From: "email blanca" <AE-List@media-motion.tv>
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Subject: Re: [AE] rendering speed oberservations
In-Reply-To: <DADFA533-5498-441E-801E-85B96109863A@blanca.com>
Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 17:42:28 -0400
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References: <list-5546596@media-motion.tv> <DADFA533-5498-441E-801E-85B96109863A@blanca.com>
To: "After Effects Mail List" <AE-List@media-motion.tv>

Follow up=85

I am getting a matched set of  (8x8GB) Hynix chips to test again.  =
However, I did want to post a follow up observation.=20

I set up a render with the project file to be rendered 10 times in a =
row. What was interesting was how the reported render times had roughly =
increased 20-30 seconds with each subsequent render, such that the 1st =
render was 8:35 and the last render was 12:24.=20

So My next step was to open up Thermal Monitor to see what was going on =
with temperatures. Sure enough there seems to be a relationship between =
temps in the MacPro and render times. If I leave fans in normal mode, =
render times appear to increase as the temps inside the Mac Increase. If =
I use smcFAN to manually program higher fan speeds, render times remain =
consistent. So, when the computer memory temps are around 40-50*C, I get =
my fastest render time of 8:35. If memory temps are up around 65*C the =
render time increases to 9:30. I did not observe what the temps were for =
the 12:24 render time, but maybe I should try to check that.

So, I am now wondering=85 which internal components, when internal temps =
become elevated, might reduce rendering efficiency?  The only areas =
which seem to steadily rise are the memory slots 1-8 (1-4 being the =
hottest), CPU A heatsink, CPU A Temp diode and Northbridge chip.  I had =
heard as long as temps stay below 95*C everything should be fine, and =
higher temps would trigger a shutdown.=20

Does any of this make sense or ring a bell?  I should have the =
replacement 8GB chips in a day or so and I am looking forward to seeing =
if these observations persist.

Thanks for any comments you would care to make.

RJ
...
On Aug 11, 2014, at 11:59 PM, email blanca wrote:

> Greetings=85
>=20
> I have been test driving a replacement Mac Pro and have observed some =
dramatic variations in rendering speed. I understand to expect =
variations when dialing in the rendering sweet spot as far as # of =
processors and ram dedicated to those processors. I speaking about =
dramatic rendering speed variations within a given setup.
>=20
> The test set up is:
>=20
> 2009 4,1 Mac Pro with the 5,1 firmware upgrade
> 2x X5670 2.93ghz 12 core tray
> 64GB of ram, 4x from one brand, 3x from another brand and a solo chip =
from a 3rd brand. The rig supplier says the ram is identical in specs =
but I have no way to confirm, although they all report as 1333mhz ddr3 =
chips. I am trying to get 8 matched 8GB chips so I can to test further.
> nVidia GTX 680 2GB for Mac
> Crucial M4 512GB internal SSD for AE Cache and project rendering
> External storage: Sonnet eSATA 3.0gbs via an E4P PCIe card and =
external D500P enclosures with WD 3TB HDDs
> AE CS6 and AE CC 2014 (most recent updates)
> Mac OS 10.7.5 and 10.9.4 on 1TB and 1.5TB seagate drives
>=20
> ***
>=20
> I have a test AE project,  with render times on a 2007 3.0ghz 8 core =
32GB ram Mac Pro under 10.7.5 and CS6, required 40min in non multi =
processor mode and 23 minutes under multi processor mode.
>=20
> I exhausted testing in CS6 to find the # processors and Ram/processor =
to find the sweet spot for 64GB of system memory with 12/24 cores.  The =
project mentioned above renders in 8.5 -10 minutes under multi processor =
mode in CS6 on this faster Mac Pro. The observation I have questions =
about, is re-rendering this AE project and the render time being as fast =
as 8min 15sec or as slow as 9min 56sec, while I have made no changes to =
the project, AE settings or hardware. That seems like a very big swing =
in rendering efficiency.
>=20
> I have wondered if the mixed bag of memory modules may have some =
inherent issues which might intermittently contribute to the rendering =
process.  I have tested the ram with Rember and Tech Tool Pro and the =
memory reported OK. I hope to shortly run the AHT on the MacPro to see =
if it finds any issues with the memory or the computer. I have tried =
deleting the rendered files from the SSD in case those files might have =
contributed to a slowing down of the SSD read/write speed.
>=20
> I won't  get into trying to test AE CC, as that appears to be another =
can of worms, as far as AE CC being "render crippled" compared to CS6.=20=

>=20
> I would welcome comments or suggestions to help me understand why some =
CS6 renders of the same project file are more than 20% better with no =
changes in the set up.=20
>=20
> Thanks
>=20
> RJ MIles
> MacTunes
> ...