Upgrade to 10920X computer – Experience

I made a new computer for my Premiere Pro processing based on the Puget Systems 6K/8K Editing Workstation.  I recycled two NVMe M.2, power supply, Blu ray writer and graphics card from my old computer.

The specs are as follows:

CPU  Intel I9-10920X 3.5GHz, 12 cores, 24 hyper threads

Gigabyte X299X Designare 10G which included an AORUS Gen4 AIC card for four NVMe M.2 drives

128GB Crucial Ballistix 2666 8x16 RAM

1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 (System)

2TB Samsung 960 Pro NVMe M.2 (Media)

500GB Samsung 950 Pro NVMe M.2 (Cache)

Noctua NH-15 Air Cooler

Fractal Design Define R6 USB-C Case

EVGA Geforce GTX1080 Graphics Card

Seasonic Platinum 860W Power Supply

LG BluRay writer

I usually make a new computer for my Premiere processing every 3-4 years.  I waited an extra 6 months to get the new Intel I9-10920X CPU.  Initially, they were offered for $650, but they were very hard to get.  I saw Amazon selling them for $1999 by third party.  I got on a waiting list with BH Photo and got it for $812.

I wanted to upgrade because my old computer (Intel i7-5960X (3.0 GHz, 8 cores), Asus X99 Deluxe MB, 32GB Crucial Ballistix RAM, 2TB Samsung Pro NVMe M.2, GTX1080 Graphics) was having trouble with the Premiere Pro CC 2020.  It was crashing very frequently.  It was fine with PP CC 2019.

I was really impressed by the Fractal Design case.  All of the components were high grade.  Even the screws were black oxide coated and not chrome.  It uses a lot of thumb screws.  It was very easy to assemble my computer due to good access.  Most of cable runs were hidden due to the false bottom.  It was very quiet, but pretty heavy.

I got a Noctua NH-15 cooler instead of the Puget Systems recommended NH-12, because the NH-15 used 140mm fans, instead of NH-12’s 120mm fans.  I thought the NH-15 would be quieter and it was cheaper.  The NH-15 fit in the Fractal case with about ¾ inches to spare.

I chose the Crucial Ballistix RAM because it had low profile heat sinks.  Otherwise, I couldn’t fit one of the Noctua 140mm fans.

I got a new 1 TB Samsung EVO Plus, so that I could have three NVMe M.2 drives (System, Media, Cache/Scratch).

Originally, I intended to put my three m.2 drives on the motherboard.  One of the mounts didn’t have a screw in socket.  So I decided to use the AIC board.  I think it was intended for a Gen4 m.2 RAID drive.  It can do 15,000 MB/S with four 2TB Gen 4 m.2 drives.  Fortunately, it can also run multiple Gen3 m.2 drives as individual drives.  It has a very large heat sink and a blower.  It is easier to change out the M.2 drives than if they were on the MB.

I transferred my old computer’s system m.2 drive to the new computer and ran Puget System’s Puget Bench for Premiere Pro using PP CC 2020 4.0.  There was a 73% improvement (340 to 583).  There were several factors that improved the performance.  My old cpu ran at only 3.0MHz.  Originally, I overclocked it, but it was crashing too much.  My new cpu had automatic over clocking.  It was usually at 4.3MHz, but would do occasional bursts to 4.7MHz.  Cpu temps were as high as 80C.  My old cpu had only 8 cores vs 12 cores for the new CPU.  I had 128GB of ram vs 32GB for the old one.  My Samsung 960 Pro 2TB increased in speed to 3000MB/S from 2500MB/S with the new MB.

I did a clean install and made a Samsung 970 EVO Plus the system disk.  The performance improved from 583 to 611.  Part of this increase may be due to increasing the system/media disk speed from 3000MB/S to 3500 MB/S.

I found that PP CC 2020 4.04 Puget Bench performance was a lot lower (532) than PP CC 2020 4.0 (611).

My system’s Puget Bench performance was a lot lower than the Puget Systems made 6K/8K Editing Workstation (748.5).  The major difference was they are using a RTX 2080 Ti 11GB and I had a GTX 1080 8GB.  One of their previous publications showed that the RTX 2080 Ti 11GB was only 3% better than my GTX 1080.  I don’t know why there is such a difference.

I am happy with my new computer.  The response is much better and it crashes a lot less frequently.