Computer for video editing - purchasing advice

2009-10-04 02:11:29

#1

Snorkelfarsan: Soup Boy; +32|6866|Stockholm, Sweden

Hey,

I'm buying a computer for my dad who wants a computer he can edit HD-video on. He is willing to spend around $7-800.

I'm thinking that I should get the Core i5, about 4 GB of ram at least, a standard 7200rpm hardrive, a lower end graphics card like the AMD HD4650 or the nVidia Geforce9500GT. No need to spend a lot on a good GPU since he wont be gaming. Of course the GPU is important for HD rendering but the processor is the most crucial part of the setup, so I prefer to put money on that instead.

What setup will provide the most bang for my(fathers) buck? Any thought?

chiers

2009-10-04 02:15:42

#2

some_random_panda: Flamesuit essential; +454|6651

A nice screen for him to appreciate his work?

2009-10-04 02:19:12

#3

Snorkelfarsan: Soup Boy; +32|6866|Stockholm, Sweden

We have a 19inch screen that will do for now, what is of more importance is the hardware.

2009-10-04 02:58:52

#4

Bertster7: Confused Pothead; +1,101|6842|SE London

Hard drives, hard drives and more hard drives.....

That's what makes a good video editing machine. Big powerful CPU (with lots of instructions/extensions - something like the E5200 falls flat on its face with video editing because of the lack of all the SSE stuffs), good chunk of RAM and lots and lots of decent hard drives and space.

Ideally SSDs in RAID (or maybe a nice little SAN on a fibre interface), maybe 4-6, and a few large capacity (TB+) drives - perhaps with an external for storage of completed projects. Of course on your budget yuo won't be able to do this properly, but nevertheless, buy lots of good hard drives.

2009-10-04 03:14:41

#5

Benzin: Member; +576|6259

Bertster7 wrote:
Hard drives, hard drives and more hard drives.....

That's what makes a good video editing machine. Big powerful CPU (with lots of instructions/extensions - something like the E5200 falls flat on its face with video editing because of the lack of all the SSE stuffs), good chunk of RAM and lots and lots of decent hard drives and space.

Ideally SSDs in RAID (or maybe a nice little SAN on a fibre interface), maybe 4-6, and a few large capacity (TB+) drives - perhaps with an external for storage of completed projects. Of course on your budget yuo won't be able to do this properly, but nevertheless, buy lots of good hard drives.

Yea, I would say two 1.5TB drives in RAID would be a good jump off point, right? I mean, I can't imagine he is going to fill up 1.5TB that quickly ... And if he does, buy more drives.

The i5 750 would be a good idea, though. Read Tech Report's review about it.

2009-10-04 03:21:43

#6

some_random_panda: Flamesuit essential; +454|6651

CapnNismo wrote:
Bertster7 wrote:
Hard drives, hard drives and more hard drives.....

That's what makes a good video editing machine. Big powerful CPU (with lots of instructions/extensions - something like the E5200 falls flat on its face with video editing because of the lack of all the SSE stuffs), good chunk of RAM and lots and lots of decent hard drives and space.

Ideally SSDs in RAID (or maybe a nice little SAN on a fibre interface), maybe 4-6, and a few large capacity (TB+) drives - perhaps with an external for storage of completed projects. Of course on your budget yuo won't be able to do this properly, but nevertheless, buy lots of good hard drives.
Yea, I would say two 1.5TB drives in RAID would be a good jump off point, right? I mean, I can't imagine he is going to fill up 1.5TB that quickly ... And if he does, buy more drives.

The i5 750 would be a good idea, though. Read Tech Report's review about it.

Bertster means the SSDS in raid for speed, followed by the other hard drives for storing the work.

2009-10-04 03:37:41

#7

max: Vela Incident; +1,652|6827|NYC / Hamburg

Hyperthreading does help a fair bit with video work, so consider stepping up to the i7 860

_{once upon a midnight dreary, while i pron surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of ' hot xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, " give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404.}

2009-10-04 03:37:56

#8

GC_PaNzerFIN: Work and study @ Technical Uni; +528|6674|Finland

Talk about squeezing SSD raid and HDD raid in 800 budget with i5.

3930K | H100i | RIVF | 16GB DDR3 | GTX 480 | AX750 | 800D | 512GB SSD | 3TB HDD | Xonar DX | W8

2009-10-04 03:45:35

#9

Benzin: Member; +576|6259

some_random_panda wrote:
Bertster means the SSDS in raid for speed, followed by the other hard drives for storing the work.

I realize that, but as Panzer said - no way to be able to fit that within budget. I busted that post out real quick before going off to lunch.

You guys think the i5 8xx would be able to get under budget (the new Lynnfield)?

2009-10-04 04:25:01

#10

Snorkelfarsan: Soup Boy; +32|6866|Stockholm, Sweden

Hyperthreading would be great, but I don't think I can squeeze that in to the budget.

what about this:

Optiarc AD-7240S DVD±RW Svart SATA, OEM

Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2

Corsair 4GB (2x2048MB) 1333MHz XMS3-10600

Corsair CX 400W 80+

500GB Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ

Cooler Master Elite 341, Svart

CPU Core i7 860, 2.80GHz

PowerColor Radeon HD4350 512MB HDMI

that's a bit over budget but still ok I think.

I can always get more hardrives later

2009-10-04 05:19:01

#11

Benzin: Member; +576|6259

Quick observation: Why are you buying a normal DVD drive if this thing is going to be doing HD video stuff? Get a BluRay drive? I mean, I know you'll take a price hit, but I suppose that's always an upgrade for the future. No sound card, though? Guess you can add that to the wish list for your father. I mean, you could make this thing into a nice and mean HTPC, lol.

I think you should drop that mobo, though, and get the UD4. You get a lot more expansion room (ATX vs Micro ATX) versus the UD2. Granted, it is $60 more, but again ... planning for the future. Obviously you'll need to change the case, though, and the ATX case (or even a midtower) will give you more drive bays. That Cooler Master only has TWO internal 3.5" drive bays. So ... yea ... you would only be able to get ONE more hard drive in the future with that case. That being said, Cooler Master still has a large selection of mid towers that will greatly increase the amount of drives you can stick inside it and maybe only spend $5-10 more.

But I think the mobo and the case really need to be changed just for the reason of future expansion capabilities.

(Just noticed one thing about your DVD drive: It doesn't seem to work with 64-bit according to one user.)

2009-10-04 09:17:21

#12

Snorkelfarsan: Soup Boy; +32|6866|Stockholm, Sweden

I've thought about the DVD vs Blue-ray but a blue ray is not something that I think he needs right now. the hardware itself is the most important thing right now so that he has a good computer that will last him a couple of years. More harddrives, a new screen, Bluray drive, more memory etc is something to consider later on.

I know there is an UD3 which is not much more expensive, maybe i'll go with that one instead. And I'll change the DVD drive, I didnt really look closely since it was more of an example

EDIT: What do you guys think I should do about the OS? I have 32-bit WinXP at home that I can use but would prefer to get win7 when it comes out.

Last edited by Snorkelfarsan (2009-10-04 12:05:53)

2009-10-04 09:26:03

#13

bugz: Fission Mailed; +3,311|6572

At least go with a 1TB Western Digital hard drive. With all the clips and precomps that you make during the video editing process, it'll fill up quick. Especially with HD footage.

Steam: http://steamcommunity.com/id/ebug122

2009-10-04 10:00:54

#14

Benzin: Member; +576|6259

Snorkelfarsan wrote:
I've thought about the DVD vs Blue-ray but a blue ray is not something that I think he needs right now. the hardware itself is the most important thing right now so that he has a good computer that will last him a couple of years. More harddrives, a new screen, Bluray drive, more memory etc is something to consider later on.

I know there is an UD3 which is not much more expensive, maybe i'll go with that one instead. And I'll change the DVD drive, I didnt really look closely since it was more of an example

If you don't get the UD4P (there is another UD4 that is micro ATX, the P is the big one) then you won't be able to ever run Crossfire or SLi. Think about that one.

2009-10-04 11:57:27

#15

max: Vela Incident; +1,652|6827|NYC / Hamburg

Lynnfield based i7s only have dual channel memory controllers.

Last edited by max (2009-10-05 04:29:26)

_{once upon a midnight dreary, while i pron surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of ' hot xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, " give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404.}

2009-10-04 22:56:31

#16

Benzin: Member; +576|6259

max wrote:
Lynnfield based i7s only dual channel memory controllers.

QFT

2009-10-04 22:59:47

#17

mcminty: Moderating your content for the Australian Govt.; +879|6981|Sydney, Australia

What software does he have? Or do you have to buy that as well?

2009-10-06 03:06:23

#18

Snorkelfarsan: Soup Boy; +32|6866|Stockholm, Sweden

I forgot to mention that, he has Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum edition. Pretty good consumer software but not as easy to use like the Pinnacle Studio or perhaps Adobe Premiere Elements. Which he has used before. However, with Sony Vegas he gets a lot of other handy programs like Sound Forge and DVD-architect etc.

What should I do about the OS, wait for win7? how does the upgrade version work?

2009-10-06 03:18:17

#19

Cheez: Herman is a warmaphrodite; +1,027|6699|King Of The Islands

Snorkelfarsan wrote:
I forgot to mention that, he has Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum edition. Pretty good consumer software but not as easy to use like the Pinnacle Studio or perhaps Adobe Premiere Elements. Which he has used before. However, with Sony Vegas he gets a lot of other handy programs like Sound Forge and DVD-architect etc.

What should I do about the OS, wait for win7? how does the upgrade version work?

Brands deal with their own system, pay for an upgrade online.

OEM is bought at purchase, you receive a code you put into this site with shipping details.

My state was founded by Batman. Your opinion is invalid.

2009-10-06 04:12:04

#20

Benzin: Member; +576|6259

I've heard doing upgrades on top of the existing OS can sometimes lead to issues. Why not just tell your dad to chill for another 2 weeks? Put a pre-order in at Best Buy or New Egg or whatever and just hold out until then.

2009-10-06 04:41:13

#21

Finray: Hup! Dos, Tres, Cuatro; +2,629|6048|Catherine Black

If he's not really that serious about it, a good quad-core will do more than enough for him.

I'd say he'd only really need an i7 if he was going to do this as a business or something.

2009-10-06 05:56:39

#22

Benzin: Member; +576|6259

Finray wrote:
If he's not really that serious about it, a good quad-core will do more than enough for him.

I'd say he'd only really need an i7 if he was going to do this as a business or something.

which would make an i5 the best choice. Gives you quad and a modern socket with the option to upgrade to i7 in the future

2009-10-06 06:00:30

#23

DUnlimited: got any popo lolo intersting?; +1,160|6723|cuntshitlake

CapnNismo wrote:
Finray wrote:
If he's not really that serious about it, a good quad-core will do more than enough for him.

I'd say he'd only really need an i7 if he was going to do this as a business or something.
which would make an i5 the best choice. Gives you quad and a modern socket with the option to upgrade to i7 in the future

i5 uses different socket than i7.

main battle tank karthus medikopter 117 megamegapowershot gg

2009-10-06 06:11:40

#24

hexify: Member; +5|5610|Canada

not the 860, 1156

https://bf3s.com/sigs/eb8872cebb08c046204abcc26a2b5cc159f8e98c.png

2009-10-06 06:13:10

#25

max: Vela Incident; +1,652|6827|NYC / Hamburg

There are Lynnfield based i7s

_{once upon a midnight dreary, while i pron surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of ' hot xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, " give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404.}

BF2S Forums Computer for video editing - purchasing advice

Bertster7 wrote:

CapnNismo wrote:

Bertster7 wrote:

some_random_panda wrote:

Snorkelfarsan wrote:

max wrote:

Snorkelfarsan wrote:

Finray wrote:

CapnNismo wrote:

Finray wrote:

Board footer