Video Editing: GeForce or Quadro?

[Sturmdolch]

I'm in the process of building a new computer for purely video editing, as my old one can't keep up with the 1080p .mts files.

Old computer has 8600 GTS and a dual-core processor.
Laptop has GeForce GT 120M 1GB with a Dual-core 8600.

They both can't run the videos well. I'm definately upgrading to an i7 processor, to be decided later.

I've checked around online and can't find much, so I'm wondering if a GeForce 295 GTX would be best, or a Quadro equivalent?


Also, since I'm on the topic, would running two 295's in SLi be better than one? For video editing only.

 

[frozenlead]

You won't need a 295 for video editing.

What software are you using? Most applications are more geared toward CPU power over GPU power. You need to check if your editing application supports GPGPU. You will need an okay GPU to playback HD video, but nothing close to a 295.

You're probably better off upgrading your CPU to a quad-core than replacing your GPU.

 

[win7man]

well, in the case of video editing, Quadro is better, it will help take load off the CPU and put it on the GPU through CUDA compatible apps, like adobe premier, and it even helps in photoshop cs3 and i suppose cs4, over all, the quadro will give u better rendering times, it will be faster, but when it comes to playback, the gtx 295 would be better, but u dont need a gtx 295 in sli unless ur gamming, if u still wan tto use ur rig to game and edit, then go for the gtx 295, but if u want it for only video editing, then go for the quadro, that or if u wanted to go with ATI u coudl get the FirePro, its like the ATI version of a quadro, though i take it the quadro might be a bit better, it will cost more

 

[Sturmdolch]

Sorry, I had a giant post typed up before that got deleted and thought I wrote the software again.

I'm using Pinnacle 12.

I will not be using it for gaming, and I do want an Nvidia card.

It's not a choice between upgrading CPU or GPU. I'm building an entirely new system, so this is more which GPU I need to go along with it.

 

[win7man]

well, if thats the case, well, im not sure if Pinnacle supports CUDA rendering, and so if thats the case, then u don't need a quadro, and u sure don't need a gtx 295, i would say that a 9800 gt would work out just fine because it would be the CPU rendering it, so u would want as good as a CPU as u can get, were if u intend on doing cuda were a program runs on the GPU slightly, then u would want a better GPU, and that's were Quadro is good, but only for rendering videos faster realy, cuz a 295 is also good with CUDA, just not as good, but if u intend on goign for programs in the future that suport the quadro, then get it, if not save the money and get a decent GPU, but u don't need a real high end out, the 9800 GT would be just fine. that and lots of ram, fast ram, DDR3, cuz ram is a good thing for video editing, though if its using the quadro for the rendering, u might not need as much ram, but can't say for sure

 

[Sturmdolch]

Thank you! I'll take this advice and think it over.

 

[505090]

Pinnacle does support gpu acceleration. Either a quadro or fire card would be the best choice.

As already stated the 295 and sli are not viable choices for your use. Unless you wanna drop 1600 on a pair of quadro's

 

[blackhawk1928]

I would go for a quadro rather then a geforce for what you need although there a pros and cons to both thats just my opinion.

 

[win7man]

ok, so seeing how Pinnacle apparently supports GPU acceleration, then i would say go ahead for the quadro, though u may need to enable something somewere in Pinnacle

 

[okletsgo]

Quadro does not help video editing. It helps 3D & filter effect rendering. Unless your transcoding using Badaboom (or others that utilize CUDA). BUT, what these people failed to tell you is 295 has twice the CUDA processors than the highest Quadro card if I read the specs correctly. In an HD workflow, you'll usually be making proxy files (you'll benifit from CUDA while batching) to edit and the final encoding is where you'll benifit the most when its full quality. This make sense to anyone?

 

[builderbobftw]

Get an i7-920.

 

[okletsgo]

yeah an i7-920 will definitely help serve the processes to CUDA, don't want any bottlenecks. BTW Quadro FTW with After Effects.

 

[okletsgo]

Forgot to mention, we need more real world comparisons though. I haven't settled yet, Geforce vs Quadro with video editing has been haunting me. We could make assumptions all day, or all year even.

 

[builderbobftw]

YEs, the quadro seris has gotten so cheap that wallmart has strted selling them.
What a bargin!

http://www.walmart.com/ip/PNY-Quadro-FX5800-4GB-PCI-e-Video-Card/10842877

 

[jespersimonsen]

If you are using
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 / Adobe After Effects CS5

FORGET ALL THE ABOVE INFORMATION!!!


...IF you are using Adobe Premiere Pro CS5
for video editing YOU WANT TO have a
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 certified NVIDIA graphics card.
BECAUSE Adobe and NVIDIA has developed
a Graphics hardware accelerated feature
in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5
called "Mercury Playback Engine".
It uses NVIDIA CUDA cores to accelerate
playback and applied effects.
No CPU can cope with that!

Adobe Certified NVIDIA graphics cards look here:
http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/systemreqs/

IF you have another newer NVIDIA graphics card
dont fear. Just hack Windows to make your
NVIDIA card work as well in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5
foloowing this hack:

http://vimeo.com/groups/filmtools/videos/15043476

or this link

http://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/PremiereCS5.htm


If you have a "Westmere" Mac Pro
you have to spend money on a NVIDIA FX 4800 for Mac
graphics card. The Geforce GTX 285 is not supported
by the newest Westmere Mac Pro and Mac OS X 10.6.5

Mac's be sure to install the NVIDIA CUDA in your Mac OS X:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/mac-driver-archive.html

Be sure to Update Adobe Premiere Pro CS5
to the latest version. Some Mercury Playback Engine
bugs has been fixed in v.5.0.2 update!

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=98&platform=Windows

====================

For more Mercury Playback Engine
information look at these links:

NVIDIA site about Adobe hardware acceleration:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/adobe_PremiereproCS5.html


Mercury Playback Engine demonstrated at Adobe TV:

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/digital-video-cs5/optimize-a-computer-for-mercury-playback-engine

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adobe-evangelists-karl-soule/cs5-production-premium-featuring-adobe-premiere-pro-cs5-breakthrough-performance-with-the-new-mercury-playback-engine

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/cs5-production-premium-feature-tour/breakthough-performance-with-mercury-playback-engine-


greetings
Jesper Simonsen, Denmark.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey