NVIDIA NVLink Bridge Compatibility Chart
Written on January 15, 2019 by William GeorgeUsing NVLink requires a physical bridge between two identical NVIDIA graphics cards, but several models of bridges have been sold with different branding. Which versions work with which GeForce and Quadro graphics cards?
OctaneRender 4.00: NVIDIA GeForce & Titan RTX GPU Rendering Performance Roundup
Written on January 14, 2019 by William GeorgeOctaneRender is a GPU-based rendering engine, utilizing the CUDA programming language on NVIDIA-based graphics cards. An update to their benchmark, OctaneBench 4.00, was recently released - so we gathered most of the current and recent GeForce and Titan series video cards and tested them to see how they perform in this version of OctaneRender.
Redshift 2.6.22: NVIDIA Titan RTX Performance
Written on January 14, 2019 by William GeorgeRedshift is a GPU-based rendering engine, compatible with NVIDIA's CUDA graphics programming language. We recently saw how GeForce RTX cards perform in this renderer, but now the Titan RTX is out with a staggering 24GB of memory onboard. That sounds great for rendering complex 3D scenes, but how does it actually perform? And are there any caveats?
DaVinci Resolve 15: NVIDIA Titan RTX Performance
Written on January 9, 2019 by Matt BachThe new NVIDIA Titan RTX has a stunning 24GB of video memory, making it very attractive for many editors and colorists working with 8K media. But is the extra VRAM all it has going for it or is it also significantly faster than something like the RTX 2080 Ti 11GB?
Most Reliable PC Hardware of 2018
Written on January 2, 2019 by Matt BachAt Puget Systems, one of the most important things we track in our workstations is the failure rates of individual components. Overall, 2018 was a very good year for hardware reliability with about half as many parts failing this year versus 2015, 2016, or 2017. But what models were the best of the best?
Premiere Pro CC 2019 CPU Roundup: Intel vs AMD vs Mac
Written on December 13, 2018 by Matt BachIn addition to being one of the more important choice, getting the right CPU is also one of the more complicated decisions when configuring a Premiere Pro workstation. Unlike applications like Photoshop and After Effects where there is a relatively clear "best" CPU, in Premiere Pro there are reasons to use a wide range of processors depending on your budget and what you are doing. But which should you use in your system?
Testing Dynamic Local Mode on AMD Threadripper 2970WX - Rendering
Written on December 12, 2018 by William GeorgeDynamic Local Mode is a new feature on AMD's biggest Threadripper processors. These CPUs have cores grouped internally, some with direct access to system memory and some which have to communicate through those other cores to access data in memory. DLM prioritizes running code on the cores which have a direct line to the memory, helping to improve performance in situations where not all of the cores are in use. How does that translate to real-world workloads, though? Let's take a look at two CPU-based rendering applications and see how the 24-core 2970WX behaves with this feature on and off.
Testing Dynamic Local Mode on AMD Threadripper 2970WX - Photogrammetry
Written on December 11, 2018 by William GeorgeDynamic Local Mode is a new feature on AMD's biggest Threadripper processors. These CPUs have cores grouped internally, some with direct access to system memory and some which have to communicate through those other cores to access data in memory. DLM prioritizes running code on the cores which have a direct line to the memory, helping to improve performance in situations where not all of the cores are in use. How does that translate to real-world workloads, though? Let's take a look at two photogrammetry applications and see how the 24-core 2970WX behaves with this feature on and off.
DaVinci Resolve 15 CPU Roundup: Intel vs AMD vs Mac
Written on December 10, 2018 by Matt BachUnlike most other applications used in the video post-production process, DaVinci Resolve relies much more on the power of your video card(s) than it does on your processor. However, you do need enough CPU power to keep up with your GPU(s) and there are still some aspects of Resolve (like the Fusion tab) where the CPU is more important. In this article, we will be looking at a wide range of processors from Intel and AMD including the Intel 9th Gen, Intel X-series, AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen, and AMD Threadripper 2nd Gen CPU lines. In addition, we will be comparing them to a current Mac Pro 12 Core and iMac Pro 14 Core for those that are curious about how much faster a PC workstation can be compared to a Mac.
Lightroom Classic CC 2019 CPU Roundup: Intel vs AMD
Written on December 10, 2018 by Matt BachWith the sheer number of choices available, choosing even just the right CPU for your Lightroom workstation can be a daunting task. In this article, we are going to be benchmarking a wide range of processors from Intel and AMD including the Intel 9th Gen, Intel X-series, AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen, and AMD Threadripper 2nd Gen CPU lines to help you decide which model makes the most sense for your new workstation.
Puget Systems Adobe After Effects CC Benchmark
Written on December 5, 2018 by Matt BachWant to see how your system stacks up to the latest hardware? Download and run the free public After Effects benchmark that we use in our internal testing!
After Effects CC 2019 CPU Roundup: Intel vs AMD vs Mac
Written on December 5, 2018 by Matt BachChoosing the right hardware for your new After Effects workstation can be overwhelming with hundreds or thousands of different hardware components to choose from. In this article, we are going to be benchmarking - using our newly released Puget Systems After Effects CC Benchmark - a wide range of processors from Intel and AMD including the Intel 9th Gen, Intel X-series, AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen, and AMD Threadripper 2nd Gen CPU lines. In addition, we will be comparing them to a current Mac Pro 12 Core and iMac Pro 14 Core for those that are considering going with a Mac-based workstation rather than a PC.
Photoshop CC 2019 CPU Roundup: Intel vs AMD vs Mac
Written on December 5, 2018 by Matt BachFinding a CPU that not only fits your budget, but will also give you the best performance for your dollar can be a daunting task. In this article, we are going to be benchmarking a wide range of processors from Intel and AMD including the Intel 9th Gen, Intel X-series, AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen, and AMD Threadripper 2nd Gen CPU lineups to see how they performance in Photoshop CC 2019. In addition, we will be comparing them to a modern Mac Pro 12 Core and iMac Pro 14 Core for those that are considering going with a Mac-based workstation rather than a PC.
Pix4D 4.3 GPU Comparison: GeForce RTX 2070, 2080, and 2080 Ti
Written on November 20, 2018 by William GeorgePix4D is an advanced photogrammetry application, suited to a wide range of uses, with a focus on handling images captured by drone cameras. Processing of those images into point clouds and 3D meshes / textures is time-consuming, heavily using a computer's CPU and GPU. A new version, 4.3, was released recently - so we have tested multiple projects across the new GeForce RTX series of video cards, as well as the previous generation, to see which graphics card performs the best.
V-Ray: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, 2080, & 2080 Ti GPU Rendering Performance
Written on November 16, 2018 by William GeorgeV-Ray is a hybrid rendering engine that can run on both CPUs and GPUs, depending on the version that is used. The current benchmark only measures CPU and GPU performance separately, though, and while that is not ideal or a perfect match for how the modern V-Ray Next engine performs it can still be helpful to look at when comparing GPU rendering performance. Let's see how NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 2070, 2080, and 2080 Ti cards stack up against the previous generation.
Premiere Pro CC 2019: Intel X-series 2018 Refresh Performance
Written on November 15, 2018 by Matt BachPremiere Pro works very well with Intel's X-series processors, but the new models that just came out only have a small frequency bump and no increase in core count. Is this enough to increase performance in Premiere, or is there no reason to use one of these new models?
Pix4D 4.3 CPU Comparison: Intel 9th Gen Core & X-series vs AMD Ryzen & Threadripper
Written on November 13, 2018 by William GeorgePix4D is an advanced photogrammetry application, suited to wide range of uses, with a focus on handling images captured by drone cameras. Processing of those images into point clouds and 3D meshes / textures is time consuming, heavily using a computer's CPU and GPU. A new version, 4.3, was released recently - so we have tested multiple projects across a wide range of CPUs to see what hardware performs the best.
Photoshop CC 2019: Intel X-series 2018 Refresh Performance
Written on November 13, 2018 by Matt BachThe new Intel Core X-series Processors have been launched without an increase in core count, but there has been a small frequency bump and a native fix for Spectre & Meltdown. Do these minor changes allow them to keep up with the more moderately priced Intel Core i9 9900K, or are they no faster than the previous generation models?
Lightroom Classic CC 2019: Intel X-series 2018 Refresh Performance
Written on November 13, 2018 by Matt BachLightroom Classic has been improving performance with higher core count CPUs, but interestingly enough, the new Intel Core X-series Processors do not have an increase in core count. They do have a small frequency bump and a native fix for Spectre & Meltdown, but is that enough to make them faster than the previous generation processors in Lightroom Classic?
After Effects CC 2019: Intel X-series 2018 Refresh Performance
Written on November 13, 2018 by Matt BachThe new Intel Core X-series Processors are here and while they do have a small frequency bump and a native fix for Spectre & Meltdown, they do not have any more cores than the previous generation. However, After Effects is not as well threaded as it used to be, which means that the lack of a core count increase is unlikely to be a problem.
DaVinci Resolve 15: Intel X-series 2018 Refresh Performance
Written on November 13, 2018 by Matt BachDaVinci Resolve is a very GPU-intensive program which limits the amount of performance a higher-end CPU can give you. Depending on the amount of GPU power you have, even a mid-range CPU could perform the same as a more expensive CPU which begs the question: will the new Intel X-series CPUs be any faster than the previous generation?
V-Ray: Intel X-series Refresh CPU Rendering Performance
Written on November 13, 2018 by William GeorgeIntel just updated their X-series processor line, with new models using 9XXX numbering to match the recent 9th Gen Core Series launch a few weeks ago. The main improvements are small clock speed increases along with fixes for some of the CPU exploits discovered in recent years. In this article, we will look at how these new chips compare to existing Intel and AMD processors when rendering in V-Ray.
Cinema 4D: Intel X-series Refresh CPU Performance
Written on November 13, 2018 by William GeorgeIntel just updated their X-series processor line, with new models using 9XXX numbering to match the recent 9th Gen Core Series launch a few weeks ago. The main improvements are small clock speed increases along with fixes for some of the CPU exploits discovered in recent years. Cinema 4D uses a blend of performance factors, with clock speed being important for modeling, animation, and physics simulation while core count is king when it comes to rendering. Let's see how these new chips compare to other options from both Intel and AMD.
Pix4D 4.3 Multi-GPU Scaling and NVLink
Written on November 7, 2018 by William GeorgePix4D is an advanced photogrammetry application, suited to a wide range of uses, with a focus on handling images captured by drone cameras. Processing of those images into point clouds and 3D meshes/textures is time-consuming, heavily using a computer's CPU and GPU. In this article, we are looking at whether multiple GPUs improve Pix4D performance and if NVLink has any impact.
Pix4D 4.3 vs 4.2 Performance Analysis
Written on November 6, 2018 by William GeorgePix4D is an advanced photogrammetry application, suited to wide range of uses, with a focus on handling images captured by drone cameras. Processing of those images into point clouds and 3D meshes / textures is time consuming, heavily using a computer's CPU and GPU. A new version, 4.3, was released recently - so we are taking a look at performance of the previous version versus this one to see if there have been any improvements.