Optimizing my Windows Machine for Premiere

J

jimmiesner

Well-known member
Currently I am running a machine that is scoring the following ratings in the windows experience index:

Processor: 7.7
Memory: 7.8
Graphics: 7.9
Gaming Graphics: 7.9
Primary Hard Disk: 5.9

I am still having some stuttering when I start and stop a sequence with multicam in it and certain clips. My friend is telling me to get an SSD for my operating system to raise this score. I always hear it is best to get more RAM, for video editing though(currently have 16GB). Who is right and which would be a better use of my money?

Specs: Processor 3770K, 16GB RAM, Nvidia 570 HD Superclocked, 3TB Seagate Barracuda.

Jim
 
jimmiesner said:
I am still having some stuttering when I start and stop a sequence with multicam in it and certain clips. My friend is telling me to get an SSD for my operating system to raise this score.
Click to expand...

An SSD will raise your score, but unless you are looking to purchase one large enough to hold your OS, apps, AND the project video files, it's not going to do you much good. If you do a lot of multicam editing, the best thing is a RAID setup, either via your motherboard (if it has built-in support for doing basic RAID setups), or a RAID enclosure. Something like a Q-Speed would do you well if you can hook it up via eSATA.

The issue stems from the fact that the NLE has to read information from each video file in your multi-cam setup. So, let's say for example, that you have 3 streams of DVCPRO HD 1080 footage. That means, in order to playback all three streams at once for you to multi-cam edit, the NLE has to read 3 100Mbps streams of video, or 300Mbps in total. That's quite a lot of data to be slinging around, regardless of other overhead (i.e. any additional audio tracks, miscellaneous files, ect.). If you're doing a lot of multicamera setups in your editing, then a single drive is just not going to cut it. At the very least you can do a RAID 0 setup, which will join two drives together as one volume, and can speed things up, but if just one of the drives goes bad, you can lose everything. Even better is RAID 5, which involves multiple disks and one disk for backup (the aforementioned Q-Speed uses 4 disks and up).

Hope this helps.
 
I forgot about RAIDs! I'm kind of ignorant about them and will have to do some research into what my best option there will be. Currently I am using a Startech satadock to swap out 3 TB drives. My projects this year fit on two of those, with two backup drives in a safety deposit box.

My motherboard is also a GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3. I am going to look to see if I can create a raid with that and my current drives.

The clips are from a GH2 using the Cake hack at 44mbps.

Thanks for the input guys!

Jim
 
Last edited:
+100 to the above.

I bought 2 Seagate 2TB HDD's, put those in Raid 0 for my PROJECT drive (media, assets, etc.) The Seagate 7200 drives were second in performance to the much more expensive Westeren Digital Velociraptor 10,000 at the time. The 2TB were about $100 each a few months back.

I also added 2 OCZ 120 GB SSD's in Raid 0 for SCRATCH drives. The OS drive is still a HDD, but I will eventually swap trhat to an SSD. But for Adobe performance, if you have everything else as above, it only helps at boot. Adobe is the only thing I use the computer for. Those were $50 each after rebate.

Total cost about $320. I have a Raid hardware controller on my 3 year old Dell i7.

Be careful though if you use the above congig. Using a Raid 0 doubles the chance of losing data, so make sure it gets backed up constantly. I have an external NAS attached via Ethernet with 4x2GB drives in Raid 5 (I think.) That is connected to a router right next to teh Adobe computer, isol;ated on it's own segment of the network, with a wireless "hop" back to the main LAN and the internet.

If you are interested, run some benchmarks before you make changes.

You don't mention your graphic adapter, and whether you have Nercury Hardware Acceleration enabled? That is critical!!

Have fun!
Michael
 
Processor: 7.7
Memory: 7.8
Graphics: 7.9
Gaming Graphics: 7.9
Primary Hard Disk: 5.9
Click to expand...

Mine are:

7.4
7.5
7.6
7.6
5.9

I have an i7 320 (3 years old), 27 GB RAM, GTX 580 graphics with 2GB RAM, booting from a 640 GB HDD, per my notes above.

For Adobe, these benchmarks can really help you tune your computer:

http://ppbm5.com/

There is a database with 500 machines and all of their parameters rated on the same benchmark. Processor, RAM, drives, graphics, etc.

There are some CS6 results there. The CS6 site isd not yet active, although there is a more sophisticated suite to download therte:

http://ppbm5.com/

I think it has RED RAW clips, etc.

I benchmarked my machine at every stage of upgrading it. Adding RAM (6GB to 27GB), graphics (GT420 to the GTX)< the Raid 0 HDD, the SSD's. It was a lot of fun.

Good luck! M
 
Thanks again for all your comments/suggestions. I have decided to look into getting an SSD for my OS and turn my 3 3TB drives into a Raid 5. I believe my motherboard is raid compliant (GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3). Does this mean I would not need to purchase a raid controller if I am correct?

Also do you think either of these setups would be an option for me?

StarTech.com 3.5in 4 Drive eSATA USB FireWire External SATA RAID Enclosure
StarTech.com Hot Swap SATA/SAS Backplane RAID Bays with 3 Hard Drive Mobile Rack (SATSASBAY3BK)

If not, would you have better suggestions?

Thanks,
Jim
 
jimmiesner said:
I believe my motherboard is raid compliant (GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3). Does this mean I would not need to purchase a raid controller if I am correct?
Click to expand...

A RAID 5 array takes a lot of processing. Motherboard RAID solutions are fine for RAID 0 (striped) or RAID 1 (duplicated backup disk) but not for RAID 5. If you want to have the speed + safety that RAID 5 provides, you will need a RAID enclosure.

Also do you think either of these setups would be an option for me?

StarTech.com 3.5in 4 Drive eSATA USB FireWire External SATA RAID Enclosure
StarTech.com Hot Swap SATA/SAS Backplane RAID Bays with 3 Hard Drive Mobile Rack (SATSASBAY3BK)
Click to expand...

I wouldn't use a rack mountable enclosure unless you already have a rack to mount it to. The first one looks ok, but I'd double check reviews around the Internet so you know what to expect.

If not, would you have better suggestions?
Click to expand...

I've heard very good things about WiebeTech, Q-Speed (though it comes with drives), and OWC usually sells solid devices as well, though I don't personally have any experience with this unit.
 
jimmiesner said:
The clips are from a GH2 using the Cake hack at 44mbps.
Click to expand...

OK, the best way to get those running smoother is with a faster CPU. Hard drives and memory won't help nearly as much.

The problem is, you're already fairly near the top in performance with that CPU. You'd need to go to the 2011 platform, which also means a new mobo. And the increase in performance would not be huge.
 
My multicam runs decent. Problems come when i go into the timeline to tweak. The further along in a multicam sequence i get the choppier it gets.
 
I haven't noticed any similar behavior with my own GH2 media. The performance remains pretty consistent.

However, I haven't yet done a multicam cut with such media.
 
I have mpe enabled on my machine and can run multicam fine in the multicam window. When i drag it into the timeline it is good for awhile, but becomes stuttery after some time. I decided to render it all in the timeline and it is running great now ( can scrub too). Based on this might I need a better or second graphics card?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top