Best Value Video Card for 4k monitors and improved rendering

[Kens10]

I currently have a GTX 660 Ti and considering the GTX 1070. Would this help my setup? I need to run three 4k minitors and hopefully improve rendering and export times. What's your take?

My system:

Gigabite GA-X79S-UPS-WIFI

i7-3820,

GTX 660Ti,

32gb ram,

HDD Raid for media and auto save

SSD for cache and export

SSD for OS

[RoninEdits]

improved rendering is often linked to the cpu performance. finding a used cpu with more cores, but still high clock speeds, that will work with your motherboard may be a good cost effective cpu upgrade. the i7-4930k is one example that might be easier to find used for a decent price. it has 6 cores and could be overclocked for even more performance. the website for your gigabyte motherboard will list which cpu's are compatible.

a newer video card should be able to run three 4k monitors. however the gtx 1070 is way faster than what your current 4 core cpu would normally benefit from, and even a 6 core would likely not need that much gpu performance unless you are doing lots of gpu fx, and/or very intensive ones like neat video denoise. a gtx 1060 6gb would typically be a better match to a 6 core cpu.

[Kens10]

How much improvement in percentage would I get if I upgrade the CPU to six core along with a new GPU? On the other hand what percentage approximately would I reap in faster times if I keep the 3820 and get a 6gb GTX1060?

[RoninEdits]

it depends on your projects, media and timeline. you can see how hard the gtx 660 ti is working in premiere by watching gpu load % in gpu-z​​  with your current setup and projects. if its not constantly maxed out, a faster video card may have only minor gains. at raw hardware performance an ivy bridge-e 6 core could be 40-50% faster, since its a newer generation and has 2 more cores. premiere can top out with cpu cores as early as 4-6 cores with different media/timelines, so premiere will only show gains if its using 5 or 6 cores.

[RjL190365]

Expanding on this, if the GPU consistently maxes out in a given relatively CPU-heavy workflow from the OP while the CPU load stays well below 100%, it may be a sign that the GPU is limiting the system's overall performance and may need upgrading. On the other hand, if the GPU load is inconsistent or doesn't come close to maxing out for that same render job, be aware that not all renders are GPU-accelerated.

[Bill_Gehrke]

Take a look at "Cores, Threads and Clock results"  towards the bottom 0f this page.  See that at 3.6 GHz CPU clock speed on my processor that with four cores in a CPU intense operation it takes 619 seconds where with 8 cores it drops to 413 seconds to do the same task.  Since most Premiere work is done by the CPU you can see it is very important.

[Kens10]

I ran a test rendering the timeline with some effects applied and this is what I got, CPU would fluctuate from low 20's to 90's. Does this mean that the gtx 660Ti is the best card for the i7-3820 processor?

[RjL190365]

If that CPU utilization varies that widely in that given GPU-accelerated workflow, it means that the GPU can stand a minor upgrade. On the other hand, the spiky, inconsistent GPU utilization result means that an upgrade isn't urgent at this point.

[Bill_Gehrke]

My suggestion would be first to upgrade the CPU.  You do not have much choice with that 2011 socket but I did see an i7-4960X used for only $300.  You would get much better performance over a GPU upgrade.  When you get some CPU horsepower then think about a GPU upgrade.

Ronin you beat me again while I took my lunch break

[RoninEdits]

doh

[RjL190365]

I also second RoninEdits. You need to also upgrade the CPU in order to justify the cost of that GTX 1070. Otherwise, the GPU goes largely to waste because it must sit idle waiting for the CPU to catch up. You see, not only is your CPU several generations old now, but it is only a quad-core with hyperthreading CPU. As such, it is slower than current-generation Skylake and Kaby Lake CPUs which use "lesser" CPU sockets and chipsets. Only get a new GPU if your current GPU is no longer supported for MPE GPU acceleration or after you upgrade the CPU.