Video Editing/Motion Graphics Build ~$3k

[PG37]

Hi All,

I am looking to build a PC for video editing. I am a broadcast television finishing editor and freelance for editorial and motion graphics working mainly in Avid, Aftereffects and Final Cut Pro. I had a great recent experience on a freelance job working with Premiere and AVC-HD footage without needing to render/transcode the footage first and want to explore working with CUDA processing etc for a second edit station. This would be used for Premiere and AfterEffects. I am thinking of a setup with a mid-high end unlocked i7 processor, high end nVidia GPU, 32 or 64GB ram (gskill?), a 120-240GB nice SSD for boot and ability to add a RAID 5 array later (optional). Will probably just use a single scratch disk to start and would like something around 2TB that is nice and fast. I want to leave room for an add-in PCIe card for HD-SDI and XLR audio out like a blackmagic card (not part of this budget). I am also thinking of building a xeon dual processor workstation as an alternative, but I am not sure about the price/performace of such a setup compared to a standard i7 (often the newest i7s are faster clock for clock than the comparable xeons). Also, I've read some good things about the "16 core" Opteron and CS6's ability to use all the cores.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? Etc .

Video Editing/After Effect/Premiere Pro/Pshop

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

$3k

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

Seattle, WA

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

CPU, RAM, DASE, Drives, PSU, Video Card

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

NO

6) Will you be overclocking?

Maybe

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?

28” 2560x1440

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

Next 3 months

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? eSATA, Fireware 800, USB 3.0 Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.

Doesn’t require SLI, but it doesn’t hurt. Considering RAID 5 array for video editing storage, should that be an add-in card? Would need case that can accommodate 5+ drives. USB 3.0 nice to have

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?

Yes 64bit

 

[Dangman]

Can you narrow down that time frame any further? To the next 2-3 weeks perhaps? I ask because our hardware recommendations can change in as little as a week let alone three months from now.

Also, which specific OS do you have?

 

[PG37]

Actually, thankfully I'm not in a huge hurry, so I'd be more interested in waiting for the next hardware cycle to be released both in CPU's and video cards. I was hoping to get everything purchased by year's end though.

 

[Dangman]

Actually, thankfully I'm not in a huge hurry, so I'd be more interested in waiting for the next hardware cycle to be released both in CPU's and video cards. I was hoping to get everything purchased by year's end though.

Well pricing and availability can change in that time period. So if you want an up-to-date build list without having to constantly check and recheck if it's up-to-date or a good buy, please come back when you're 1-3 weeks away from buying the parts of the PC and bump up this thread then.

Also, you didn't answer my OS question.

 

[PG37]

Danny,
Sorry about the OS question. It's likely going to need to be Win 7 Pro 64 Bit for the foreseeable future.

I'm shopping around for parts now and trying to do research on what just came out and what is coming out soon. It seems like the the successor to Oak Trail is a ways away and on the graphic card front there's always something new coming out. My timeline is to start building this thing in the next 2-4 weeks, but I am willing to wait a bit longer if someone knows of a particular chip or video card that is just about to come out. I don't usually buy the top of the line cutting edge stuff anyway, because I like to get the most bang for my buck. CS6 is kind of unique in that it will use all of the RAM and CPU power you can throw at it and Premiere will make the most of a single CUDA card while After Effects will use the most of multiple cards.

That being said I'm not interested in benchmark performance as much as I am real world performance. If a Dual Xeon 16 core machine will render in five minutes but a single chip i7 will do it in 5:50 for 1/6th the cost, then that's a no-brainer for me. I'd say the biggest thing i'd pay attention to performance-wise is really having a machine that is capable of some beefy realtime playback. Like 2 streams of 4k footage or something like that. That I would love.

 

[Dangman]

If you can buy before October 31st, I recommend the following setup:

$847 - Intel Core i7 3930K CPU + eVGA SuperClocked 02G-P4-3662-KR GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB PCI-E Video Card Combo
$330 - Asus Sabertooth X79 ATX Motherboard
$296 - 4 x G.SKILL Ripjaws Series F3-12800CL10D-16GBXL 2 x 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$200 - Samsung 830 Series 256GB SSD (For OS and apps)
$110 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SSD (For scratch disk)
$180 - Western Digital Caviar Black WD2002FAEX 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive (For data storage)
$18 - Samsung DVD Burner
$150 - Seasonic X750 Gold 750W Modular PSU
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
-----
Total: $2161 plus tax and shipping.

That's 64GB of RAM by the way. Yes you should have a seperate RAID controller if you really want RAID 5. However those can be a tad pricey.

Choose your own case. I recommend any of the following cases:
$95 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - Antec 1100 ATX Case
$105 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Arctic White ATX Case
$105 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Titanium Grey ATX Case
$110 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Black Pearl ATX Case
$110 - Fractal Design Define R4 Arctic White ATX Case
$110 - Fractal Design Define R4 Titanium Grey ATX Case
$110 - Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl ATX Case
$110 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case
$119 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Green Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR White Finish w/Red Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White ATX Case
$130 - Lian Li PC-7HX Black Aluminum ATX Case
$140 - Antec P280 ATX Case
$140 - Corsair Obsidian Series 550D ATX Case
$140 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Arctic White ATX Case
$140 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Gunmetal Black ATX Case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-WA ATX case
$160 - Silverstone TJ04B-EW ATX Case
$160 - Thermaltake VN300M1W2N Chase MK-1 ATX Case
$160 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$162 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW-USB3.0 ATX case
$180 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02S ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$240 - Silverstone FT02S-W-USB3.0 ATX Case
$245 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW ATX Case

 

[PG37]

That looks like a great build, and pretty dang reasonable! Any thoughts on going with a higher core count like the opteron's or dual Xeon chips? Video Card I can always swap out later.

 

[rastaban]

Your budget and purpose for the machine makes you a realistic candidate for going with a Sandy Bridge-E build. There doesn't seem to be a clear release date for Ivy Bridge-E but it is speculated to debut in Q4 2012. If there is anything worth waiting for, it would be that.

 

[Dangman]

Any thoughts on going with a higher core count like the opteron's or dual Xeon chips? Video Card I can always swap out later.

Haven't seen comparison reviews of current Xeons and Opertons so I'm not up-to-date on that.

 

[PG37]

Not sure how relevant this is to the discussion, but I was really hoping to find something that would be a pretty strong step up from my current gen iMac setup. I know the Video Card is weak in the iMac, but with a 2600k 3.4Ghz, it seems like from a CPU standpoint it's decked out pretty well.

 

[Dangman]

Not sure how relevant this is to the discussion, but I was really hoping to find something that would be a pretty strong step up from my current gen iMac setup.

Note that CPU I listed is a six-core CPU . As such, it'll actually provide a strong step-up over your current iMac's CPU in applications that are heavily multi-threaded. Not to mention that massive increase in RAM as well.

 

[PG37]

I noticed it was 6 core, but some of these benchmarks are a little confusing. One setup I was noodling was this MB and Dual CPU combo:

ASUS Z9PE-D16/2L $379
Intel Xeon E5-2620 Sandy Bridge-EP 2.0GHz x2 $846
2x Kingston HyperX 24GB (6 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) $249.98
EVGA 02G-P4-2678-KR GeForce GTX 670 FTW 2GB $399

Interestingly enough i found a combo deal on a dual Xeon setup with two of the 670 cards:

The 2620 only has a PassMark score of 9127 vs the 11600+ of the 3930, but if you build it in a dual chip setup it scores closer to 16-17,000

 

[PG37]

Just found this

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/xeon-e5-2687w-benchmark-review,3149-8.html

 

[Dangman]

On my phone so I can't comment on the mobo but the RAM is more than likely crap since it is rated at 1.65v.

Passmark is a synthetic benchmark. As such it has no bearing on real world performance. As for toms, they are a source that I would not put too much trust in it

 

[PG37]

Thank you, this is why I came here. Great info! I could care less about synthetic benchmarks vs real world performance. As far as toms, that 3960 was being compared to a top of the line Xeon, which costs $2k a piece. Even at that it seemed to fair pretty well. Not to mention the fact that at $2k vs ($3200+ for the Xeon build) I could build the 3930 box and in another 6-12 months sell it build another awesome system and stay up to date with tech.

Also, from what I've read, once you OC the 3930 to 4.6Ghz it can probably hold it's own pretty well vs the Xeon chips. So if I were to OC that chip to 4.5 or 4.6 Ghz (a little conservative maybe, for stability) is the cooler you suggested sufficient, or should I look at a liquid cooling unit to maximize stability of the system?

Any recommendations on a good liquid cooler that would do the trick. Keep in mind I'm not building this PC for showboating or anything, just purely concerned with practical application. If air cooled is more than sufficient than I won't even bother with liquid.

 

[Dangman]

Since you're planning on overclocking that high, no the HSF that I linked won't probably handle the job.Go for the Corsair H80, Corsair H100, or Antec Kuhler 920 liquid cooling kits. However make absolutely sure that the above liquid cooling kits will fit into your choice of case.

 

[PG37]

I was thinking of going full tower so hopefully that won't be a problem for the liquid cooling to fit.

Is that over clock too aggressive? Not seems like that was a normal OC for that chip.

 

[Dangman]

I was thinking of going full tower so hopefully that won't be a problem for the liquid cooling to fit.

Not necessarily as even some full towers may not fit those liquid cooling kits well.

Is that over clock too aggressive? Not seems like that was a normal OC for that chip.

It is IMO.

 

[PG37]

Not necessarily as even some full towers may not fit those liquid cooling kits well.

I noticed a few of the ones you sent show liquid cooling kits inside of them. I guess I'll have to do my homework on it.

Any idea what's a decent, but very stable Overclock for on of those chips? If I don't over clock the processor I might still lean towards the dual Xeon's. The benchmark scores are somewhat close (9100 vs 11600) but from real-world render tests that I've seen the programs I'm going to use do favor additional cores. I know After Effects in particular can really make use of whatever cores you have available. I think I would stick with all of your other suggestions, maybe just the different MOBO and Processors.

I'm going to investigate further and see if there is much real-world difference having six additional cores, especially with a slower clock speed.

It looks like the cost difference would be:

MoBo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813151257 $399
CPU's 2x2620 XEON$844
GPU 1x 660TI superclock $299

Total $1542

vs

$1177 for your original build.

 

[PG37]

Found a quote here as far as how efficient CS6 is for rendering. Seems to support the idea of anything more than a 3930 not really being necessary:

"CUDA is dependent on plug-ins/ programs actually using the pertinent nVidia libraries. It's not a generalized processing framework that is integrated in the operating system. ...there are simply limits how much "out of order" processing you can do. And even if that would be possible processor wise, you'd still have to append frames in the correct order in a clip file, so that would be a bottleneck as would be file I/O in general, if 20 separate threads/ cores try to access the same clip files or write to them. Sorry, but you're looking for a simple answer that doesn't exist here and having the beefiest graphics card will be of no use to you nor will having multiple processors. Do as I said: go with a single core7i and rely on its TurboBoost feature. It's a lot more efficient than even the best Xeon for the kind of work you want to do."

Just saw another post where someone was saying that the OP would be hating life with the 2.0GHZ clock speed on a day to day working basis. Yes the renders would be faster, maybe 20 or so percent, but the 3930 would feel much faster day in and day out while using the program. More snappy is probably a better term.

Looks like your original build really is the best bang for your buck.

 

[Dangman]

Any idea what's a decent, but very stable Overclock for on of those chips?

Not really.

It looks like the cost difference would be:

Actually the cost difference will be greater since the Xeon route requires ECC RAM which cost a bit more than their consumer grade RAM. In addition, there's also a potential additional cost in the form of the case as that Tyan mobo is a SSI EEB mobo, which means that it won't fit into many ATX cases out there. With that said, I generally don't see people going with Tyan mobos in general when they're doing xeon builds. It's usually an Asus or a Supermicro mobo.

Found a quote here as far as how efficient CS6 is for rendering. Seems to support the idea of anything more than a 3930 not really being necessary:

I would prefer having actualy solid numbers but apparently that poster does seem to be a very prolific poster over in that forum. So there might be some truth to what he's saying. But I still have my doubts.

 

[PG37]

Not really.

Actually the cost difference will be greater since the Xeon route requires ECC RAM which cost a bit more than their consumer grade RAM. In addition, there's also a potential additional cost in the form of the case as that Tyan mobo is a SSI EEB mobo, which means that it won't fit into many ATX cases out there. With that said, I generally don't see people going with Tyan mobos in general when they're doing xeon builds. It's usually an Asus or a Supermicro mobo.

I was wondering about the need for ECC Ram. I guess that further drives the point home about the extra cost probably not being worth it. I don't think I'll find 64 GB of ECC Ram for $295

I would prefer having actualy solid numbers but apparently that poster does seem to be a very prolific poster over in that forum. So there might be some truth to what he's saying. But I still have my doubts.

Well, i've been editing for about 15 years and my experience I guess is similar to what that guy said. I guess I wasn't sure if the same was going to hold true with CS6. I know my iMac @ 3.4Ghz is quite a bit more snappy than the 2x2.4 Ghz Quad Core Xeon Mac Pro I use on site. But when it comes to doing a big render sometimes the 8-core gets it done quicker. I'd say for all around use iMac feels a bit snappier though.

 

[PG37]

Just did a little test with my late 2011 MB Pro 17" - 2.4Ghz core i7

Here is what I found:

Test 1 Playing back 2 streams of AVCHD in real time (picture in picture)

Test 2 Rendering the video in Test 1

Test 3 Exporting unrendered video from Test 1

sorry, I know this is not very scientific, but at least it tells us something.

What i'm most interested in is test 1, which is the real-time playback component. I don't really care if a render or an export takes 15% longer, but the real-time playback capability can make or break an edit.

 

[PG37]

If you can buy before October 31st, I recommend the following setup:

$847 - Intel Core i7 3930K CPU + eVGA SuperClocked 02G-P4-3662-KR GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB PCI-E Video Card Combo
$330 - Asus Sabertooth X79 ATX Motherboard
$296 - 4 x G.SKILL Ripjaws Series F3-12800CL10D-16GBXL 2 x 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$200 - Samsung 830 Series 256GB SSD (For OS and apps)
$110 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SSD (For scratch disk)
$180 - Western Digital Caviar Black WD2002FAEX 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive (For data storage)
$18 - Samsung DVD Burner
$150 - Seasonic X750 Gold 750W Modular PSU
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
-----
Total: $2161 plus tax and shipping.

Okay, so I picked up some of the components today at Fry's. I know, Newegg is better, but this is for my business and the state aggressively pursues businesses that don't pay taxes on asset purchases. It's just easier for me to pay tax now on it. Anyway, I pretty much stuck to Danny's build except with a couple of deviations. Fry's didn't have everything listd so I deviated where I thought it would be the same or an improvement.

Here's what I got (and Danny, please chime in if I should send some of it back and go with your suggestions):

Saber tooth x79 : $300
Antec 1100 case $101
Corsair vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) x4 @ $80/each
3930k $569
Evga 660ti SC 2G. $309 ($10 rebate avail)
Corsair ax750 gold. $169.99
Corsair h80 liquid cool $86

I'm ordering the Samsung 830 and crucial m4 from newegg. Any reason not to just get 2 crucials or 2 samsungs?

Any thoughts on if its worth the extra $50 for a GTX 670? I think it's best to stay nvidia otherwise I'd go 7970.

Is that power supply as good as the seasonic?

Thanks for any help.
How about the corsair ram?

 

[Dangman]

I'm ordering the Samsung 830 and crucial m4 from newegg. Any reason not to just get 2 crucials or 2 samsungs?

Two reasons:
1) To hedge your bets since the likelihood of you getting two defective drives from different manufacturers at the same time is fairly low
2) Easier for you to figure out/remember which drive is supposed to be the sratch.

Any thoughts on if its worth the extra $50 for a GTX 670? I think it's best to stay nvidia otherwise I'd go 7970.

Honestly not sure.

Is that power supply as good as the seasonic?

More or less.

How about the corsair ram?

That RAM should be fine.

All in all, not a bad build

 

[PG37]

Two reasons:
1) To hedge your bets since the likelihood of you getting two defective drives from different manufacturers at the same time is fairly low
2) Easier for you to figure out/remember which drive is supposed to be the sratch.

Honestly not sure.

More or less.

That RAM should be fine.

All in all, not a bad build

Best part is I got the Samsung 830 and a 256 GB crucial M4 last night from newegg and amazon for $159 each.

 

[Dangman]

Nice.

 

[PG37]

Nice.

By the way, not that it matters much, but newegg had some great combo deals on a few items so I went ahead and ordered a few things from them. I figured the seasonic had great reviews and was more or less the same as the corsair for $20 less, plus I found an h90/3930k combo for $35 off both. I had to return some items to frys anyway, so I figured I might as well save some additional cash while I'm at it. I also figured i'd use a bunch of 500 GB drives I have lying around from my old edit system to make a fast raid 5 protected 2.5 TB raid instead of the single 2TB drive.

 

[Dangman]

I also figured i'd use a bunch of 500 GB drives I have lying around from my old edit system to make a fast raid 5 protected 2.5 TB raid instead of the single 2TB drive.

You really only get a fast 2.5TB RAID 5 if you're using a non-Windows based software RAID or a dedicated true hardware RAID controller. The RAID 5 controller in most Intel motherboards that have RAID are very slow and do hurt the performance of the overall system due to the CPU having to do all of the parity calculations.

So in other words, I say just avoid RAID 5 altogether. With that said though if you do continue with your RAID 5 plans, maybe you can report back with your results.

 

[PG37]

You really only get a fast 2.5TB RAID 5 if you're using a non-Windows based software RAID or a dedicated true hardware RAID controller. The RAID 5 controller in most Intel motherboards that have RAID are very slow and do hurt the performance of the overall system due to the CPU having to do all of the parity calculations.

So in other words, I say just avoid RAID 5 altogether. With that said though if you do continue with your RAID 5 plans, maybe you can report back with your results.

I think I'll try it and see how I fare. I had a RAID 5 set up on this board before and it seemed to read pretty well, but my write performance was not awe inspiring. I could do a RAID 0+1 I suppose at 1.5TB. I'll try the RAID 5 first and run a disk benchmark on it.

As a side note, any ideas how good the Gigabyte 670 OC card is? I ordered one from Amazon yesterday for $340. Seemed like the extra 5-10% performance would be worth $40, plus it has 256-bit memory bus instead of 192 with the 660ti.

It's funny i've almost ordered everything online at this point except for the case and RAM. Is G.Skill better than the Corsair Vengeance for any reason? Customer service? Reliability? I figured I'm returning almost everything to Fry's anyways...

 

[Dangman]

I'll try the RAID 5 first and run a disk benchmark on it.

Do one benchmark when it's basically empty. Then do another benchmark when it's half full. In addition, note the CPU usage when the RAID array is empty and when the RAID array is half full.

As a side note, any ideas how good the Gigabyte 670 OC card is? I ordered one from Amazon yesterday for $340. Seemed like the extra 5-10% performance would be worth $40, plus it has 256-bit memory bus instead of 192 with the 660ti.

Ok-ish choice.

It's funny i've almost ordered everything online at this point except for the case and RAM. Is G.Skill better than the Corsair Vengeance for any reason? Customer service? Reliability? I figured I'm returning almost everything to Fry's anyways...

The Corsair RAM you've bought is fine. Keep it.

 

[PG37]

Finally got build together and Win7 64bit up and running. I haven't done much yet in the way of tests other than Windows Experience Index (obviously almost meaningless) and run prime 95 for several hours. My WEI score was all 7.9s except the CPU hit 7.8. Clearly I need to OC it as anything less than all 7.9s won't do. Everything seems to run fine during Prime 95 even with RAM test set at 60GB. My CPU core temps are hovering around 57-61 C (at full load for 4 hours) with the "CPU" temp at 43 C. My vCore is at 50C and my DRAM at 32-33C. One note is that this is with the H80 set to the lowest setting and all my CPU fans set on quiet mode. If I crank it up it drops temps by 5-6C.

I had a few problems with the Win 7 install. On 3 different tries I couldn't get Win 7 to see my LG blu-ray drive regardless of the fact that I installed win7 with it and it showed up in BIOS.

I have to say I love this Antec 1100 case. It is awesome and was so cheap! I ordered a HighPoint rocket raid 2420SGL miniSAS to SATA card. Not sure if I'm going to run it in my Windows Home Server I'm building or in this box. I kind of want to see how it performs first. The nice thing about it is that you can easily add drives later to expand storage.

One quick question: I kind of botched the mounting of the H80 cooling platform on my CPU. I put it on and then rotated it 45 degrees and stuck it on again. I noticed some of the thermal paste had already rubbed off on the CPU. Should I re-paste that thing, or is it probably fine?

I'll load up premiere and maybe a game and let you know more about real-world performance.

One quick note for Danny: I thought it was funny, the people at Fry's said someone came in with a printout of the same exact build looking for G.Skill ram and everything. Not sure if they got it from here or not, but it wouldn't surprise me as this has been an informative thread...for me at least.

 

[Dangman]

I ordered a HighPoint rocket raid 2420SGL miniSAS to SATA card. Not sure if I'm going to run it in my Windows Home Server I'm building or in this box. I kind of want to see how it performs first. The nice thing about it is that you can easily add drives later to expand storage.

Hang on, you sure you got that model number right?

One quick question: I kind of botched the mounting of the H80 cooling platform on my CPU. I put it on and then rotated it 45 degrees and stuck it on again. I noticed some of the thermal paste had already rubbed off on the CPU. Should I re-paste that thing, or is it probably fine?

It'll be ok for now.

One quick note for Danny: I thought it was funny, the people at Fry's said someone came in with a printout of the same exact build looking for G.Skill ram and everything. Not sure if they got it from here or not, but it wouldn't surprise me as this has been an informative thread...for me at least.

This thread has gotten 1140 views give or take as of this post. Pretty sure you and I didn't hit up this thread that often

 

[the snake]

.........This thread has gotten 1140 views give or take as of this post. Pretty sure you and I didn't hit up this thread that often

i just subscribed to this thread for research on a possible new build for myself

 

[PG37]

Hang on, you sure you got that model number right?

Oops 2720 SGL. It had decent reviews on amazon and it was 8-ports which is what I wanted. If its pretty solid I might buy another one.

 

[PG37]

i just subscribed to this thread for research on a possible new build for myself

Feel free to ask me any questions. Perhaps ill provide a final cost and parts list.

 

[Dangman]

Oops 2720 SGL. It had decent reviews on amazon and it was 8-ports which is what I wanted. If its pretty solid I might buy another one.

Did you buy the SFF-8087 to SATA forward breakout cables?

In any case, you should have stuck with the onboard RAID at that point as that card is still basically a software RAID/fakeRAID controller just like the Intel RAID controller that came with your mobo. Which means that it will use your RAM and CPU to do all of the parity calculations which means it can impact the performance of the PC. Granted the Highpoint may have slightly higher performance but not enough to justify the cost IMO. Also, you should have read the Newegg reviews for it as well. Quite a few gotchas with that card. Looks like you have to upgrade the firmware right away.

Also, I highly recommend reading this article to see what actually makes up a true hardware RAID controller:
http://www.servethehome.com/anatomy-hardware-raid-controller/

 

[PG37]

Did you buy the SFF-8087 to SATA forward breakout cables?

In any case, you should have stuck with the onboard RAID at that point as that card is still basically a software RAID/fakeRAID controller just like the Intel RAID controller that came with your mobo. Which means that it will use your RAM and CPU to do all of the parity calculations which means it can impact the performance of the PC. Granted the Highpoint may have slightly higher performance but not enough to justify the cost IMO. Also, you should have read the Newegg reviews for it as well. Quite a few gotchas with that card. Looks like you have to upgrade the firmware right away.

Also, I highly recommend reading this article to see what actually makes up a true hardware RAID controller:
http://www.servethehome.com/anatomy-hardware-raid-controller/

Yep, got the breakout cables for $16 each. I did notice that it was a fakeRAID, but didn't really care as I was mainly using it on a Win Home Server that's got a decent Core2Duo proc and plenty of RAM. Nothing I'll be streaming from that box will be proc intensive enough to be a problem if the CPU is having to do the work for the RAID. My other mobo for the server doesn't have enough slots for the number of drives I wanted, thus the Highpoint card. I was thinking to get another one for my editing rig, but will likely use the onboard RAID until I feel the need to buy a proper RAID card. I'm probably only going to have 2-3 drives on my editing rig for now and probably 8-10 drives on my server.


As a side note, I finally got a chance to try After Effects and Premiere Pro on the system last night. All I can say is "wow". I had to manually add my 670 to the accepted CUDA card list, but once I did it showed up fine. So far I haven't been able to throw anything at it that won't play real time. Also, I played around with OC'ing the chip a bit. By just playing with the clock modifier and setting it to 43 I was able to hit a stable 4.3xx GHZ. The temps were hitting 62-65c up from 55c, so I pulled it down to 40x and left it at 4.0GHZ. Ran prime 95 for a few hours with zero errors and just decided to leave it at that. I'm sure I could get more out of it, but didn't think the heat/power/longevity trade off was worth it. At 4GHZ it's still stays at 54-55c.

 

[Dangman]

Only a few hours? I recommend a full 24 hours of Prime to make sure it is stable

 

[PG37]

Only a few hours? I recommend a full 24 hours of Prime to make sure it is stable

Well, even at stock clock if I was using the machine while prime was running it would usually dump out of one of the workers. It would just be one of the threads though. When I ran it for a few hours at 4.3 and it didn't quit out of a process I figured it's probably pretty decent. Then after i turned it down to 4.0 I figured it would only be more stable. I'm not sure if dumping out of a one worker thread in prime 95 is something I should really be worried about. If my chip is doing that at stock speed does that mean I maybe got a crap cpu? Should I RMA it? I ran it overnight and it was fine, but a couple of times when i was running it for a few hours at a time it error'd out on a single thread.

Edit: Just read up more on prime95 and realized I shouldn't have been using the machine at all while it's running.