?

OldSmoke wrote on 11/7/2013, 7:30 PM

@MikeLV

Great buy! Please make sure you !!completely!! uninstall the AMD driver!
As mentioned earlier, if you need help PM me.

@usher

Yes, I have the CF too and I don't use tape anymore. So much easier and faster to transfer. I may not have the Z5U much longer; a friend of mine made me a good offer for the whole set. I will be using my Canon HF G30 for a while as I am eyeing a PMW-160 or I might convert to Canon, XF305 or a newer model by that time I decide. I love the specs of PMW-160 but I am not keen on spending $$ on SxS cards, the XF305 uses CF cards too. The new Sony 4K cameras are only single chip and that will never be as good as 3 chips.

MikeLV wrote on 11/9/2013, 5:32 PM

So based on suggestions from everyone, here's what I'm looking at adding

EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (already won on eBay for $108)

8GB more memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

750W Power Supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182264

1, maybe 2 SSDs:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147248
If I go with only one SSD, should it be the system drive, or the project/editing drive?

Would these upgrades be sufficient for editing two tracks of AVCHD (either multicamera editing or perhaps picture in picture?) Thanks to all for the suggestions!

OldSmoke wrote on 11/9/2013, 9:04 PM

All ok but change the RAM to this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231468

The i7-2600k and the your Motherboard can handle XPM memory profile up 2133MHz. If can, get 16GB but 8GB is sufficient.

The SSD should be your system drive, if you go for two SSD use the second one for your projects and render to a conventional spinning disk. Use external drives for storage/archive.

MikeLV wrote on 11/9/2013, 9:51 PM

Thanks! But is it ok to mix the 2133Mhz memory with the two slower 4GB sticks that I currently have in the board?

OldSmoke wrote on 11/9/2013, 9:57 PM

No, that would not be good. If you mix it, you have to down graded the faster ram. The reason I suggested the faster ram Is the gain in performance; a good 10-15% in Vegas.

Hulk wrote on 11/9/2013, 10:06 PM

OldSmoke,

I didn't think RAM was good for that much of a performance boost in Vegas. Do you have a link with stats?

MikeLV wrote on 11/9/2013, 10:07 PM

I see on the specs it says 2200, but I don't see any 2200 available, so I'll go with your suggestion and get the 2133. Shame I don't have another system I can use that 8GB in, oh well...

OldSmoke wrote on 11/9/2013, 10:19 PM

This is the 16GB quad channel set I used in my P8Z68-V Pro board and still use in my LGA2011 board.

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-17000CL11Q-16GBXL
$164.99

I don't have the link, I am replying on my phone.