PCI load / SCSI throughput
 

Hi Steve - I noticed that the higher my track count, the higher the PCI load as indicated in the Automation Enable Window. Using ultra SCSI 3, I am happy to say I get about 37 tracks on one drive at low edit density. I was wondering if upgrading to a faster processor would bring up the PCI throughput. Maybe I could squeeze a little more automation out of my system. 604E MIX+ BIT 3.


Thank You. MJD

Re: PCI load / SCSI throughput
 

Unfortunately, a new processor won't really have any effect on the PCI bandwidth of the motherboard.

It may help with other things, though, (screen redraws, Audiosuite processing, etc.), and many users are running well with some of the G3 upgrade cards (Newertech being the most reliable).

Try reducing the SCSI bus transfer rate to 20MB/sec (I assume from what you say that you're running at 40MB/sec or higher). This should give you more than enough bandwidth to maintain your track count, yet reduce traffic on the PCI bus.

Also, if you have your color resolution set to thousands or millions, try 256. This will also reduce some of the PCI bus traffic.

That ought to help you eek out some additional automation performance.



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--Steve Rosenthal, Digidesign ETS