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Civil Service Cog
Participating Frequently
July 20, 2017
Answered

Need Advice on Video Rig

  • July 20, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 752 views

Hello, great and powerful Adobe Community.  I'm hoping someone can help me compare some specs.  I put in for two new workstations fitted out as hot rods to handle video production.  Our IT department questioned whether we needed anything as powerful as what I asked for and counter offered with a configuration they have in stock.  The fact is that I'm not a tech head and don't really know, I just took the best components Dell had on offer while trying to avoid total sticker shock.  I don't expect an opportunity to upgrade for quite some time and want all the machine I can reasonably use.  Currently, we mostly do basic video production (talking heads in front of green screens) with some modest animation and special effects.  Current render times average about 2-3 hours to render roughly three minutes of video.  However, we've just been handed a multi-year project that will call for much more ambitious productions.

The main difference between what I put in for and what they offered is the processor.  The machine I put in for has an Intel Xeon Processor E5-2697 v4 (18 core, 2.3 GHz, 3.6GHz Turbo, 2400MHz, 45MB, 145W).  I realize that's a sick processor.  The machine they're offering (and which they tell me will offer similar performance) has an Intel i7-7700 3.6GHz (4 Core, 4.2GHz turbo).  My questions are:

  • Is the Xeon processor extreme overkill, or do I want that much processing power for video and animation?
  • Will the i7 processor they're pushing on me actually offer similar performance?  When I compare specs and price points, this seems impossible.

If the XEON is more than I need and the i7 has enough muscle to get me quick render times and real time processing of effects and filters, I can live with that.  But I think I could get the Xeon if I push for it.  I want as much power as I can get, but not more than I realistically need.  What do you guys think?  Can anyone offer me any solid advice on how to approach this?  Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks! 

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Bill Gehrke

    Your IT department needs an overhaul.  Take a look at my Premiere Pro BenchMark Blog and under the CPU tab you will see major differences between 18-cores and 4-cores.the i7-7700 is appreciable less than half the power when used  with Premiere Pro.  They might as well give you a 4-core laptop.

    If they offered you a 8-core i7 then you probably should consider

    3 replies

    C
    Civil Service CogAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    August 16, 2017

    Thanks, guys.  I really appreciate the advice.

    R
    RjL190365
    Legend
    July 22, 2017

    As Bill stated, that i7-7700 is not powerful enough to handle this type of content. However, the Xeon E5-2697 v4 is overkill for this type of work, largely because the law of diminishing returns kicks in above 8 to 10 CPU cores (16 to 20 processing threads). As a result, the best PC for the job would have been one with an 8- to 10-core Intel i7/i9 or an AMD Ryzen 7-series CPU.

    If your IT department's PC budget is so low that you'd have to settle for only a quad-core (or worse) CPU, your company might as well close up shop.

    Bill Gehrke
    Bill GehrkeCorrect answer
    Inspiring
    July 20, 2017

    Your IT department needs an overhaul.  Take a look at my Premiere Pro BenchMark Blog and under the CPU tab you will see major differences between 18-cores and 4-cores.the i7-7700 is appreciable less than half the power when used  with Premiere Pro.  They might as well give you a 4-core laptop.

    If they offered you a 8-core i7 then you probably should consider

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