bwcolor
Veteran
I've not moved beyond buying a case, power supply and Windows 8 Pro, but have been researching what is needed to actually take advantage of higher end graphics monitors.
After reading much information and a LOT of mis-information I have concluded that fast gaming cards with lots of CUDA cores are great for GPU acceleration on CS5, but do not provide the 10 bit output required in order to get close to Adobe RGB on a quality monitor. The story changes as you upgrade to CS6
In order to get 10 bit color out of the video card you need a workstation video card. Currently, the Quadro series seems to be the main one listed for Premier Pro. It has CUDA cores ..not many for the price.. where other workstation cards, such as the AMD Firepro haven't CUDA cores and rely on the newer OpenGL technology for GPU acceleration. Consumer cards such as the GTX 690 provide mind numbing CUDA and are hardware capable of 10 bit output, but the drivers don't support 10 bit. In other words, all video manufacturers can force 10 bit people to buy their workstation cards and if you also want a high CUDA count, you need a REALLY expensive workstation card (high end Quadra, or Tesla cards).
So, a GTX 690 will provide powerful GPU support to your Photoshop work, but won't support 10 bit output. A workstation card such as the Quadro 4000 will do a good job with 10 bit, but relies on the newer OpenGL GPU for GPU acceleration, which Photoshop does not use.. it uses CUDA. That said, the Quadra is the only inexpensive/expensive workstation card with CUDA cores... kind of a retro fit and thus it is the only "cheap" 10 bit card with some CUDA GPU acceleration.
So, don't get confused when you see that, for example, Displayport supports 10bit.. you also need a card/drivers and an operating system that supports 10 bit.
Also, supposedly Lightroom does not use GPU, or at least isn't GPU intensive when editing photos, but it does use OpenGL for video.
Starting with CS6 Adobe started to use OpenGL within it's Mercury Graphics Engine, thus other workstation cards, such as the AMD Firepro can be used with great results, BUT NOT IN A WINDOWS ENVIRONMENT...MAC ONLY. This means that MacPro users longer need Cuda Cores to do GPU acceleration. Unfortunately, many of the plugins still use the old Cuda technology. Adobe needs to update their list of GPU accelerated cards to include OpenGL only cards. This makes a workstation only card look much more appealing, but Windows users best buy a Quadro card.
After reading much information and a LOT of mis-information I have concluded that fast gaming cards with lots of CUDA cores are great for GPU acceleration on CS5, but do not provide the 10 bit output required in order to get close to Adobe RGB on a quality monitor. The story changes as you upgrade to CS6
In order to get 10 bit color out of the video card you need a workstation video card. Currently, the Quadro series seems to be the main one listed for Premier Pro. It has CUDA cores ..not many for the price.. where other workstation cards, such as the AMD Firepro haven't CUDA cores and rely on the newer OpenGL technology for GPU acceleration. Consumer cards such as the GTX 690 provide mind numbing CUDA and are hardware capable of 10 bit output, but the drivers don't support 10 bit. In other words, all video manufacturers can force 10 bit people to buy their workstation cards and if you also want a high CUDA count, you need a REALLY expensive workstation card (high end Quadra, or Tesla cards).
So, a GTX 690 will provide powerful GPU support to your Photoshop work, but won't support 10 bit output. A workstation card such as the Quadro 4000 will do a good job with 10 bit, but relies on the newer OpenGL GPU for GPU acceleration, which Photoshop does not use.. it uses CUDA. That said, the Quadra is the only inexpensive/expensive workstation card with CUDA cores... kind of a retro fit and thus it is the only "cheap" 10 bit card with some CUDA GPU acceleration.
So, don't get confused when you see that, for example, Displayport supports 10bit.. you also need a card/drivers and an operating system that supports 10 bit.
Also, supposedly Lightroom does not use GPU, or at least isn't GPU intensive when editing photos, but it does use OpenGL for video.
Starting with CS6 Adobe started to use OpenGL within it's Mercury Graphics Engine, thus other workstation cards, such as the AMD Firepro can be used with great results, BUT NOT IN A WINDOWS ENVIRONMENT...MAC ONLY. This means that MacPro users longer need Cuda Cores to do GPU acceleration. Unfortunately, many of the plugins still use the old Cuda technology. Adobe needs to update their list of GPU accelerated cards to include OpenGL only cards. This makes a workstation only card look much more appealing, but Windows users best buy a Quadro card.
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Snowbuzz
Well-known
Hmmm, I use Dell's Precision mobile workstation line that uses Quadro cards and supplies the (optional) wide gamut IPS screen with 10 bit output. Note that with this arrangement the Quadro video card remains on all the time, so battery life takes a hit. I think this laptop is powerful enough to do everything I need it to (I had a 3.33GHz 4-core MacPro previously).
I run into trouble when uploading jpegs to the web as what I see on my monitor doesn't always match what 99.9% of web users see on theirs.
I run into trouble when uploading jpegs to the web as what I see on my monitor doesn't always match what 99.9% of web users see on theirs.
bwcolor
Veteran
Yes, sounds good. It sounds like you knew what you were doing when you put your laptop together.
I'm pretty much looking at desktop computing and have an additional need to render high definition video, which is currently done on an old Mac Pro eight core and Final Cut Pro X/Compressor.
My main reason for posting is to get some input from those more knowledgeable than myself and also to notify gaming card folks that they are not getting ten bit (30 bit) throughput. I would love to be proved wrong about this.
I'm pretty much looking at desktop computing and have an additional need to render high definition video, which is currently done on an old Mac Pro eight core and Final Cut Pro X/Compressor.
My main reason for posting is to get some input from those more knowledgeable than myself and also to notify gaming card folks that they are not getting ten bit (30 bit) throughput. I would love to be proved wrong about this.
ampguy
Veteran
what monitor are you using?
bwcolor
Veteran
I've not yet purchased a monitor for this system. In fact, no motherboard, CPU, memory, or cooler.
Here is the monitor that I'm considering
Here is the monitor that I'm considering
Snowbuzz
Well-known
Oh, I see: you'll want to keep the 8-core then. 
I know the NVIDIA control panel in Windows allows for you to associate programs with a particular video card. So, in my case, I selected Photoshop to always activate the Quadro. I don't know how it works in OS X, though.
In OS X, when I had a GTX120 and ATI 5870 installed, Photoshop etc. 'knew' which card to activate. The MacPro people over at the 'macrumors' forum seemed knowledgeable about this stuff: or at least they would know where to direct you for info.
Edit: I got the impression you were building a 'Hackintosh', sorry.
I know the NVIDIA control panel in Windows allows for you to associate programs with a particular video card. So, in my case, I selected Photoshop to always activate the Quadro. I don't know how it works in OS X, though. In OS X, when I had a GTX120 and ATI 5870 installed, Photoshop etc. 'knew' which card to activate. The MacPro people over at the 'macrumors' forum seemed knowledgeable about this stuff: or at least they would know where to direct you for info.
Edit: I got the impression you were building a 'Hackintosh', sorry.
bwcolor
Veteran
Windows 8 Professional OS...
No, in fact my early 2008 dual quadcore Xeon 2.8 Ghz is slower than a $280 I7 CPU and really power hungry. So, will probably use the Mac for overnight video rendering ..etc.
So, when using the Quadro on a desktop PC, the GPU acceleration in CS5 is much slower than with a good gaming card. The $700 Quadro 4000 has only 256 Cuda cores, vs. a $600 EGA GTX 680 Classified has twice the memory, 1536 Cuda cores and a much higher memory bandwidth. I'm just using the GTX series as an example of a gaming card.
Just found an Adobe information page regarding this and CS6 and the Mercury Graphics Engine. Cuda not needed, so cards such as the AMD FirePro will do the job, but ONLY WITH MAC PRO >> NOT WINDOWS. The only affordable Windows accelerated 10 bit cards are all Quadro... period.
Please, feel free to post more accurate, or updated information. GPU and OpenGL/CL support are probably more critical when using Premier Pro vs. Photoshop. So, this might not be the right forum, but I'm photo first, but would like to be able to quickly to edit and render HD video.
No, in fact my early 2008 dual quadcore Xeon 2.8 Ghz is slower than a $280 I7 CPU and really power hungry. So, will probably use the Mac for overnight video rendering ..etc.
So, when using the Quadro on a desktop PC, the GPU acceleration in CS5 is much slower than with a good gaming card. The $700 Quadro 4000 has only 256 Cuda cores, vs. a $600 EGA GTX 680 Classified has twice the memory, 1536 Cuda cores and a much higher memory bandwidth. I'm just using the GTX series as an example of a gaming card.
Just found an Adobe information page regarding this and CS6 and the Mercury Graphics Engine. Cuda not needed, so cards such as the AMD FirePro will do the job, but ONLY WITH MAC PRO >> NOT WINDOWS. The only affordable Windows accelerated 10 bit cards are all Quadro... period.
Please, feel free to post more accurate, or updated information. GPU and OpenGL/CL support are probably more critical when using Premier Pro vs. Photoshop. So, this might not be the right forum, but I'm photo first, but would like to be able to quickly to edit and render HD video.
bwcolor
Veteran
After doing all of this research for a new Windows workstation, I'm realizing that 10 bit color is rather expensive.
It basically means buying a Quadro video card and a good graphics monitor. A real plus if I were doing this for a living.
I started this inquiry intending to purchase a moderately fast gaming card and a good graphics monitor. Now, I know that gaming cards are out and only the Quadro card does GPU acceleration and ten bit color on a Windows workstation. No free lunch...
I was hoping that some more knowledgeable than I would chime in here. I hope that some of the above helps others to sort things out. I know that Adobe is now working on OpenGL/CL Windows support using FirePro cards, but as of today, no ETA announced. For now, if you use Windows/Adobe, you need NVidia's proprietary CUDA and if you want 10 bit you need a workstation card.
BTW.. Capture One Pro 7 and GIMP usesOpenGL/CL. I assume that this means that FirePro cards can be used.
It basically means buying a Quadro video card and a good graphics monitor. A real plus if I were doing this for a living.
I started this inquiry intending to purchase a moderately fast gaming card and a good graphics monitor. Now, I know that gaming cards are out and only the Quadro card does GPU acceleration and ten bit color on a Windows workstation. No free lunch...
I was hoping that some more knowledgeable than I would chime in here. I hope that some of the above helps others to sort things out. I know that Adobe is now working on OpenGL/CL Windows support using FirePro cards, but as of today, no ETA announced. For now, if you use Windows/Adobe, you need NVidia's proprietary CUDA and if you want 10 bit you need a workstation card.
BTW.. Capture One Pro 7 and GIMP usesOpenGL/CL. I assume that this means that FirePro cards can be used.
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