Technical white paper Adobe After Effects CC 2015 on HP Z Workstations Table of contents Introduction... 2 What type of application is Adobe After Effects CC (2015)?... 2 How does the new HP Z Workstation family (HP Z1, Z230, Z440, Z640, and Z840) provide ultimate Adobe After Effects CC (2015) performance?... 2 HP Z Workstation recommendations for running Adobe After Effects CC (2015)... 3 Configuration tips to use when running Adobe After Effects CC (2015) on HP Z Workstations... 3 Configuration guidelines for Adobe After Effects CC (2015)... 4 Tips for running Adobe After Effects CC (2015)... 4 HP Performance Advisor (HPPA)... 5 Key themes of the Adobe CC (2015) release... 6
Introduction (2015) The purpose of this document is to provide information that will help in the selection of HP Z Workstations to run Adobe After Effects CC. Recommended configurations are provided for the HP Z1, Z230, Z440, Z640, and Z840 Workstations. What type of application is Adobe After Effects CC (2015)? Adobe After Effects CC (2015) allows you to create cinematic visual effects and motion graphics faster than ever before, thanks to the new Global Performance Cache. Extend your creativity with built-in text and shape extrusion, new mask feathering options, and the fast, easy-to-use 3D Camera Tracker. Adobe After Effects CC uses OpenGL and CUDA on some effects. How does the HP Z Workstation family (HP Z1, Z230, Z440, Z640, and Z840) provide ultimate Adobe After Effects CC (2015) performance? CPU Performance is improved over previous-generation Intel processor-based workstations. HP Z440 Workstations utilize the Intel Xeon E5-1600 v3 and E5-2600 v3 processor series. HP Z640 Workstations utilize the Intel Xeon E5-1600 v3, E5-2600 v3 processor series. HP Z840 Workstations utilize the Intel Xeon E5-2600 v3 processor series. HP Z1 G2 Workstations utilize the Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3, Intel Core i5 and the Intel Core i3 processor series. HP Z230 Workstations utilize the Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3, Intel Core i5 and Intel Core i7 processor series. Graphics OpenCL and CUDA enabled graphics cards greatly accelerate many of the functions. Memory 1 Design is improved with either 2 or 4 channels per processor. The HP Z1 G2 and Z230 Workstations support ECC or non-ecc unbuffered DDR3 DIMMs 4 DIMM sockets, 2 channels, 2 DIMMs per channel The HP Z440 Workstation introduces support for DDR4-2133 ECC Registered DIMMs. The CPUs determine the speed at which the memory is clocked. The HP Z640 and Z840 Workstations introduce support for DDR4 2133 MHz Registered DIMMs. The CPUs determine the speed at which the memory is clocked. Storage I/O Performance is improved. PCI-Express 3.0, Z Turbo drives G2 (PCIe card), 6 Gb/s SATA and SAS ports, DMA bandwidth, 6 Gb/s hard drives (HDD) and 6 Gb/s solid state drives (SSD) can be configured with RAID 0 striped volumes for speed, USB 3.0. 2
HP Z Workstation recommendations for running Adobe After Effects CC (2015) See figure 1 below for a list of HP Z Workstations product configurations for Adobe After Effects. For more information, visit HP Z Workstation Product Configurations. Figure 1. PSG Product and Sales Wizard results list Good Better Mobile HP Z1 G2 HP Z440 HP Z840 HP ZBook 17 G2 Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 2 Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 2 Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 2 Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 2 Intel Xeon processor E3-1281v3, 3.70 GHz, quad-core 3 Intel Xeon processor E5-1650v3, 3.50 GHz, six-core 3 (2) Intel Xeon processor E5-2687Wv3, 3.10 GHz, ten-core 3 Intel Core processor i7-4810mc, quad-core 3 (4 x 4 GB) DDR3 ECC memory 1 (4 x 4 GB) DDR4 ECC memory 1 (8 x ) DDR4 ECC memory 1 (2 x 4 GB) DDR3 memory 1 NVIDIA Quadro K4100M NVIDIA Quadro K2200/AMD FirePro W5100 NVIDIA Quadro M6000 NVIDIA Quadro K3100M 480 GB SSD 500 GB SSD, 7200 SATA drive 512 GB SSD, 2x 1 TB SSD, HP Z Turbo Drive 512 GB 500 GB SSD, 7200 rpm drive HP DreamColor Z24x Professional Monitor HP Z Display Z24i 24-inch IPS LED Backlit Monitor HP Z Display Z24i 24-inch IPS LED Backlit Monitor Integrated HP DreamColor Display HP DreamColor Z27x Professional Monitor Second display HP Advanced Docking Solution 3
Configuration tips to use when running Adobe After Effects CC (2015) on HP Z Workstations Memory sizing/selection is critical. For best performance, use the memory chart found in the QuickSpecs for the HP Z Workstation model you are looking for. See Figure 2 for the HP Z840 memory chart. Here is the link to all the QuickSpecs. Figure 2. Optimal configurations for the HP Z840 Dual processor CPU0 CPU1 Bottom slots Top slots Bottom slots Top slots Capacity Notes DIMM1 DIMM2 DIMM3 DIMM4 DIMM5 DIMM6 DIMM7 DIMM8 DIMM1 DIMM2 DIMM3 DIMM4 DIMM5 DIMM6 DIMM7 DIMM8 Rating 4 GB 4GB Fair 4 GB 4 GB Good Fair 4 GB 4GB 4 GB 4 GB Good Fair 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 96 GB ~ 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 12 ~ Good 192 GB ~ Better 256 GB 512 GB ~ 1 TB ~ ~ 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 2 TB ~ 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 Slot load 1 9 5 13 15 7 11 3 2 10 6 14 16 8 12 4 Configuration guidelines for Adobe After Effects CC (2015) CPU 6 Core or greater Memory 4 GB of memory per core or more. Total memory or greater. Graphics CUDA and OpenCL enabled cards. Disk Drives OS drive and two or more data drives RAID0 or RAID5 Fast HD cache (HP Z Turbo Drive) 4
Tips for running Adobe After Effects CC (2015) Operating System Operating System/Setting Default Recommend Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 2 Latest Service Pack Control Panel/Power Options Balanced High Performance System BIOS BIOS Setting Default Recommend Power/OS Power Management/Runtime Power Management Power/OS Power Management/ Idle Power Savings Power/OS Power Management/ Turbo Mode Advanced/Device Options/ Hyper-Threading Advanced/Bus Options/NUMA (HP Z640 and Z840 Dual processor) Extended Normal HP Performance Advisor (HPPA) HP Performance Advisor 4 can be used to install graphics drivers and select BIOS settings. Download from hp.com/go/hpperformanceadvisor Install and run HP Performance Advisor. Use HPPA to check if the system BIOS is configured correctly. Below is the home screen of HPPA with three buttons. Click on Your Software. See Figure 3. Figure 3. HPPA/Your Software 5
Click on the software icon named Adobe. See Figure 4. Figure 4. HPPA/Adobe This window will show you all the versions of Adobe products supported by HPPA. Click on the Adobe After Effects CC 2015. See Figure 5. Figure 5. Adobe program list Scroll down to Recommended Performance BIOS Settings and you will see your system BIOS settings. If you have any RED checkmarks, which indict a non-recommended BIOS setting, just click on the Apply Recommended button to set the system BIOS to the recommended setting and reboot the systems. See Figure 6. Figure 6. Adobe After Effects CC 2015 Recommended BIOS Settings 6
Key themes of the Adobe CC (2015) release New color workflows that make color an integral part of the creative process, including the Color workspace in the Lumetri Color panel and scopes in Premiere Pro CC and new Look support in Creative Cloud Libraries. Mobile apps and integrations that extend the creative process, such as a streamlined workflow for opening Adobe Premiere Clip projects in Premiere Pro CC, and new mobile capture technology, Project Candy, for creating Looks to enhance the appearance of video footage. Deeper collaboration for all from small teams to large enterprises, including asset sharing via Creative Cloud Libraries for mobile-to-mobile and mobile-to-desktop workflows. Coming soon in two versions, Adobe Anywhere offers collaborative editing workflows for teams of all sizes. Tools and features that empower artists to create more and deliver faster: Adobe Character Animator, Morph Cut in Premiere Pro CC, Time Tuner in Adobe Media Encoder CC. Preview enhancements and Face Tracker in Adobe After Effects CC, and more. 1. Maximum memory capacities assume Windows 64-bit operating systems or Linux. With Windows 32-bit operating systems, memory above 3 GB may not all be available due to system resource requirements. 2. Not all features are available in all editions or versions of Windows. Systems may require upgraded and/or separately purchased hardware, drivers and/or software to take full advantage of Windows functionality. See microsoft.com. 3. Multi-Core is designed to improve performance of certain software products. Not all customers or software applications will necessarily benefit from use of this technology. 64-bit computing on Intel architecture requires a computer system with a processor, chipset, BIOS, operating system, device drivers, and applications enabled for Intel 64 architecture. Processors will not operate (including 32-bit operation) without an Intel 64 architecture-enabled BIOS. Performance will vary depending on your hardware and software configurations. Intel s numbering is not a measurement of higher performance. 4. HP Performance Advisor requires Windows and an internet connection. Copyright 2015 HP Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. Intel and Core are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. AMD and FirePro are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Adobe After Effects is either a registered trademark or trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. NVIDIA is a trademark and/or registered trademark of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and/or countries. Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. 4AA5-9256ENW, September 2015