Video editing pc

[jeffel]

Hi Guys,

I need some help with choosing the right components for building a video editing pc.I am building this for a friend of mine.

Target budget - £1400

This is the config i selected for him.

Parts could be used or new no probs.

CASE Antec P182 £80


MOBO ASUS P5K-E Wifi £65 (used)


PSU 700W psu £60


HDD 2 x 500gb sata Raid 0 £110


CPU Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600 G0 SLACR, 95W, S775, £130 (OEM)
2.40 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB Cache@3.4ghz


RAM 2GB 1066MHZ Corsair £47


GPU 1gb 8800gt £170


WRITER 20x Writer £18


Video card Matrox RT .X2 hdv version+ Adobe premiere pro £880

cpu cooler Scythe 'Samurai Z' Aluminium Heatpipe Heatsink + Fan £20

Total £1580


Do anyone know where i can get the matrox RT.X2 HDV version and software for a cheap price.
The matrox card i selected cost £580 at advancetec.co.uk
Advance Tec Ltd Matrox RT.X2 Realtime Native HDV & DV Editing Card
And retail version of Adobe premiere pro from ebay US(powerseller) for £300.I beieve this is as cheap as it gets.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[SiM]

Looks fine to me... might be worth going for a better cooler Scythe Ninja maybe. Also the 1GB 8800GT is slower than the 523mb GT in about 70-80% of games... even at 1920x1200... I would stick with 512mb and save 50 quid...

Sorry don't know anything about the matrox card...

[staffsMike]

I would get 4GB of PC6400 RAM which will run a q6600 @ 3.6GHz before it's even overclocked. It's only £57 on scan today only.

No idea about the video editing lark.. looks pricey.

Also agree with sim over the 1GB GT.

[jeffel]

Looks fine to me... might be worth going for a better cooler Scythe Ninja maybe. Also the 1GB 8800GT is slower than the 523mb GT in about 70-80% of games... even at 1920x1200... I would stick with 512mb and save 50 quid...

Sorry don't know anything about the matrox card...

I thought the 1gb and 512mb 8800gt were the same hardware (more memory) with same performance.thx for the tip staffsMike & SiM.

[SiM]

I agree with Mike about the ram. Get 4GB of PC6400

[jeffel]

I would get 4GB of PC6400 RAM which will run a q6600 @ 3.6GHz before it's even overclocked. It's only £57 on scan today only.

No idea about the video editing lark.. looks pricey.

Also agree with sim over the 1GB GT.

I would get 4GB of PC6400 RAM which will run a q6600 @ 3.6GHz before it's even overclocked.

I dont understand this bit.

[staffsMike]

Ok well essentially a Q6600 when running at 400MHz FSB it's at 3.6GHz

I know they state 1066MHz and stuff like, but that is really 1066MHz divided by 4, so its really 266MHz.

DDR2 RAM at "800MHz" is actually 800 divided by 2 so it's really 400MHz.

So when a Q6600 is at 400MHz (3.6GHz) the RAM is running at it's stock speed.

There is more indepth stuff in clunks overclocking guide in the stickies but i hope that helps.

[Toobad]

High Definition video editing loves copious quantities of RAM so 4Gb and obviously a 64-bit OS are definately the way to go. If Adobe is multithreaded then it will be able to make use of all 4 cores of the Q6600 simultaneously. I know Sony Vegas 8.0 certainly does.

I've never been convinced as to the benefits of Raid 0 now we have 7200rpm HDDs with such high platter density and enormous caches. Unless you are the kind of person who enjoys making love standing up in a hammock just because you can, I'd simplify things by opting for a 3 physical drive setup. Use separate drives for Programs, Raw Footage and Rendered Video. Oh, and it does no harm to split your Page File between your Raw and Rendered drives for improved performance. I'd also factor in the price of a further external drive connnected by e-SATA for excellent backup speed.

You don't say what monitor setup you have but I have an old 8800GTS 640Mb card to drive my 30" Dell. This is also adequate for giving realtime hi-def (HDV) previews when editing from within Vegas without the use of an intermediate codec. I'd be tempted to hold off on the Matrox card and see how the system flys without it. At least if you do add it later you'll immediately be able to assess its bang4buck effect.

[HSK]

^ exactly what he said. 4Gb, 64bit OS, Quad Core, and a few drives for sure. + a decent resolution screen.

[Lourdes]

You don't need a 700w PSU, the Corsair VX450 would be fine.
The Antec P182 seems rather excessive, it's a huge case.
There's no need for an 8800GT for vido editing...
MORE RAM
Faster hard drives, the most recent ones that use 320GB platters such as the 640GB WD's are very quick.

Thing is though, what is he actually editing and at what resolutions? This all might be overkill.

[Pob255]

You don't say what monitor setup you have but I have an old 8800GTS 640Mb card to drive my 30" Dell. This is also adequate for giving realtime hi-def (HDV) previews when editing from within Vegas without the use of an intermediate codec. I'd be tempted to hold off on the Matrox card and see how the system flys without it. At least if you do add it later you'll immediately be able to assess its bang4buck effect.

Ok where to begin on that . . . When you're video editing your palying with the raw uncompressed data so no codex should be invloved in the first place, yes you're editing together peices of video that were originally compressed but when you are editing it it's all uncompressed into temp files and memory.
Which is why video editing does well with large amounts of memory, hard drive and processing power, you're working with very large amounts of data.

Given this the Video card does very little for you when video editing, all you should need is something that can do half decent video playback for checking of the final product.
I beleive the HD3650 is well rated here for it's video playback as is the 8500gt I seem to recall.

I'd fully agree on the quad core, 4gb memory, 64bit OS and 2 or 3 500gb HD's
EDIT: forgot PSU 700w for £60 . . . what brand and model
Although Lourdes is right here don't need half the power

[jeffel]

Ok where to begin on that . . . When you're video editing your palying with the raw uncompressed data so no codex should be invloved in the first place, yes you're editing together peices of video that were originally compressed but when you are editing it it's all uncompressed into temp files and memory.
Which is why video editing does well with large amounts of memory, hard drive and processing power, you're working with very large amounts of data.

Given this the Video card does very little for you when video editing, all you should need is something that can do half decent video playback for checking of the final product.
I beleive the HD3650 is well rated here for it's video playback as is the 8500gt I seem to recall.

I'd fully agree on the quad core, 4gb memory, 64bit OS and 2 or 3 500gb HD's
EDIT: forgot PSU 700w for £60 . . . what brand and model
Although Lourdes is right here don't need half the power

As most of the guys said i dont want to use a 64bit OS coz the matrox video editng card is compatible only with 32bit OS.My friend need it for high definition(720p,1080p ) video encoding , editing etc.
Power supply is Hi-Power Black 700W 14cm Blue LED Fan PSU - 20+4pin, 4x SATA, 4x PCI-E - Ebuyer

[staffsMike]

Power supply is Hi-Power Black 700W 14cm Blue LED Fan PSU - 20+4pin, 4x SATA, 4x PCI-E - Ebuyer

Don't get that! You will blow his wonderful new PC to bits if it fails. You're far better off with a Corsair HX 520w. Should be around £60 - 65

But the 450W VX would cover it

[jeffel]

Don't get that! You will blow his wonderful new PC to bits if it fails. You're far better off with a Corsair HX 520w. Should be around £60 - 65

But the 450W VX would cover it

Most psu's has these features nowadays.
* Over voltage protection
* Over current protection
* Over load protection
* Short circuit protection
* 100% burn-in under high ambient temperature
Or will a failing psu ruin the components even though they are build to these standards

[staffsMike]

Most psu's has these features nowadays.
* Over voltage protection
* Over current protection
* Over load protection
* Short circuit protection
* 100% burn-in under high ambient temperature
Or will a failing psu ruin the components even though they are build to these standards

Tell that to ezCool and all the other naff brands out there the specs look ok but I still wouldn't trust it.

Seriously the Corsair HX will be more efficent, quieter, and give a better overall power output (willing to go out on a limb there) for near enough the same price.

Not worth the risk imo... you wait for blitzen to see that.. you'll have him spitting at you

[jeffel]

This looks ok to me.What do u guys think

OCZ StealthXStream 600W PSU ATX 12V 2.2 OCZ600SXS NEW*** £52 inc postage

OCZ StealthXStream 600W PSU ATX 12V 2.2 OCZ600SXS NEW on eBay, also ATX Standard Power Supplies, Power Supplies, Desktop PC Components, Computing (end time 13-Apr-08 00:20:36 BST)