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MillimeterCS4 and 64-bit Systems, Part 2
Dec 22, 2008 12:00 PM, By Jan Ozer
Table 6. Burning DVD disc image/render in Adobe Media Encoder.
Click here for a larger image
Mixed-application Tests
The tests described above involved two main applications: Premiere Pro and Adobe Media Encoder, with an occasional appearance by After Effects courtesy of Dynamic Link. At least for my practice, they represent the most likely scenario: I finish one project, start to render it, and begin another.
Less frequently, I’ll start rendering a disc-based project in Encore, then start editing another in Premiere Pro, and perhaps even render that project. So, in this final test, I reproduced this scenario, rendering a project in Encore and then rendering the third AVCHD scenario described above (picture-in-picture, After Effects via Dynamic Link).
As you can see, this is another scenario where the total commit charge on the 32-bit system exceeded RAM, which meant that the system had to page to hard disk during rendering. Not surprisingly, the 64-bit system was 70 percent faster in this trial.
What it all Means
Rendering is only one measure of editing performance, and often it’s completely irrelevant if you’re not in a hurry. Still, it’s objective and easily measurable, and these rendering trials clearly show that a 64-bit system will deliver superior performance with most formats except DVCPRO HD. Though your mileage will certainly vary, I would guess that the more complicated the project, the more significance the performance boost.
If you’re upgrading from CS3 to CS4 on a 32-bit system, I recommend upping your RAM to your system’s maximum. If you download the trial version of CS4, run some short rendering benchmarks with the two versions to get a feel for whether your current system performs well with CS4. If your projects are extremely complex, you may find performance unacceptable. After upgrading, if you’re rendering and not editing, be sure to close Premiere Pro and any other unnecessary programs, because if you boost the commit charge beyond system RAM, you will probably slow rendering significantly.
If you’re buying a 64-bit system, purchase at least 8GB of RAM, as any less would require the same type of performance limiting paging experienced on the 32-bit systems.
That’s it, and I am out. Happy Holidays.
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.