Building a new PC that will run Avid

T

The Evil Mariachi

Well-known member
Hey guys,

I'm putting together a new PC for editing and motion graphics (Avid Composer and After Effects7 with nucleo pro) and so far on my purchase list, I've got the q6600 quad core processor, Abit IP35 pro mobo, and a set of g.skill 4gb ddr2 1000 memory, with a budget of $600 for the whole package.

Now, as I understand it, XP 32 will not utilize all 4gb correctly, right? Which would mean I would have to switch to XP 64, which Avid does not support. Also, it seems many programs don't play nice with XP 64. Vista is also out of the question, as Avid will not run on it, plus I've read it's still got issues to work out.

So I guess my question is, should I ditch the 4gb upgrade and simply buy 2gb of the best, fastest ram within my budget? Or is there a way for me to use those 4gb effectively in XP 32? And for that matter, would it be more beneficial to use a 3ghz core 2 processor instead of the 2.4ghz quad core?

Finally, how much more performance would I get out of a 10k rpm vs 7200 rpm hard drive? Is it worth the extra dough for the faster drive?


Thanks in advance,
Irbbins
 
You should consider a 10k rpm > 7200 rpm for an OS drive, but otherwise, you would be paying a high premium per GB for storage. A RAID 0 could be had for less, and would have more total bandwidth. 10k rpm is mostly good for seek-time, not as much data transfer. I've had no problems running 2GB on MC 2.6 on XP. Depending on your footage resolution, your main bottleneck will likely be bandwidth of your hard disks. With MC you can always offline your footage anyway... I would put my extra money in storage.
 
Get the DDR800's and you'll be able to run them at 1000

XP32 and you'll get 3.25GB out of the 4GB... After effects will use up to 3GB, Photoshop could us a lot... I think some of the others you mentioned might also llike more than 2GB but it is a question to be asked individually about each piece of software so keel looking for those answers

With the ABIT IPpro you can get that Q6600 G0 to run at 3.6GHz with your eyes closed, and up to 3.8GHz with a Tuniq Tower 120 even during the summer... you can easily get 3GHz + with the stock cooler if you have a Go which you'll be able to tell appart by the sticker on the box or the imprint on the actual chip if it says "SLACR" otherwise it is a B3 and it will still overclock high to about 3.3GHz with a TT120 but you will be limited by the heat it will be generating...


If you are gonna run the chip stock then why get all the best stuff for overclocking? The IP35 is THE best Q6600 clocker...

It seems like 2GB seems would work well with AVID though I really don't know.... it just seems to be such a well oiled piece of software... I was running 720 on my 2.2 single core 1GB dual 5400rpm HDDs with a tiny ATI 128MB gaming card... it automatically ran in a resolution that allowed it to play back full screen!

I guess all the pre-rendered effects also help though... but at times I think I was running a few un-rendered ones too.... but nothing major at all

to save some cash and get mad storage look for the Seagate or Western 7200.10 drives... they will give you close to 70MB/s average and in RAID0 you can get up to 120MB/s...I think the best GB/$ are the 500GB ones now... the 320GB ones should still be cheap too but a bit more per GB


For AVID you might want to get a good video card... and that is why I am joining your thread... no matter how much I ask all over I never get the info I am looking for:

What cards are you guys using and how fast are they? I need to pick one cause my 8800GTS 640MB is giving me all sorts of trouble with re-sizing windows and such. (It was not the 3 monitors)

I am looking at this one site that has MUCH lower prices on the Quadros but it is scaring me... do you guys know it:

FX 3500 for $525
http://compeve.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=52&currency=USD

FX 3450 for $400
http://compeve.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=32&currency=USD

FX 3400 for $345
http://compeve.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=30&currency=USD

FX 1500 for $390
http://compeve.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=56&currency=USD



Oh! BTW... this is the officially supported gear page just in case:
http://www.avid.com/products/xpresspro/specs.asp

I heard the Q6600 has no problems whatsoever though... I doubt the MoBo would either... the RAM should not be a factor as the HDDs either.
 
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Thanks guys, all great advice.

So, if I understand it correctly, a RAID 0 array would consist of 2 HD's acting as one, correct? You would only have 500gb of usable storage, albeit with faster access, right?

And yes, although I've never gotten into overclocking, it's definitely in the cards with this new build. It'd be a waste not to!

Now, with the ram prices being as low as they are today, I've been thinking about getting 8gb's of cheap ddr2 800 ram, instead of 4gb's of the ddr2 1000, and running a dual boot setup of xp32 for the Avid, and xp64 or heck, even Vista for After Effects and Cinema 4D. Does anyone know if these programs will run well and take advantage of the extra ram in a 64bit/Vista environment?

As far as the video card, I was thinking of getting a geforce 8600 gt, but maybe I could get one of the cheaper Quadro cards, if only to ensure maximum compatibility with Avid. The FX 1300 and 1400 seem like good ones to keep an eye out for on eBay. Would they be good enough for AE and C4D work?

Once again, thanks for all the help,

Irbbins
 
No RAID0 is the best of both worlds, the information is split into two streams sortof as if in a string oc 0101010101010101 the 00000000 would go to one and the 11111111 go to the same sectors of the second drive. So what happens is that when the info is read it is done in the same order, it is all setup so things get written in the same area in both drives and they operate synchronized. The storage is still all available and the benefit is that you can write and read at twice the speeds minus the delays from the organization and orchestration of this task.

Good to hear you'll give OC'ing that beast a go! :thumbsup: check out this thread bro:
http://www.overclock.net/intel-motherboards/218437-abit-ip35-pro-discussion-help-thread.html

No idea if AE or Cinema run in Vista but I'd stay away from it fro a little while longer... I'd avoid XP-64 even more from my experience with it.
8GB seems a bit much, I'd look into each software as the support for that much memory will likely be limited by the app itself.

About the Video cards... I am in the middle of figuring this one out myself... I haven't heard about the newer GT new GTS and other G92 GPU models with AVID, but if they don't have something called "Theater Display" or something that sounds like that which they did away with the newer DX10 supporting 8800 series cards... well then the Full Screen Display will not be possible as it seems AVID uses that feature to push the image out.
I am interested in hearing about the new G92 GTS 512MB due out like this week or so!!! It is performing slightly faster than the GTX in videogames including the newest "Crysis"... their specs are a bit more similar to the Quadro series too... which may translate to slightly better performance...

I know all too little about this though... see what confuses me is that the most popular GeForece series card seems to be the 7950... it is significantly slower in 3D mark about 7,000 marks if lucky while the 8800 series get more like 12,000 marks but the 7950 can support full screen and it sounds like it also keeps people happy in terms of performance...
now to make things confusing... it seems you have to mess with a few settings to get the 7950 to work properly and/or at it's fullest potential in terms of performance with AVID... and it seems some people (or everyone?) run drivers or modify drivers to make the card (partially?) appear as a Quadro...
needless to say I got no clue what this meant in terms of being able to run video games... but let me confuse you even more: I heard of people running GeForce drivers with Quadro "soft-mode" which would be changing the driver/(BIOS?!?) with software like Rivatuner just as you can Overclock your card...


And to make things WORSE... every time I ask people what card they are using and what kind of performance to expect I get nothing but crickets in the distance...

I want to know what having one 7950 would be like.. I can get one of those real cheap... and that could be a great way to wait for the next series of GeForece that can run AVID... (hope the new GTS does this!!!) or give us time to think a little more carefully about the possible purchase of a Quadro (and a PS3 so we can still game :D lol....)
 
Hey... I am getting somewhere finally... I am hoping that Kenton VanNatten's information is as accurate as it seems to be. He is giving me exactly what I was looking for and his posts and info is helping me understand how AVID really works.

If I can get the answers to my last post then I should be fully capable of making the choice in terms of video cards and hopefully get full screen full quality 1080p preview as cheap as possible so as to save my money for the next batch of GeForces that support AVID's full screen.

Now if that doesn't work I will have to go Quadro and be "forced" to buy a PS3 :D
lol....

ignore this post.... just go read this thread :)
http://www.avid.com/exchange/forums/292077/ShowThread.aspx#292077
 
I'll vouch for Kenton. I've been posting on the Avid forums for a few years and much of what i know I learned from readings his posts. The guy knows his Avid software and hardware inside and out, and his explanation is pretty dead on.

I wouldn't worry too much about losing out when the next great card comes along with some improvements over the current batch--Avid is pretty slow to qualify new cards because it's so important that they offer stable software. There are people still running FX 550 and FX1300 cards, but they don't have the Full Screen Playback (which I know you want). However, there software still works fine and will for years to come. They may just be locked in on how high they'll eventually be able to upgrade their software, but when that day comes...sell the old card and get the newer one. These cards tend to hold value, from what I've seen.

Good luck!

Michael.
 
Yes, the FX cards do hold value incredibly well in comparison to the GeForce line. I was wondering about why that might be and I have a few ideas... let's just hope it stays that way AFTER I buy one :)

Right now it looks like I will be getting a 7950 and checking that out first. However I don't have confirmation on whether 1:1, full quality 1080p is possible with two 24" with the other holding the timeline bins and other tools.

Mariachi, while I have no clue as to whether I can create all those pixels with the Q6600 and RAM for the card to push out to the LCDs I am quite impressed with AVID and I am cautiously optimistic. It seems the 7950 might be the safest bet for those on a budget. I might be picking up an eVGA 7950 512M for $120 shipped... used yes but still with like 2 years of warranty.
 
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Let us know if the 7950 works. It will help others who are building PCs on a budget to run Avid.

Michael.
 
Yea I figured... It should work just fine and it seems without the need of any tweaks with RivaTuner too... just use the right driver and viola... however, of course... AVID won't support it.

It seems the right driver is 91.31 and NOT any of the more recent ones past that one.
 
BTW it seems you do have to switch a setting or two in the NVIDIA control panel

nothing hard or fancy, just a little step
 
USLatin,

I really appreciate all the info you're providing. Your enthusiasm for Avid on this and other threads is contagious (and I'm already an Avid man!). I've already got some components on the way, and I'll keep everyone posted on the new pc build. We'll see what the verdict is on that geforce 7950...I'd like to run Avid smoothly, but a man's gotta get his Battlefield and Call of Duty on, fo' sho'.
 
HAHAHAH!!!!

dude you are reading my OCN posts?!? hahah!

Yea dude, but don't hold your breath cause the 91.31 sounds like an oldie so it won't give ya all your 7950 power :) plus it sounds like you might have to go into the Nvidia Control panel before you switch from editing to gaming to editing.... but it can't be a lot of work... I am gonna have to kiss my 70fps goodbye... I really hope the new GTS 512MB can run AVID

Anywho... I still dunno about the GX2 (I asked if the 7950 they all talk about is the GT version as there is a 1GB version too) but there is no way they are talking about that card since it really sounds like AVID doesn't need more than about 256MB od memory on the video card... ut just in case I asked... however they have all stopped responding... I think I pissed them off with my computer stuff??? I hope not cause those guys have a kick arse AVID forum, and out section here is basically dead... :( nothing like the Vegas section, that's for sure!

I am still editing onmy laptop, it is dealing with offline 720 24PN VERY nicely... I am having major issues knowing where the stuff is and doing some of the basic stuff, like I am stuck on how the crap to move a sound clip without it snapping to the other edit points on the video clips or other sound clips... SO frustrating!!! aagghh!!! but that's not AVID, it is me being new at AVID... it sucks how it is not easy to figure stuff on your own like Vegas lends itself to... but once you know how to do stuff..... man o' man!!! this thing kicks SERIOUS ass...

I am in a PM frenzy over at OCN with like 8 kids trying to sell me their 7950's... will keep you posted... can't wait...

BTW, Mariachi, dude... it sounds like AVID does all it's processing like VEgas, CPU based... so Q6600 clocked on your IP35 plus G. Skill DDR800 running at 1000 is gonna give you some SERIOUS performance... I can't wait to finally see how it runs without the horrible video card problems
 
EXTRA EXTRA!

I hope obody purchased a 7950GT yet: It is NOT the 7950GT that that guy was using with dual 1920 x 1200, it was the GX2.
You would have thought he would have spesified it but I guess he assumed that you always look at the bigger stuff when you edit in AVID? lol
The GX2 is essentially two 7950's sandwiched together with only one PCI connection to the MoBo. (might want to call the card's manufacturer and veryfy your MoBo is compatible if your MoBo is a bit old, MoBos with 680i NB's work and I bet the 35's do too, but check)

It is pricier, yes... but slightly less than 200% as much as one 7950GT

SO: it is not as cheap as I thought... but it is still not as bad as the Quadros, you still get to game and the setup is simple

1. Get a GX2
2. Run 91.31
3. Set the GPUs (in the NVIDIA control panel) to DUAL GPU not SLI GPU mode...
 
It seems the video card is keeping up just fine with 1080 previews at full screen with full quality!

First just to try I installed the latest drivers and tested. The biggest Source+Record screens I could fit ran perfectly, but as it was established this driver doesn't support full screen. Then installed the one known to work, the 91.31, and the full screen (Crtl+Shift+F) funtion became supported.

I am using 1080i/24PN MXF files from an HVX-200. I copied the Video MXF's and the Audio MXF's to a I:/Avid MediaFiles/MXF/1 folder but I forget the settings I clicked on when opening the new project.

I opened a new project just to make sure it wasn't off-line and it seems it isn't... I opened a 1080i/59.94 project like I am supposed to for this foorage and set the quality to full freen which is called Full Quality. It seems to be playing smoothly!



EXTRA BONUS:
This is a great one! lol... My X-Fi Extreme Music didn't work... however my Tascam US-122 did so I kinda ignored this and moved on. However, for some strange reason, it seems the 8800 GTS 640MB may have been the culprit! Now that I have the 7950 GX2 installe my X-Fi seems to be functional! lol...
Random? I'd say so...


I will update in a few days after this has been "field tested" a bit.
 
Stick with 4GB. Windows has two different sections of memory, System (what the OS needs) and User (what you use). When you install the OS with 4GB the installer will automatically install the 3GB switch which will cause the computer to limit the system memory to 1 GB and give AVID and the other applications 3GB to work with. If you upgrade later you will need to add the switch manually:

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEmem.mspx

Bob
 
Well this kind of put a damper on my parade. I was all ready to buy a 8800GT 512 and then I read this thread. Edit- Did you ever find out if the 8800GTS 512 worked?
 
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The local city back here is going to put in two editing bays for locals to use...

They've been waiting on the local college professor for the last three months to decide which way to go... PC or Mac...

So the person in charged asked me what I thought...

My ideas is since they have two bays... make one an Avid PC bay and one a FCP bay... that way people can learn both worlds...

The only Avid's I've used have been rentals... and the high end systems...

Anyone know of anyone who sells a turn key system for Avid Express.... that way they get everything from one company... that way they have one person (tech support) to complain to if it goes down...

FCP is easy since that's what I cut on at home...
 
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