Film Editing Computer, $1500, Tips, Tricks, Info, And Ideas

[darkknight187]

honestly I'm beginning to lose sight of whats being aimed to come out with in this thread. you want a film editing workstation, ok, next you want to overclock it.... then it becomes "well i might as well game on it too" and not to shoot down anything with this thread but on a 1500$ budget to get the most out of it you need to decide your focus, if you want to primarily edit video then it can easily be setup to do that and game. if your looking to overclock you can still game... but unless it's rock solid stable and or worth any of the risk a "workstation" used for video editing really should be stock as thats the most solid performance your going to get

i'm sure if you really scale your focus your going to end up with a much better response throughout this thread even though everything said has been important so far. definately go dual monitors, any real media workstation should have them these days...even if they arent the same thing its well worth the "making due" next the memory...4gigs sounds nice..... but don't expect any insane overclocks with that..... if you want to oc your best bet is to check out the latest gig sticks that are hitting ddr500 but for OCing your pretty well limited to 2 sticks if your looking for insane speeds.

anyways i really need to get to some other work, all bases definately were not covered there but hopefully it was found to be some relevent and useful information

 

[hitbyaprkedcar7]

Hmm ill look into that Oh yeah, i forgot, im going to run the dual monitors. Right now i have an HP1755 17in LCD that i absolutly love, and it has a very thin bezel (1/2 inch) if not a little less, so 2 by side wont have a very big break in the middle. I can not stand TV's set up like that, it all has to be one picture or it annoys the hell out of me. The monitor only cost 180$ on eBay as well

 

[hitbyaprkedcar7]

Darkknight - yes i know what you mean, and im still looking for a primary video editing computer, but i want something that will let me play decent games, nothing to crazy. Basically, i want an all around powerful computer but is more towards video editing, if you get what im saying. I cant stand to edit videos on my Intel Celeron-D 2.93 ghz, its extremely way to slow and locks up when im editing big files. Sorry if im flucuating back and forth, im changing my thoughts as i learn new things

 

[Spion]

next the memory...4gigs sounds nice..... but don't expect any insane overclocks with that..... i

the point of 4 gigs isn't to have insane memory speed, if you're running xp you can run without a pagefile since xp can only see 4 gigs of ram and pagefile combined IIRC. don't forget, you can always run a dividor to keep the mem freqency down. you don't need to run 1:1

 

[avalanche83]

I would get a fast dual core and very fast memory. I wouldn't go overboard on the video card to save some for the cpu and memory that way it edits faster. Compiling video can take a long time unless you have speedy components like cpu/ram.

I would spend like this:

First
CPU - base everything off of this
mobo
ram
HD - your video editing right?
video card - depending on what you have left over since you want to play descent games

 

[hitbyaprkedcar7]

Spion - What exactly does a memory divider do? And, what would happen if i spend the money and get 4x1gb cl2 ? I think it was like 250 or so for a 2x1gb pack of cl 2-3-3-5 i think. not sure, it was on newegg though

Avalanche - Thats exactly how im going to lay it out Thanks

 

[Joeteck]

Hello everyone! First id like to say that this is my first post at these forums and id like to say hi to everone Now... Onto my project.
I am currecntly a sophmore in high school and on our football team. Our school was just built and is brand new, so were getting top of the line everything including our stadium Anyways.. My dad somehow got himself into videoing all of our games, editing them, and selling them for a few bucks each to cover the cost of making them, and putting together a highlight film at the end of each year as a fundraiser. Now i am currently building a website for a family friend that i should get at least 1000$ for, and with this money and some other money, i am going to build a nice film editing computer/personal computer.
I have never used a dual core processor, but im going to on this computer. Im thinking of an Opteron 165 (or higher) Or the Athalon 64x2 4800+ , but am leaning more towards the Opteron 165 as iv heard it can overclock to a 2.6 2.7 ghz stable, but what can a 4800+ overclock to? If i can get the 4800+ into a 3+ ghz range, then i think ill pay double the money and get rid of SLI. I have about 1500$ on my budget.
Also, iv read up on SLI and im interested. What exactly does SLI do besides run 2 video cards? Would it help with film editing at all or only games? Im not new to computers at all, iv been around them my entire life. My parents both own a VoIP Telecommunications company called Compro Technologies, www.comprotech.com , and have thrown together many computers in the past, mostly from parts lieing around there office so none of them have been very good at all. For 300$ i bought a HP with celeron-3 2.93 ghz, 256mb ram, and i bought a GEIL 512mb cl2 card for a good deal. Blah blah blah, im rambling on. Anyways ill get to the point...

Give me your best multi tasking / film editing setup for 1500$ or less Maybeeeee a little bit more... Depends if im on the spending mood that day

Thanks everyone!

Actually, IMHO, an Intel system would be better than an AMD for this task. I'm sure a few people will flame me for that, but we need to give Intel some credit for this. Intel is faster at Video editing, and encoding & decoding, but not the best for games.. AMD would be a gamers rig.. You're not going to overclock this crap out of it, so getting an Opty would be out of the question, as any Intel would smoke an AMD in this task.. So on that note, look for an Intel Pentium D 9 series CPU. 930 and up. 4 gigs of RAM is not needed for video editing. Photo editing, yes. Video editing no. For my video editing system I'm using an AMD 2400+ with 1 gig of RAM, only because Its my old computer I used for games at one point, naturally I'm going to use hardware I have rather than buying new hardware... I have 3 drives. One for my boot drive, and two 40 gigers in RAID 0, so its like having an 80 gig drive. Everything is PATA, not the newer SATA or SATA-II spec. Drive are real cheap now. A western Digital 320 gig drive is $132 located here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144407, this one has a 5 year warranty and is designed to run 24/7. Get two of these, and put them in RAID 0 for 600MB total, or 4 in RAID 0, giving you about 1.2TB of storage. The 320gig drive only gives 299gig formated. So inexpensive... Western Digital just came out with it 500gig monster, but the price per MB is too high for anyone's taste... I would make the boot drive no larger than 80gig... As for the video card, does not matter. Most of your importing should be done via 1394 anyway, so having either an ATI or Nvidia, will not make much a difference.

 

[hitbyaprkedcar7]

Really? An intel would be better than amd in this? what about an opty 175. The reaosn im thinkin about the optys is because all iv heard about them is good, and people getting them to 2.8-3 ghz stable, which is faster than a non oc'd FX and a lot cheaper. All the benchmark tests iv seen has had the FX60 come out on top of the intel, and in some of them one of the intels won. This is my shopping cart as of now

ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131568
$224.99

eVGA Geforce 7800GT CO SE 256-P2-N516 Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130256
$285

OCZ Titanium 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820227056
$268.44

AMD Opteron 175 1GHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103584
$504

TOTAL $1,282.43

Now i still need a HD, Case, PS (if it doesnt come with case) And i have a sound card already. And then another 17in HP 1755 LCD. So ill say, 100$ for the HD, 100$ For a case, and 180$ for an LCD. Oh well, a little over my budget.

 

[greenmaji]

I would save some bucks and get a 6800GS tops with this build.

save some money on the software and build a RAID 0 setup..
Dual boot with a flavor of Lunix then try this
http://heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php3

 

[Joeteck]

Really? An intel would be better than amd in this? what about an opty 175. The reaosn im thinkin about the optys is because all iv heard about them is good, and people getting them to 2.8-3 ghz stable, which is faster than a non oc'd FX and a lot cheaper. All the benchmark tests iv seen has had the FX60 come out on top of the intel, and in some of them one of the intels won. This is my shopping cart as of now

ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131568
$224.99

eVGA Geforce 7800GT CO SE 256-P2-N516 Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130256
$285

OCZ Titanium 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820227056
$268.44

AMD Opteron 175 1GHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103584
$504

TOTAL $1,282.43

Now i still need a HD, Case, PS (if it doesnt come with case) And i have a sound card already. And then another 17in HP 1755 LCD. So ill say, 100$ for the HD, 100$ For a case, and 180$ for an LCD. Oh well, a little over my budget.

From the look of it, its starting to look like a gaming rig... You need a system for video editing... Why ask us, if you're going to get want you want?

1. No need for SLI - waste of money!
2. No need for a 7800GT - waste of money!
3. No need for top of the line OCZ RAM! - Waste of money.
4. AMD is wrong choice for this task...

This is the mobo I would get: $139 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127188
Has on-board firewire... for Video capture.

This is the video card I would get: $179
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102661
This gives you the option for analog input for legacy devices.

This is the CPU I would get: $334
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116238
Uses the new .065 process, runs cooler...

This is the RAM I would get: $88.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145526

This is the Hard drives I would get: $132 x 2 = $264
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144407
Put these in RAID 0, giving you 600MB for capture and editing..
Boot drive: $53.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822135106

This is the power supply I would get: $108.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103437
Single 36A 12 rail! Nice power....


All you need is a case, and the OS... The total (minus shipping) $1166.98

Joeteck.

 

[Joeteck]

Use this as a reference.

This is the specs of my video editing machine. (old compared to today's technology)

Mother board: Gigabyte 7n400 Pro
CPU: AMD XP 2400+ (2.0 ghz)
RAM: 1 gig of PQI PC 3200
Hard drives: Boot drive: (PATA) 40 gig WD400JB, DATA drive: two 40 gig WD400JB in RAID 0
Video: ATI All-in-wonder 7500 64MB
Power supply: Antec 550 Watt.
DVD burners: Pioneer 103, and NEC ND-3550A.

 

[Joeteck]

As of right now i have Pinacle Studio 9, but im going to get the adobe one as it does HD and has plenty of really nice features ( i forget the name of it right now )

Adobe Premier....

http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/main.html

Works great. Don't forget to get a book and tak a many classes to learn it.... You're gonna need it...

 

[dropadrop]

Adobe Premier 2 videocard support:

http://www.adobe.com/products/premi...&version=2.0&device=graphic&format=&x=26&y=12

 

[tommcd64]

I would go with good memory and you don't need to spend a lot of money on the video card. Also I am not sure about getting 4gb. They system in my sig is used for editing and converting video and my system never uses the page file when I am doing that.

 

[jnev_89]

From the look of it, its starting to look like a gaming rig... You need a system for video editing... Why ask us, if you're going to get want you want?

1. No need for SLI - waste of money!
2. No need for a 7800GT - waste of money!
3. No need for top of the line OCZ RAM! - Waste of money.
4. AMD is wrong choice for this task...

This is the mobo I would get: $139 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127188
Has on-board firewire... for Video capture.

This is the video card I would get: $179
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102661
This gives you the option for analog input for legacy devices.

This is the CPU I would get: $334
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116238
Uses the new .065 process, runs cooler...

This is the RAM I would get: $88.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145526

This is the Hard drives I would get: $132 x 2 = $264
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144407
Put these in RAID 0, giving you 600MB for capture and editing..
Boot drive: $53.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822135106

This is the power supply I would get: $108.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103437
Single 36A 12 rail! Nice power....


All you need is a case, and the OS... The total (minus shipping) $1166.98

Joeteck.

just so you know, you need a 975x chipset to run a 9xx CPU. the 925 you listed (same mobo i have btw, really nice, just outdated by now ) isn't compatible with the newer CPUs.

and i have to agree with the rest, if your focus is video editing, intel is the way to go. get a 9xx CPU (maybe even think about going dual CPU here) with 4gb of RAM, speed isn't important. you said you don't need a lot of hd space, in that case you can get 2x74gb raptors in raid0 for speed. for PSU get the OCZ powerstream 520W. you do not need a good video card, just get a 6800GS if you want to game some, they run pretty cheap now.

 

[ronaldo]

For a video encoding, a Amd Opteron or X2 is better choice:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/opteron-165_5.html

here is Adobe Premiere test with Intel 920/930 vs Opteron 165 and X2 3800+
http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/cpu/opteron-165/premiere.png

I recomend a X2. And i dont know why Intel fans come here to tell that Intel cpus is better at video encoding, when is not.

 

[ctbrown]

I built my main rig (see signature) with video encoding/editing/FX in mind. I also do a bunch of other stuff on my pc. But the video stuff is the most demanding. I just built the system, so its kinda early to give any feedback in terms of overall performance in this context. I'll be using Premiere, Aftereffects, DVDShrink, TMPGEnc, Virtual Dub, DivxToDVD ect.

I chose the Opteron165/DFI Ultra-D because of overclockability. I am Prime stable at 2.6ghz/1.4 vcore with stock retail cooling.

I have about 600gb HD storage and will be adding two more Hitachi 250GB SATA IIs. Storage is king when doing video.

As far as a graphics card goes. I don't game very much, so I went with a relatively inexpensive Radeon X1600Pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp Item=N82E16814102651

Hope this helps

 

[Joeteck]

I built my main rig (see signature) with video encoding/editing/FX in mind. I also do a bunch of other stuff on my pc. But the video stuff is the most demanding. I just built the system, so its kinda early to give any feedback in terms of overall performance in this context. I'll be using Premiere, Aftereffects, DVDShrink, TMPGEnc, Virtual Dub, DivxToDVD ect.

I chose the Opteron165/DFI Ultra-D because of overclockability. I am Prime stable at 2.6ghz/1.4 vcore with stock retail cooling.

I have about 600gb HD storage and will be adding two more Hitachi 250GB SATA IIs. Storage is king when doing video.

As far as a graphics card goes. I don't game very much, so I went with a relatively inexpensive Radeon X1600Pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp Item=N82E16814102651

Hope this helps

One would think that you would not want to overclock a system you are going to use in production. Why risk having the computer die, and loose business. Plus, I'm not an Intel fan, I just think this is where Intel shines the best... The benchies were done on Premier 1.5, which is not longer the lastest... Alot of tweaks have been added to take advantage of HT and Dual core... My rule of thumb is, Gaming is to AMD as Intel is to Media encoding...

The whole point here is to make a system out of $1500. We are trying to recommend a stable, Low cost, good value PC. If it were mine, I would not want an overclockable beast. I want something stable. Just my opinion.

 

[jnev_89]

For a video encoding, a Amd Opteron or X2 is better choice:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/opteron-165_5.html

here is Adobe Premiere test with Intel 920/930 vs Opteron 165 and X2 3800+
http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/cpu/opteron-165/premiere.png

I recomend a X2. And i dont know why Intel fans come here to tell that Intel cpus is better at video encoding, when is not.

just so you know, i like AMD a lot more than i like intel. the only reason i bought intel for my PC is because i work with video/audio a lot and that was where intel shined. for video editing currently, an intel cpu will work better than an AMD most of the time. however, don't expect to be able to upgrade your cpu at a later date, you're gonna need a new mobo (the biggest reasons for my anti-intel feelings currently).

 

[ctbrown]

One would think that you would not want to overclock a system you are going to use in production. Why risk having the computer die, and loose business.

This my home PC and its used for a hobby not a business. So I'm not too worried about the remote possibility that overclocking will result in a catastrophic failure that will result in permanent data being loss or cause substantial down time. And my feeling was that the original posters interest in video editing was also more in the context of a hobby than it was a business. As long as one does not try to push their system to extremes and given adequate precautions (stability testing ect), it is perfectly reasonable to consider overclocking.

On the other hand, it would be totally inadvisable to consider overclocking a work PC and/or something that's mission critical (ie something that can get you fired).