Perfect Avid Express or liquid system?

L

Lsdsound

Active member
hey guys, I am trying to help out a friend build a system, I can build anything, but I am a FCP guy so I dont know the requirements for avid and spec sheets are most of the time wrong, I wanna know what you guys use and what are you guys happy with, performance, HDD speed, RAID? etc..

Thanks in advance

C
 
My advice: Don't build. Buy an Avid qualified PC. It's just not worth the headache to try and figure out what hardware works best with Avid. Let someone else do it. Whether that be a Mac of an HP workstation, to me it's worth the extra money.

If you still want to build, keep it Intel, keep it Nvidia. And if he's going to be using a Mojo you have to pay special attention to bus segments of whatever motherboard you choose. Mojo requires a dedicated bus segment to run properly.

HDD speed isn't too much of an issue 7200 RPM or better. RAIDs are nice, but not required for SD footage. If he's doing HD, then yeah a SATA RAID will work well.
 
I built a system. It's NOT WORTH IT. So many headaches. I pretty much got it going (thanks to help on these boards) but it's never gonna work flawlessly. Lesson learned.
 
I built this through Boxx Tech:

Dual XEON DP 3.2GHz,2MB Cache, 800MHz FSB
2GB DDR2-400 ECC (2DIMMS)
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1500 256MB Pro Video Edition
(2) 400GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA 8MB Cache Drive
16x Dual Layer DVD-RW
3 Port Firewire 800 Adapter
Windows XP Professional Edition SP2

This unit is a powerhouse. As I stated in a previous post, I will run 10 hour Avid sessions consisting of all key framing and 15+ video tracks-never a single glitch and it outperforms my quad 2.5 G5 (regarding Avid Xpress Pro HD)
 
Boxx is a good company, but they also know what they're doing and what is needed for an NLE machine. If you build through Boxx you'll likely be OK. Going to Newegg and choosing parts is not so reliable.
 
I've built two systems. My old 3.0 GHZ. P4 system was really stable for Avid, but the chip fried for some reason (fault). And now I have a 2.8 GHZ. P4 and its not so stable, but it runs pretty smooth for the most part. My HP 3.2 Ghz. P4 laptop is a dream running Avid though.
 
I agree with the "Buy dont build statement" The system I built worked great for Xpress Pro then had an issue with the on board sound that turned out to be a HUGE headache! Trying to find a decent audio card that Avid ikes is tough! You will be much more content with an approved system.
 
Just built a vfm system for use with liquid - no problems to report - I would do it again !
System is based on AsRock mobo (cheap enough to throw away - but is ok ! ), Intel D940 3.2GHz dual core processor , 2 Gb 566 DDRII Corsair memory , ATI 256Mb graphics , 120Gb system RAID - dual IBM (hitachi) SATA , 250GB Seagate for video render , 2x 250Gb LaCie D2 (firewire) for footage , 'silent' 400w psu , AND Thermaltake 120mm SILENT FANS ALL ROUND !!
I was like a kid at Christmas when all the bits arrived ! - really enjoyed the building of it - got the machine I wanted , and saved money as well ! - Machine flys along , and no problems to date - perhaps I have just been lucky - lol.
 
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