Building of an editing box for a grad student.

[bd1886]

A buddy of mine's son is in need of a new box to do editing and streaming of video. He just graduated from college and needs something that will carry him through this next faze and......I have been only partially keeping up to date on what's been going on with hardware.

I have been acquiring base components (when I have seen deals) and have these components so far:

Nice Zalman ATX Case
2x WD Black 1TB HD's
2x Asus 24x Burners
Windows 7
Asus 5770 1TB Video Card
Multi-Card Reader


Now...my concerns.

Is the new Sandy Bridge Tech a big improvement for his needs?

Is that video card capable enough to get started with?

Minimum RAM he'll need and what type?

What would be a decent chipset to run with?

What concerns should there be when considering multiple monitors?

Would an SSD be best for his primary and what considerations are associated with implementing and maintaining one?



This kid has really done some incredible work with what he has now (Won major competitions, earned scholarship funds etc...) and I just want to make sure to help him get up and running with a "core" that has a good path. His present budget is $800.00, he has monitors,peripherals, and the stuff I have already doesn't need to be factored in just yet. He'll be doing most of the research (and all of the building) but I have never rendered (a pixel) and am totally ignorant on this kind of "specific use" kind of build! I absolutely love crafting a general use/gaming box.....but just find my accumulated knowledge severely lacking with this one!

Any little bit of help will be greatly appreciated (by this young man) and he'll be posting a lot of questions! (Smart kid.)

[Khalil]

Video cards have very little impact on video editing, any low end card will do (ATI 5450) is what I recommend.
Which Zalman case? A case is a case and Zalmans generaly are very expensive.
3GB ram is most he can use if he goes 32bit OS. I recommend 8GB if he goes with 64bit.
Depending on how important his work is, SSD is still not reliable and are plagued with a lot of firmware issues. WD black will do the job!
I tested Sandybridge and currently working with it, everything is stable so far but it is too new for me to make a recomend on it.
I do however very highly recommend the 1156 platform.

[bd1886]

I do have an Asus 5570. Also...I do know how you appreciate the value with AMD Khali. (You have always offered a reality check on that one!) I do have a Phenom 940....would that platform have legs and what motherboard type would extend those legs?

This may just be a little simpler build situation than I thought but....would like to use at least a significant part of that budget so he is ALL smiles. Intel/AMD...no issue but do like using AMD (when it makes sense) to keep that "good fight" going. If it means Intel, for inherent reasons, so be it.

I do agree "a case is a case". I picked up a Zalman Z7 for $8.00....after the rebate so no budget concerns with that one! For me a case is one of the most enjoyable things to pick because of the huge amount of them to pick from and my trade (for a lot of years) was doing complex finishing on some of the most arcane surfaces you could imagine. (I love cases like Rosewill to launch with!) None of that nonsense here though.

The OS is going to be a dual boot with 7 64/Ubuntu 64 10.10. (He'll take to Linux and enjoy making it a "Monster" I think.)

Guess it has boiled down to Platform/Motherboard then? Love it!

[Khalil]

I think the 940 is a solid processor, is it as fast as the i5s? no it is not, will it do the job well? yes it will do it exceptionally well.
Here is the motherboard I recommend for this build is the M4A79 Deluxe but I don't see any out there so your next choice is a biostar here is one at newegg Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TA790XE AM2+/AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard

[glc]

Wow - that Biostar is half the price of the Asus - and you are right, all the suppliers I see for the Asus show discontinued or backordered.

[rwest]

Shouldn't this Gigabyte run that processor?

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Or if you want more juice:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128435

Khalil, I'm curious as to why you reccomended that board? Out of what's available on Newegg, I think Gigabyte has multiple boards he could use.
I've learned from you and GLC and am confused as to why you chose Biostar over Gigabyte. Being that on your MB guide you rate Gigabyte as having higher quality. Is Gigabyte's support really that bad?

[glc]

He and I agree that of all the cheap brands out there, Biostar is probably the best. We are not saying it's any better than Gigabyte. I think he was specifically recommending the 790X chipset.

[Khalil]

As glc stated, it is the 790x chipset I like for this build. Biostar have very good support and RMA process, much better than Gigabyte in my experience.
I have K7 biostar boards that are still running strong.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Originally Posted by Khalil Video cards have very little impact on video editing, any low end card will do

That's not entirely correct. It depends on which program he's using for the video editing. Adobe Premiere Pro does require a rather high end video card.

Then again, with such low budget, the cards that Adobe prescribes for Premiere Pro are just not possible.

[rwest]

Thanx for clearing that up for me guys(G & K). I You guys are on such a higher level than I am and I wanted the OP to get that message. So to take it one step further, "What makes that chipset better, or good for this build?"

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by Nuclear Krusader Then again, with such low budget, the cards that Adobe prescribes for Premiere Pro are just not possible.

With my 24 core rig the low end video card I am using is working great. I don't use Premier as much as other software for editing, it is a good program but I prefer Pinnecale Liquid Edition over Adobe Premiere, not saying it is better but I like working with it better.
Here are the cards that Adobe recommend for very high performance but not required, as Krusader stated are pretty expensive:
•GeForce GTX 285 (Windows and Mac OS)
•GeForce GTX 470 (Windows)
•Quadro 4000 (Windows and Mac OS)
•Quadro 5000 (Windows)
•Quadro 5000M (Windows)
•Quadro FX 3800 (Windows)
•Quadro FX 4800 (Windows and Mac OS)
•Quadro FX 5800 (Windows)
•Quadro CX

rwest the 790x is a very stable powerful chipset suited for professional software like Premiere and Gaming rigs, high quality capacitors are on all those motherboards as well.

[bd1886]

Thanks for the input all. Did some crunching and came up with 2 different builds...one using the Phenom II/790 based starting point ($500.00) and one using an i7 2600k/P67 based one ($767.00).

Using components I have, combined with new purchases, the difference between is $267.00. I'm going to touch base with him and see how that performance to price ratio sits with him. Looks like this latest "feint" by Intel is sure intruding on AMD's niche but... good enough.....may be just that....good enough. (I'd go with the Intel build....but hey, not my bucks!)

Thanks again, Scott

[bd1886]

Did do the "jump" to i7. Parts ordered and much thanks! Truly appreciate the help Kahlil (and hope my going with the stuff... that is still in it's "proving phase") doesn't bite my tail!

Your conservatism is a major strength and truly a boon to all of us!

[bd1886]

Things went well with no hiccups. (First "better" build since I built my e8400 set up two years ago.) Stressed it a bit and no anomalies...now the three month wait 'til RMAing the board. Still feel good about taking the chance. (Taking precautions of course and not a big deal to swap out the board when the time comes.) New there would be a big performance increase but still was unprepared for how big it was!