New PC for video editing

Z

Zer0Cool

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 4, 2008
Messages
375
Hello,

Ok, so my younger brother needs a new PC and I will build it for him.

The main purpose for PC is video editing, second is Gaming.

He has 3 monitors, one of them is 24" and the other 2 are about 20"

The PC needs to be top of the line, I don't really have a budget maybe around $2,000. If I spend less great, if I need to spend more then I will. I will be using Newegg to order the parts, but I also have Microcenter not to far away from me.

This is what my brother sad the PC must have;

* Very good GPU
* CPU (must be easily overclockable to 4.0 Ghz, I personally always liked Intel CPU's so unless AMD has a big advantage now, I would like to stick with Intel CPU)
* CPU Cooler "Prolimatech Mega Shadow Deluxe" (when I got one for my self this thing was the best cooler on the market)
* 12GB of RAM
* 2X SSD HDD (one for him and one for me as a method of payment, so a nice SSD is needed. Is Intel G2 still the best option? )
* 3TB HDD's (total)
* Top of the line Sound Card (he asked for 2 sound card's... can he do that? He just wants to be sure he has all the ports that he would ever need)
* 3 CD ROM's (don't ask)
* Full Tower Case with great cooling (his room gets hot, so suggestions on good fans is also needed)

I don't know 1st thing about video editing and I stopped paying at attention to the new parts that been coming out for the past year or so, so all of your help is greatly appreciated.

Does crossfire/SLI helps with video editing? If no, then a single GPU is fine. (must be something good tho maybe 5870 thats what I have)

Thanks
 
Last edited:
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?

EDIT: Does he actually have a nice speaker setup? He should really narrow down what he's looking for in a sound card.
 
Last edited:
Here are a few more questions regarding your brother's request for a top-of-the-line sound card:

- Specifically, what is your brother's audio setup?
- Is he (planning on) using an A/V amplifier or receiver?
- What does he listen to most on his audio setup?
 
Danny Bui said:
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?

EDIT: Does he actually have a nice speaker setup? He should really narrow down what he's looking for in a sound card.
Click to expand...

As soon as possible
Win 7 64bit, already have
He has a surround sound setup in his room, he also has a $200 amplifier.

tiraides said:
Here are a few more questions regarding your brother's request for a top-of-the-line sound card:

- Specifically, what is your brother's audio setup?
- Is he (planning on) using an A/V amplifier or receiver?
- What does he listen to most on his audio setup?
Click to expand...

these are all good questions, something i will ask him tomorrow in the morning, its 3:30 am now. nice to hear from you tiraides, I remember when you were helping me with my setup, seems like such a long time ago.
 
Oh also ask your bro if he's using Adobe CS5. That's very important to know as that'll decide whether he gets a HD 5850 or GTX 470.
 
tiraides said:
Here are a few more questions regarding your brother's request for a top-of-the-line sound card:

- Specifically, what is your brother's audio setup?
- Is he (planning on) using an A/V amplifier or receiver?
- What does he listen to most on his audio setup?
Click to expand...

5.1 surround sound, 2 headphones and mics
A/V receiver
Not sure....

Danny Bui said:
Oh also ask your bro if he's using Adobe CS5. That's very important to know as that'll decide whether he gets a HD 5850 or GTX 470.
Click to expand...

He is currently using Adobe CS3, but might switch to CS5
 
Shadowssong said:
5850/470? Why not go 5870/480? Doesn't seem like $$ is a problem here.
Click to expand...

Even with a $2000 budget, a HD 5870 or GTX 480 was not doable due to the OP's requirements.

EDIT: Here's a prelim:
$485 - Intel Core i7-930 CPU + Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R X58 ATX Motherboard Combo
$249 - 3 x G.Skill F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT 2 x 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$320 - eVGA 012-P3-1470-AR GeForce GTX 470 1280MB PCI-E Video Card
$440 - 2 x Intel SSDSA2MH080G2R5 2.5" 80GB SSD
$225 - 3 x Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$75 - 3 x LG GH22NS50 DVD Burner
$150 - Corsair 950TX 950W PSU
$140 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$65 - Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B CPU Cooler
---
Total: $2149 plus tax andhipping.

We still need to add the sound card(s) which will push the costs by another $100 to $200. Speaking of the sound card, I highly highly recommend getting that AFTER figuring out whether or the mobo's onboard sound and audio ports will be enough for the OP's bro's needs.
 
Last edited:
Something to consider. I have been dabbling with video editing lately, and while a beefy GPU is sweet, a lot of it seems very processor limited. So much ( IMHO and small amount of time fiddling with it) that even though I am Intel, I am researching the new 6 core AMD chip as a CPU.

Maybe others with a little more experience will chime in here also.

And I dont think ram will be an issue with that much so no comment on the ram.
 
jay2472000 said:
Something to consider. I have been dabbling with video editing lately, and while a beefy GPU is sweet, a lot of it seems very processor limited. So much ( IMHO and small amount of time fiddling with it) that even though I am Intel, I am researching the new 6 core AMD chip as a CPU.
Click to expand...

Well the main reason why I asked about whether or not the OP's bro was using Adobe CS5 was due CS5's ability to leverage the GPU to handle some video editing work: the MPE feature.

So while generally you're right in that the GPU doesn't factor in that much, it does at least in one specific case: Adobe CS5.
 
^^^^ Cool, Im still researching myself to see if the programs I want to use will be able to utilize the extra 2 cores. ( 6 core vs 4 core)

Theres a lot to learn and Im slowly getting it, thanks to useful posts like yours Danny. Thanks, Ill have to keep that in mind when I am finally ready to build.
 
I believe the more threads offered via HT on an i7 would still outperform an X6, and if OC'ing is factored in, the i7 can reach a bit higher than the X6's.
 
Danny Bui, jay2472000, enginurd, thanks for the input.

I'm currently gathering info from other sources, and the process is slow as Im also finish up last semester of college now. So here is what I think would be the parts that Im pretty sure about for now.

i7 930
Antec DF-85 Black (case)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129087&Tpk=df85

I also looked at the "COOLER MASTER HAF 932" but as far as the looks go, for now Antec has my vote, I haven't really got any other good suggestions for good air flow cases, but Antec DF-85 looks really "Cool", especial with that SSD port right in front. Going to look at reviews after this.

As far as the MOBO goes, for some reason im leaning towards an ASUS one. I my self have p6t devule v2 and can Overclock his PC really easy. Since p6t is a bit "old" im wondering if there is one with like USB 3.0 and SATA 6gb/s I want to make sure his PC will have all the latest stuff you know?

Will SSD take advantage of the 6 Gb/s MOBO port ? Also will something like this work on my p62 deluxe?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...015&cm_re=SATA_6.0Gb/s-_-16-104-015-_-Product or am I better off with a mobo that is sata 6.0 ?

I think SSD decision will be the hardest... this is one of the inputs I got on it and want to hear what you think "IntelG2 < Vertex2. With the Intel's you won't need any extra software to take care of cleaning up the drive, it does it by itself." What cleanup is there with SSD's and is the difference between speeds any visible between IntelG2 and Vertex2?

Also what about "CrucialReal SSD C300" I heard these thins supposed to be the fastest? Its has a "SATA 6 Gb/s interface." Makes me really want a MOBO thats also 6GB/s completable you know?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...8357&cm_re=crucial_SSD-_-20-148-357-_-Product

* PSU, so far this is the only suggestions I got, I mean correct me if im wrong, but having anything over a 1000W is a waste of money. So far I like the suggestion below, but was wondering if there are any more good once that maybe I can look at, I really not sure what to look for in a PSU and the company behind it.

CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-950TX 950W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3891137&SID=194r0


*HDD so for I got 2 suggestions, both for the same price.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433&Tpk=Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS

or

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3891137&SID=194r0

As far as RAM goes, I got 2 good suggestion so far, and would need 12GB total.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231306

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145319

I know its a lot of questions here, but I just would hate looking back and to think that I could had made a better purchase :)

Thanks for the help
 
Last edited:
If he's seriously into audio production you'll probably need $200-600 for the sound alone.
 
jay2472000 said:
Something to consider. I have been dabbling with video editing lately, and while a beefy GPU is sweet, a lot of it seems very processor limited. So much ( IMHO and small amount of time fiddling with it) that even though I am Intel, I am researching the new 6 core AMD chip as a CPU.

Maybe others with a little more experience will chime in here also.

And I dont think ram will be an issue with that much so no comment on the ram.
Click to expand...

Danny Bui said:
Well the main reason why I asked about whether or not the OP's bro was using Adobe CS5 was due CS5's ability to leverage the GPU to handle some video editing work: the MPE feature.

So while generally you're right in that the GPU doesn't factor in that much, it does at least in one specific case: Adobe CS5.
Click to expand...


I just traded my GTX285 to a friend for a 5850 since he is shooting a documentary in 1080P and putting 1 color correction filter on 1 clip requires that clip to be rendered in CS4. Video will not play at all without rendering.

I went there last night to install the 285 and upgrade his software to CS5 and ran into problems with his machine, 285 covers 4 of his 6 SATA ports, and he uses all 6.

The other slot at the bottom required moving the ProTools card but then the 285 hit the hard drive cage rail and covered the IDE port which he needs as well, XP and his Protools software is on the IDE drive.

So we decided to purchase a SATA card with 4 ports and then install the 285 when it comes in.

We did upgrade to CS5 and it does play the 1080P footage with 2 color corrections, but at less than half the frame rate, so CS5 is "usable" without the 285 but will play in real time with the 285.

What format is he going to shoot and edit with?

My setup was CS5 with GTX285 and 9600GT,
editor-2010.jpg
 
Last edited:
I'd also recommend the GTX 460 for this video editing build. However, I have no problems with CS5 and an HD 5770 in my current build. Obviously, it can't match the NVIDIA cards when the latter are using MPE GPU mode. But it is still smoother sailing than CS4 ever was.

With that said, I am planning to move the HD 5770 to my secondary rig and get either a GTX 460 or GTX 470 for my main rig. But first, I gotta upgrade the 320GB WD hard drive in the secondary rig that's barely reaching 65 MB/s with a newer drive. That drive, being an old design, has platters that are only 107GB in size (thus it uses three platters).
 
Last edited:
For gaming, yes the HD 5850 and HD 5870 would be the better choices for the money. However for video editing with Adobe CS5, your bro is better off with a GTX 460 or GTX 470. The two Nvidia cards still provide pretty good performance for the money.

In virtually every task, the Core i7 930 and Core i7 860 will perform pretty similarily. As such, when deciding between the two CPUs, you have to factor in their platforms. So considering that video editing eats up a lot of RAM, go with the X58 since that gets you 12GB of RAM at a reasonable price.
 
Speaking of the Antec DF-85 case, it is bigger and roomier than previous Antec gaming cases. Unfortunately, it is a bit more expensive than the CoolerMaster HAF 932. On the plus side, however, the DF-85 has a filter that keeps some of the dust from being sucked into the case's innards (the HAF series cases have only large holes that allow a lot of dust to get sucked inside, based on the samples that I saw at Fry's).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top