PC specs for video editing

[dainova]

Hi,
I'm tired to do video on my 3 years old laptop, so thinking to buy desktop, could be SFF.
Anybody can recommend min specs for such unit, like min video RAM, etc..
It's mainly for home use,
anybody has any model in view that can fit these specs ?

Tx all
Dai

[zoobie]

what kind of video are you working with?
2gb of ram and a dual core processor will handle HDV

[yoda313]

In addition to zoobie's suggestions as a minimum spec for a new pc consider storage space.

These days I'd recommend at least a 500gb dedicated capture drive. For not much more money you can upgrad to 1tb for a resonalbe price. Then you can have a lot more flexibility and freedom during editing. You won't have to focus on one project at a time as much and can work on multiple projects without the need to get them off the drive to save space.

[tmw]

In addition to the video you are working with, and the storage (both of which are very important points), you might also consider the work flow you are using. Capturing and encoding in real-time requires more capable machines than batch processing. I use a 4-year old laptop with similar specs. Instead of updating your system, you may just need to update your approach.

[DjfunkmasterG]

I shoot low budget feature films and I use Sony Vegas to edit. These are the specs on my PC

Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0ghz
6gb of Crucial Ballistix Ram
4tb of HDD space
EVGA 780i Sli Motherboard
(2) Nvidia Ge Force 9600GT's
Windows Vista Ultimate
800W Sli-ready power supply.
(2) 20" Dell LCD Widescreen Monitors
(1) 19" Dell CRT (For Color Correction)

The parts, Not Including the Monitors, which I had) cost me about $1200, and that was 6 months ago. I am using the same tower case I had for my previous build, which is a Thermaltake Server tower.

What I have is more than enough to edit video, and what I have will help with render times.

[Soopafresh]

If you can spare a grand, the DELL Studio XPS desktop uses the newest Intel I7 processor, which to quote a New Englander friend of mine is "wickedly fast".

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dxcwzy2&cs=19&dgvcode=ss&c=US&l=...399&lid=627062

Review

http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/22/dells-core-i7-packin-studio-xps-hits-the-review-bench/

[DjfunkmasterG]

My only issue with Dell is that they buy a lot of seconds when it comes to Memory, HDD's etc. Parts that don't make the quality pass for use under the normal vendors retail name, but get installed into a name brand dell PC makes me nervous. I stick with Custom builds.

[wtsinnc]

Hello dainova.

Why SFF ?

A small form factor typically involves provisions for only one optical drive, a lower capacity power supply, fewer expansion slots, only one internal hard drive, and (on some brands/models) 2 DIMMS vs. four in a minitower design. You are trading performance and versatility for a smaller package.
-Are you really that cramped for space ?

There is also less room for cooling/airflow and the number and orientation of fans is less than optimal.

-Not what I would look for in a computer, particularly one to be used for video projects.

[edDV]

SLI is for gaming only. Not required for video editing.

The video card will assist MPeg2 playback. Upper end cards (e.g. NVidia 7600 up) add hardware acceleration support for h.264. HD 1080i/p h.264 playback is the upper barrier.

Critical issues.
1. Separate OS vs capture drives.
2. As much CPU as you can afford (min Core2 Duo these days).
3. Adequate PureVideo or AVIVO video card for HD MPeg4 playback.
4. 2GB RAM min for Vista, 1GB min for XP.
5. IEEE-1394 interface for DV/HDV/DVHS/Cable Box.

[rgs_uk]

You will need a fast machine if you want to edit HDV etc. But not for standard definition DV. Sony Vegas (version 5 here) was was running fine for me on a four year old Toshiba laptop -- 2.6 processor, 1Gb RAM, Windows XP.

Currently I'm using an inexpensive Gateway laptop: 1.73 GHz, 2038 RAM, Vista Home Basic. With this machine Vegas 5 handles DV and HuffyUV compressed 720x576 footage at 25fps in Best (full) mode. Besides which the point of Vegas is that you can drop down the video preview quality all the way to Draft (Auto) so it is usable on any modern PC.

It depends what you're doing, but even a 250Gb hard drive will hold 18 hours of DV footage.

So no need to spend much unless you're working with a high definition format.

[GimpGuy2000]

Just to throw in my 2 cents...

I used to use an HP pavilion 512W with 384 ram for video editing, ok, it worked but WAY to slow "obviously".
For about $400 , I built my own PC>>

2.20 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core << very fast but so are others

Board: ALiveNF6G-VSTA
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. P2.00 10/03/2007 << I suggest getting a board that's upgradable.

160.05 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity << (Note) I am very much running out of room and have to delete things to make more room\back up onto disk.

ATAPI DVD DD 2X16X4X16 [CD-ROM drive]
LITE-ON DVDRW LH-20A1L [CD-ROM drive] << both excellent for fast burning

NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430 [Display adapter] << onboard which isn't the best but have no problems of yet, would still like a graphics card and would still recommend one to others.

Slot 'DIMM0' has 1024 MB "both gskill dual"
Slot 'DIMM1' has 1024 MB << now, I have up to 8 gig capacity on my mobo, I am running 2 gigs only, which seems VERY extreme compared to the HP, however, as time goes on, I need more and would recommend as much ram as possible within price\reason.


So even though I was in my own heaven with my new PC, I realize now as time goes on, I could make my life easier with more RAM, Graphics card, and larger Hard Drive. Note: I am still very happy with what I have now and run every game out there, author, edit video, watch movies, whatever. without a problem "aside from room and a bit more speed of course".

I also have a kick butt case fans\cooling, PSU and all. Just under 400 bucks. I didn't pay for the OS though, already had that , monitor and keyboard. Just built my son a gaming PC for $382 and has more than mine <but Xmas is almost here

Anyway, there are many options. I am just letting you know what I had, what I run now, and what I feel I will need to upgrade in the near future.

Paul

[lordsmurf]

At the end of the day, the amount of RAM and CPU and other whiz-bang items won't make your videos look any better. My computers range from 2-7 years old, and they are all highly efficient systems. Video encodes are done overnight, so encoding speed is not even remotely important. That's the easiest part of video anyway, as you're not doing anything, you're just waiting on a machine.

Something to remember, keep your perspective.

[dphirschler]

Doing fine here with a 3 (or more?) year old 3.0 GHz Intel P4, 1 GB RAM. I've upgraded the two extra hdds through the years, but not C:. In fact, I have a brand new mobo, proc, and ram sitting right here, but I am reluctant to replace this system.


Darryl

[lordsmurf]

In fact, I have a brand new mobo, proc, and ram sitting right here, but I am reluctant to replace this system.
Darryl

Don't. Get a new case, KVM it. Then you've got two good systems! I do that.

[dannyboy48888]

at the end of the day its all about how fast you want to encode. if yo are encoding 480p content any recent e-machine will encode and decode it, just the encode will take ages. a decent video card is important though for video decoding if you are viewing 720p content encoded with AVC or VC1 any decent proc will render 720P content without the help of video acelleration. so my personal pecking order in this area is :

-the fastet INTEL chip (i7 core as of now) you can afford
-a copy of vista 64 bit ed (so you can use all of that ram and have it available to the prog)
- 4GB of ram (3 gb for vista 32bit , GET 64 BIT!!)
2 500GB or LARGER hard drives one for the source content and one for the destination content and for batch encodes
and a decent video card ($200 range)with monitor using DVI or HDMI out

the video card wont be a deal breaker, a $79 card will work but if you can get a decent one. the proc ram and hard drive is what will get the work done at the end of the day!


as far as software , i use anyDVD and tmpeg 4.0 of most of my work and mediacoder for small work. tmpeg may be a bit pricey ($89) but it gives great results and has most of the processing functions at your finger tips \


hope this helps

[budz]

buy what you can afford. any core 2 duo cpu will do fine and if you can afford a quad 9300 or 9550 it will make your video encoding faster. nuff said.

[GimpGuy2000]

I have to agree with some statements that it's about how fast you want to "get er done". I admit, I didn't get a PC just for video work but ripped a family reunion DVD, 4.3 g, it took about 10-11 min. A bit longer to put it to disk. Before, it would have taken the time of the vid itself , if not more.

I used to encode overnight but now it takes about 20 to 30 min for a 2-3 gig vid. The main issue with over night encoding for me was waking up only to see an error that happened in the middle of the night, only to find I had to start over, plus not having time to work on it during the day, really put me in a "video slump". I used to shut it off and go do what I had to do, not knowing when I could get back to it. Now, within 45 min at the most, I can catch errors or work with large video immediately, no more morning surprises. That is the best thing about it, "to me" anyway.



Cheers,

Paul