We have recently updated our well used HP xw8600 (dual Xeon 3 GHz) running Symphony for a Z840 with the idea of being able to online 4K in the not too distant future (actually, we already have). The 8600 ran very well for several years on as recently as Symphony 7 or thereabouts. We currently have the latest Symphiony 8.5 on the Z840 and are experiencing some problems so we would like to keep the 8600 in the pipeline in order to handle smaller HD jobs on earlier more stable versions of Symphony.
The main problem is that it appears the Quadro FX 3700 may be done with. It pixelates in green squares on boot up with question marks within the squares and all comments seem to point to bad video RAM. If that's the only issue, we could swap the video card and keep the machine working. As it stands, it fails to boot 99% of the time and I've isolated the problem to the Quadro card (by swapping PCI-E slots, boot drive and zapping both the system and card BIOS to the latest supported versions). I don't believe the system RAM is faulty as the machine boots into safe mode every time without issue.
So, my questions to those who might have been here before are:
1) Is it worth replacing the video card and maintain the 8600 running or is it less costly to buy a lesser new Z serires workstation?
2) What video card specifically would you suggest using that would be compatible with both the 8600, current versions of Symphony and Windows 7 (or possibly 10 if the hardware and Avid will run well on it). Nvidia or AMD (ATI)?
3) Can I run a lower cost Nvidia GeForce or does it need to be a Quadro? How much realtime FX processing power would I loose?
3) How much system RAM at a minimum would you install? 8 GB or 16 GB? It currently has 4GB because two of the RAM cards (another 4 GB) apparently died.
4) While I underestand Avid doesn't support it, how much usable life can I expect from the workstation if repaired in terms of Avid Symphony versions while doing HD online?
5) I should add that the system was running on a Nitris classic which has now been moved over to the Z840. I don't expect to need much in the way of I/O from the 8600 but for monitoring what's the least expensive best quality HDMI/SDI hardware solution you'd recommend?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice you can offer.
David