DIY video editing computer build?

rocketguy2

rocketguy2

Well-known member
Hope I have this post in the right place...Where can I find literature or tutorials on doing a complete computer build? Have seen some really nice DIY video editing computer projects, but I've never put one together completely from scratch.

My six year old Dell Dimension 8300 just can't keep up with Adobe CS3 very well.

Thanks!
 
Use NewEgg or buy a barebone system from CompUSA/Tigerdirect....

Easy:

Processor
Memory
Hard Drive
Motherboard
Video card
Case
Power Supply

Its like putting together legos! The most difficult part is puttin the CPU in the socket w/ heatsink and fan....

Get atleast a Core2Duo with 4GB of RAM (its all so cheap now), a 450W Power supply, and some kind of nVidia card (100$ or less)...

I'd suggest atleast a 2GHz Core2Duo, so it will last you a while. If you are planning on installing Windows 64-bit, get like 6GB or RAM or so... if only 32-bit, no need to get more than 4.
 
You really need to think of your computer build as a "system". Your componets may depend on for example:

- What editing software you are going to use.
- Are you going to have "realtime" viewing output to a HDTV.
- Will you need a footage upload device such as for a P2 card.
- What camera are you shooting with (format dvcprohd, DV25, DV50, AVCHD etc). I for example use the HPX170 and shoot dvcprohd.

I found that the best place to start is to search the forums related to your editing software, then design your system around it. I just recently did this with Edius 5. Here are my computer specs based on months of research. Total cost of computer was $1600.

Edius 5
HDSPARK hdmi realtime output to HDTV
Asus P6T Deluxe mobo
i7-920 processor
Antec 900-2 case
Corsair 650 watt power supply
Corsair 3GB XMS3 PC3-12800 DDR3 ram
Sapphire HD4830 video card
WD 160GB Caviar, system drive
1TD WD Caviar Black AV storage drive
Lite-on IHAS324 DVD burner
Sound Blaster X-FI Titanium sound card
Vista 32 bit operating system
,Amtron P2 card reader,
Samsung LN19A330 HDTV
 
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Mark has a good list. Personally, I would tweek it a bit to change the operating system HD to a WD Velociraptor 150G and a separate cache drive. I use quad core processors and I would use a 64bit operating system with 8G of RAM. To top it off I would prefer a nVidia Quadro FX card with at least 512M. I design editing systems as one of my duties at work.
Or you could just order a Dell Percision workstation.
 
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isn't the quadro fx a bit overkill? very few NLE's take advantage of GPU acceleration, you see more of it in programs like maya and 3dsmax. and might be cheaper just to raid 2, 7200 rpm hd's to gether, velociraptors don't tend to have the longest of write lives. WINDOWS 7, MUCHO AWESOME!!!
 
We do not have any problems with the velociraptors and have hundreds in service. The quadro FX is standard part of graphics/editing workstations. As I say, we have hundreds. I guess at this level it is status quo.
 
will take ur word for it, it's just the mentality of faster rpm hd the shorter it will last. but for someone who's been running on a 6 year old dell a lot of these specs might be overkill for his budget that's all.
 
rocketguy2,
There are some good suggestions here. Keep in mind that some NLE software works better with one type graphics cards than others. Software can be kind of fickle so check the forums of the software you are going to use. I went with the ATI 48xx series because Edius 5 users reported the best compatibility.
 
Thanks to all for some extremely helpful info! I'm currently running Adobe CS3, and my machine hardly has enough oomph to keep Premiere previewing smoothly. I've got 4GB of RAM, but am running XP 32 bit, so can only utilize a max of 2GB per program. I don't dare have Premiere and After Effects open at the same time! Still plugging away with my DVX-100A, so haven't made the jump to HD yet.

Here are my dinosaur specs:

Pentium II 2.8 GB processor
4GB RAM, 3 and change available
ATI Radeon AGP 3850 graphics
WD 250 GB boot drive
WIndows XP 32 bit OS
 
rocketguy2 said:
How about setting up BIOS from scratch? Is that a big deal?
Click to expand...
you shouldn't need to touch the bios unless you are overclocking or need to set your boot drive to install an operating system.
For your system drive you might as well get a 1 tb one, they are cheap as and they'll run faster than a fuller smaller drive.
 
Rocketguy2,
I use a small system drive because according to what I have read, a smaller boot drive aids in faster program access speed. Using a faster Raptor for a boot drive would be even better but just didn't fit my budget at the time. Once you are set up and going you might want to look into applying windows "tweaks" to make you system run faster and more efficiently. Basically, this involves turning off functions in windows that you do not use and making more efficient use of memory.

I am surprised that no one asked why I didn't use vista 64 instead of vista 32 since you can add more ram. The answer is the P2 card reader I added only runs in a 32-bit system. But with using the windows tweaks I have yet to have my 3GB of ram taxed and it boots up very fast.
 
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now that i think about it and revisit it, mark is right, have a faster single disk drive is better just for boot purposes. having your OS on a raid can be a pain, and a nightmare if ur array fails. built in motherboard raids are only SO SO, i've had them fail on me twice, very high spec EVGA board too, and it was such a pain. it's MUCH easier to recover a single disk drive then a array. your better off with a smaller speedy boot drive 10,000 rpm, and raiding terabyte drives for your editing.

NLE's typically take load from cpu/ram. and then drive speed, read/write. not a lot of NLE's are truly taking advantage of GPU power, the FX crd is expensive so look into what's most reccommended for adobe. i know for after effects their GPU accleration is still essentially a joke, it's more about ram and processor then anything else. but i believe adobe is optimized for nvidia cards.

windows 7! it's great!
 
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