how much improvement am i looking at by getting a GTX 560?

dylansmith

Well-known member
not sure whether it's the right forum to post (since there's support gear subforum too.. so feel free to move it if it's wrong), but i'm going to build a new rig just for editing videos on Premiere pro cs5.

my question is :

how much MORE performance (in %, approx) would I get by choosing, for instance,

1. A GTX 560Ti over a GTX 560?
2. A GTX 560 over a GTX 550Ti?
3. A GTX 550Ti over a GT220?

All cards are 1Gb gDDR5 versions.
Assume i'm not bottlenecked by other components [ i7 2600k / 16gb ddr3 / 128gb SSD / 650W PSU ]

When talking about performance, in this context we define it as the specific functions that can be hardware accelerated by the MPE (yes, obviously i'm gonna use the hack).

also, how helpful would it be in terms of scrubbing through multiple layers of effects?

another question is, will Adobe be creating a similar MPE-like engine to support AE? the warp stabilizer is a CPU-killer, even on the i7 2600k. a GPU-assisted stabilizer would be godsend. any possibility?
 
I just researched this issue myself, so I thought I'd chime in. Apparently Premiere's Mercury Playback Engine is designed to utilize 100 CUDA cores. Anything more than that is basically overkill (until Premiere is updated to use more I suppose).

See below from http://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/PremiereCS5.htm

First Benchmark Test
- I used Adobe Premiere CS5.5 and the PPBM5 benchmark project that uses 4 video tracks.
The chart below shows the time it took to render the timeline with multiple effects and dissolves.
[TABLE="width: 96%"]
[TR]
[TD]Video Card[/TD]
[TD]# of Cuda Cores[/TD]
[TD]Time Line Render
MPE GPU On
[/TD]
[TD]Time Line Render
MPE Software
[/TD]
[TD]MPE GPU On
Export to
MPEG-2 DVD
[/TD]
[TD]MPE Software Mode
Export to
MPEG-2 DVD
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]GT-240[/TD]
[TD]96[/TD]
[TD]34.2 Seconds[/TD]
[TD]373 Seconds[/TD]
[TD]281 Seconds[/TD]
[TD]387 Seconds[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]GT-440[/TD]
[TD]96[/TD]
[TD]33.3 Seconds[/TD]
[TD]373 Seconds[/TD]
[TD]275 Seconds[/TD]
[TD]387 Seconds[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]GTX-470[/TD]
[TD]448[/TD]
[TD]31.6 Seconds[/TD]
[TD]373 Seconds[/TD]
[TD]230 Seconds[/TD]
[TD]387 Seconds[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]GTX-545[/TD]
[TD]144[/TD]
[TD]32.8 Seconds[/TD]
[TD]373 Seconds[/TD]
[TD]258 Seconds[/TD]
[TD]387 Seconds[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]GTX-550 Ti[/TD]
[TD]192[/TD]
[TD]31.9 Seconds[/TD]
[TD]373 Seconds[/TD]
[TD]246 Seconds[/TD]
[TD]387 Seconds[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]GTX-570[/TD]
[TD]480[/TD]
[TD]31.5 Seconds[/TD]
[TD]373 Seconds[/TD]
[TD]193 Seconds[/TD]
[TD]387 Seconds[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Note: the MPEG-2 DVD test above was run by using direct export, by selecting File, then Export and then Media. I used the following settings during the Export. Format = MPEG2-DVD, Preset = NTSC High Quality Widescreen, I then unchecked Export Audio and I unchecked Use Max Render Quality, Use Previews and Use Frame Blending.
 
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I'm not sure that you can say because more than 100 cores doesn't show an improvement with the test project that other projects will not benefit from more cores. It's possible that a more complicated project will benefit from more cores. Kind of like if you think of the project as a flow of water and the cores as pipes. A small volume of water will not move any faster through a very large pipe, but a large volume of water will.

I don't know if this is indeed the case, but it seems reasonably possible.
 
Hi mentatDUKe,

the link given is 404.

Anyway, what I keep hearing so far (online) is that, the more CUDA cores the better ( of course assuming your PSU can support it ).

Also, with CS6's imminent release, most probably it should be able to harness the full power of our new gen GPUs?

However I had no luck in finding exhaustive benchmarks based purely on running the MPE in PP (other than PPBM5)

Also, most of the time I would either

1. render as per source (either t2i or GH2 files)

OR

2. export to vimeo/youtube directly.

not sure whether i'd benefit much.


 
First thing is to temper your expectations. Don't expect a night and day improvement by adding a GPU.
 
I had a GTX 260 Core 216 and upgraded to a GTX 570. Massive improvement in previewing. Before with noise reduction on, it would take like 10 sec to render a frame. Now it's down to 1-2 sec. With NR off, I can move back and forth through the timeline with some effects on at about 10fps. Before, it would just pause for a couple seconds as I moved around, until I settled at one point. Haven't tried encoding anything yet.

I'm looking at moving to ATi for CS6, though, since they'll be supported. More bang for the buck, and GPU computing benchmarks show that they're almost 2x as powerful as an Nvidia card of the same class.
 
Ugh, can't find the link. My friend sent it to me after I told him I got the GTX 570, since he's an ATI fanboy and likes to make fun of Nvidia and anyone who buys from them. -___-

Either way, PS CS6 now includes Premiere's Mercury Playback Engine for GPU processing, which now supports OpenCL and ATI cards for acceleration. I'd be very surprised if the other programs running it didn't also support OpenCL in CS6...
 
Either way, PS CS6 now includes Premiere's Mercury Playback Engine for GPU processing, which now supports OpenCL and ATI cards for acceleration. I'd be very surprised if the other programs running it didn't also support OpenCL in CS6...

I cannot find any source at all for this claim, so please do not put it forth as fact until you can provide verification. Thanks.
 
OpenCL will be supported on only two mobile Radeon cards when used in MacBook Pros or iMacs. OpenCL will not be an option for the PC.
 
as i understand ATI will work only for MAC users.....

http://blog.krama.tv/adobe-premiere...ion-mercury-engine-will-support-amd-ati-vgas/
As the article states, the OpenCL support will be available on some systems only (Mac OSX 10.7 with specific AMD Ati Vga Cards – the AMD Radeon HD 6750M and AMD Radeon HD 6770M graphics card with 1GB VRAM).

also here : http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/premiere/mercury-playback-engine.html



but also ATI now support openGL.......not OpenCL
http://www.amd.com/US/PRODUCTS/DESKTOP/GRAPHICS/7000/7970/Pages/radeon-7970.aspx#3

go to specifications OpenGL 4.2 support

i am confused
 
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Before you go out and buy some big Radeons, In some interview wit an Adobe rep, he said:

"CUDA is much more advanced and gives you abut twice the power of OpenCL".

Frank
 
You sure about that? Adobe employees are claiming that OpenCL simply will not run under Windows.
There's a check box to turn it on in PS CS6 for Windows under Advanced Graphics Processor Settings.


Before you go out and buy some big Radeons, In some interview wit an Adobe rep, he said:

"CUDA is much more advanced and gives you abut twice the power of OpenCL".Frank
Good to know! So I guess I'll keep my GTX 570! :)
 
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