Hardware Advice

Bro, does your rig even lift?
Mfrith
Met Resolume in a bar the other day
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Sep 05, 2017 15:31

Hardware Advice

Post by Mfrith »

I work for a Rental company and we are looking for a powerful cookie cutter setup that will be able to handle to majority of scenarios.

Idealy we would want a maximum of around 8 outputs and are looking for a majority pre built solution. Price obviously is a deciding factor however performance within reason may outweigh this priority.

Currently we are looking at the following rack-mounted solution from origin PC.

We would be adding a blackmagic Quad 2 card to this setup.

We will be looking to invest in 2 matching machines

Configuration

Case: Rackmount 4U Chassis with rails (Red)

Case Fans: ORIGIN PC High-Performance Ultra Silent Fans
Power Supply: 1.3 Kilowatt EVGA SuperNOVA G2
Motherboard: ASUS X399 Zenith Extreme
System Cooling: ORIGIN FROSTBYTE 360 Sealed Liquid Cooling System for TR4 Socket
Processors: AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1920X 12-Core
Thermal Compound: GELID GC-Extreme CPU Application
Graphics Card #1 - Graphic Cards: Single 8GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition
Graphics Card #2 - Graphic Cards: Single 8GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition
Memory: 64GB G.Skill TridentZ 3000MHz (4 X 16GB)
Operating System: MS Windows 10 Professional
Operating System Drive #1 (Primary): 512GB ORIGIN PC Approved PCIe M.2
Operating System Drive #2: 480GB ORIGIN PC Approved Solid State Drive
Hard Drive Cage : 5 Bay Hot-Swap Cage
Hot Swap Bay Drive #1: 480GB ORIGIN PC Approved Solid State Drive
Optical Drive One: 24X CD/DVD Burner
Media Card Reader: 40-in-1 Media Card Reader Prime
Audio: On Board High Definition 8-Channel Audio
Networking: Onboard Network Port

From my small understanding of how resolume renders graphics we would be running the two 1080 founders additions in SLI to give maximum graphics processing and using the primary card HDMI output for running the main resolume window. The display port outputs would be used for jobs with a smaller output requirement and in larger multi projector/display setups we would swap to the Blackmagic card.

we may add a second black magic card at a later date as some events can have up to 8 outputs as well as 4 inputs.

The majority of sources and outputs will be routed through a Blackmagic 40x40 Matrix.

As someone who is very new to resolume i have tried to read up on as much information as i can before putting this setup together but would really appreciate feedback.

User avatar
Arvol
Might as well join the team
Posts: 2771
Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2015 17:36
Location: Oklahoma, USA

Re: Hardware Advice

Post by Arvol »

Some more about a single computer with 2 GPUs
SLI / Crossfre is not supported in Resolume. Most people think they can use SLI to get more outputs. This is not the
case.
SLI and Crossfre are designed to let multiple GPUs combine forces for more rendering power and work as master/
slave(s) setups. Using SLI/Crossfre does not give you more outputs. When SLI/Crossfre is enabled, the outputs of
the slave card(s) are disabled, or at least outputs are reconfgured in such a way that you do not get more outputs
than from a single card.
In addition, the extra render power is not so important for Resolume. The GPU is used extensively in Resolume, but it
is usually not the bottleneck. Unless you are running a 100% generative set with realtime raycasting at 4K, or cutting
up dozens of 16K by 16K textures, you don’t need the extra GPU power for rendering
Here are some good starting points when wanting to know how well hardware stacks up:
https://resolume.com/manual/_media/en/r ... upport.pdf

Here is a guide on multi screen outs:
https://resolume.com/manual/_media/en/r ... upport.pdf

Why so many outs? What is your primary applications for this machine (application as in shows/rentals)?

Using a BMD card for out works great, As long as you don't care about the outputs being in complete sync (screen tearing) if you're trying to get 1 giant image.

m.2 ssd, 16-32gb of ram, 10 series gpu (preferably 70-80ti), and windows 10 are really popular right now.

You might do a search and see if you can find some reply's from a user: Oaktown
He has listed some mobo's with specific chipsets that will give you the most PCIe lanes when using certain CPU's. The i9 and Threadripper supports 40 lanes now (as does Xeons), if having a ton of cards is required.

Mfrith
Met Resolume in a bar the other day
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Sep 05, 2017 15:31

Re: Hardware Advice

Post by Mfrith »

dinga wrote:
Some more about a single computer with 2 GPUs
SLI / Crossfre is not supported in Resolume. Most people think they can use SLI to get more outputs. This is not the
case.
SLI and Crossfre are designed to let multiple GPUs combine forces for more rendering power and work as master/
slave(s) setups. Using SLI/Crossfre does not give you more outputs. When SLI/Crossfre is enabled, the outputs of
the slave card(s) are disabled, or at least outputs are reconfgured in such a way that you do not get more outputs
than from a single card.
In addition, the extra render power is not so important for Resolume. The GPU is used extensively in Resolume, but it
is usually not the bottleneck. Unless you are running a 100% generative set with realtime raycasting at 4K, or cutting
up dozens of 16K by 16K textures, you don’t need the extra GPU power for rendering
Here are some good starting points when wanting to know how well hardware stacks up:
https://resolume.com/manual/_media/en/r ... upport.pdf

Here is a guide on multi screen outs:
https://resolume.com/manual/_media/en/r ... upport.pdf

Why so many outs? What is your primary applications for this machine (application as in shows/rentals)?

Using a BMD card for out works great, As long as you don't care about the outputs being in complete sync (screen tearing) if you're trying to get 1 giant image.

m.2 ssd, 16-32gb of ram, 10 series gpu (preferably 70-80ti), and windows 10 are really popular right now.

You might do a search and see if you can find some reply's from a user: Oaktown
He has listed some mobo's with specific chipsets that will give you the most PCIe lanes when using certain CPU's. The i9 and Threadripper supports 40 lanes now (as does Xeons), if having a ton of cards is required.
So from my understanding of reading through the link you gave is having 2 8GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition is somewhat of a waste of time due to the fact that you are gaining no benifits from the SLI.

Frame sync in some scenarios is going to be a concern. generally we will use 3 projectors and blend to create the appearance of one large screen. in this scenario then we could use the remaining 3 outputs from the card itself.

The blackmagic card would be primarily for outputting stage foldback, comfort monitors, speaker notes and the like for conferences and driving LED screens and TV's that would be independent from the main screen.

if we were to run all the projector outputs from the blackmagic card and not use any of the 1080 outputs for the projectors would we still experience the same sync issues ? i guese what im trying to ask is would all of the 8 blackmagic outputs be in sync with eachother and just not in sync with the main card where the processing is happening?

If a single card system is what is recomended is it worth spending the money we would have been using to get 2 1080 founders editions to get 1 11GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti or even a single 12GB NVIDIA Titan Xp?

User avatar
Oaktown
Resolume honorary member
Posts: 2837
Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 15:19
Location: Oakland, CA

Re: Hardware Advice

Post by Oaktown »

So from my understanding of reading through the link you gave is having 2 8GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition is somewhat of a waste of time due to the fact that you are gaining no benifits from the SLI.
As far as Resolume is concerned, you're correct if you were planning to use SLI but you could still use your 2nd GPU for add'l outputs even though you'll experience somewhat of a performance drop.
Frame sync in some scenarios is going to be a concern. generally we will use 3 projectors and blend to create the appearance of one large screen. in this scenario then we could use the remaining 3 outputs from the card itself.
Correct
The blackmagic card would be primarily for outputting stage foldback, comfort monitors, speaker notes and the like for conferences and driving LED screens and TV's that would be independent from the main screen.
That would work great.
if we were to run all the projector outputs from the blackmagic card and not use any of the 1080 outputs for the projectors would we still experience the same sync issues ? i guese what im trying to ask is would all of the 8 blackmagic outputs be in sync with each other and just not in sync with the main card where the processing is happening?
That's a questions for the devs but as far as I understand, the SDI outputs are not locked together BUT you can always delay each screen up to 100ms.
If a single card system is what is recomended is it worth spending the money we would have been using to get 2 1080 founders editions to get 1 11GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti or even a single 12GB NVIDIA Titan Xp?
Yes

Mfrith
Met Resolume in a bar the other day
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Sep 05, 2017 15:31

Re: Hardware Advice

Post by Mfrith »

Ok so after reading through everything again and taking your comments on board i have come up with this.

Case: Rackmount 4U Chassis with rails (Red)
Case Fans: ORIGIN PC High-Performance Ultra Silent Fans
Power Supply: 1.3 Kilowatt EVGA SuperNOVA G2
Motherboard: MSI X399 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
System Cooling: ORIGIN FROSTBYTE 360 Sealed Liquid Cooling System for TR4 Socket
Processors: AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1920X 12-Core
Thermal Compound: GELID GC-Extreme CPU Application
Graphics Card #1 - Graphic Cards: Single 11GB GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
Memory: 64GB G.Skill TridentZ 3000MHz (4 X 16GB)
Operating System: MS Windows 10 Professional
Operating System Drive #1 (Primary): 512GB ORIGIN PC Approved PCIe M.2
Operating System Drive #2: 512GB ORIGIN PC Approved PCIe M.2
Hard Drive Cage : 5 Bay Hot-Swap Cage
Hot Swap Bay Drive #1: 480GB ORIGIN PC Approved Solid State Drive
Optical Drive One: 24X CD/DVD Burner
Media Card Reader: 40-in-1 Media Card Reader Prime
Audio: On Board High Definition 8-Channel Audio
Networking: Onboard Network Port

I would use one of the other card slots for the black magic Quad 2 Capture card.

I have changed to using 2 M.2 drives 1 for content 1 for storage and have also the hot swap cage for additional content.

am i going to have any issues running content through this hot swap bay off of SSD drives? i would aim to run content from here as standard and load any larger files onto the M.2 drive.

My main reason for doing this is it will allow for me to easily update content onto the drives and to be able to swap drives easily between the two machines.

Thanks again for everyone's input on this i really do appreciate it. Its a large investment into kit so i want to make sure i get it right first time.

User avatar
Oaktown
Resolume honorary member
Posts: 2837
Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 15:19
Location: Oakland, CA

Re: Hardware Advice

Post by Oaktown »

Motherboard: MSI X399 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
System Cooling: ORIGIN FROSTBYTE 360 Sealed Liquid Cooling System for TR4 Socket
Processors: AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1920X 12-Core
I would personally stick with an X299 motherboard with Thunderbolt 3 and Intel i9-7900X processor in order to get 44 PCIe lanes available

or

save some change and build with X99 with TB3 and an i7-6850K so that you can still have 40 PCIe lanes available.

User avatar
Arvol
Might as well join the team
Posts: 2771
Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2015 17:36
Location: Oklahoma, USA

Re: Hardware Advice

Post by Arvol »

Ditto on Oaktowns reply.

I would have any screens that need blended ran direct off the 1080ti gpu. if you need to add more projectors in the future, you can always use a datapath from each port to extend the pixel space of each port to span over multiple projectors.

I typically keep all my content on 1 drive, so I really don't have any experience with splitting sources on drives, the dev's might know about the performance hit on that.

Might look into U.2
You could get a M.2 to U.2 riser card, and send your SSD down a PCIe lane rather than a sata lane if speed is going to be an issue. Again, that would be a dev question. maybe a sata ssd would be fast enough for you?

User avatar
Arvol
Might as well join the team
Posts: 2771
Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2015 17:36
Location: Oklahoma, USA

Re: Hardware Advice

Post by Arvol »

Oaktown wrote:
Motherboard: MSI X399 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
System Cooling: ORIGIN FROSTBYTE 360 Sealed Liquid Cooling System for TR4 Socket
Processors: AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1920X 12-Core
I would personally stick with an X299 motherboard with Thunderbolt 3 and Intel i9-7900X processor in order to get 44 PCIe lanes available

or

save some change and build with X99 with TB3 and an i7-6850K so that you can still have 40 PCIe lanes available.
Frédéric FTW. He knows his chipsets and mobo configs.

TB3 is a game changer for me. LOVE it!

User avatar
Oaktown
Resolume honorary member
Posts: 2837
Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 15:19
Location: Oakland, CA

Re: Hardware Advice

Post by Oaktown »

dinga wrote:I would have any screens that need blended ran direct off the 1080ti gpu. if you need to add more projectors in the future, you can always use a datapath from each port to extend the pixel space of each port to span over multiple projectors.
and if you want sync'ed SDI outputs, you can always get the Datapath FX4-SDI from either a 4K SDI card or 4K DP/HDMI output from the 1080ti GPU.

Mfrith
Met Resolume in a bar the other day
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Sep 05, 2017 15:31

Re: Hardware Advice

Post by Mfrith »

and if you want sync'ed SDI outputs, you can always get the Datapath FX4-SDI from either a 4K SDI card or 4K DP/HDMI output from the 1080ti GPU.
This is a great option i hadn't considered. thank you :)
I would personally stick with an X299 motherboard with Thunderbolt 3 and Intel i9-7900X processor in order to get 44 PCIe lanes available

or

save some change and build with X99 with TB3 and an i7-6850K so that you can still have 40 PCIe lanes available.
Correct me if im wrong but the thread-ripper CPU has 64 PCle lanes available. I cant find a Thunderbolt 3 motherboard in the build options for origin so if i wanted to go that route it would have to be a custom build. Im not overly excited about going down that route. The build with the Threadripper cpu and the X399 motherboard is working out around $500 cheeper than the I9-7900X with the X299 motherboard.

Post Reply