Hardware spec for a CasparCG Server

General
1

Hi,

I’m looking for some help on the specs for a system. I suspect we need to upgrade some hardware for the changed requirements as it’s a bit lacking in the GPU.

The system is currently running:

  • Ryzen 5600X @ 3.7GHz
  • 16GB Ram
  • NVidia GT1030 (2gb VRAM)
  • Windows 11 IoT Enterprise (Non LTSC)

What we’re trying to achieve is:

  • 4 channels
  • 1080P50
  • Each channel has about 5 video layers, 4 channels of audio
    • Video layers consist of some overlays/tickers, mp4 video (or another format if that’s easier on the system), Must be able to receive an external stream (H264 HLS/SRT or an NDI HX stream)
    • Audio laysers consist of 2 channels coming from the video, other channels are inputs on the system.
  • On the desktop a single multiviewer is fine using the MIXER (would be on a 5th channel)
  • Output through a BMD Decklink 8K Pro G2

Hope I supplied enough details for some help. Thanks in advance!

2

It’s hard to estimate, if this will work or not. A few things, that I can say and that might help:

  • Intel CPU’s are preferred, AMD (Ryzen) CPU’s might or might not work. Caspar is only tested on Intel.
  • For this channel count 16GB RAM might be a bit small.
  • The video layers usually do not consume that much GPU, so this may work.
  • The desktop (Screen Consumer) draws a lot of power. Maybe a cheap multi-viewer, like this one, may be a better idea.

What sometimes helps is to use multiple instances of CasparCG server, for instance two instances with two channels each. This might balance the load better. You can use two different config files and let the server’s use different physical channels (on the same card) and different IP-ports.

3

Thanks for the advice.

We’ve been running CasparCG stable on the 5600X for about 5 years now. No issue at all with it.

I’ve opted for replacing the system and have the following config:

  • Ryzen 9800X3D
  • 32GB Ram
  • RTX A4500

I want the system to have plenty of headroom in the GFX card so I’ve opted for something that should be more than plenty and have more H264 encoding and decoding capacity.

the physical multiviewer is a great idea in theory, but the machine will be put in a rack on a remote location. When i’m remoting into the machine i want to take a look at the output. so that wouldn’t work unfortunatly. Are 4 screen consumers easier on the system? as that would also be an option too.

The multiple instances is an interesting idea. I’ll run a test on my test system to see what’s easier on the hardware, 1 instance with 4 channels, 2 instances with 2 channels or 4 instances with a single channel.

4

I’ve never tried running multiple instances myself. So I can’t comment on how beneficial or not that is.

My development these days largely gets done on AMD on linux (with either nvidia or onboard amd gpu), so I know it is happy for at least short term usage, again can’t comment on production (I only really hear about production specs when there are issues).

My one useful tip is to make sure you have dual (or more) channels of RAM installed. I have had performance issues in the past which were isolated to be from only a single memory channel.

5

Thanks for the comments.

I know ryzen is pretty picky with ram, Dual channels is usually the most performant, so I’m always picking a dual channel kit :slight_smile: