computer build for AVCHD/Adobe CS4

4

408FiLMER

Member
fellow hmc users...im trying to build a new computer for editing AVCHD footage off of my hmc150, using adobe CS4. after asking a lot of questions and asking around and a ton of google i have narrowed it down to this. let me know if you have any suggestions, alternatives or any advice. all input is appreciated... thanks all! and please let me know if all of this will function properly together...

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGIBOX

ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1600LV6GK

Pioneer Black 8X Blu-Ray DVD Burner w/ Software SATA Model BDR-203BKS

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - OEM

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - OEM
 
Maybe go for the Intel Core i7 920 and overclock it. I know MANY editors with very stable overclocked i7 920's over 3ghz.. They got them up to 4ghz!


 
Buy either two hard drives, or three with two striped together as one for media. It's generally a bad idea to edit from the same hard drive as the OS, it tends to slow everything down. Use one drive for the OS and applications, and the other for media only.
 
I would go with the i7 processor
and an Nvidia Graphics card

I edit on a laptop and never had a need for a raid system since the days of DV.
(Not saying it wouldn't make things faster) I just don't feel it is worth the expense or the
issues of dealing with file corruption in the event of a drive crash.


..so for me, i7 processor and Nvidia graphics, all else is based on how much you want to spend.
 
Personally, I wouldn't lose sleep about the computer hardware unless you are simply trying to upgrade to the highest performance machine you can get within your budget. I upgraded my old system with a new MoBo, CPU, RAM, and graphics card for under $800, but I hadn't done so for over 4 years so it was certainly due.

Initially any 21mbps AVCHD footage edited in PPCS4 with my quad-core, 8gb, sata raid setup would cause major system holdups and made editing not possible in my opinion. Now with the latest 4.1 update from Adobe, editing any AVCHD bitrate is seemless and better yet, painless.

Ask someone else who has a somewhat modern setup with the 4.1 update for CS4 and edits AVCHD, and I am positive they will report back that editing is now a breeze simply from the software update.
 
digitalcapturegroup said:
Ask someone else who has a somewhat modern setup with the 4.1 update for CS4 and edits AVCHD, and I am positive they will report back that editing is now a breeze simply from the software update.
Click to expand...

I'll concur. I have a similar setup... and while I haven't edited much since the update, what little I have been able to play around with has been a lot easier.
 
How's the PP-CS4.1 running on the mac side???
I'm on a Quad 2.5 with 4GB of ram with a NVIDIA 256 card... FCP runs strong but there's the transcode thing!!!
 
and just out of curiosity, why the intel over the amd? how much difference is there besides price? which will give more bang for the buck?
 
If you're building it for Premiere Pro CS4 and AVCHD, then you're going to want to use a graphics card that Premiere Pro supports for GPU acceleration of AVCHD. I know most modern NVidia cards have that support, but I don't know a comprehensive list of all the cards that Premiere Pro supports.

But it's the graphics card that makes all the difference.
 
408FiLMER said:
and just out of curiosity, why the intel over the amd? how much difference is there besides price? which will give more bang for the buck?
Click to expand...

An overclocked Core i7 920 will give the most bang for the buck, and they are VERY stable even when overclocked!

I've built many systems for years, including a dual AMD system, and have found the most stability, and least conflicts with 3rd party hardware (mostly Canopus hardware) from Intel systems.

I agree with Barry on the Nvidia video card... I'd get a very fast system HDD and a second 1+TB HDD for video. A raid is not needed unless you plan on editing multiple streams of uncompressed.
 
I'm in the process of putting together a new video editing rig. I'm still awaiting shipment on some of the parts though. It cost about $1150 total, however I still need to pick out a bluray burner. Here's what I picked up, and some links to some deals if they're still available. I stayed away from newegg only because tax in NJ killed most of the deals. ugh.

Intel i7 920 (got for $200 at microcenter. now it's $230)

Gigabyte EX58-UD4P (I had it down to $174 with rebate and bing.com cashback)
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-EX58U4P

Sapphire Radeon HD4870 512MB ($113 after rebate and bing.com cashback)http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-487_512&src=Deal

Main HD: Intel X25-M 80GB SSD ($280 from ebay and bing.com cashback)
First time I'll be trying an SSD. I'll be using it for the OS and programs

Secondary HD: Hitachi 1TB drive ($75 zipzoomfly.com)
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10009440

Cooler Master Storm Scout mid tower case ($110 microcenter)

Corsair HX620W modular power supply ($80 after rebate. now $90)
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=373110&prodlist=celebros

OCZ 6GB PC3-15000 DDR3-1866 RAM ($70 after rebate)
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010031&prodlist=celebros

I'll be putting it together sometime next week. Can't wait. It should be a screamer. Hope this helps some people. It took a bit of time and research to find some good deals.
 
Nvidia, definitely. The graphics card is VERY helpful in the Windows version of Premiere. And an HDMI port is cool, but you probably can't use both DVI heads AND the HDMI port.

Don't do odd numbers of RAM DIMMs (you have 3x2 GB). You want even numbers in order to enable dual-channel support.
 
We run an i7 8core with 6 gig of ram and adobe premiere. Before the update, it was still choppy and we were very disappointed, although the transcodes were much faster. Now with Adobe 4.1, we seem to be doing everything we needed flawlessly including real time effects and transitions. Can't go wrong with intel IMHO.
 
Yea, the i7 Boards are tripple channel ram. the other quad/dual cores are DDR2 dual channel. Just check your board before buying.
 
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