[Peter Berg]

Quick follow up question.

I have done project backups (Export+) and also database backups. Strange thing I have found is that the size of one of my project backups is a very similar file size to the entire database backup (with multiple projects in it).

How can this be? Does the database backup not actually contain as much information as a full project backup?

thanks,
Peter

[Peter Berg]

I was also curious if anyone can comment on the Ultrastudio SDI. Does it work well (I assume it would). I was looking to get one for a Resolve setup.

I was actually wondering about the formats it will output. Can you output different formats from the HDMI and the SDI ports? I know our Plasma will only read 1080p over HDMI but our SDI CRT monitor expects 1080PsF.

Can I set that up somehow? I can’t find a manual for the Ultrastudio so I was just curious how you can setup the outputs on the device.

Also what are people doing for audio? Just buying the Blackmagic SDI to Analog converter? I wanted to hook up my studio speakers (XLR or 1/4″ cable) somehow as well.

thanks,
Peter

[Peter Berg]

Thanks Rohit,

So I bought a P9X79 PRO board and did more testing. So I can confirm that all the PCIe cards run at their full speed. The 2 Nvidia cards run at 16x and the RED Rocket is running at X8.

The reason I went with the WS is that some of the COW members had theorized that the WS board would be a better choice since it had more PCIe x16 slots. But I can confirm that the WS board has less independent PCIe lanes than the PRO (or maybe even the regular P9X79). I think this is strange and not at all what I would expect.

So at this point I do not see any reason to choose the WS board and in fact the WS does not run as well as the PRO board.

I don’t really see much performance difference between the two boards, but since the WS board costs more and runs the PCIe cards at a slower speed, I think it would be a mistake to choose the WS board (hopefully I can save someone else from making this same mistake).

Maybe someone can point out some other advantage to the WS board but I’m not seeing it at this point. Now I have to find a way to sell the WS.

And just a heads up.. Windows machines are a major pain to setup. Make sure you have a few weeks of free time to work your way through all the issues. (if you are building your own system)

-Peter

[Peter Berg]

Hi Toby,

So I was able to test the P9X79 PRO board. With that motherboard I was able to get all my PCI cards (2 Nvidia cards and the RED Rocket) to run at full speed. In the P9X79 WS one of the Nvidia cards will only run at x8 instead of x16. I confirmed this by testing, looking at the specs and talking to ASUS.

So can you let me know what the advantages of the WS board are over the PRO? From what I can see, the PRO board is actually a better choice. I am trying to see what the WS board will do for me. If it truly had more PCIe lanes it would be great, but from what I can tell, you actually have less independent PCIe lanes.

thanks for your help,
Peter

[Peter Berg]

Hi,

I wish I could say how much this might be hurting my performance overall. It seems that I can get the GUI card to run at x8 and the performance is much better than when the GPU card is running at x8 (obvious I guess).

So I also tested my thory. And with the Rocket out of the system, both Nvidia cards run at x16. With it back in (in either of the remaining x8 slots) one of the Nvidia cards drops down to x8.

Dissapointing. Asus is not able to give me a clear awnswer. I don’t even think some of their support people know what PCIe means.

I’m not sure if I can return this WS board and try to the PRO board. I wish I could though so I can see if it gives me better performance. Even the ‘regular’ P9X79 looks like it might have better PCIe performance than the WS (at least in my specfic case).

So I would warn users to possibly not buy the WS version. Even though you have all x16 physical slots, you will be limited by the way the board shares the lanes among the cards.

Suddenly the Mac Pro doesn’t look as bad performance wise as I thought it was.

-Peter

[Peter Berg]

I have to report that the P9X79 WS is possibly not a good idea.

I picked one up and am running into PCIe lane problems. I am trying to run the 2 Nvidia cards and a RED Rocket. This board will not let you run 2 x16 cards and a x8 card. It is slowing down one of the Nvidia cards to x8.

I can’t get a clear awnswer from Asus, but it seems that the x16 and x8 slots are sharing PCIe lanes and you will not be able to run the 2 Nvidia cards and a RED Rocket at full speed.

Looking at the P9X79 PRO specs it seems to say that you can run this configuration (as one of the x8 slots seems to be independt from the other 2 x16 slots).

Just a warning.

-Peter

[Peter Berg]

Thanks Pepijn,

I am still a bit confused about the PCIe lane configuration. I contacted Asus but they were not nearly as knowledgeable as I thought they should be.

I agree that the spec for the P9X79-WS says:
4 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (dual x16 or x16/x8/x8 or quad x8, black+blue)

So reading that it does seem that one of the graphics cards will only be running at x8 (hopefully the GUI card and not the GPU card).

But looking at the specs for the P9X79-PRO it says this:
3 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (dual x16 or x16, x8, x8)
1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x8 mode)

Does this mean that on the PRO board I can run my 2 Nvidia cards at x16 in the first set of PCIe slots and I could still run the RED Rocket at full x8 speed in the other PCIe slot? It almost seems like the PRO board has more independent lanes (32 lanes and 8 lanes) vs the WS which has more shared lanes (32 lanes and 2 additional x4 slots).

Can anyone clarify here?

thanks!
-Peter

[Peter Berg]

Hi Rob,

Do you know anything about the PCI-E slot configuration on the Asus P9X79-WS board? In the manual they are not clear if some of the lanes are shared or not. I have the 2 Nvidia cards (both need 16x (I think)), a RED Rocket (needs 8x), and a decklink (needs 1x)card to fit in there and just curious how the PCI-E lanes are distributed.

I had put them in based on my own logic but performance was not good. I went back to the config guide (at least as close as I could get it since the board is slightly different) and performance improved. Just wanted to know for myself how the lanes are distributed and what the best install might be for the WS board.

thanks,
Peter

[Peter Berg]

Just wanted to follow up on this thread that after taking with Blackmagic support. We got it working.

The issue was with how I was entering the IP address into the Resolve preferences page. I was matching the IP address that the JL Cooper had on it’s display page, but I guess leading zeros can be a problem.

So for example I was entering 010.000.005.140

but I should have entered

10.0.5.140

I would think both would be the same, but they were not. Now that I entered the IP without the extra zeros, everything is working well now.

Hope this helps somebody in the future.

-Peter

[Peter Berg]

Hi Sascha,

Sorry you are having issues with your Windows system. But I feel your pain. I just built a Windows system and expected it to run great. But at first I was having major problems. Got a few fixed, and now I am just having minor problems. Although the performance isn’t as great as I thought it would be. I could try to run a performance test as well if it helps.

I did do a test where I took out my decklink card. My fps went up by 1 or 2, but nothing significant. I’m sure that was just because it wasn’t having to send out a video signal. How do you have the cards in your system? I found that by switching my Quadro 600 and the GeForce 580 the performance went up for some reason (both slots are x16 electrical slots).

I can get realtime playback now, but with only like 1 or 2 streams. Also I can’t get my panel (JL Cooper Eclipse) to be recognized. So yeah it’s still a work in progress.

Wish I could offer more help.. but I guess I feel your pain.

thanks,
Peter