The NVIDIA Quadro K5000: Bring Power and Stability to Your Post Production Workflow

PVC by Clint Milby

Over the course of the last two years, Adobe Premiere Pro, my NLE of choice, has made it easier than ever to leverage the power of the GPU. Being a PC user, my CPU and amount memory was my primary concern. However, my focus shifted to finding the perfect GPU that would work in harmony with my system and improve the speed and efficiency of my post workflow.

Initially, GPUs designed for gaming were the most attractive. These GPUs harnessed the power of NVIDIA technology but were made by other manufacturers. Although they were made specifically to handle the complex graphics of gaming, their strength seemed to be handling bursts, such as a brief but complex scene in a game rather than handling a steady flow of activity one might expect from rendering video. The results were system crashes during longer renders. For short projects the gaming GPUs were fine, but for larger projects, the results were less than desirable. When one considers the amount of time lost for restarting and reloading due to system crashes, it becomes a matter of necessity to find a better solution.

Overclocking

It might strike some as odd that a 4GB GPU sports similar specs as a variety of other GPUs on the market which cost a mere fraction of the K5000. The key here is that specs don’t tell the whole story. I had an opportunity to visit with NVIDIA's Technical Marketing Manager Sean Kilbride, who explained further. According to Kilbride, unlike Quadro boards which are designed and built by NVIDIA, consumer level boards are designed and built by board partners to varying specifications. This results in a variety of products using NVIDIA technology,and the quality of the components used can vary depending on the manufacturer. In addition, some versions of these gaming GPUs are overclocked by the manufacturer, overclocking is the process of running the GPU at a higher clock rate (more clock cycles per second) than it was designed for. While Overclocking the GPU can increase overall performance it can also lead to system instability which can result in system crashes usually caused by power drains on the system or overheating of the GPU.

Enter the NVIDIA Quadro K5000

The NVIDIA Quadro not only leverages NVIDIA technology, but it is also designed and manufactured by NVIDIA. According to Kilbride, the fact that NVIDIA actually manufactures the K5000 allows them to insure that all of the components and technology work together to provide smooth and steady performance without overclocking or pushing the hardware beyond its bounds. The end result is unmatched consistent performance. The K5000’s consistency is its power, and for more it meant editing and rendering at a quick pace without any crashes or failures. read more...