Greetings all. Brand new here and I am hoping to get some advice. Building a live video processing computer. I will be using a Blackmagic Quad and a Blackmagic Quad 2 to input up to 12 HD cameras. Software will include v-Mix and Resolume. v-Mix for live video switching and recording, Resolume for projector mapping. What this system needs to do is process tons of graphics data, and record multiple streams of data to various hard drives.
My plan had been to build a dual processor Xeon system, with at least 128 GB of RAM. My thought process on this had more to do with the limitations of on board PCIE lanes. Was planning on using a GTX 980 TI graphics card, which requires 16 PCIE lanes. Each Quad requires 8 PCIE lanes, that brings me up to 32 lanes, not including hard drives and other processes that take up PCIE lanes.
Yesterday I had a chat with a friend whom I completely respect his opinion on. He said I'd be better off going with a more powerful i7. Here are issues I am unclear on regarding dual processor systems:
I have been lead to believe that the application you are using must support dual processors. If not then not much is gained by going dual processor.
Configuring RAM in a dual processor system is critical to operation.
On another note - I would WAY prefer to have a system that supports Thunderbolt and NO Xeon does, nor will it ever most likely. So, is an a Thunderbolt add in card as good as getting a system board with Thunderbolt built in?
I only have one chance at getting this right. There are a bunch of issues making me nervous. No dual processor system boards are on the Blackmagic compatibility list, but a bunch of people have done this successfully. Xeon is aimed more at the server market, but I require high end graphics procession. In time, I hope to have 12 outputs out of this system to be able to output a regular video stream plus projector map to multiple projectors at the same time.
Any help, feedback, shared knowledge or comments more than appreciated.
My plan had been to build a dual processor Xeon system, with at least 128 GB of RAM. My thought process on this had more to do with the limitations of on board PCIE lanes. Was planning on using a GTX 980 TI graphics card, which requires 16 PCIE lanes. Each Quad requires 8 PCIE lanes, that brings me up to 32 lanes, not including hard drives and other processes that take up PCIE lanes.
Yesterday I had a chat with a friend whom I completely respect his opinion on. He said I'd be better off going with a more powerful i7. Here are issues I am unclear on regarding dual processor systems:
I have been lead to believe that the application you are using must support dual processors. If not then not much is gained by going dual processor.
Configuring RAM in a dual processor system is critical to operation.
On another note - I would WAY prefer to have a system that supports Thunderbolt and NO Xeon does, nor will it ever most likely. So, is an a Thunderbolt add in card as good as getting a system board with Thunderbolt built in?
I only have one chance at getting this right. There are a bunch of issues making me nervous. No dual processor system boards are on the Blackmagic compatibility list, but a bunch of people have done this successfully. Xeon is aimed more at the server market, but I require high end graphics procession. In time, I hope to have 12 outputs out of this system to be able to output a regular video stream plus projector map to multiple projectors at the same time.
Any help, feedback, shared knowledge or comments more than appreciated.
