New Machine Questions

[Chuck Engels]

Ok, first test -

After Effects 7.0.1, 30 second project with very heavy processing requirements, Fantasy Sky from the templates included with the program.

I tested the rendering process on the project using the default NTSC settings.
This was tested on my Dell Latitude D820 Laptop and my new Dell Precision 490.

Laptop specs are; Intel 2.0ghz Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 5400 rpm hard drive.

Latitude Laptop = 23 minutes 39 seconds
Precision Desktop = 14 minutes 0 seconds

Next test will be on my Dimension 8400 3.0ghz rendering a Premiere Elements effect. I can only have the programs loaded on two machines and I don't have After Effects on my 8400, so I can't test After Effects rendering on that one.

[Chuck Engels]

Well my big test was burning a DVD, same project on my 8400 and the new 490.

1 hour 3 minute project burned with Encore DVD CS3

8400 = 98 minutes

490 = 36 minutes

Those are start to finish times and include transcoding and burning.

Looks like it has really made a difference

[VernonRobinson]

Well my big test was burning a DVD, same project on my 8400 and the new 490.

1 hour 3 minute project burned with Encore DVD CS3

8400 = 98 minutes

490 = 36 minutes

Those are start to finish times and include transcoding and burning.

Looks like it has really made a difference

Chuck,
Have not made a controlled test, but I think I like what the machine is doing. I now have most of the software loaded. I had to do a rush favor for a co-worker. So I used PrEl 3 and burned a 1.5 hour project. Yes, I finally took it out of shrink wrap. It took approximately 1 hour 5 minutes to transcode and create the disk directory. I am not sure how this compares with others, but it is a big improvement over what I was doing in Studio 9. I was spending over 1 hour to render a 30 minute video. However, the Studio project was heavily laden with transitions and effects where this was primarily straight video. I am not sure if this makes a difference, though I imagine it would.

What I really noticed was the huge improvement in the responsiveness of the timeline and interface. I could move about freely with minimal lag. When the machine was rendering, the CPU utilization across the Quad-Cores was approximately 60%. While it was rendering, I ripped some music from a CD, while listening to a muvipix tutorial. This drove utilization up to approximately 80%. However, everything seemed to work ok, no noticeable degradation in browsing, ripping speeds, etc. The hard disk was going crazy, but the magic smoke did not come out

I have to check the header pin-out connecting my headphone/mike to the front of the computer case. While there is sound coming out of the back, there was no sound coming out of the front headphone jack which is inconvenient.

So far, so good. I will do a more controlled test later.

Regards,
-Vernon