3rd display: Add an Intensity Pro, or simply a 2nd video card?

[Bman]

Hi. I write almost exclusively for film/tv and I've been dreaming about one day adding a 3rd WS monitor dedicated to display the film leaving my other 2 displays free for other duties.

Is there a disadvantage to running 2 standard dual head graphics cards to get 4 monitors? Or are you better off simply adding say a Blackmagic Intensity Pro to your existing setup? (I know the Intensity is only a single output and is a dedicated video display so I can't also have the option of extending my desktop to that display)

Does the Intensity relieve any of the burden from the CPU compared to standard Nvidia 8xxx or 9xxx or NVS options, or indeed does it have a lighter RAM (or power) footprint? Is that the advantage?

Price being a factor, the Nvidia quadro 4 head, or Matrox triple head solutions don't seem that economical to me, but hey, I'm willing to be educated! :D

Brett

[TAFKAT]

Hey Brett,

The trade off with the Decklink is a higher memory footprint actually.

That was reported to me by a client who has a very similar work environment to yours where memory was paramount, and the added memory usage negated the advantage of the lower cpu usage by tipping some sessions over the edge.. :-(

I am sure he posted here about it actually.

Its a balancing act.

You would be be better off running Dual NVS cards on your system for 4 independent LCD's, and then you can use one as a dedicated Vid playback, and then still have 3 for desktop duties..

I have numerous local Nuendo clients running the Dual NVS cards, mind you they also have Declink as well for a total of 5 screens..

The Quadro 4 head is another option, I wouldn't recomend the Matrox Tripeheads now a days , way too many weird little quirks when running the 3 monitor/feature display

I have a brand new unused P650-Triple head optioned card here collecting dust for that those reasons.. :-(

[Bman]

Thanks for your reply Vin

Did you mean the Decklink or Intensity Pro is the higher memory hog? I guess in the future memory might be less of an issue but for now... My understanding is that the higher spec-ed cards take up more system memory, but you can't even find smaller 64MB cards any more. Most of the new Quadro NVSs start at 256MB, and the consumer cards 512MB! Hard to find simple, reliable 2D cards that take up minimal resources, are passive and have low power comsuption I imagine.

Regarding the Quadro 4-display solution, apart from saving a slot they appear to be twice as expensive as 2 quadro dual cards. Not so nice on the wallet.

Brett

[TAFKAT]

Hey Brett,

The Intensity Pro gobbles a bit of RAM as well.. :-(

Re the 4 display Quadros, yeh they are a bit pricey in comparison, but they do work quite well.

I have only used them when the clients were requiring more than 4 displays, i.e 6/8 for some Access Grid video conferencing systems I did for the Uni's here in Oz.

The Quadro NVS cards are still my card of choice for those not needing Dual Link DVI. I have never been big on running consumer level cards on DAW's , not to say they don't work, but I have had far better experience with dedicated workstation class cards.

[ROCKINROG]

This is what I was thinking of changing to Vin. I've been using the Matrox Parhelias for a long time (both PCI and PCIe) and there's still driver issues with Nuendo, basically spiking with mouse movement outside the nuendo project window (with the APVe). The workaround setting the affinity for Nuendo to all 4 cores and higher priority, whether manually or via software app works but I'm tired of the driver issues and I'm thinking of adding a 4th monitor so this looked right up my alley. Is there any known issues with Nvidia's driver for this card and Nuendo that you've come across?

http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_quadro_nvs_450_us.html

[TAFKAT]

Hey Roger,

The driver for the NVS 450 is the same as the one I am using for the smaller 290's that I am currently running with, and have not experienced any issues with Nuendo specifically. They may take a dislike to UAD1's tho, depending on the subsystem. That combo on X58's for example is a no go.

Be aware that new 450 card has display portconnectors only , so if you don't have display port native connections on the monitors, be sure to get the DVI adaptors.. :wink:

[Jcschild]

not bad advice for an aussie!
there is a nvidia 450 ver that does not have the display ports! hard to find

[TAFKAT]

Jeez, thanks Mate.. :wink:

The display ports are cool tho , allow 30" resolutions without the need for a Dual Link DVI., and more and more monitors have it native..

[HHaynes]

Just a quick vote for Intensity Pro here. Until I read this thread I never knew there was a dramatic memory footprint difference between it and dedicated video card solutions. I was always focused on CPU cycles.

[Bman]

Hi Houston

RAM footprint aside, I've read differing opinions as to how much the Intensity Pro relieves the burden on the CPU. In your experience does it make a massive difference?

Brett

[TAFKAT]

Just a quick vote for Intensity Pro here. Until I read this thread I never knew there was a dramatic memory footprint difference between it and dedicated video card solutions. I was always focused on CPU cycles.

Playing back QT with a standard video card there is no added memory footprint to speak off, with the decklink its not huge - added memory footprint on Intensity Pro on a Cubendo session is around 270-280 MB, but its enough for those on 32 bit systems that run close to the edge memory wise for it to be an issue.

For those on 64 Bit systems its not a concern.

@ Brett,

Answering the question re CPU usage, its substantially less with the Decklink, but its a balancing act if the memory footprint is a concern, which from what I know of your working environment, is more of a concern than CPU cycles.. :-)