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1. Re: Best performance for CS5 PPro
Colin Brougham Sep 15, 2010 5:57 AM (in response to cjacs987654)The Windows Experience Index number has little to no correlation to Premiere Pro performance. Are you experiencing slow or unsatisfactory performance in Premiere? If so, you can usually increase your performance by:
- increasing your RAM (12GB at minimum, 24GB if you can afford it)
- overclocking your processor (you didn't mention your particular model or if its overclocked)
- getting the fastest graphics card that is officially supported for hardware MPE--the current best-option is probably the GTX 470 as of the 5.0.2 update
- setting up your hard drives properly (you didn't mention your drive setup)
- optimize your OS by eliminating unnecessary processes
There are lots of helpful hints and tutorials in the Hardware Forum
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2. Re: Best performance for CS5 PPro
John T Smith Sep 15, 2010 7:01 AM (in response to cjacs987654)Read Harm on drive setup
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/662972?tstart=0
- click the embedded picture in Harm's message to enlarge to reading size
- you need AT LEAST 2 drives for video editing, 3 is better
- some HD formats work better with (require) RAID -
3. Re: Best performance for CS5 PPro
Steve C2 Sep 15, 2010 5:56 PM (in response to John T Smith)Before committing to 12-24GB ram - first run Premiere and start the Windows Resource Monitor. If you notice that your pc is having frequent page/fault activity, then you might consider increasing your memory. The optimal amount of memory might vary depending on what you do with Premiere and whether you need other apps to be active at the same time.
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4. Re: Best performance for CS5 PPro
Studio North Films Sep 16, 2010 1:56 AM (in response to Steve C2)Hi, have a look at the PPBM5, this will show you the difference in exports with various memory, 12gb is the recomended min,
Baz
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5. Re: Best performance for CS5 PPro
Steve C2 Sep 16, 2010 6:58 AM (in response to Studio North Films)Hi SN,
Could you explain how or why 12-24GB RAM is the minimum recommended amount of memory?
I took a quick look at the PPBM5 and, respectfully, I still have the question regarding amount of RAM. If one's memory is not faulting a lot, based on the workload that one does, then why does one need 12-24GB of RAM. A few months ago, I was running with 8GB and not incurring faults during the times that I looked. In fact, I thought that I had ample RAM so that I could also work in other applications at the same time. If my system wasn't faulting, would I still benefit from more RAM?
As good as the posted performances of the pc configurations is, it would be better if there was a posting of performances from one pc. For example,
with a Core 2 Duo, varying the amount of ram. With a i7, varying the amount of ram, etc With both cpus, varying the length of the various clips.
An even better test would publish the bios settings, the particular memory used along with the timings, the hardware configuration including whether stock or oem cooling is used, ambient and cpu core temps, and notes on the cpu speeds at various intervals during the tests. There are probably other factors that can be included, this is just a start.
Thanks.
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6. Re: Best performance for CS5 PPro
ECBowen Sep 16, 2010 7:21 AM (in response to Steve C2)Several factors effect this such as HD versus SD material.What codecs you are dealing with for source and delivery. What codecs are most used for time sensitive projects. What your normal workflow is with effects and layers. The last is Adobe has far better ram allocation charts than previous versions or other software. This means it will make use of far more ram than you have if it is available. That alone will speed up the exporting process. Since it would take to long for North to ask this of everyone, it's easier for those of us to recommend configurations to give you the optimal range of what is best or ideal. 12GB to 24GB is where you want to be if you are working with HD at all.
Eric
ADK
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7. Re: Best performance for CS5 PPro
Studio North Films Sep 16, 2010 7:26 AM (in response to ECBowen)Hey Eric
Thanks
Baz
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8. Re: Best performance for CS5 PPro
Steve C2 Sep 16, 2010 8:50 AM (in response to Studio North Films)Hi Eric,
It sounds like you are saying that PrPro uses more RAM for HD formats. Has anyone done a comparison regarding how much more RAM is required for HD vs what would be needed for the same footage shot in non-HD format, such as DV?
Also, does having more cpu cores require more RAM and if so, how much ram is recommended per core?
Thanks,
Steve
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9. Re: Best performance for CS5 PPro
ECBowen Sep 16, 2010 11:57 AM (in response to Steve C2)Yes any application will use more ram for HD versus SD. Just the difference in pixel information will be significant and then couple that with the Codec algorithm and data representing that pixel data and you have a larger block of data per frame that has to load into ram. Commons sense tells you a program will use more ram to generate HD frames than SD frames. Yes cpu's with more cores will take more ram since each core will cache to system ram as well besides the cache built into the CPU package.
Eric
ADK
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10. Re: Best performance for CS5 PPro
Bill Gehrke Sep 16, 2010 12:49 PM (in response to cjacs987654)For MPEG SD encoding from HD take a look at this plot in the PPBM5 Background Information website. Notice that the 24 GB was a forecast an as a matter of fact it does not really take 24 GB to exceed those levels of performance it only typically takes something over 12 GB. Two of us now have proven that with our specific boards and fairly identical setups that with 14 GB we can get PPBM5 MPEG2-DVD encoding times that are 24 to 28 second range at the 4.3 GHz overclock speed--much better than the forecast.
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11. Re: Best performance for CS5 PPro
ECBowen Sep 16, 2010 12:57 PM (in response to Bill Gehrke)Keep in mind the 5.0.2 update added further optimizations to the MPE engine which is why the encoding times are better accross the board. That likely lowered the amount of ram Premiere was using at anyone time. With the 5.0.1, I was seeing ram allocation close to 20GB on our 4 layer Internal Benchmark project with R3D or close to that with AVCHD.
Eric
ADK
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12. Re: Best performance for CS5 PPro
Studio North Films Sep 16, 2010 1:55 PM (in response to ECBowen)Yes Eric I agree the 5.02 update has made a difference to Ram required,
Who knows what the next update will bring.
Baz
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13. Re: Best performance for CS5 PPro
Steve C2 Sep 18, 2010 10:32 PM (in response to Studio North Films)Hi Baz, Eric, and Bill,
Thank you. Do you know the the following regarding performance and the number of cores. I am guessing that, one one hand, one can do test case measurements, but that the full answer might depend on knowledge of the Premire software architecture. Specifically, how much benefit, all other things being "equal" will 6 cores provide over 4 cores. Presumably, based on your information, to fully benefit from 6 cores, one would also need more RAM than one would with 4 cores, but has anyone done a "controlled test/comparison" to determine what advantage 6 cores will provide over 4 cores?
Steve
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14. Re: Best performance for CS5 PPro
Bill Gehrke Sep 19, 2010 6:33 AM (in response to Steve C2)Steve have you looked at our "controlled test"?
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15. Re: Best performance for CS5 PPro
Steve C2 Sep 19, 2010 8:58 AM (in response to Bill Gehrke)Hi Bill,
Are you referring to the following link?
http://ppbm5.com/Benchmark5.html
I was hoping for an answer from someone with experience with PrPro using different machines with different cores. This is might not be as likely with a home-user as with a business user with multiple machines with different configurations In addition, someone with software architecture experience specific to Premiere might be able to give their perspective. While I would think that the architecture, itself, is something that Adobe doesn,t want to become public, a simple question regarding core performance is something that an Adobe employee might be allowed to answer and, as many of us have seen, Adobe employees sometimes participate in the forum.
As for PPBM itself, this is just my perspective and it is not meant as an attack on PPBM. I am glad that I have been made aware of it. At the same time, I need time to develop confidence in it. This is true with everything that I read, whether I read something in Wikipedia (an uncontrolled, open-community publication) or in a book. I will say that I am skeptical about a benchmark page where, presumably, anyone can post numbers. I haven't tried to post numbers there, but why should I be allowed to unless my results can be validated by others? There are too many unknowns. I realize that someone has written a thoughtful analysis page, but for me, it doesn't go far enough to answer my doubts.
Again, please do not take my questions as an assault on PPBM. The PPBM site provides useful information. I see Harm's and your name in the copyright information and you both have repeatedly shared a lot of good knowledge in the forums. I just would, for now, feel more comfortable hearing personal perspectives (and they can be your perspectives), if they come from personal experiences with different multi-core machines or from knowledge of the software architecture.
I do notice one thing in the PPBM analysis page that I have a question on and perhaps you can answer it. It is drawing conclusions that a 12-core machine performs less well than a 6-core machine. My question is - presumably a 12-core machine is intended to be used as a server? Aren't servers designed for a different workload than workstation pc's? The typical pc that an "end-user" would buy or build now as between 2 and 4 cores. It is possible to build or buy a 6-core machine, but these cpus carry a huge price premium at present. So, my question is based on trying to determine whether it makes sense, for me, to acquire a 6-core machine. A 12-core machine is out of the question and a server is out of the question. For everyone? I will not make a judgement, here. But for me, yes.
Thanks again,
Steve
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16. Re: Best performance for CS5 PPro
Bill Gehrke Sep 19, 2010 11:58 AM (in response to Steve C2)Sorry Steve but we cannot 100% verify results. One of our prime purposes is to help people that have problems with thier setups. We can and do provide helpful and useful constructive comments to those that submitted results that do not seem to be up to par with our own personal results and the data provided by other users. If we get data that appears impossible we do reject it and/or ask for retesting and then if nesseary ask for confirming data to make sure that test was run properly
I have a i7-920 chip that is not installed and I do experiment a lot but it is quite a pain pulling a successful installed hex-core and reverting back to a quad-core installation for comparison testing that I do not think it is worth my time and effort. But if you just look at the results in general, anyone can see that clock frequency to clock frequency the hex-cores out score the quad-cores consistently. Is it worth the increased price? That is for you to determine. The dual processor systems do not in my opinion (and budget) justify the essentially doubling of cost of the key components. Dual processor systems do not double the performance because that have an awful lot of added overhead. They are not servers, because Adobe CS5 does provide that type of functionality.
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17. Re: Best performance for CS5 PPro
Steve C2 Sep 19, 2010 1:47 PM (in response to Bill Gehrke)Hi Bill,
Thanks for shedding some light on the posting process on PPBM. I feel more comfortable with using the information on the site, knowing that you review and will challenge the submissions if they seem surprising. And, thank you for sharing your perspective on hardware and performance.
Steve
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18. Re: Best performance for CS5 PPro
FelixUnderwood Sep 19, 2010 1:59 PM (in response to Steve C2)Steve, if you're wondering about the validity of the results, the PPBM5 results are generated by the PPBM5 utility, not the user. In fact, it would be counterproductive to alter the results, for the whole idea is to see how one's current rig stacks up agianst others, in order to offer ways of improving performance by comparing different hardware configs. and how successful they are in speeding up CS5 performance.
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19. Re: Best performance for CS5 PPro
Steve C2 Sep 19, 2010 2:29 PM (in response to FelixUnderwood)Hi Felix,
Thanks.
Steve




