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Multi-Monitor Support on new highHiH-end PC
beebibi
Registered Users Posts: 50 Big grins
Hi...
I am exploring the possibility of buying a Workstation from Falcon-NW. I will be replacing a 5 year old PC Workstation that is currently running on Windows XP Pro.
I need the system for high-end graphics, image editing and video editing.
I would like to know if anyone out there can help me to understand what I can expect to be able to do on the new Falcon system with regard to color calibration and what you think about my proposed setup for what I want to do.
I will be using three monitors:-
My old 22" EIZO CG220 and as a second monitor I am thinking to get the 24" NEC MultiSync LDC2490WUXi2 for my work
And as a third monitor my old Dell 190 5 FP (analog) for my palettes etc.
The main system components I am looking at are:-
Mother board – Rampage III Extreme
Processor – Intel I7 Extreme 990X 3.46GH
Memory – 32 GB DDR3
Video 1 - NVIDIA Quadro 4000
Video 2 – Ditto
O/S - Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit
Apps – Adobe CS5.5, Light Room 3, Bridge, Edius/Canopus (VideoEdit) CaptureOne....
Color Calibration – EyeOne Match 3
I need to be able to cover all three monitors from one mouse and keyboard
I need to be able at least to do color calibration independently for the EIZO and the NEC.
First of all can I do this?
Secondly do I really need two Video Cards in order to do this?
Do you have other points/options that you think I should consider?
Thanks for your help,
I am exploring the possibility of buying a Workstation from Falcon-NW. I will be replacing a 5 year old PC Workstation that is currently running on Windows XP Pro.
I need the system for high-end graphics, image editing and video editing.
I would like to know if anyone out there can help me to understand what I can expect to be able to do on the new Falcon system with regard to color calibration and what you think about my proposed setup for what I want to do.
I will be using three monitors:-
My old 22" EIZO CG220 and as a second monitor I am thinking to get the 24" NEC MultiSync LDC2490WUXi2 for my work
And as a third monitor my old Dell 190 5 FP (analog) for my palettes etc.
The main system components I am looking at are:-
Mother board – Rampage III Extreme
Processor – Intel I7 Extreme 990X 3.46GH
Memory – 32 GB DDR3
Video 1 - NVIDIA Quadro 4000
Video 2 – Ditto
O/S - Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit
Apps – Adobe CS5.5, Light Room 3, Bridge, Edius/Canopus (VideoEdit) CaptureOne....
Color Calibration – EyeOne Match 3
I need to be able to cover all three monitors from one mouse and keyboard
I need to be able at least to do color calibration independently for the EIZO and the NEC.
First of all can I do this?
Secondly do I really need two Video Cards in order to do this?
Do you have other points/options that you think I should consider?
Thanks for your help,
Cheers, Bee
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Comments
I have asked questions of them recently for a machine I will be building today. All the parts arrived yesterday.
Concerning your ram, I wonder if your memory amount is correct.
According to what I read online that mobo supports up to 24 GB versus 32 GB. There are mobos that support 32 GB and 48GB. The 1366 socket support triple channel memory so I suppose you will be installing three 8GB sticks if you use the Rampage III ASUS mobo. Intel's new socket - 2011 - will support up to 64 GB of ram and is expected to be released by the end of this year. Need to check on the release date because I can't find a definitive date.
Curious at to what CPU cooler you will be using and case to keep it quiet and cool, especially if you will be doing any audio recording?
Good luck.
Phil
"You don't take a photograph, you make it." ~Ansel Adams
Phil
Also the i7 supports triple channel memory, but to make use of it the mobo has to support it(I think the Rampage III does) and the memory chips have to be added 3 at a time. So so for 32GB, if there is room for it, it would revert to dual channel mode because you can't use chips in threes to get 32GB. But 24GB, i.e. 6 x 4GB chips, could support triple channel.
In general the triple channel config is going to be faster than the dual channel config, but also use more power.
http://www.danalphotos.com
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Release of 2011 socket may bring down prices on 1366 socket mobos. It is expected to be released 4th quarter 2011 and will reportedly support up to 8 core processors. "Arr, arr, arr, More Power", as Tim The Toolman Taylor used to say on Home Improvement.
After you select the motherboard, check ram compatibility at the your ram of choice such as Crucial or Kingston. They will prompt you for brand and motherboard. For 1366 it will be triple channel which allows you to buy less expensive ram modules - 6 4GB modules for instance, is less than two 16gb modules. You can put in one sticks of ram if you like but since it supports accessing three sticks as if it was one, might as well buy three the same size, brand and model number.
Keep in mind that board you have selected, the way I read it, is limited to 24GB. There are boards that go to 48GB. 2011 socket motherboards will accept up to 64GB or ram. Windows 7 I think supports up to 128GB.
While this post is one year old it may be of help: http://www.hardware-revolution.com/2500-workstation/
I will be interested to see your final configuration. Please post it when you are done.
Phil
"You don't take a photograph, you make it." ~Ansel Adams
Phil
1. TBD
2. Yes, you need 2 of those Nvidia Cards to do that! Maybe look here Thats Ati's cardsite.
That MOBO is great, but of course it only supports up to 24 GB. I take it you're going with the 990X is about 6 cores/12 threads. Which will help as will the 24 GB.
In video there is no such thing as too Much RAM.
I would go with the cheapest card"S" that would get my Monitors to work, and work like I want them to work. My Quadro3800FX does some work, but I am not really sure when. Occasionally if I am in a composition in After Effects, it'll help if I engage it, but most of the time if not all the time, I don't bother, because my RAM and Cores are sooooo very much better than that one little $1k card! Talking with Nvidia after I first got mine, I found that yes, they'd like you to buy two of them for it all to function better. But mark my words, I don't think you'll be impressed. Windows7/7Pro has whats called a "Windows experience index" It basically runs a test and tells you what on your machine is doing a good job of making your machine fast, and perhaps what you can do to make it faster. It maxXes out at 8 points. I am at 7.8 on all but the Graphics card, and it is the limiting factor limiting me to a 6.9 "Windows Experience Index!"
There is always the possibility of two monitors supported by one cable - which I believe is doable with an adapter. Not sure how well that would work though.
For video work one site I read recently said that the type of memory on the video card is critical for performance. DDR3 is common, but DDR5 on a video card enhances performance considerably.
"You don't take a photograph, you make it." ~Ansel Adams
Phil
I don't think I'd go so far as to say critical, but in layers work it can help on an avg. system: < or=8GB RAM. BUT, and it a huge but, there is no substitute for RAM! If you want to go the Workstation-Card direction AND you'd like equal performance to buying simple RAM, then buy 3 Nvidia Quadro 6000 cards and have at it. That will give you 18GB of video RAM @ DDR5 speed, which is faster Memory access than straight DDR3-RAM. I regularly monitor my Quadro and it ain't doing anything unless I engage it, and then it's much slower than the RAM itself. And for all I know the Nvidia-engineer I talked to on the the Support phone was right, I need to buy two or more cards for it to work well. I just wish they'd have put that in their marketing signage prior to me shelling out the $1k.
'
I have to do some more homework here and I let you know eventually what I will finally decide on.
Thanks, again.
Intel's new socket/processors - 2011 - were released today. The order by the way is 1155, 1366 (2008), 1156 (2010), 2011 as far as release dates. You would think that the number's would indicate release dates, but it doesn't.
Too early to buy 2011 though as motherboard manufacturers will need to catch up. That probably means that one of the sockets will drop off. I am guessing 1155 will drop off. The 1156 would be appear to be the most popular now - Sandy Bridge 2600 processors.
"You don't take a photograph, you make it." ~Ansel Adams
Phil
Main items included are:
MACH V Chassis
ASUS Rampage IV Extreme X79 Motherboard
Intel Core i7 3960X 3.3GHZ
32 GB DDR3 1333 MHZ RAM
1x NVIDIA QUADRO 4000 GPU
512 GB SSD O/S + APPS
256 GB SSD Scratch
INTEL RS2BL040 Raid Controller
2x2TB HDDS in Raid 1
Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit
I will let you know how I get on...
That sounds like it should be a pretty amazing machine.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
I look forward to hearing about the build and performance.
What power supply did you get?
Phil
"You don't take a photograph, you make it." ~Ansel Adams
Phil
Phil, the new PC is expected to come next week - the Power Supply - Silverstone Strider Gold 1200 Watt PS. As promised I will keep you informed...
I am finishing building a new machine and a document for photographers on how to select components and build their own PC or use the research and buying guide to select a machine.
One item you may be interested in if you don't already have and that I have on my Amazon Christmas wish list (something the kids can afford) is this card reader from Kingston.
Kingston USB 3.0 card reader
It supports USB 3.0 which I would expect would be pluggable from at least your PCs back panel and maybe front panel.
The difference in transfer rates between USB 3 and USB 2 is huge - 480Mbps vs 4.8Gbps.
If your front panel does not support USB 3.0 there are ways to upgrade even if the motherboard supports USB 2.0 onboard and not USB 3.0
"You don't take a photograph, you make it." ~Ansel Adams
Phil
Thanks, Phil... my order included the ATECH flash XM-5 V2 media reader and the CORSAIR Flash Voyager GT USB 3.0 - 64 GB
I did a search for "ATECH flash XM-5 v2 media reader", and did not find that exact product name. I went to their website and it appears that all their readers are USB 2.0. Is the one you got in your computer build USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 compliant?
Phil
"You don't take a photograph, you make it." ~Ansel Adams
Phil
Thanks, Phil... you are right!
My husband went on line and like you, had to go to their website and found the exact model with USB 2 only. So he cancelled the integrated unit. We are now looking into your suggested Kingston USB3.0 card reader... (No problem with the connectors - 2 USB3 front panel and 2 x back panel).
A card reader from Koutech maybe be another choice as it plugs into the back panel USB 3.0 port and is a front panel device. See http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820162030 and
http://koutech.com/proddetail.asp?linenumber=488 for details.
How fast the data transfers from the card is also dependent on the how fast data can be read from the card. Read http://www.koutech3.com/public/FAQ/USB3_reader_faq.htm question number 2 and answer.
The effective speed of the reader also depends on the read speed of the card used. USB 3.0 capabilities currently exceed camera card read speeds. For me, since I am buying a new reader I want the fastest available even if it can't read up to the theoretical maximum USB 3.0 speed now. And since these readers are inexpensive, especially when compared to total cost of the computer, it is worth to me.
Phil
"You don't take a photograph, you make it." ~Ansel Adams
Phil
Phil, we contacted Falcon and ask them whether they had something else other than the Koutech product to offer - here the link:
http://www.bitfenix.com/global/en/products/accessories/usb3-card-reader#specs
Your input is greatly appreciated - we have to decide tonight ( it will impact delivery)
The motherboard in your machine supports USB 3.0 internally according to specs on the Asus website so an internal USB 3.0 card reader will connect. Since the computer builder is recommending it and they are installing it, i would go with their recommendation. They have to support it.
Phil
"You don't take a photograph, you make it." ~Ansel Adams
Phil
Thanks, Phil... that's what we did and now I wait for the machine to arrive. I am quite excited about it - let you know how it goes....
As promised here is the feedback on the new machine: Falcon did a great job - no need to contact for help when setting up the machine... great performance, no delays, no hickups, smooth on all fronts. In short...I just love it!
I did the speed test - on an 8 bit file: 0.46 Sec. - on a 16 bit file: 0.48 Sec. - on a 32 bit file: 0.50 Sec.
(Intel Core i7 3969X 3.3 GHZ - 32 GB DDR3 1333 MHZ RAM on Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit, CS5)
Congratulations on the (rather amazing) new machine.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
Cool! Could you please provide which speed test you used?
Thanks, Phil
"You don't take a photograph, you make it." ~Ansel Adams
Phil
Sure, Phil.. the one I read about on Dgrin: Retouch Pro - Is there any other out there?
I haven't tried this one but it looks legit to me:
http://ksimonian.com/Blog/2010/02/24/improved-photoshop-benchmark-cpu-speed-test-for-both-mac-pc-free-radial-blur-filter-test/
Also, have you tested the USB 3.0 media card device compared to a USB 2.0 port?
Phil
"You don't take a photograph, you make it." ~Ansel Adams
Phil
Sorry for the delay, Phil - have been busy because of the holidays:-)
I didn't find much difference: downloaded 21 JPGS - USB2 in 0.46 Sec. and USB3 in 0.45 Sec.
Tried another download with 29 raw - converted from cr2 to dng and embeded the orig. raw file inside the dng file. So that took overall a little longer:
USSB2 1.60 sec and USB3 1.55 sec - this is the result on my computer....
I just did a quick test with one 500mb file and it was more than three times faster with USB 3.0 than USB 2.0 copying it from a USB 3.0 8gb flash drive to a 7,200 rpm drive.
I have two rear panel USB 3.0 ports and two external USB 2.0 ports and one front panel 3.0 USB port.
I have lots of photo to process this week so I will do another test with lots of files and more capacity.
Phil
"You don't take a photograph, you make it." ~Ansel Adams
Phil
Then I sent this same file from the Flash drive to PS from a USB 3 port : 0.47 sec and from a USB 2 port : 0.54 sec.....
Note that I started a separte post on USB 2.0 versus USB 3.0. I think you may find it worthwhile to follow.
See http://dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=212431
Phil
"You don't take a photograph, you make it." ~Ansel Adams
Phil