HD Video Editing Rig

marden

New member
Hi...I've got £1200 to get myself a new Desktop which is to be used as a dedicated HD Video Editing PC. I definitely want to go with an i7 930 processor as a minimum, and need a Blu-Ray Writer. I was hoping to get 12GB RAM...as I have read that this is an optimum requirement. With regards HDD, I was again informed that RAID0 gave best performance...so supplement 2x1GB drives with an SSD should do the trick !! Is all this excessive for HD Video Editting...and is my budget realistic?

Any help would be appreciated !! Ta
 

misterdave

Enthusiast
Hi marden and welcome to the PCS forums.

Sound like you have a plan. I would steer away from RAID0 because it is not as reliable when running from the onboard RAID controller you would be far better running some WD VelociRaptors if you need the performance the performance boost.

Budget wise you might need to increase the budget or down size on the RAM front, Have a play with our online configurator and see what you come up with click here. Or if your heading the Quadro card route for real video editing power click here.

The Quadro cards offer petter video editing performance over standard gaming GPU's.

Good luck
 
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marden

New member
Thanks MisterDave

I've had a rethink based on your suggestions and more research...and come up with these 2 configs:

Option 1 - RAID0 (which I know you don't like !!!)

Case
COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-930 (2.80GHz) 4.8GTs/8MB Cache

Motherboard
ASUS® P6X58D-E: DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLI

Memory (RAM)
12GB KINGSTON HYPER-X TRI-DDR3 1600MHz, INTEL X.M.P (6 x 2GB KIT)

Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX460 GDDR5 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11

2nd Graphics Card
NONE

3rd Graphics Card
NONE

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

2nd Hard Disk
640GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD6402AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

3rd Hard Disk
1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)

4th Hard Disk
1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)

RAID (HDD 1 & 2)
RAID 0 (STRIPE) (£9)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
10x BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£98)

2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NONE

Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)

Power Supply & Case Cooling
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59)

Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1366 STANDARD CPU COOLER

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


Or save £49 and change the HDD options to...

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

3rd Hard Disk
1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)

Note: I can't up the cost for the VelociRaptors HDDs....and also the configurator won't allow me to select 3 x CAVIAR Black 1TB drives !!!!

Any feedback would be appreciated !

Ta
 

misterdave

Enthusiast
Both great options even with the RAID, Intel RAID controller is by far the best of the on-board controllers.

With option 1 would you be applying raid to drives 3&4? (we can sort this via a task for you if you like)

I prefer option 2, but option 1 is also great. The only thing I would change is the PSU to a Corsair TX650, its worth it trust me

and also the configurator won't allow me to select 3 x CAVIAR Black 1TB drives !!!!

Yes at the moment motherboard only have 2x6GB/s SATA ports this will change in the future as it is still a relatively new addiotion to the motherboards, even so I can tell you we have had no 6GB port failures yet.
 

marden

New member
Thanks for getting back so quickly Dave.....

I'll take your advice on the power supply...and have a think about whether to RAID the setup or not (;o)

3 final questions......

1. With regards to the GFX card...I think I have gone overkill for a video editing PC. I have downgraded from the GTX460 to GTS250. I need 2 x DVI outputs...and the savings will go towards another monitor. Is this a wise choice or will a better gfx card give me any encoding benefits? The option of the FX1800 and a workstation just blows my budget away !!!

2. Do I need to consider any extra cooling or is this optimised as part of the build process?

3. Lastly...any discount? :eek:)

Ta ....Mark
 

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
1. If you plan to play games or need DX11, go for the GTX460. Otherwise the GTS250 will suffice.

2. Cooling is covered by the default Intel fan. If you want a quieter or cooler system, consider upgrading the cooler choice, otherwise the stock cooler will be fine.

3. Our prices are already as cheap as possible, given our commitment to service :p
 

misterdave

Enthusiast
1. With regards to the GFX card...I have downgraded from the GTX460 to GTS250

No that should be fine as its not taken into account for encoding the video, only playback and these work just fine.

The option of the FX1800 and a workstation just blows my budget away !!!

Thought it might, was just a suggestion. These have the ability to render & encode much quicker than an normal GPU and tend to be used by 3D modellers.

Do I need to consider any extra cooling or is this optimised as part of the build process?

Not really, for extra cooling I'd go with a CoolIT Eco as the Sileo 500 isn't a cool case its just quiet. If you stick with the standard cooler we can optimise it via BIOS fan setting if you require it.

Lastly...any discount?

Sorry mate wish I could
 

marden

New member
Oh Dave Dave Dave !!!

Now you have me looking at cooling....just when I thought I had it nailed !! LOL.

I presume that things will run hot when encode videos....so is there a more suitable case than the Sileo 500....and is it better to stay away from the other 2 cheaper cooling options?

Sorry to be a pain !


M
 

misterdave

Enthusiast
Sorry bud just being honest. (got to love opening a can of worms)

The HAF 922 is the only other sensible option, I would avoid the to lower spec cases (Fusion & Trident) and wouldn't go with a T900 above these are major overkill for what you need and a tad expensive. Or you can just stick with the Sileo 500 and put the Eco in it.

Hope this helps. (my personal choice would be the Sileo with the Eco cause the case has good aesthetics)
 
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