Is the HP Z820 Workstation Class Machine…

[Joseph W. bourke]

Hi Duke –

As far as additional drives, go, I plundered all the drives from my old workstation to populate the sleds on my Z800. So my current setup is OS drive, Apps drive, and two Media drives. You don’t need that setup to start, although the second drive would help as a combination OS drive/Media drive. The only drive on my system that’s new is the OS drive, which is an SSD. The Apps drive came from my old machine, and the Media drives came with the workstation.

If you want to keep your savings intact, rest assured that there will be more Z800s available, probably for a long time. There are already Z820s in the used/refurbed pool, and those will get less expensive as time goes on. The seller certainly seems to pass the test on *Bay feedback and availability, so I wouldn’t worry about that.

Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com

[Eric Santiago]

[Jeff Pulera] “Your idea of a basic machine, and the ideas of professional post house editors may not match up, different leagues. Don’t jump into anything just yet.”

I found this out the hard way a month ago trying to help finish an edit on a colleagues supposed killer PC box.

I guess anything older than 3 years that industry called top of the line for NLE/3D work dont cut it these days.

Premiere CC 2015 was so brutally slow on it for me, I use mostly Macs for everything except 3D.

I too need to put a decent Premiere PC system together for a colleague and interested in the options.

[Duke Sweden]

Thanks, Joe. I had to pass on this deal. I just couldn’t justify it right now. I’ll continue to work on my skills. Pretty sure I’ve got a loooooong way to go.

“Your idea of a basic machine, and the ideas of professional post house editors may not match up, different leagues. Don’t jump into anything just yet.”

I found this out the hard way a month ago trying to help finish an edit on a colleagues supposed killer PC box.

Eric, believe me, my idea of a basic machine is miles behind what professional post house editors need. See my example, above. But even as simplistic as that is, it took forever to render. It’s not the render time, though, it’s the super slow choppy playback when I add the slightest of effects to a clip that gets me. But I’ll just have to make do for now.

[Joseph W. bourke]

Good luck with it, Duke. As I say, there will be another one along when you’re ready…

Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com

[Eric Santiago]

[Duke Sweden] “But even as simplistic as that is, it took forever to render. It’s not the render time, though, it’s the super slow choppy playback when I add the slightest of effects to a clip that gets me. But I’ll just have to make do for now.”

My render times were decent it was the GUI and I believe it was an NVIDIA 3400 Quadro FX card.
But honestly how can that card be slower than an MacBook Pro Intel on-board graphics?

[Duke Sweden]

Well, I have the PC version, the built in Intel graphics card. So you know my pain 😉

Joe, I’ll check back with you when I’m ready to buy and find a deal. Thanks!

[Duke Sweden]

Well, I took the dive. Just placed the order. I hope you guys are ready for my questions, and I hope I don’t have too many. Mostly after I set up I’ll probably ask for ways to maximize my speeds and stuff. Again, this is the one I bought:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/161745839788?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I got it for $685.00

[Joseph W. bourke]

You will never be disappointed with this baby! Congratulations! I think I may have sent you this, but here it is again:

https://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c01709724#N10013

If you look at the processor specs, this is the fastest Xeon available at the time.

Here’s a link to just about everything you’re going to want to know:

https://h20566.https://www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/psi/home/?sp4ts.oid=3718645#manuals

All the manuals and guides. Before you take it out of the box and fire it up, you might want to crack open the case, and see what’s where. You might also want to check and make sure the RAM blocks and the video card are well seated – this spaceship will have just had a road trip, so there was some jarring in transit.

Here’s a really good PDF – there are many – but read through this guide and get familiar with going under the hood (if you’re comfortable with this. I took mine down to the motherboard just to learn how easy it is. The bright green tabs and bars are the access points to open stuff:

https://h20566.https://www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?sp4ts.oid=3718645&docId=emr_na-c01704830&docLocale=en_US

And here’s a good breakdown video to show you how it comes apart – not everything is intuitive, but it’s all really easy. This is a true enterprise class machine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRmtwJW1g0o

And one more just to show you how far you can get with no tools. You probably don’t want to do this, but if you had to, 3 minutes and the motherboard is out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7GopSgXnQk

Have fun!!!!

Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com

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[Duke Sweden]

Yikes, I’m an amateur video editor not a mechanic!!! 😉
Thanks for all that, Joe, but I’m a firm believer in the old saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. I’ve proven that adage to be true too many times, but I will go under the hood if I need to add RAM or if something is amiss.

The first thing I’ll do is open a project I did that took over 8 hours to render (a 4 minute effects laden clip) and see how this baby handles it. But I won’t be getting it until next Wednesday so I’ve got time. Right now I’m trying to figure out why Premiere Pro suddenly has no sound. But that’s for another thread.

Thanks again, Joe. Yer the tops! And the rest of you guys, too.

[Duke Sweden]

Some quick questions if you have the time.

1. Will I be able to playback at full resolution in Premiere Pro?
2. When I scrub or play back footage with effects added will it play back smoothly (Remember, I ain’t remaking Star Wars here!)
3. Should everything basically be instantaneous (changes to effects and such)

I know rendering won’t be instantaneous but a one minute clip with keyed layer, Neat Video and a fairly heavy effect will render in about 2 or 3 minutes, give or take a minute? I’m only asking educated opinion, not holding you to your solemn word 😉