Video Editing System build advice

[1nsoul]

Hi Folks,

I have been lurking for a while now just learning about building a PC for video editing purposes from all the experienced folks on here and have patiently waited until now with my questions so as not to ask the typical noobie q's!

I have got a budget of £800 to spend on a new PC and this is the spec I have put together, please can I have some feedback on the components and questions I have. It would be most helpful before I embark on my 1st PC build. Prices quoted are from overclockers UK.


Case:
Antec P150 £100 (chosedn because its quiet and I like the design)

CPU:
Intel D950 £260 inc delivery (price dropped and just ordered from overclockers UK)

Motherboard:
Abit AW8-MAX Intel 955X (LGA775) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-077-AB) supports 667mhz DDR2 £152.69

RAM:
Corsair value select 2 x 1GB PC5300 DDR2 667Mhz £140
Q: Is there any premium RAM recommended that I should spend an extra £20 or so on - would it be worthwhile? I would like to try o'clocking in future.

HDD
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 drives:
1 x 80GB (system drive) £36.37
2 x 250GB 16MB cache £68.09 x 2 = £136.18 (Probably just get one to start with as total buld price comes out well over £800 in total with 2)
Q: Would I really notice a difference if I chose a 74GB Raptor for my system drive?
Q: Would Raiding the storage drives make data transfer/encoding much faster than having 2 separate storage drives?

Optical Drives:
1 x CD/DVD Writer Liteon SHM-165P6S-02C 16x DVD±RW/RAM £31.67
1 x Sony DDU-1615 DVD-ROM £14.04

Graphics Card
PCI Express ?????????? £60-80
This is where I really need some help please! I want one with DVI out as my monitor supports it and it must be Vista ready so Directx9 needed. I am not a gamer so do not need a top spec one although occasionally I may want to play a game but defo not a 'hardcore' gamer!

Anti Static wrist band: £4.70
Thermal compound: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g) (AC-000-AC) £6.99

Total: £800 ish...

If there is anything I have missed out on please let me know.

Thanks!!
Matt

[786ARS]

ok, dont get high end ram, the price difference is big, value ram does overclock, but not as much as high end, eg HyperX or XMS ram. I think sony drives have poor reliability, lite on are much better. as for gfx card, i'm more familiar with nvidia and i'd recomend the http://overclock.co.uk/product.php?p...t=571&view=rel

or if you can stretch anothe £10-15, then

http://overclock.co.uk/product.php?p...t=319&view=rel
or
http://overclock.co.uk/product.php?p...t=324&view=rel

[kram 2.0]

Originally Posted by 786ARS I think sony drives have poor reliability, lite on are much better.

Lite-On makes most of Sony's optical drives.

Yes, you will notice a difference with the WD Raptors - whether or not the price delta is worth it is up to you. If it were up to me, I would pick up a WD Raptor and a larger storage drives to supplement the Raptor. I wouldn't suggest RAIDing the HDDs if you need reliability. Keep them seperate drives without arrays.

kram

[1nsoul]

Thanks for the feedback so far.

With the Ram is there any other 2 x 1GB value kits that you would recommend which are cheaper than the Corsair ones?

Thanks again!
Matt

[kram 2.0]

Originally Posted by 1nsoul Thanks for the feedback so far. With the Ram is there any other 2 x 1GB value kits that you would recommend which are cheaper than the Corsair ones? Thanks again! Matt

I suggest staying with Corsair ValueSelect. It's reliable and it's fairly inexpensive.

kram