Desktop/Laptop for Video and photo editing

Please bear with me, I've been going round in circles trying to decide what to go for. I'm tempted by the transportability of the laptop, but concerned about reports of overheating and upgrading limitations. I want to use it for everyday Internet and Office applications but also for Photo Editing PS and Video Editing outputting to DVD and BR.

I am a long-term Casablanca user and would now like to transfer my many VHS and SVHS videos to DV and HDV through this new set-up, but I'm don't see any analogue/digital converters listed - would this require an external device?

My current camcorder 3CCD DV to be replaced in future possibly by a Panasonic HDC 700 from which I would hope to input directly to this new PC.

Not really knowing what I am doing I have arrived at the specs. posted below. I would greatly appreciate comments on them and feedback from anyone Video Editing on a similar PCS Laptop - thanks in advance.

Laptop Photo/Video Editing PC

Now moved to its own thread:-
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forum...p-for-Photo-and-HD-Vdeo-Editing-for-Christmas

Chassis & Display
Vortex i7: 17.3" Full HD LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glossy
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Mobile Processor i7-620M (2.66GHz) 4MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
2GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 2GB)
Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 285M - 1GB GDDR3 Video RAM -DirectX® 10.1
Memory - Hard Disk
250GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD2500BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BD-5730S 6x BLURAY WRITER & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE(£129)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 7 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/MS/MS Pro/MS DUO/SD/Mini-SD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD (AS STANDARD)
USB Options
4 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Bluetooth & Infrared Options
Integrated V2.0 Bluetooth Adapter + EDR Capability
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (3,800 mAh)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Firewire & Video Editing
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Carry Case
TARGUS XXL NOTEBOOK CASE TCC008EU (£46)
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,584.00 including VAT and delivery.

Desktop Photo and Video Editing PC

Case
COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-950 (3.06GHz) 4.8GTs/8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P6X58D-E: DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLI
Memory (RAM)
6GB KINGSTON HYPER-X TRI-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (3 x 2GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1GB ATI RADEON™ HD 5670 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
10x BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£88)
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
800W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£89)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD) *
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Floppy Disk Drive
EXTERNAL 1.44MB USB FLOPPY DISK DRIVE (£14)
Firewire & Video Editing
3 Port IEEE 1394a Firewire PCI Card (£9)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Monitor
IIYAMA E2472HD 24" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£169)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,391.00 including VAT and delivery.


*NB I had wanted to upgrade the Sound Card to Sound Blaster� X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio (�30) but received the following note:-

The graphics card you have selected is a performance graphics card, and it occupies 2 slots on your motherboard. Unfortunately this means that you have one less PCI slot available, giving you a total of 1 PCI slots.

You have currently selected 2 PCI devices:

I'm a bit puzzled by this. It seems very restrictive, is there any way around it?

I maybe should have added above that I don't foresee using this new PC for any advanced gaming etc. All I am looking for is good and reliable performance in its main tasks of running Photoshop and Video Editing programmes, and hopefully to have a bit of built-in future proofing that will allow me to keep reasonably up-to-date with developing technology for a year or two.

Are my specs possibly over-the-top to achieve that?

You would be better going with something like this instead:

Case
COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD PHENOM II X6 1090T (3.20GHz/9MB CACHE/AM3/) - (Special Offer)
Free Item
FREE STORMRISE Game (RRP: £29.99) with any AMD® Phenom™ II X6 Processor!
Motherboard
ASUS® M4A87TD/USB3: DUAL DDR3,SATA 6.0GB/s, USB 3.0
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX465 GDDR5 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£76)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Floppy Disk Drive
EXTERNAL 1.44MB USB FLOPPY DISK DRIVE (£14)
Firewire & Video Editing
3 Port IEEE 1394a Firewire PCI Card (£9)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Monitor
IIYAMA E2472HD 24" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£169)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,287.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/amd-top-spec-pc/

You can add the Xtreme audio soundcard to this build aswell if you want to.

Thanks Pheonix - quite a few changes to absorb there.

1) Why the AMD processor? I thought Intel were more in favour just now, especially for photo and video editing, no?

2) Nvidea GTX465 rather than a Radion 5670 Graphics card?

3) 2nd HD, I'd gone for the 7,200 rpm, Would the 1TB WD Caviear Black WD1002 FAEX 7,200 rpm be worth considering?

4) Blu-ray. I do want to be able to write occasionally to blu-ray disks (hoping they'll be cheaper in future).

5) Power Supply. I had chosen higher power than required to allow for future additions. I considered the Corsair 750w or 1,000w to cater for possible addition of more HDs etc.

6) Any comment on the Ilyama Monitor I chose? I'm not familiar with it, but I do want one that is good enough for Enthusiast-level of Photoshop use.

Any thoughts on these please?

My approach has been to try and get the best spec for my needs over the next few years, and then see if cost can possibly be reduced.

1. Both processors will excel at editing photos and videos I was just trying to cut the costs down since you were concerned about overspending.

2. With the money saved from changing the processor I decided to upgrade the graphics card to the GTX465 so that when using CUDA enabled plugins things will be a lot quicker and smoother. I was also able to add an extra 2GB of RAM to the build with the savings made.

3. It's nosier but you could get it if you want a faster boot time, the caviar green is better than the normal HDD though with it's 64mb of cache.

4. That was my mistake; I didn't notice that you put one in originally.

5. HDD's don't use very much power at all, the TX650 will be fine.

6. The Iiyama monitor is a good quality LED screen that has a glossy finish which will really enhance the colours so it will do well.

Thanks Pheonix.

1) Processor - I would like to keep to Intel, I think.

2) Graphics Card - I'm open to recommendations. Is the GTX465 the one to go for? What CUDA enabled plug-ins am I likely to need? (is there anywhere I could read-up on these?)

3) HD - noisier? I do want this PC to be as quite as possible, especially when editing audio, so what should I go for. 7,200rpm min HD's seem to be recommended for Video Editing applications. All my programs should hopefully go on the SDD. Would the Caviar Green be OK for data files, or would the Black version be better?

4) Blu-ray writer OK then.

5) Power Supply. Future-proofing is important to me, since I hope to run this new machine for several years. Apart from cost, is there any disadvantage in going for a higher rated unit, such as the Corsair 1,000w?

6) Monitor - the Ilyama sounds good, though I'm also considering using my old Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 9000u CRT monitor, either alone (initially) or with the Ilyama. Is this feasible, and if so would I need any other hardware to drive it?

I'm eager to get an order placed, but am grateful for all comments and advice before doing so.

PCS Laptop feasible of Video Editing?

Is there anyone here Video Editing on a PCS Laptop?

Earlier in this thread (message 2) I posted a draft spec for comments.

If feasible I would still like to compare it with a desktop, but I'd really like to hear from anyone experienced in using a PCS laptop in this way.

Can anyone help please?

Would this be better raised as a separate topic perhaps?

Later - Laptop discussion now moved to its own thread:-
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forum...p-for-Photo-and-HD-Vdeo-Editing-for-Christmas

2) The GTX465 is really good for video and photo editing; you can read more about CUDA here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CUDA

3) The caviar black would be better than the caviar green but it is noisier, the caviar green isn't slow though and it's still better than the standard HDD's. It's up to which one to go for, I'd go for the green one but if you want the faster one go for the caviar black.

5) The larger power supplies are heavier and will be louder at 100% load.

6) As long as the Mitsubishi has a DVI port then yes it will be fine.


Laptops will always be inferior to desktops because they're limited by space and have downscaled versions of standard CPU's and GPU's. They also cost a lot more so you can't get as much with your money.

Thanks Pheonix.

2) GTX465. I've had a browse around now, as you suggested, but it's all a bit of minefield to a newbie in this so I'm happy to go along with recommendations in here.

In browsing I came across this discussion:- http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/news/video/nvidia-answers-questions-geforce-gtx-460/
Although strictly about the 'fascinating' new GTX 460 SE some of the comments about the GTX465 were not too complimentary, though I'm out of my depth here. All I want is really good performance when using mid-range video and photo editing programs.

3) HD. I'm tempted to go for the quieter Caviar Green on the basis that if I find it too slow I could add a 'black' later - does that make sense?

5) Power Supply - my leaning towards a higher rated PSU (now 850w Corsair) is that it should cover all future demands. Running at lower capacity initially - presumably means it would be, more efficient (?) churn out less heat and be very quiet, and its extra weight shouldn't be a problem in a desk top, should it?

6) Monitor - my old Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 9000u CRT monitor was outstanding in its time, and its still has a superb screen for photoshop editing. Its input though is RYB via the usual 15-pin connector (or by individual RYB sockets). Can this be driven by the proposed new-build PC?

Laptop - yes, I realise that 'bang per buck' is less for a laptop, but I was surprised at how close the costs came out for my two initial specs in message 2 and 3 above.

Phoenix - you use a (PCS?) Laptop don't you? Any comments on it?

I really would love to hear from anyone editing videos on one.

Later - Laptop discussion now moved to its own thread:-
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forum...p-for-Photo-and-HD-Vdeo-Editing-for-Christmas

Revised version of HD Video and Photo Editing Desktop PC

Case
COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-950 (3.06GHz) 4.8GTs/8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P6X58D-E: DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLI
Memory (RAM)
12GB SAMSUNG DDR3 TRI-DDR3 1333MHz (3 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX465 GDDR5 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
10x BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£88)
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W TX SERIES (TX850) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£99)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Floppy Disk Drive
EXTERNAL 1.44MB USB FLOPPY DISK DRIVE (£14)
Firewire & Video Editing
3 Port IEEE 1394a Firewire PCI Card (£9)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Monitor
IIYAMA E2472HD 24" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£169)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 13 working days

Price: £1,572.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-core-i7-pc/

2) The GTX465 isn't liked that much because it's worse for gaming than the GTX460 but is more expensive, this doesn't really affect you though and it's better for photo and video editing.

3) Erm I think so, it would be possible to add more HDD's in the future though

5) Yes it should be more efficient, in terms of weight it's only a problem if you need to carry/move the PC around regularly (I do which is why I was weight concious when ordering my PC) but if it's not going to be moved around much then no it's not a problem.

6) If RYB=VGA then yes it will work, need someone to confirm this though.

No, unfortunately I've got a Dell Inspiron 1525 (didn't know who PCS were 2 years ago when I got it )
Looks like a good build if you're wanting to spend that much.

"Looks like a good build if you're wanting to spend that much. "

No, I'm not wanting to spend that much, but I can't see an easy way of reducing the costs whilst retaining the future-proofing and HD performance I am looking for. Dropping the monitor for now would help - IF my old one will work.

I've posted the revised spec in here, but it is waiting for Mod approval before release.

Just approved your other post
You could go with an AMD 6 core CPU if you don't want to spend that much, it will still be great for future photo and video editing.

Phoenix said:

Just approved your other post
You could go with an AMD 6 core CPU if you don't want to spend that much, it will still be great for future photo and video editing.

Click to expand...

Thanks Pheonix. I'm still an Intel fan I think, but would the AMD 5 core CPU perform better in my case than the Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core? And what are the comparative costs?

Monitors. In the future I would like to upgrade to a two-monitor system, eg 22" Ilyamas, one of them a touchscreen perhaps. Would this be simply a matter of plugging them in with the above system, or would anything else need to changed (apart from software)?

I greatly appreciate all your help Pheonix. As we now seem to be getting close to a final spec I wonder if anyone else could possibly comment on it now? Thanks.

There's no such thing as an AMD 5 core CPU but the quad core i7 950 does outperform the 1090t in some areas due to hyperthreading. The 1090t is a very quick CPU though so you wouldn't be missing out on much, you can see the price difference from the builds posted above.

Yes, all you would need to do is plug the monitor into either a HDMI or DVI port on the GTX465.

AMD Version of HD Video and Photo Editing PC

Phoenix said:

There's no such thing as an AMD 5 core CPU but the quad core i7 950 does outperform the 1090t in some areas due to hyperthreading. The 1090t is a very quick CPU though so you wouldn't be missing out on much, you can see the price difference from the builds posted above...

Click to expand...

Sorry about the typo - I should have typed 6 core obviously.

Re the cost comparison, the builds above were not directly comparable so I have now tried to put your AMD recommendations in my revised spec. I hope I've done it right:-

AMD Version of HD Video Editing PC

Case
COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD PHENOM II X6 1090T (3.20GHz/9MB CACHE/AM3/) - (Special Offer)
Free Item
FREE STORMRISE Game (RRP: £29.99) with any AMD® Phenom™ II X6 Processor!
Motherboard
ASUS® M4A87TD/USB3: DUAL DDR3,SATA 6.0GB/s, USB 3.0
Memory (RAM)
16GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (4 X 4GB) *(Wanted 12GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX465 GDDR5 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
10x BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£88)
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W TX SERIES (TX850) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£99)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Floppy Disk Drive
EXTERNAL 1.44MB USB FLOPPY DISK DRIVE (£14)
Firewire & Video Editing
3 Port IEEE 1394a Firewire PCI Card (£9)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Monitor
IIYAMA E2472HD 24" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£169)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 13 working days

Price: £1,482.00 including VAT and delivery.

*NB this has an extra 4GB of DDR Memory (the template won't allow 12)

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/amd-top-spec-pc/

This compares with £1,572.00 for the Intel version.

Any comments, anyone?

I'd go with the AMD build, an extra 4GB of RAM with a cheaper price is very nice

:0 I thought you would, Pheonix :0

Comments from anyone else, please?

Are there any incompatibilities in either of these specs now, or anything excessive that could be dispensed with?