PVCAM and Teledyne Photometrics cameras will generally work on any hardware that supports the camera interface and PVCAM installation, and we detail below a custom PC build. If unsure, we also recommend two specific prebuilt configurations from Dell and HP below. These configurations are used in-house when testing currently supported cameras.
Custom Built System
Operating System
- Windows 11 Pro
Processor (CPU)
- Intel Xeon or Intel Core i7 with 4 or more cores
- 3.0 GHz or faster
Please note that most consumer-grade Intel processors have an insufficient number of PCIe lanes which may result in sub-optimal performance with PCIe-based cameras. We recommend verifying the number of available PCIe lanes on the CPU prior to purchase and making sure at least 8 lanes can be dedicated to the camera interface.
RAM
- 32 GB DDR4 (at 3200 MHz, 2- or 4-channel) or more with the Kinetix family
For optimal performance, we recommend matching the number of memory modules with the number of CPU-supported memory channels.
Storage
- 256GB or larger SATA/NVMe SSD drive for the operating system
- Additional PCIe NVMe SSD drive for streaming image data to disk. Samsung 970 Pro series MLC NVMe drives are recommended due to their ability to sustainably write large amounts of data over extended time periods.
- For streaming to disk with the Kinetix family, we recommend a PCIe RAID controller such as HighPoint SSD7101A-1 with 4x Samsung 970 Pro SSD in RAID-0 configuration. For other options, see the Note on Streaming to Disk.
Graphics Adapter
- 1 GB PCIe or CPU-integrated graphics card
Unless GPU processing is required, a graphics adapter performance is not important for camera functionality.
USB Ports and Adaptors
- Intel USB 3.0 or 3.1 Gen 2 ports, depending on the camera model used
We highly recommend the Intel Thunderbolt controller for USB 3.1 Gen 2 cameras.
PCI Express
- PCIe Gen 3 (or newer gen.) x4 slot for USB 3.1 Gen 2 add-in cards
- PCIe Gen 3 (or newer gen.) x8 slot for a single Kinetix family PCIe camera interface
- PCIe Gen 3 (or newer gen.) x16 slot for a dual Kinetix family PCIe camera interface
Note on Streaming to Disk
When using Kinetix or other fast PCI Express (PCIe) cameras and wanting to stream to disk, please note that a single Kinetix camera interface requires 8 CPU-connected PCIe 3.0 lanes to achieve full speed. In addition, our recommended NVMe RAID adapter requires another 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes. While most motherboards provide additional PCIe slots, these slots are mostly connected via Platform Controller Hub (PCH). The PCH to CPU bandwidth is defined by the specific DMI interconnection interface used – which is often insufficient for high bandwidth applications. Please check your motherboard specifications if building a custom PC for streaming to disk with fast PCIe cameras.
Note on Other NVMe Drives
While the Samsung 970 Pro disk drives are still preferred and highly recommended due to their MLC NAND and sustained write performance, other newer NVMe drives such as Samsung 980/990 Pro or Seagate Firecuda 530/540 will also provide adequate performance for streaming camera data to disk. However, given the TLC NAND technology is used in newer drives, the following precautions may need to be taken:
- A minimum of 4x 1TB drives may need to be used in RAID-0 configuration. Lower disk capacities are not recommended.
- Sufficient time may need to be given for the disks to recover their cache. 15 minutes between acquisitions was measured as adequate.
- If longer streaming is required with no compromises, a configuration of 8x 2TB drives (with adapters such as HighPoint SSD7540) would be recommended, however, this is currently not tested by Photometrics at this time.
- When purchasing an NVMe drive, it is highly recommended to consult 3rd party hardware review sites such as tomshardware.com and look for results of “sustained sequential write” performance to understand how a particular drive performs during long write periods.
Note on Dual-Processor Systems
If you are considering purchasing a system in order to run the Kinetix sCMOS at full frame rates in 8-bit Speed mode, please note that we do not recommend dual-processor systems (in other words, a PC that uses a motherboard with two physical CPUs). In these systems, memory is allocated between the two processors, and access of memory held by the other processor can be slower. The access rate is dependent on the operating system, application, and motherboard architecture. For these reasons, we cannot ensure that a dual-processor system would support the full data rates available in the Kinetix, and we do not recommend these systems.
Dell Precision Tower 5860
Operating System
- Windows 11 Pro
Chassis
- Precision 5860 Tower 750W or 1350W Chassis depending on selected CPU
Processor (CPU)
- Intel Xeon W3-2435, W5-2445, W5-2455X, W5-2465X, or better
Six cores or more recommended, higher base clock preferred to core count.
RAM
- 64 GB (4 x 16 GB) DDR5 4800 MT/s RDIMM ECC, or more
Four or more modules are recommended to fully accommodate all memory channels supported by the CPU.
Storage
- 512GB, M.2, PCIe NVMe, SSD, Class 40 or larger for the operating system.
- For streaming to disk with most Photometrics cameras, we recommend additional 2 TB M.2 NVMe drive.
- For streaming to disk with Kinetix family, we recommend a PCIe RAID controller card. Please see Streaming to Disk notes for details.
Graphics Adapter (GPU)
- NVIDIA T400, 4GB GDDR6 or similar (single-wide GPU preferred to not block other PCIe slots)
PCIe I/O Cards
- Thunderbolt 4 PCIe card (2x Type-C, 2x DP-in)
HP Z4 G5 Workstation
Operating System
- Windows 11 Pro
Base
- HP Z4 Tower G5 90 775W or 1125W depending on selected CPU
Processor
- Intel Xeon W3-2235, W5-2445, W5-2455X, W5-2465X, or better
Six cores or more recommended, higher base clock preferred to core count.
RAM
- 64 GB (4 x 16 GB) DDR5-4800 DIMM ECC Registered Memory, or more
Four or more modules recommended to fully accommodate all memory channels supported by the CPU.
Internal M.2 Storage
- 512 GB HP Z Turbo Drive M.2 SSD. For streaming to disk with most Photometrics cameras, we recommend additional 2 TB M.2 NVMe drive.
- For streaming to disk with Kinetix family, we recommend a PCIe RAID controller card. Please see Streaming to Disk notes for details.
Graphics Adapter
- NVIDIA T400 (4 GB GDDR6, 3 x Mini DisplayPort) Graphics
Flexible Port Options
- Type-C USB 3.1 Gen 2 Port v2
Front I/O Ports
- Type-C SuperSpeed USB 20Gbps Front IO v2 Premium Module
Summary Table
| PC Component | Custom | Dell 5860 | HP Z4 G5 |
| Operating System | Windows 11 | Windows 11 | Windows 11 |
| Processor (CPU) | Intel Xeon/Core i7, 4 or more cores, 3.0 GHz or faster | Intel Xeon W3-2435 or better | Intel Xeon W3-2435 or better |
| RAM | 32 GB DDR4 or more | 64 GB (4×16) DDR5 or more | 64 GB (4×16) DDR5 or more |
| Storage | – 256 GB SSD or larger boot drive – 2 TB NVMe SSD or larger for streaming – Raid array for streaming with Kinetix | – 512 GB SSD or larger boot drive – 2 TB NVMe SSD or larger for streaming – Raid array for streaming with Kinetix | – 512 GB SSD or larger boot drive – 2 TB NVMe SSD or larger for streaming – Raid array for streaming with Kinetix |
| Graphics Adapter (GPU) | 1 GB PCIe or CPU-integrated graphics card | NVIDIA T400 4 GB | NVIDIA T400 4 GB |
| I/O | – Intel USB 3.0 or 3.1 Gen 2 ports, depending on model – PCIe Gen 3 slots for expansion | Thunderbolt 4 PCIe card | Type-C USB 3.1 Gen 2 Port v2 |