Building a workstation – question about pci-x for decklink hd

[Sarcoma]

Hi Brant,

The slot type you need is 133mhz PCI-X, which is not the same thing as PCI-Express. As a general rule you should be looking at dual processor boards – single cpu boards rarely have PCI-X. Supermicro boards are a good first port of call, Tyan have a couple of good ones, do a search of previous posts for more suggestions and recommendations.

Good luck, Andy

[Matt Dowling]

Hi Brant,

[Brant Mills] “I’m planning my next workstation and I want to use a decklink hd pro. Am I going to need a dual pci xpress x16 system to have both a slot for the decklink HD card

DeckLink HD cards are PCIX 100/133. PCIE is supported via our new Multibridge products – Multibridge Extreme and Multibridge Studio which are scheduled to ship this summer.

[Brant Mills] “does the decklink card act as a traditional video card in addition to the capture device? “

You will need a PCIE x 16 graphics card – Our products are not a replacment for graphics cards.

[Brant Mills] “Most of the motherboards I’m seeing that do boast dual pci-xpress slots have one x16 and one x1 slot. Can the Decklink support full HD in the x1 slot or does it require the x16 slot? I know it only does SD in traditional pci slots. “

For HD support via the PCIE Multibridges you will need to run it in a x4 or higher PCIE slot. SD will work with a x1 PCIE slot

[Brant Mills] “How do you guys have your systems configured? Are there any issues with these cards performance differing between p4, xeon, athlon, opteron… are there any issues with hyperthreading or dual processors? What are you seeing as far as functionality and cross compatibility is concerned? “

It is far too early for us to recommend configurations, as the products get closer to shipping, we will publish recommended specs as at this stage any recommendations would not be accurate.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Matt
Blackmagic Design

[Brant Mills]

Thanks – I appreciate it!

[David Farland]

Matt wrote: You will need a PCIE x 16 graphics card – Our products are not a replacment for graphics cards.

Are you sure?
I’m hoping the new mobos with Intel’s 955G chipset onboard will suffice. What is the limitation regarding graphic cards?

[Barend Onneweer]

[David Farland] ”
Are you sure? “

Uhm… yes. The only DVI connector on the new Multibridges is for output of the video image.

You’ll still need a graphics adapter to connect you monitors for viewing the desktop etc.

As far as on-board graphics adapters go… I personally wouldn’t go there. I don’t know what software you plan on using for editing, but more and more applications are using OpenGL for accellerating FX and transitions. On-board GPU’s tend to be mediocre performers.

Also, if you ever want to swap the the graphics adapter because of driver issues or other reasons, you’re best off with a PCI-express or AGP 8x card. Just stay away from the Matrox Parhelia for now – it seems to cause problems in conjunction with the Decklink cards.

Bar3nd

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[David Farland]

umm…Thanks for the information. Shame the BM designers didn’t incorporate an option of porting some of that PCIe goodness out the multibridge dvi output. Regarding whether or not the host system requires a PCIe I guess you’ve sorta answered that saying AGP works. The boards I’m thinking of using may only have one PCIe slot and I’m not sure how or if you can have PCIe risers off a sole 16 channel slot. Should learn about pci express I guess. I’m looking to capture only (not edit)on sff mobos such as Commell’s new lv-674 https://www.commell.com.tw/Product/SBC/LV-674.HTM with the Intels 945G (opps..not 955!!!) for the system’s monitor and an ICH7R which’ll support 4 x Sata II drives configured as raid 0 & raid 5. The latest version of intels’ matrix s/w does this.
Ta, Dave

[Stewart Mayer]

You might wait a month and get a new dual core processor and motherboard(intel and amd just released them, the amd is faster but i don’t know if blackmagic approves of AMD chips), it will be faster and cheaper, or at least the same price.

[Brant Mills]

Yeah – I’m saving up right now and just doing research – I’m not planning on a purchase until about after January to give myself time to make an informed purchase and see how the HDV and HD workflows pan out after the JVC and Panasonic cameras are released so I’m sure everything I go for is completely compatible. I’m also looking at some dual xeon boards and the TYAN S2676UANRF looks pretty nice. Has anyone tried this specific board with any of the decklink cards? I really appreciate the response you guys have offered on this thread.

[Octavio Gasca]

Yes, I’m using Tyan Thunder i7505, Dual Xeon with Decklink SP and works great.