Nov 27, 2012, 5:21 AM
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Editing Computer Revisited - Nov 2012
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Hoping to get some advice on building or buying a desktop for video editing and general use, PLEASE.
I have a work laptop so I thought that I would get more computing power per dollar if I went with a desktop.
Only real requirements are a Windows system because I don't do the apple thing.
I am going to be editing video from my CX760 that is going to be shot in standard HD, and also some Blueray quality HD.
A bonus would be a good powerful system that is ready built from a vendor that offers a no interest for 12 or 18 months deal.
I almost pulled a trigger on a Dell XPS 8500 yesterday but it would have been to much of an impulse buy, and the reviews online said it was maxed out on memory slots etc. I would like the ability to put more memory in without paying the Dell upgrade prices!
So what should be looking for?
(This post was edited by DougH on Nov 27, 2012, 5:23 AM)
I am starting to get some questions together as I do some surfing:
Processor -AMD or Intel? -How many cores? (The dell was a quad core i7, looks like big jump in price to 6 cores for intel) -Form factor, 22nm versus ???nm, does this matter?
Case power supply & motherboard -Any performance factor here?
Hard drives -It looks like solid state for the operating system and software... what about drives for footage, storage, etc?
Memory -Fastest and most possible? -Memory channels? Dual or Quad?
Video card I don't think there is a benefit to a gaming card for editing, but maybe I will start playing computer games again.
(This post was edited by DougH on Nov 27, 2012, 5:54 AM)
I'm an intel fan myself, not any recent experience aith AMD. Inter works great for editing.
-How many cores? (The dell was a quad core i7, looks like big jump in price to 6 cores for intel)
A quadcore (!) i5 (without a letter behind the name although K is ok this is meant for overclockers) or i7 (same) will do fine. Get a sandybridge or better yet ivy bridge.
-Form factor, 22nm versus ???nm, does this matter?
Case power supply & motherboard -Any performance factor here?
You do not want a budget power supply. Motherboard, get one with the features you need (like usb3, e-sata, firewire, front usb ports, sata600, ...) with a chipset suitable for your proc. (intel/amd/are you going to overclock/do you need the on-board video/...)
Hard drives -It looks like solid state for the operating system and software... what about drives for footage, storage, etc?
SSD for OS & software, plus a big+ fasti-ish HDD for footage, plus a fast-ish HDD or SSD for a scratchdisk.
Memory -Fastest and most possible?
"most" is better than "fastest"
-Memory channels? Dual or Quad?
my 2 editing rigs are triple channel and dual channel, both work fine.
Video card I don't think there is a benefit to a gaming card for editing, but maybe I will start playing computer games again.
Some (verisons of) editing software do rely on the graphics card, a suitable card can really speed up editing here. Adobe Premiere Pro up to 5.5 is very happy with a (specific range of) nvidia card. Premiere Pro 6 has a different angine I think. Don't know about other editing software.
First off, I wanna REALLY recommend you build your OWN! You will save money, and its a bit of a learning experience, and you can customize it as much as you want! youre not limited to a pre built towers restrictions.
for the Processor: Intel costs more however the market for intel is much bigger than AMD's. AMD is much more cost effective. But believe me when I say Intel outperforms AMD! However you probably wont notice this difference.
Since youre going to be mainly doing video editing, id recommend going with an intel chip, and nvidia cards, yes its the more expensive route, but there's only a handful of Motherboards out there that mix the two. Usually if you have an intel CPU , you have a nvidia gfx card!
Get your self an i5 or i7 like the poster above mentioned.
form factor for motherboard will depend on expandability and how big you want your computer, id recommend getting an ATX mobo, and a Cooler Master mid tower (their mid towers are pretty sizable, I know i have three :P) this way, you have all the slots and potential for upgrades if you want with out having to get a Full sized tower(they're huge)
Case: As I mentioned a Cooler Master Mid tower Heres one of the mid towers I own, with an ATX mobo, and 2 graphic cards running in SLI
SSD's for software and os, and regular HD's for store of media. you might even want to consider a RAID set up, for performance parity/ back up! (if so, you might want to consider a FULL TOWER)
Memory: youre gonna be doing video editing so you'll need quite a bit of it. Memory is pretty cheap now a days, Gskill sells some damn good memory for really good prices lately. So that may be something to look into
for example: only $75!!! :P http://www.newegg.com/...Item=N82E16820231315 Video card: not too important for video editing / photos, UNLESS you are doing some 3D work.... but if you do start playing games again. Not sure what your budget is so id recommend going with something in the gtx 560 and up series (the 5xx series price just dropped with the 6xx series coming out!)
I'm not sure how knowledgeable you are with computers so I tried to be more general xD
Hope this helped!
*edit forgot
you absolutely will need to get a x64 bit edition of windows! (youll need more than 4 gigs of ram)
(This post was edited by dsemac91 on Nov 27, 2012, 7:02 AM)
DSE (D 29060)
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Nov 27, 2012, 11:15 AM
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Gee...and here we are putting off-the-shelf desktops in a lot of DZ's and remotely managing them. :)
The editing machine is ENTIRELY based around the acquisition format (is it uncompressed 10bit, RED, AVCHD, AVC?) and the application requirements. Some apps/hardware want specific hardware, others simply don't give a damn.
In today's world, an off-the-shelf system is plenty good enough for most folks use. Disable anti-virus or create a profile that doesn't use the internet/antivirus, and you're usually great to go.
Set up one guy that is a hard-core Mac guy, but hates FCP and FCPX, got him a 400.00 Windows 8 laptop, he's finishing a long-form with composites and a lot of overlay, mixing RED, AVC, and AVCHD on it. editing at full frame rate all day long.
Good Call, just built my own system for speed as we give the customer ther tandem jump on DVD 15 mins after we land and then get on the next load.6 mins to edit 10 mins of AVCHD footage with all the trimmings for a tandem video and then 3 mins to render and burn:) Specs. I7 3770 quad asrock B75 usb3-m motherboard 8 gb 1333 ram 120 gb ssd for OS and APPS 1TB external HDD to store raw footage Micro form tower 450w psu windows 7 Cyberlink powerdirector 11 ultra external dvd burner. And thats it, Powerdirector 11 uses intels quick sync which is hardware encoding on the CPU, 3rd gen ivybridge have it and it is quick. Check out Intels web site to see which editing software supports it and also that your motherboard chipset does to, B75 and Z77 sets do. My first PC build and it works a treat all for about £600.00 GBP.
I am pretty computer savy, used to build PCs, even got my A+ certification back in the day. But now I work at a large multi-national that slings out crappy laptops, and I just need to sit there and say thank you sir, please may I have another.
Thanks for the responses everyone. I have been playing around on tiger direct looking at components.
DSE glad to hear that it can be more of a barebones solution. I am going to try to aim for the middle of the road I think.
DSE (D 29060)
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Nov 28, 2012, 7:03 AM
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I have a Mac. 25-30 of them, in fact. My work requires a Mac. I hate it, so do run Bootcamp on it so I can run Windows, too. Gotta love Apple; "Creative freedom!! (as long as you create the way we want you to).
One huge benefit of my Mac (and FCP), is that if I charge by the hour vs by the project, I can make some real money. On the PC side, charging by the hour makes no sense because I can work so much faster.
I generally avoid Tiger...they are a second hand store...newegg, micro center, etc...You can't go wrong with the eVGA Classifieds...The Asus with the copper backplanes are nice as well. I wholeheartedly reccomend Raid 0 for speed, not for redundency, rudundant raid arrays generally are a real pain and despite what you read about them they frequently have issues with recovery......just back everything up immediatly, and I do mean back up everything...the ssd's are great, most all of the bugs are out... Overclocking works but at the cost of stability...big power supplies!! I mean 1200W and up if you have multiple drives...seems to help with stability...Watch out for windows 8. Stick with intel phurchase the fastest chip you can afford. BUY A TOWER CASE, why? Because of the ability to mix and match, to be able to reconfigure add stuff and modify things...blue ray disc's are still very pricey! Build it your self! My ex's divorce order says "I can't bring my children with me (as PIC) unless it has more than 23 seats." for real!
OO"H no mr Chris, I'm not dissin newegg, I like them, I was commenting on Tiger...Tiger seems to have a less than reliable return and slow shipping...I have returned more than a few items to them and compared to newegg they are slow and cumbersome. Newegg is more akin to amazon, they go the extra mile with everything and returns are usually problem free. Tiger also seems to specialize in "last years stuff." If it's a few yers old or didn't work in the first place it frequently showes up on Tigers webb site...
