Hardware config to edit dvcpro hd on avid composer

[Enuption]

Hi Guys,

I'm finally in the process of upgrading my workstation and was wondering if anyone knows for sure if the following configuration will be enough to edit some DVCPRO HD footage (originally shot with a Panasonic HVX200 on P2 Cards) on the latest version of Avid Media Composer (Software Only):


A - Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit (or Business? don't know which one is better/faster...)

B - Intel i7 920 Processor 2.66 Ghz (4 cores, 8 threads)

C - Gygabyte Motherboard GA-EX58-UD5 (with firewire, sound, RAID and all)

D - Crucial 6 Gb DDR3 PC1066 1333Mhz RAM (3x2GB modules)

E - NVIDIA QUADRO FX 1700 OEM

F - 1 SATA MAXTOR 160GB RPS7200 Hard drive for OS and software

G - 2 identical SATA MAXTOR 250GB RPS 7200 Hard drives for video footage (would you suggest doing a RAID?? or it won't be needed?)


Thanks to anyone who will be so kind to give me some advice...:dankk2:

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[Eximious]

Unfortunately, I don't have experience with DVCPRO HD or any benchmarks to go off, but the i7 920 is clearly your best bet (unless you want to go with dual Nehalem / i7 Xeon processors in a month or so, which will be pricier).

Are you considering overclocking? I'm not sure if this is your personal workstation or a corporate machine, but the 920's have been overclocking rather well, especially with that motherboard.

Also, you might look into getting DDR3 1600 memory, since even the 920 is apparently capable of running the faster memory (not to mention faster-than-advertised QPI):

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/fe...ore_i7_cpus_more_powerful_originally_reported

Sadly, once again since the technology is rather new, I don't have any benchmarks to showcase any potential performance improvements with the faster memory.

All in all though, I think you'll be very happy with that system.

Also, here's a good set of benchmarks to evaluate your workstation GPU:

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/workstation-graphics-charts/benchmarks,3.html

Also, here's a thread about someone with similar specs working with Avid. Someone promised to post benchmarks, but never did. If you nag them about it, they might be able to give you some sweet specifics:

http://community.avid.com/forums/t/66433.aspx?PageIndex=1

Hope that helped. Happy editing!

Edit: Also, don't worry about performance between Vista Business and Ultimate. Just get which one has the features you need. There's no inherent performance advantage with either one.

Edit 2: Also, why the small hard drives? 1TB drives are pretty cheap nowadays. That motherboard has some pretty sweet RAID features. You could always put 3-4 hard drives in a RAID 5 set-up.

 

[Nick Walters]

Will it be enough? Is this a joke...where is Ashton?

The fact is that you should stick with any suggestions Avid makes, fellow uses make on forums, and tailor the equipment to your personal needs.

I don't have one system that comes close to having the power of this system, and although I'd like to, I'm sticking with lower end systems that can do the job....I don't mind letting my systems render awhile in exchange for more production equipment.

personally I think one can get by with spending $1000 on a decent editing box, and any superfluous funds versus a system like you've outlined can go towards lighting, sound, gels, filters, etc. etc. etc.