Video Editing Machine

[Davo1]

Hi. I have used this forum as a guide to spec out a new PC. I do alot of video and photo editing. I use Adobe Premiere for editing with alot of effects/transitions, etc... This will not be used for any gaming. I would appreciate any thoughts on the quality of the system, compatability, cost reductions, etc...

Thank you in advance


NEW EGG Cart below:

HP Black IDE DVD Burner Model DVD740RI - Retail
Model #: DVD740RI
Item #: N82E16827140014
$87.99 $87.99

Thermaltake SOPRANO VB1430SWS Silver Steel/Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: VB1430SWS
Item #: N82E16811133157
$96.00 $96.00

SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP - OEM
Model #: MPF920 Black
Item #: N82E16821103116
$10.00 $10.00

Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: WD740GD
Item #: N82E16822144160
$164.00 $164.00

ASUS A8N5X Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: A8N5X
Item #: N82E16813131569
$92.00 $92.00

GIGABYTE GV-NX66T128D Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Model #: GV-NX66T128D
Item #: N82E16814125156
$139.99 $139.99

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS 70SB035000000 8 (7.1) Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
Model #: 70SB035000000
Item #: N82E16829102162
$91.00 $91.00

ZALMAN CNPS9500 LED 92mm 2 Ball Blue LED Light Cooling Fan/Heatsink - Retail
Model #: CNPS 9500 LED
Item #: N82E16835118223

$64.99 $64.99

Koutech Black IOFLEX FireWire & Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Combo Front Panel Host Controller Model KW-F7002-B - Retail
Model #: KW-F7002-B
Item #: N82E16815104221
$40.25 $40.25

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
Model #: ARCTIC SILVER 5
Item #: N82E16835100008
$16.99 $16.99

CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model TWINX2048-3200PRO - Retail
Model #: TWINX2048-3200PRO
Item #: N82E16820145503
$259.00 $259.00

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA3800BVBOX - Retail
Model #: ADA3800BVBOX
Item #: N82E16819103562
$322.00 $322.00

[yeoamuca]

go with an nec or liteon dvd burner for around 40
that will save you a lot of money
go with corsair valueselect ram that will also save you a decent amount

i do a lot of video editing and i really like my 6600gt
but also i would much rather have my large capacity drive than my raptor
you might consider getting a large capacity drive instead

finally im pretty sure that motherboard has pretty decent onboard sound
my motherboard does and it sounds really good
you might just wanna check it out before you buy a sound card

[Davo1]

Thanks for the input. I am testing the HP Lightscribe at a friend's this weekend. I do alot of "family history" photo/video montages and I think the Lightscribe might produce a nicer product than the stickers do.

The raptor will be my "software drive" I have a couple 250 GB as data drives

Does the valuselect ram perform as well?

[yeoamuca]

it will perform just as well as xms
the only reason i have xms in my sig build is for random overclocking
otherwise the valueselect will perfrom just as well
it is what i use in all of my other builds and when i build for customers


if you are interesting in saving a few more dollars you could go with the 37gig raptor
thats what i have
i have autocad 2002 and 2004
adobe premiere and photoshop
and quite a few flash and a couple other video editing and sound editing programs all on there with plenty of room to spare

[blue60007]

I'd drop to regular CS Value Select as suggested, you won't really notice any difference in your case. Also, you don't need another heatsink and thermal compound. The retial CPU comes with an adequate heatsink and thermal pad. Besides, using an aftermarket heatsink will void the warranty.

Personally, I'd wouldn't use the power supply provided in the case. Although Thermaltake powers supplies are OK, I'd rather see something more solid and powerful, especially since you are getting into dual core processors and multiple hard drives. Something like an Antec Truepower II 550 (or the 480) should do the trick.

[faulkner132]

What editing package do you use for video? If you do a lot of it, you should seriously consider Mac. It has a much more stable platform and out performs PC's on the video editing end. Final Cut Pro is top notch on a Mac.

[jayb1234]

If you do get the Thermaltake PSU, check which one it is. They make several 430 watt units. Make sure the one you are getting has the right connectors for the rest of your hardware.

You might want to consider one of the Floppy drives with a built in card reader for transferring your photos into the machine.

If you get the OEM version of windows, it is about $100 less than the retail version.

There are several Liteon burners with Lightscribe on this page. Better brand in my opinion.

[Davo1]

I looked into the Ram and switched to CS Value Select, thanks for the recommendations.

Faulkner132 - I use Adobe Premiere Pro and 6.5, I don't have the patience to learn a new system. I do here that the Mac is a more stable environment.

Jay - I didn't see the 24 pin connector required for the Mobo. I am considering switching to this power supply - FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX500-A ATX12V 500W Power Supply 115/230 V - Retail....and use the same case. Any thoughts on this one? The reviews look good.

[blue60007]

Yes, those are good quality power supplies. As long as it is an ATX 2.0 (24pin) unit, that should do the trick.

Like I said, you should consider just using the stock heatsink.

[jayb1234]

The Fortron wil be fine. Prettty good brand.

You can get that case without the PSU and save some cash.

That case has 2 120 mm and 1 90 mm fans plus the PSU fan/s, should be a pretty good airflow/cooling situation.

I don't think you will need the aftermarket heatsink, the stock one should be more than adequate.

[Mac Medic]

The HDD will be great as the primary scratch disk, but you may need more storage space, unless you have an offline storage solution. Ideally you would want your scratch disk to be separate from your primary HDD though, so maybe a 7200rpm drive for the OS etc. and the raptor for capture/editing.

[Davo1]

Originally Posted by Mac Medic The HDD will be great as the primary scratch disk, but you may need more storage space, unless you have an offline storage solution. Ideally you would want your scratch disk to be separate from your primary HDD though, so maybe a 7200rpm drive for the OS etc. and the raptor for capture/editing.

I planned on using the Raptor as my primary HDD with all Programs installed on it. I would be using (2) 250 GB as data disks. From what you are saying it sounds like I am doing this backwards. The Raptor should be used as the data disk?

[Mac Medic]

I personally like to use the fastest drive as my scratch disk, that way it's separated from the OS and programs, less prone to fragmentation etc.. I have 2 drives for storage and my primary HDD for OS and programs. The faster the scratch disk the better, less dropped frames during capture faster clip loading, scrubbing etc..

[jayb1234]

There are some 7200 RPM 16 Mb cache drives that perform almost as well as the raptors at a much lower cost/Gb. WD or Seagate would be the brands I would pick. I assume that you are aware that the raptors are pretty noisy. if that is a consideration in your setup.