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Will Software RAID Significantly Impact CPU Performance and 4K Video Editing Workflow?

jhwprod
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I need some help with a recently built workstation for video editing:

Asus WS Pro X570 ACE

64GB 3200mhz RAM

Ryzen 9 3950X 16 core 32 thread 3.5

Samsung 970 EVO 1TB (boot drive)

Nvidia 2070 Super 

 

Everthing I've read or watched online says software RAID will impact your CPU and cost you overall system performance in a video editing workflow (4K).

How significant of a performance loss are they talking about? Can't afford an expensive hardware RAID enclosure like a Pegasus by Promise Tech. I thought I had found a solution in buying what I thought was a hardware RAID controller card from HighPoint, which turned out to be a HBA. I didn't know what that was, but found out this is a software RAID solution and not Hardware RAID. Highpoint has their own RAID management software to use with the card. I configured the RAID with my 4 6TB Ultrastar HDDs and tested the card in RAID 0, 5, and the speeds were outstanding, 950MB/s, 700MB/s respectively. However after finding out this was software and not hardware RAID, I am left wondering how much this card is going to impact the performance of my CPU when editing and rendering 4K video files? Why are hardware RAID options for storage seemingly less common these days? Is it because the system impact by software RAID is negligible or simply the price barrier? I know NAS are replacing DAS but I don't get why if I only have 1 workstation accessing the files and I need to edit from the RAID not simply use it as storage. Should I return the card and find a true hardware RAID card instead? Need some advice please, THANK YOU!

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software raid will use very little cpu, and is probably much better to use in this usecase.

 

Your probably want to use storage spaces in windows, the best windows raid solution.

 

Id just return the hba, and run software raid, it won't affect performance here.

 

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1 hour ago, jhwprod said:

Thank you for the feedback. Is this card adding any performance to the equation at all? Will I lose speed if I ditch it and just configure the RAID with storage spaces?

https://highpoint-tech.com/USA_new/series-rr3700-overview.htm

 

 

the hba isn't affect performnace at all, it is just letting you use more drives. If you don't need the extra ports no reason to use it.

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Thank you, good to know. So confused as to why they call it a RAID Controller HBA if all it does is add extra ports internally.

 

 

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8 hours ago, jhwprod said:

I need some help with a recently built workstation for video editing:

Asus WS Pro X570 ACE

64GB 3200mhz RAM

Ryzen 9 3950X 16 core 32 thread 3.5

Samsung 970 EVO 1TB (boot drive)

Nvidia 2070 Super 

 

Everthing I've read or watched online says software RAID will impact your CPU and cost you overall system performance in a video editing workflow (4K).

How significant of a performance loss are they talking about? Can't afford an expensive hardware RAID enclosure like a Pegasus by Promise Tech. I thought I had found a solution in buying what I thought was a hardware RAID controller card from HighPoint, which turned out to be a HBA. I didn't know what that was, but found out this is a software RAID solution and not Hardware RAID. Highpoint has their own RAID management software to use with the card. I configured the RAID with my 4 6TB Ultrastar HDDs and tested the card in RAID 0, 5, and the speeds were outstanding, 950MB/s, 700MB/s respectively. However after finding out this was software and not hardware RAID, I am left wondering how much this card is going to impact the performance of my CPU when editing and rendering 4K video files? Why are hardware RAID options for storage seemingly less common these days? Is it because the system impact by software RAID is negligible or simply the price barrier? I know NAS are replacing DAS but I don't get why if I only have 1 workstation accessing the files and I need to edit from the RAID not simply use it as storage. Should I return the card and find a true hardware RAID card instead? Need some advice please, THANK YOU!

Just to clarify: are you using your boot drive as a scratch drive+working drive? That's what I'd do if you're after max performance. The only way you're going to see a performance hit is if you're trying to load footage on the 4x6 array and then edit it from there. Import the footage to your scratch drive, edit, and then store your final product and backup files on the array once you're done.

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14 hours ago, jhwprod said:

I need some help with a recently built workstation for video editing:

Asus WS Pro X570 ACE

64GB 3200mhz RAM

Ryzen 9 3950X 16 core 32 thread 3.5

Samsung 970 EVO 1TB (boot drive)

Nvidia 2070 Super 

 

Everthing I've read or watched online says software RAID will impact your CPU and cost you overall system performance in a video editing workflow (4K).

How significant of a performance loss are they talking about? Can't afford an expensive hardware RAID enclosure like a Pegasus by Promise Tech. I thought I had found a solution in buying what I thought was a hardware RAID controller card from HighPoint, which turned out to be a HBA. I didn't know what that was, but found out this is a software RAID solution and not Hardware RAID. Highpoint has their own RAID management software to use with the card. I configured the RAID with my 4 6TB Ultrastar HDDs and tested the card in RAID 0, 5, and the speeds were outstanding, 950MB/s, 700MB/s respectively. However after finding out this was software and not hardware RAID, I am left wondering how much this card is going to impact the performance of my CPU when editing and rendering 4K video files? Why are hardware RAID options for storage seemingly less common these days? Is it because the system impact by software RAID is negligible or simply the price barrier? I know NAS are replacing DAS but I don't get why if I only have 1 workstation accessing the files and I need to edit from the RAID not simply use it as storage. Should I return the card and find a true hardware RAID card instead? Need some advice please, THANK YOU!

With a 3950x, software raid will cause nearly zero performance issues. 

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