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Test Drive: Intel Nehalem, Part 2

Apr 27, 2009 12:00 PM, By Jan Ozer

           

Table 4: Rendering times, with and without HTT.

More isn’t Better (at least not always)

As mentioned on page 1, I tested the Z800 and Z400 with HTT enabled and disabled, and I included the fastest times in the comparisons above. Table 4 presents these results. To explain, a positive percentage in the HTT column means that rendering with HTT enabled was slower, while a negative time means that enabling HTT reduced rendering time. Note that some of the swings were meaningful, led by the 32 percent slowdown that enabling HTT induced when rendering Red footage with the Z400.

It’s tough to draw any logical conclusions from the results since they’re often contradictory. For example, enabling HTT for the short AVCHD project slowed the Z800’s rendering time by 20 percent, but speeded rendering in the longer project by 15 percent. The bottom line is that you shouldn’t assume that HTT will accelerate your rendering times. If your project types are relatively consistent—say, the same 30-minute show each week—you should test with HTT enabled and disabled to determine which configuration is faster.

Summary

In case you haven’t noticed, I really like the performance of HP’s new Nehalem-based workstations, which would appear to pay for themselves in saved rendering time for most HD formats in a just a few months. However, if you don’t have the spare coin right now and you're looking for a less-expensive solution, try adding RAM to your system—especially if you’re editing AVCHD, DVCPRO HD, and Red footage. Of course, you’ll need to be running 64-bit Windows to do so.

I know I’ve said this before, but I can’t make the point too many times. That is, if you’re running on 32-bit Windows with CS4, please stop what you’re doing right now and check how much RAM you can add to your system. If you can install up to 8GB or so, upgrade to 64-bit Windows, Vista or XP, as soon as possible. I guarantee that your rendering times will improve, your blood pressure will go down, and you’ll have a more positive attitude about life. You and everyone around you will want to thank me personally for encouraging this decision.

If you can’t expand your RAM configuration significantly and you have to work in 32-bit Windows, you should not use Dynamic Link or run other CS4 applications while rendering in Adobe Media Encoder. This pushes your Windows configuration to the limits, slows rendering dramatically, and can cause system instability.