Hardware Solutions

Hardware Solutions

Now that you have an understanding of the major hardware components, let’s look at the basic
hardware capabilities and expansion possibilities for some commonly available computer systems.
Some users will go as far as to build their own workstations from individual components in an
attempt to optimize performance. As the possibilities are near-infinite—and outside of the core
skill set of many video and graphics artists—we will focus on common commercially-available
systems in this document.
In many cases, the quest for performance leads to solutions that may be more readily available
in workstation computers than laptops or other all-in-one systems. Two common examples of
workstations popular among video artists are the HP Z820 and the Apple MacPro. Here are the
expansion options for these two systems (as of June 2012):



HP Z820
• CPU: 4 to 16 physical cores; clock rates up to 3.3 GHz
• GPU: May be pre-ordered from HP with a large
selection of NVIDIA or AMD video cards. Contains
3 PCI Express Gen3 “16 lane” slots suitable for video
cards; 7 slots total.
• RAM: 16 DIMM slots capable of holding up to 512GB
of memory; 4 memory channels per CPU (installed
memory should be identical for each processor core
for maximum performance)
• Storage: Three externally-accessible 5.25” drive bays
plus four internal 3.5” drive bays. Up to five 3.5” or
six 2.5” drives may be installed, in addition to optical
storage device.



Apple MacPro
• CPU: 4 to 12 physical cores; clock rates up to 3.33 GHz
• GPU: May be pre-ordered from Apple with choice of two
different ATI video cards. Contains 2 PCI Express Gen2
“16 lane” slots suitable for video cards; 4 slots total.
• RAM: 8 DIMM slots capable of holding up to 64GB
of memory*; 3 memory channels per CPU (installed
memory should be identical for each processor core
for maximum performance; Apple makes available a
“Memory DIMMs DIY” PDF with suggested configurations.).
*Some third parties claim the ability to install
up to 128GB, but Apple does not officially support
these configurations.
• Storage: Two externally-accessible 5.25” drive bays plus
four internal 3.5” drive bays. Third-parties offer brackets
to use one 5.25” bay to hold additional storage devices.



By comparison, laptops are commonly limited to 4 CPU cores, non-upgradeable GPUs, 16 GB of
RAM, and two drive bays. That said, many users enjoy the flexibility and freedom of using laptop
computers, plus high-performance laptops such as the HP EliteBook and Apple MacBook Pro are
certainly available. To optimize a laptop for digital video work, you should get the fastest CPU
available, check the available GPU options to make sure they align with the requirements of the
software you plan to use (especially with Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects), maximize the
installed RAM, and consider replacing the optical drive with a fast second drive such as an SSD.
Add external drives using FireWire 800 or faster. If a laptop offers Thunderbolt connectivity, you
can use this for drives and video-based cards such as the RED ROCKET, and possibly some GPU
acceleration (although Thunderbolt can be a speed bottleneck in some applications). Thunderbolt
does not provide RAM expansion.
Some users employ desktop all-in-one computers such as the Apple iMac, although in reality it
is not much more capable or expandable than a laptop. An intriguing alternative is the recentlyintroduced
HP Z1 all-in-one workstation, which has a similar form factor as the desktop iMac but
is much more expandable, including support for up to 32 GB of RAM plus a 16-lane PCIe slot for
a second GPU in addition to several options for the built-in GPU, including NVIDIA Quadro®.
Identifying Performance Bottlenecks
Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, SpeedGrade, and Photoshop Extended each place unique
demands on the major hardware components discussed above. Even different tasks performed
inside the same software may vary these requirements drastically. In this section, we will state
the basic system requirements for each software package, and then discuss specific demands
and potential performance bottlenecks that may lead you to go beyond those basic requirements
to optimize your own experience.