“New” graphics card

[John Rofrano]

[Jean-Pierre Taran] “I suggest defining a test case agreed by all, that every one adopts for benchmarking, e.g. HD 1080-50i (1920×1080; 25,000 ips) like the one I use.”

We’ve had several of these over the years. I’m about to do a test with my Quadro 4000 and ATI Radeon HD 5870 when my Quadro comes back from PNY. I’d be happy to post the project file that I use for the test so others can benchmark.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Thayalan Paramasawam]

(Mr.John Rofrano)I’d be happy to post the project file that I use for the test so others can benchmark.

Thanks a lot Mr.John…..As soon as possible…….

System Details:
Custom Built
Motherboard – Asus M5A99X-EVO,HardDrive1 boot C:SSD Kingston,Processor – Amd FX 8350 4.0/4.2 GHZ,Ram – 16 GB,Graphic Card – Asus Gtx 650 1GB DDR 5,Blu Ray Writer – Plextor PX-B950SA,Operating System – Window 7 Pro 64 Bit and Editing Programe – Sony Vegas Pro 12

[Malcolm Matusky]

The used i7-980x chips are $400+ so probably not worth it yet. If they came down to $2-250 I think I would go for it.

Malcolm
http://www.malcolmproductions.com

[Malcolm Matusky]

I bought a second, used, Quadro 4000. As the first one was working fine I figured a pair would still be stable, and they are. Quite an improvement over the GTX-250, I am able to play HD in the timeline at best quality now with no studdering. I also use DaVinci Resolve, so the second Quadro seemed the best compromise for VP12 and Resolve.
No improvement for rendering over the i7-930, but as I spend the least amount of my time rendering vs working in the timeline, It’s really not a big deal for me. When the i7-980x chips come down in price I’ll consider upgrading my CPU, but if it takes too long for that to happen I’ll consider the new Asus thunderbolt-2 motherboard and buy an updated CPU for that board, from the benchmark tests I saw a $300 i7 CPU today, is much more powerful than the i7-980x that my current MB can handle. With the Asus board at $350 or so, that seems to be the best upgrade path in a year or so for me. 4K is still a bit beyond the horizon for me, so I’ll be working in HD for the foreseeable future.

Malcolm
http://www.malcolmproductions.com

[Scott Francis]

Hey Dave,

I am running the 8 core AMD FX-8350 and an HD Radeon 6870, I don’t get great video playback as I had hoped. So I am wondering what source material are you using to get rock solid 29.97 frames in good/best? I am using MP4 and M2T files from Canon G30’s (Up to 10 tracks) and other pics and motion (keyframing) and such and playback is weak…
I continually need to use Preview and transitions (crossfades) can be questionable. I purchased this card based on the fact they used it in testing for SVP11. I am now using SVP 12 and have never seen stellar performance. I am looking to upgrade this year to a new i7 system but really want to be able to preview well and I am at a loss as to what to do.
Running 16GB RAM and SSD HD on the main drive, about 10 TB of storage all drives at least SATAII and 7200 RPM’s…
Thanks for an help!!

Scott Francis
Mind’s Eye Audio/Video Productions

[Rich Kutnick]

I purchased and installed a used AMD Radeon HD 5870 (although Catalyst and Device Manager just call it AMD Radeon HD 5800 Series–don’t know how to confirm exactly which card it is, but the seller assured me it was a 5870–does anyone know how to do this?). Installed the latest drivers, too! It freezes SVP 12 when playing back an intro with lots of dissolves and also freezes when rendering this 1.5 minute intro. Shutting it off in SVP 12 and using solely my CPU to run graphics in SVP 12 works fine, but I have to use Preview Auto and it still is jerky during unrendered FX. What is everyone who successfully is using a 5870 doing that I am not? Am I now just SOL until I replace my computer in a few years, or…? Any ideas? I do not have my CPU or the 5870 overclocked, either–do any of you?

Rich Kutnick
VIDEO IMPRESSIONS

[John Rofrano]

[Rich Kutnick] “(although Catalyst and Device Manager just call it AMD Radeon HD 5800 Series–don’t know how to confirm exactly which card it is, but the seller assured me it was a 5870–does anyone know how to do this?)”

I have the same problem, my card only shows up as “5800 Series” and it’s definitely a Radeon HD 5870. So this is normal for ATI drivers.

[Rich Kutnick] “Installed the latest drivers, too! It freezes SVP 12 when playing back an intro with lots of dissolves and also freezes when rendering this 1.5 minute intro. Shutting it off in SVP 12 and using solely my CPU to run graphics in SVP 12 works fine, but I have to use Preview Auto and it still is jerky during unrendered FX.”

I’m surprised we didn’t ask you this before but I went back through the entire thread and we did not:

What video formats are you editing?

This will have a big impact on playback. Are you mixing formats? Are you using DSLR footage (which is known to be very difficult to edit).

I’m seeing really big improvements with the Radeon HD 5870 but I’m using it with a 5 year old 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad Core Xeon E5462 (2 CPU’s, 8 Cores, no hyper threading). When I’m using GPU accelerated FX, the GPU load is about 68% and the CPU load is about 15% during playback so it’s really making good use of the graphics card. But I mainly work with HDV and AVCHD so I’m not editing lots of different formats.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Rich Kutnick]

I checked out the GPU using an app–it IS a 5870.

My PC is a few years old and has an i-7 3820 CPU @3.6GHz, 16GM RAM, 64-Bit Win 7 Pro using SVP 12 64-bit latest version. I don’t know why I am having such SLOW performance when the rest of you are buzzing by!! The files in question ALL are AVCHD from my Sony NX-5U. How do you check the load on your GPU and CPU? I would like to report back my specs here.

I just wish I could figure out why this new card is acting similar to my Nvidia GTX 560–In fact the 5870 was so big I had to remove my hard drive slide out cage and strap my hard drives to the bottom inside of the case–nowhere else to put them (LOL)!!

Any further advise or suggestions?

Rich Kutnick
VIDEO IMPRESSIONS

[John Rofrano]

[Rich Kutnick] “My PC is a few years old and has an i-7 3820 CPU @3.6GHz, 16GM RAM, 64-Bit Win 7 Pro using SVP 12 64-bit latest version.”

That is basically the 4-core version of my 6-core. Sandy Bridge-E is not that old and I chose it over Ivy Bridge because there are no 6-core Ivy Bridge processors and Sandy Bridge-E has 4 channel memory which is good for video editing.

[Rich Kutnick] “How do you check the load on your GPU and CPU?”

I use GPU-Z for the graphics card load and the built-in Task Manager from Windows for CPU utilization on the Performance tab.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

Members

[Rich Kutnick]

Now that I know what to look for I have performed a number of tests on various pieces of footage with mixed results at FULL/BEST viewing. I cannot figure out why footage shot at one event freezes when placed between dissolves yet similar footage shot at another event placed between dissolves is fine when my ATI Radeon HD 5870 is active in SVP 12. I did use New Blue Flash remover on several events, but removed that effect and retested with the video still freezing and the audio continuing (GPU active), but the SAME timeline plays back just fine with no GPU acceleration (Flash Remover or not). The same raw footage (ACVHD) dropped into an empty timeline plays back fine, regardless of GPU activation.

On another note, I tested some edited party footage with and without GPU acceleration:

GPU OFF: 29.97 fps except between transitions. Sometimes the video looks slightly jerky, but still is reported at 29.97fps most of the time; it sometimes drops to 25fps for a FRACTION of a second. Frame rate drops at transitions to 12-14fps. CPU reports around 20% usage and GPU reports 2-10% usage.

GPU ON: 29.97 fps except between transitions. Video looks rock solid most of the time. Frame rate drops at transitions to 12-14fps. CPU reports around 28% usage and GPU reports 28-40% usage.

What is going on? I appears that when the GPU is active it only is partially using its capabilities. Active or not, the results are very similar when editing! It appears to be a dead heat!!

When rendering a 90 second open with two events that have motion titles and the rest only have dissolves between them:

GPU OFF: 4m20s to render. CPU: 25%, GPU 0%

GPU ON: 4m23s to render. CPU: 27%, GPU: 25%

Again, this is a virtual draw!! So what is this highly-touted graphics card that so many of you rave about doing for me? Apparently nothing!! Is there a problem with the card? I doubt it! Is there a problem with SVP 12? More than likely!! So is it just a crap shoot, PC to PC, that in some computers this card works great in while others it suffers in? At least nothing is being slowed down like it was with my Nvidia GTX 560.

I still wonder if there are any settings, or even reinstalling SVP 12 for the nth time (so long as I do not lose my preferences and other critical settings), that will help this GPU use its full capabilities. Am I missing something, or is it just the complete combination of my computer hardware, the other software installed on it, etc.? As stated before, this is an otherwise fast machine, so I am totally confused why this card won’t play nice in SVP 12.

I also have observed that when I exit SVP 12 (File Close, File Exit) that my PC retains SVP 12 in memory for about 30 seconds until it is released—is this normal?

Finally, what are people setting their Dynamic RAM preview at: I had bumped it up to 8GB awhile back, but now have it lowered to 2GB—any thoughts, suggestions?

Any additional help and advice at this point in time also will be greatly appreciated, as I am sure that I am not the ONLY one experiencing these phenomena. Thanks in advance, all!!

Rich Kutnick
VIDEO IMPRESSIONS