Best Card for Premiere Pro CS6

I'm building a new system, and I'm currently confused as to the state of GPUs in Adobe's CS6 Suite. I'll start from the top.

This system is to be built by mid-September, so I can wait for Nvidia's mid-range 6XX GPUs (i.e. GTX650/GTX660), or I can buy a cheaper 5XX GPU, but then optimal efficiency with the PSU might become a concern.

The Build
CPU: i7-3770(S)
GPU: ??????
MoBo: GA-Z77-DS3H
DVD: Sony AD-7280S
SSD: Samsung SSD 830
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM
PSU: Rosewill Capstone 450W
Case: Fractal Design Define R3
Card: Rosewill 74-in-1 USB3.0
Monitor: LG IPS231P

So I need a GPU, preferably around $150 but if $200 gives me enough of a delta then I'll bite. The majority of my video editing will be done using Adobe's CS6 suite (my third migration, as I started with iMovie then graduated to FCPX), so getting GPU acceleration is a must. I've achieved OpenCL acceleration on my HD 5770 by adding it to the opencl_supported_cards.txt list, so adding a Nvidia GPU to the cuda_supported_cards.txt list is going to be easy, assuring me that any good Nvidia GPU will be compatible with the Mercury Playback engine.

Now comes the question: what $150/$200 card would be best for this workflow, or would downgrading to a 3570K (overclocked to 4.2Ghz, no more) and spending an extra $100 in the graphics be beneficial?
Example: GTX 550 Ti with Cuda vs. HD 6850 with OpenCL.

Another thing that has piqued my curiosity is the i7-3770 vs. i7-3770S debacle. If you have an opinion about this, I wouldn't mind hearing it.

I'm running an ASUS 5750 and PP runs great.

I'ts one of the most power efficient cards out there. On idle 16w and under load 86w.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compar...ocessing_units#Evergreen_.28HD_5xxx.29_series

Although I've read their engine is optimised for nvidia chips.

Good config, I'm running something similar:

GA-P55-UD5
i7 860
8GB Ram

ASUS 5750
Arctic define R3 = super quiet and the least ugly PC case on the market.
Be Quiet L8 430W modular power supply
1TB Caviar Black
Samsung 64GB 830 Series

Cheers,
K.

I forgot to mention that you have to trash the opencl_supported_cards.txt file in the contents package of PP. Otherwise your card won't be recognised by PP. By default only 2 ati cards are supported.

hi,

i work a lot with cs6 with my hackintosh. i´m working with i72600k and gtx 470. i also built other hackintoshs with gtx 480 and gtx 570. all of this cards work really great. you should go for cuda cause i think it´s more powerful than open cl. my gtx 470 sometimes reaches 95% of usage of its power so there´s not much headroom. i think the gtx 550 is too slow. gtx 560ti has the same performance then the gtx 470 and i think this is the minimum you need. so gtx 560ti or even the 570. i can do 6 layers of video with effects applied (full hd nativ avchd from 5d mk2 or mk3) and it´s playing absolutly smooth. i also edit 5k red raw native with this machine. but as i said gtx470 and gtx 560ti are the minimum you need.

I just completed my build with GeForce GTX 680 card and ran all of the latest Nvidia drivers for Mountain Lion 10.8.2. I also did that patch where you add your GPU to your txt file via terminal. Now CUDA does show up in Premiere Pro and After Effects but I cannot play any video whatsoever within Premiere Pro. Has anyone experienced this or do you know of a solution? I feel like I'm so close as I have everything working very well other than this one issue, but this is a biggie because its whole reason why I built this machine: Video Editing.

I just came across this comment but I do not fully understand it:

"I forgot to mention that you have to trash the opencl_supported_cards.txt file in the contents package of PP. Otherwise your card won't be recognised by PP. By default only 2 ati cards are supported".

Do I just locate this file and delete it or do I need to replace it wth something else?

rancherpete said:

I just came across this comment but I do not fully understand it:

"I forgot to mention that you have to trash the opencl_supported_cards.txt file in the contents package of PP. Otherwise your card won't be recognised by PP. By default only 2 ati cards are supported".

Do I just locate this file and delete it or do I need to replace it wth something else?

Click to expand...

No No No No No No No No No No No !

Whatever u do, Don't delete that file ! Or u'll be very miserable. For OpenCL support in CS6 u just add ur GPU's name to the list of supported cards via Terminal.

But for nVidia it is recommended to use nVidia's CUDA software instead.

Follow this guide and u'll be good to go. http://www.vidmuze.com/how-to-enable-gpu-cuda-in-adobe-cs6-for-mac/

hamiltus said:

No No No No No No No No No No No !

Whatever u do, Don't delete that file ! Or u'll be very miserable. For OpenCL support in CS6 u just add ur GPU's name to the list of supported cards via Terminal.

But for nVidia it is recommended to use nVidia's CUDA software instead.

Follow this guide and u'll be good to go. http://www.vidmuze.com/how-to-enable-gpu-cuda-in-adobe-cs6-for-mac/

Click to expand...

You are correct! I was finally told by someone that if the audio feature is not working on the system as a whole then the video will not play in PPro (go figure). But he was right. Once I got audio working my GTX 680 card magically came to life. I used the NVidia CUDA drivers and did that little text edit to add the words: GeForce GTX 680 to that supported cards file and all is working very well. And, no, I did not have to delete any files as some have suggested (tried that and it did not work). I got a Lexmark number of 750 when rendering the 'complex room' file which I think is pretty good. I am loving my new machine.

Racherpete, I'm in the middle of putting together a system very similar to yours. Same board, same card, same apps, and, unfortunately, same problem with Premiere. I've gone through all of the steps, and I think I've got it narrowed down to audio. The steps you followed in the other post, obviously it worked. Do you think audio was the issue? Is your machine still performing well? Thanks.

Update: Getting the audio to work fixed my playback issue.

This thread outlines some of the audio issues/fixes.

Also, be aware that you may need to adjust your Audio Hardware preferences in Premiere so that they align with your system audio preferences.