My Resolve 11 Win PC build list for 4K video

Hi Phil: I've learned a lot about building PCs as a result of starting this thread. Mostly I've learned how little I know!

I sometimes worry that after finally building my system, I'll discover the performance level isn't what I'd hoped it would be. However, that's somewhat of a moot point since I have to take things one step at a time because I can't afford to build a super, high-performance system right now anyway.

Concerning M.2 Storage: 512GB only holds about 20-25 minutes of BMPC-4K CinemaDNG RAW 4K footage. For some projects that won't be enough. Of course, other codecs (such as BMPC-4K ProRes HQ 4K UHD) produce much smaller files.

I'm looking forward to ordering parts for my system "soon". Cheers!

Well as you lose PCIE slot 5 when using the M.2 card on the Asrock board you could just buy an M.2 to PCIex4 convertor and put one in a 4x PCIe socket

One big consideration I took into account that I can't seem mentioned was to make sure my mothboard had the latest M.2 x4 Gen 3 interface. This gives up to 32 Gb/sec throughput - so a LOT faster than SATA 3.

One consideration, as Adam already touched on, using the motherboard M.2 interface usually takes away from the other motherboard resources, so be careful of this.

Using the motherboard M.2 will usually disable a SATA interface set or an entire PCIe slot on the motherboard.
Some motherboard M.2 sockets use the PCIe 2.0 from the chipset (that usually services the SATA), but others use the PCIe 3.0 from the processor, and motherboards with dual M.2 sockets usually use both.
The motherboard manual will include this information.

There are also a number of PCIe SSD cards available, such as from Intel, Plextor, OCZ, and G.Skill, and lots of M.2 PCIe cards from various vendors.
At least with the PCIe form-factor SSD or M.2 you can choose what slot it goes into and how your PCIe Lanes get used.

Just an FYI:

Sapphire has announced a new 8GB GPU, “Tri-X R9 290X 8GB GDDR5 OC(UEFI)”, that will supposedly sell for somewhat less than their "VAPOR-X R9 290X 8GB GDDR5 PCI-E TRI-X (UEFI)". The new card has similar specs, and yet is slightly thinner (“2.2 slot” instead of “2.5 slot” width) compared to the previous card. See brief article and product info:
http://www.maximumpc.com/sapphire_adds_ ... _cost_2015
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentatio ... id=1&leg=0

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Well until they get it down to 2 slots it makes no real difference if it uses 2.5 or 2.2 as it still wastes that third slot

Well until they get it down to 2 slots it makes no real difference if it uses 2.5 or 2.2 as it still wastes that third slot

Not so certain about that. The pic of the card doesn't show anything in particular protruding. Might be able to get away with slotting something like a Blackmagic mini monitor card or something, that's less than one slot width. Then of course you got to watch those fans.

Jules

Not just the fans, if that housing is metal then it could short out any card underneath if it touches, plus unless you use something to hold up the back end of the card then I would expect a certain amount of sagging at the back end of the card as most long cards to do that

Not just the fans, if that housing is metal then it could short out any card underneath if it touches, plus unless you use something to hold up the back end of the card then I would expect a certain amount of sagging at the back end of the card as most long cards to do that

Understood. I wasn't thinking the slightly thinner width of the new card would guarantee freeing-up a neighboring slot. However, hopefully every little bit of empty space improves airflow. All a moot point until the new card starts shipping and is tested, etc. Cheers!

Since the R9 295X 8GB is two 4GB GPU's on the same card will it perform less than a single 8GB GPU in a rendering scenario?

Since the R9 295X 8GB is two 4GB GPU's on the same card will it perform less than a single 8GB GPU in a rendering scenario?

With 4GB of memory per GPU there will be a limit on both the video resolution it can process and what effects can be used.
6GB or more per GPU may be required for 4K and certain effects.

All single-slot dual-GPU cards use a MUX on the PCIe bus, which introduces a bandwidth performance penalty of around 5% to 10% (or more).
So two 290 GPUs each in their own PCIe x16 slot will typically outperform a single-slot dual-GPU 295 card.

A dual-GPU 295 will give twice as many processors as a single 290, so video processing should be noticeably faster.
But two 290's should outperform a single 295, mainly because of the MUX.

Thank You David for the clarification of MUX.

6GB per single GPU appears to be the minimum for realtime 4K RAW editing from my research.
Fair to say these are the only cards up to the job at the moment?

GTX Titan Z 12GB
GTX Titan Black 6GB
Quadro K6000 12GB
Quadro K5200 8GB
FirePro W9100 16GB
FirePro W8100 8GB
FIrePro W7100 8GB

There are 8GB versions of the R9 R290X available as well

You could add the GTX 780 6 GB too.

I was evaluating the R9 290x 8 GB but i have read about flickering problems with 4K 60 Hz Monitor connected with DisplayPort.

http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview. ... did=175035

http://www.overclock.net/t/1534605/amd- ... iver-issue

AMD support:

http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-article ... 00601.aspx

The GTX 780 is no longer manufactured, so it will be difficult to find

http://www.amazon.it/Asus-GTX780-STRIX- ... ds=780+6gb

Discounted around 400 € on Amazon.it
It could be a good choice.

But it's still a discontinued item, it's just some stock they have left over. Most UK suppliers ran out within weeks of the 970 & 980 being released, and only have any left because people don't want the older cards and are unable to sell them

In regards to the 780 I'd rather buy a newly released card in hopes for the best continued support from the manufacturer as well as Blackmagic with Resolve.

In my opinion the GTX 780 6 GB for the price ( 400 €) and specifications it's a good alternative and for now i can find it quite easily ( at least in Italy ) even if it's discontinued.
Interesting user DR experience about 780 6 GB:

http://www.bmcuser.com/showthread.php?9 ... solve-work

GTX 980 has only 4 GB so i'll try to avoid it.
The R9 R290X 8 GB is very interesting but OpenCL seems to have less performance than CUDA.
I should check also if there are still problem aboutR9 290X flickering with 4K 60 HZ monitors.

For me the GTX Titan Black / Titan Z are very expensive for the price/performance ratio so i would wait a bit more for the upcoming Nvidia Maxwell solutions with 6-8 GB.

If i had to buy a GPU today with a limited budget for DR 11 and BMPC i would choose between 780 6 GB and R9 R290X 8 GB.

For the time being I'll hold off until March 17th to see if the NVIDIA conference bares any fruit.

what about adding Vapor x R9 8gb to
R9295x2 on my system, did anyone think it is a good idea to do so?
any kind of performances Issue?
thanks

Win7 64 bit Ultimate, GPU R9 295 x 2 8gb Amd,
mother board asus x58 motherboard, rampage 111,
24 gig ram,
SSD 480 sandisk11
2x 1tb verociraptor hdd Raido 0 configuration,
extreme 3 d video card,
processor intel x990 3.47,

After months of thinking about it, tonight I finally ordered about $1,800 worth of parts for my new Windows PC, pretty much just to run the new Davinci Resolve 12. The $1,800 includes discounts, rebates & a small amount for shipping. Parts arrive in a few days.

- Intel i7-5820K 6-core CPU
- ASUS GTX 980 Ti 6GB GPU
- Gigabyte GA-X99-UD3 motherboard
- 32GB DDR4 SDRAM 2133 (four 8GB sticks; max amount the MB supports)
- EVGA 650W 80+ Gold fully modular PSU
- Silverstone GD09B HTPC-style ATX case w. 1 built-in PWM 120mm quiet case fan.
- Silverstone AR02 low-profile CPU cooler (fits in GD09B case)
- 2 additional Enermax UCTB12P PWM 120mm quiet case fans
- Windows 8.1 Pro full retail version (I don't own any version of Windows to upgrade from. I'll do the free upgrade to Win 10 Pro ASAP).

(The 5820K CPU only supports 28 lanes, but if & when a future project requires 2 GPUs, the project will pay for a new CPU w. 40-lane support.)

For a HTPC case, the GD09B is fairly roomy, with space for a 12.2" GPU (a 980 Ti is 10.5"). In addition to the items listed above, I'll also install a few components I already own, including a 240GB SSD for the OS & Resolve 12, two 4GB HDDs, and initially two 240GB SSDs configured as a 480GB RAID-0 array in a dual-drive StarTech removable backplane unit (in the case's 5.25" optical bay). I might add a Gigabyte Thunderbolt card. And why a HTPC case? I like the form factor, and it's small & light enough to be semi-portable for certain location shoots (when I usually already have a suitable monitor on set).

I have an external DVD-R drive for installing software, and an external USB-3/eSATA 3.5" drive dock for making backups. Initially I'll use my 21" 1080p monitor; later I'll get a larger higher-res monitor.

I haven't used Windows regularly for years, and this will be the first PC I've built in years, so I'm sure it'll be an interesting experience. Wish me luck. And thanks to everyone who posted helpful info here. Cheers.

EDIT: My blog about building my PC (finally!), a work in progress:
https://herefortheweather.wordpress.com ... indows-pc/

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If you have any problems PM me as I build Video editing PC's for a living

If you have any problems PM me as I build Video editing PC's for a living

Thanks for the very generous offer, Adam. Hopefully it won't come to that, but don't be shocked if I take you up on it! Cheers!

EDIT: My blog about building my PC (finally!), a work in progress:
https://herefortheweather.wordpress.com ... indows-pc/