[Frederic Segard]

Hi Kevin,

Yes I did make a decision… and I regret it deeply. I took An Asus Matrix GTX580. I’ve had it for a month now. Unfortunately, I’m having lots of issues with my system overall. Not all related to the GPU, but I’m in the process of changing a few components.

It turns out I’m overloadeding my PCIe bus with too many cards in my system, and it causes a few issues. I have a GTX580 GPU, an Areca 1880 RAID card, a BlackMagic Decklink Extreme I/O card, and a TI Firewire card, all in a Sandy Bridge motherboard. Sandy Bridge is nice and affordable, if you don’t overload it with too many cards.

Sandy Bridge has only 20 PCI lanes (4 for the system, and 16 left for the PCIe slots. The GPU usually takes 16, but will drop at 8 it you have other cards installed. The Areca uses 8, and the Decklink 4. Not forgetting the Firewire card at 1 (my motherboard does not have a firewire port, and I still needed a firewire interface). Right there, with these cards I’m using up 29 pci lanes out of the 16 available. The GPU drops to 8x instead of 16x, so I’m actually using 21…. theoretically. But you know, something has got to give when editing uncompressed between the GPU, the RAID card and the Decklink on only 16 lanes.

This is why I’m thinking of swiching to the tried and tested x58 platform with 32 pci lanes dedicated to the PCIe bus. I need stability. I can’t afford to have crashes and weird unexplainable bugs. I should have went this route in the first place instead of thinking I could get away with slightly less expensive alternatives.

I’m also switching to a Quadro 4000 card. Yes a GeForce works, but among other things, a gaming card’s ever changing drivers makes it problematic. Last driver update gave me hell. I had to revert to an older version. But still, my system integrator suspects the GTX for some of the instabilities I’ve been experiencing. I’ve also had the diplomatic version of “I told you so” speech. Anyway, I initially insisted on a cheaper and “faster” GTX (based on forum reviews). But the fact is, all video system integrators will push for a Quadro card for a reason. Stability (even at the expense of slight performance drop) is more important, business wise. A GTX will be great for an enthusiast, but it’s actually a problem for professionals. And right now, I’m paying the price, and I’m kicking myself for not going the safe route.

I know lots of people have fully functional and stable GTX setups. But you have to ask yourself what is more important? The latest and greatest at the cheapest price? Or the tried tested and true with piece of mind? I personally want a stable system that I can count on. Right now, my system is back at the shop to be re-hauled. And I’m back on my old and very slow computer in the meantime.

Hope this helps.

Frederic Segard

[Frederic Segard]

When “upgrading” the HPX170 to PAL, other then the ability to switch to PAL mode, will camera operation or functionality be affected in any way?

Frederic Segard