[SOLVED] How much do PCIE lanes matter for professional video editing?

[MoonFartFlam]

As the title asks, I am trying to edit a wide array of videos from promos, to full production segments. My current PCIE needs in a future PC are

-A single high end graphics card (ideally RTX 30 series, as software verification from firepro/quadro series is unnecessary for me)
-an NVME SSD boot drive
-an NVME SSD data drive
-a single raid card running two separate HDD raids with 4x4TB drives each and
-2 video display interfaces both at 1xpcie

My guess would be at least 30 lanes are needed with a potential for 22 if the GPU is cut in half. But that is obviously more than the 20 advertised lanes on a new Ryzen 7/9 non-threadripper.

So when looking at a new Ryzen build, only threadripper seems to have the capability to have more than enough lanes. Is it a problem if I go with a lesser non-threadripper/xeon CPU and run with less PCIE lanes than my parts call for? Am I forced into paying more for a threadripper build? Can I force the data drive to run as a SATA drive and downgrade that slightly to remove the need for more PCIE lanes? Are there other things I don't know about that could suck up extra PCIE lanes?

Regarding software being used:

• DaVinci Resolve (editing and color correction)
• Premier Pro
• Adobe Aftereffects and other Adobe products
• AVID media composer

The budget is still under consideration for this, but saving money on a CPU/motherboard would be preferred considering how expensive a Threadripper/xeon build can get.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[LordVile]

As the title asks, I am trying to edit a wide array of videos from promos, to full production segments. My current PCIE needs in a future PC are

-A single high end graphics card
-an NVME SSD boot drive
-an NVME SSD data drive
-a single raid card running two separate HDD raids with 4x4TB drives each and
-2 video display interfaces both at 1xpcie

My guess would be at least 30 lanes are needed with a potential for 22 if the GPU is cut in half. But that is obviously more than the 20 advertised lanes on a new Ryzen 7/9 non-threadripper.

So when looking at a new Ryzen build, only threadripper seems to have the capability to have more than enough lanes. Is it a problem if I go with a lesser non-threadripper/xeon CPU and run with less PCIE lanes than my parts call for? Am I forced into paying more for a threadripper build? Can I force the data drive to run as a SATA drive and downgrade that slightly to remove the need for more PCIE lanes? Are there other things I don't know about that could suck up extra PCIE lanes?

Thanks for any advice.

It depends on what software you're running etc. If you're gonna have a LOT of files you can always get a NAS and connect via ethernet. Probably cheaper and easier than trying for a billion PCIE lanes. On top of that you need to see if you're better off with a Quadro card or with a normal RTX/RX card from nvidia/AMD. Would you be better off getting an Intel system for quicksync, would you be better off going apple and getting a Mac Pro with Final cut? Also remember some PCIE lanes are off the chipset and not the CPU. Budget would help quiet a lot in this case and what software you're planning to use.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Note that on at least 500 series chipset systems, the only things that feed from the CPU's lanes are:

• One of the NVMe slots
• Typically two of the x16 slots for graphics (they're split into at most x8 if both are used)

The rest are provided by the chipset, which feed into the rest of the system over a 4-lane PCIe bus.

 

[MoonFartFlam]

It depends on what software you're running... Budget would help quiet a lot in this case and what software you're planning to use.

Thanks for the input, I've appended the original post to include what you mentioned for clarity.

Regarding a NAS, how much would an ethernet card save in lanes compared to those that are needed for internal raid storage cards?

 

[MoonFartFlam]

Note that on at least 500 series chipset systems, the only things that feed from the CPU's lanes are:

• One of the NVMe slots
• Typically two of the x16 slots for graphics (they're split into at most x8 if both are used)

The rest are provided by the chipset, which feed into the rest of the system over a 4-lane PCIe bus.

That is useful information indeed. Would this mean throttling of performance in the lanes that are not in x16 slots

 

[Third-Eye]

The 400/500 series chipset will usually shut off 2 SATA ports when using the M.2 slot that is controlled through the chipset. The motherboard manual will tell you this for the motherboard model you are interested in buying.

 

[LordVile]

Thanks for the input, I've appended the original post to include what you mentioned for clarity.

Regarding a NAS, how much would an ethernet card save in lanes compared to those that are needed for internal raid storage cards?

You can get motherboards with 2.5 and 5gbps Ethernet ports now, especially on the high end. Also means with a NAS files are easily accessible to more devices and it’s just decentralised. Personally not a fan of RAID arrays inside PCs. A NAS is just cleaner and for the most part, easier to maintain and offers things like hot swapping. Also if the PC goes down you’re up the creek if it’s in the PC, with a NAS you can still work off it if the PC goes man down.

 

[hotaru.hino]

That is useful information indeed. Would this mean throttling of performance in the lanes that are not in x16 slots

It depends if the devices are needing the entire 8-lanes to operate at its fullest. Video cards typically don't need all 16 lanes to operate at its fullest in most situations. And if you did something like throw on more than 2 NVMe drives on another slot with 8 lanes, as long as not more than two of the drives are going off at once, it'll be fine.

 

[USAFRet]

-a single raid card running two separate HDD raids with 4x4TB drives each and

What purpose will this serve?
What type of RAID array?

 

[MoonFartFlam]

What purpose will this serve?
What type of RAID array?

After reading other's suggestions. A NAS will be the way to go moving forward for me, so this becomes a non-issue.

For <Mod Edit> though, I don't actually know the purpose of two separate arrays. I'm asking these questions on behalf of my dad who would actually be using the computer for the purposes listed. They would have been in raid 5 just like his current setup, however setting up a NAS will save some troubles he's been having with them already.

 

[USAFRet]

A NAS is absolutely the way to go.

I have a QNAP TS-453A.
4+ years old, 24/7, rock solid.

SSD's internally in the system for OS, applications, and a second one for working projects.
When done, offload that to the NAS.

Additionally, you need to budget in some backup situation.