XPS 8940, Best Drive Upgrades for Video Editing

Question

Hi All,

I value your expert opinions please.

I'm a freelance video editor and have recently moved into the XPS 8940 with 512 NVME m.2, 10700k processor and Geforce 2070 video card. I've added a spare Crucial MX500 2 tb ssd for additional storage and additional ram so I have 32gb total.

I edit a lot of 4k footage in premiere pro and have been experiencing quite a lot more latency in playback and loading footage than I think I should considering this computer. I would like to utilize it's full potential.

I know I only have one m.2 slot which is currently occupied so my question for you is what's the best upgrade path with this computer with regards to higher end video editing?

I've only recently been learning about the other PCIe 1x and 4x slots. I believe the 16x is occupied by the graphics card. Would you recommend an additional NVME with an adapter in the PCIe x4 slot? How would that performance compare to the m.2 or PCIe 1x slot with regards to read and write speeds? Could I put NVMEs with adapters in 1x and 4x slots too? Is there significate advantage using those slots over SSDs in the 2.5 or 3.5 bays?

Thank you kindly for your help!

Tesla1856 · Answer

All Windows-10 and the Premiere Pro program itself should be installed on the NVMe-SSD Drive-C.

If there is a "scratch or temp work area setting" in Premiere Pro, be sure it is also set to be on the NVMe-SSD Drive-C.

If still problems, just go ahead and work on the current Project completely on the NVMe-SSD Drive-C. After it's finished/final and published/encoded and whatever ... you can move the project folder off to another drive.

Amuzik · Answer

Thanks for your advice, Tesla1856.

Premiere uses Media Cache files and I had the folder for them located on my secondary ssd along with the video media. I deleted all of them and just changed that location to the C drive (Nvme). When I opened the project it create new cache files in that location. Honestly I'm not seeing much of a performance difference.

I know my C drive (Nvme) is the fastest I can do. I would like additional nearly as fast drives. Can you speak to the PCIe 1x or 4x being used to have faster connection than a 2.5" ssd connection?

This is from Adobe's recommendations:

Where should I store my Media Cache files?
For best performance, choose a fast SSD or NVME drive for your Media Cache - ideally a on a dedicated drive. You can change the locations of the media cache files by clicking Browse and navigating to the desired folder location. If needed, you can save the Media Cache on the same drive as your media.

How many Drives do I Need? The best way to achieve excellent performance (and to keep different types of files organized) is to spread the load between multiple drives. An optimal setup has three drives:

System drive for OS and applications
Drive for the media cache
Media drive (or shared storage)

Tesla1856 · Answer

I know my C drive (Nvme) is the fastest I can do. I would like additional nearly as fast drives. Can you speak to the PCIe 1x or 4x being used  ====================== Apparently, it is possible. https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-Desktops/Installing-3-x-1TB-M-2-Samsung-PCiE-NVME-Drives-in-Aurora-R7-8/m-p/7474557#M22386 and https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-Desktops/Aurora-R10-adding-NVMe-M-2-SSD-via-a-PCIe-adapter/td-p/7498311 and https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-Desktops/Aurora-R11-installing-PCIe-4X-card-with-2-NVMe-slots/td-p/7803730

Amuzik · Answer

Thank you for those links! I will need to open up my desktop and see what kind of space there is so that an expansion card could fit.

Gjbpro1 · Answer

If you are using a NVIDIA Video card you can download the STUDIO driver not the GAMING driver. Go to NVIDIA website driver download section and select your card from drop down lists. This may help in proper video rendering.

XPS Desktops

XPS 8940, Best Drive Upgrades for Video Editing

Was this post helpful?