Does more RAM = Faster Rendering? at DVinfo.net

Tyge Floyd · May 30th, 2004, 10:04 PM

I recently built a new PC around a Pentium 4 2.8 GHz processor and 1 gig of PC3200 DDR RAM (2x512mb). I have two more slots open for additional RAM. My question is if I add another gig of RAM, should I expect faster rendering when using Premier Pro?

I think I skimped a little on a video card for this system. I have a NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440 (64mb) card. Should I be more concerned with upgrading the card instead?

Thanks for your input.

Glenn Chan · May 30th, 2004, 11:52 PM

It might actually make a few percent difference if you add 2 DIMMs of the exact same model. It might increase memory bandwidth, which speeds up video rendering speed slightly. This is definitely not worth doing though!

Video card- you should be fine, video cards don't affect rendering speeds.

I suppose you could save up for one of those real-time acceleration boards. Or you could do something else while rendering (like sleep).

Kyle Kauss · June 3rd, 2004, 12:24 PM

yeah to get better rendering (more then a couple seconds difference) you'd have to upgrade the CPU, motherboard, and RAM. he video card has nothing to do with rendering the video card simply puts the pixels to the monitor. (but that video card does suck no offense)

Rob Lohman · June 3rd, 2004, 01:23 PM

Kyle: why would you say a GeForce 4 MX 440 "sucks"? That is
such an "opinion". I'm still running my other edit machine with
a GeForce 2 MX. I even play some games on that machine. It
works fine for me.

The only reason to upgrade your video card is if you are doing
heavy gaming, high-end 3D or CAD work.

So unless he is looking to do either of those he is fine with the
card he is running (there are some other exceptions, but not
much).

1 GB ram is usually more than enough for editing and some
effects work as well. More is usually better (you could also do
longer RAM previews which I personally never do), but above
1 GB I seriously doubt most people would use it.

If you do professional editing for a living more might be more
interesting. Rendering speed depends most heavily on the CPU.
After that memory and harddisk speed (bandwidth reasons)
to my opinion.

You could also go with the new Vegas 5 and setup multiple
machine's in a render farm. That allows you to render your
project with multiple machine's.

May 30th, 2004, 10:04 PM	#1
Tyge Floyd Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Ft. Worth, Texas Posts: 287	Does more RAM = Faster Rendering? I recently built a new PC around a Pentium 4 2.8 GHz processor and 1 gig of PC3200 DDR RAM (2x512mb). I have two more slots open for additional RAM. My question is if I add another gig of RAM, should I expect faster rendering when using Premier Pro? I think I skimped a little on a video card for this system. I have a NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440 (64mb) card. Should I be more concerned with upgrading the card instead? Thanks for your input. __________________ At full draw, Tyge Floyd

June 3rd, 2004, 01:23 PM	#4
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	Kyle: why would you say a GeForce 4 MX 440 "sucks"? That is such an "opinion". I'm still running my other edit machine with a GeForce 2 MX. I even play some games on that machine. It works fine for me. The only reason to upgrade your video card is if you are doing heavy gaming, high-end 3D or CAD work. So unless he is looking to do either of those he is fine with the card he is running (there are some other exceptions, but not much). 1 GB ram is usually more than enough for editing and some effects work as well. More is usually better (you could also do longer RAM previews which I personally never do), but above 1 GB I seriously doubt most people would use it. If you do professional editing for a living more might be more interesting. Rendering speed depends most heavily on the CPU. After that memory and harddisk speed (bandwidth reasons) to my opinion. You could also go with the new Vegas 5 and setup multiple machine's in a render farm. That allows you to render your project with multiple machine's. __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

May 30th, 2004, 11:52 PM	#2
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	It might actually make a few percent difference if you add 2 DIMMs of the exact same model. It might increase memory bandwidth, which speeds up video rendering speed slightly. This is definitely not worth doing though! Video card- you should be fine, video cards don't affect rendering speeds. I suppose you could save up for one of those real-time acceleration boards. Or you could do something else while rendering (like sleep).

June 3rd, 2004, 12:24 PM	#3
Kyle Kauss Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 114	yeah to get better rendering (more then a couple seconds difference) you'd have to upgrade the CPU, motherboard, and RAM. he video card has nothing to do with rendering the video card simply puts the pixels to the monitor. (but that video card does suck no offense)