Help - building HD editing desktop

[mtrax8]

Hello all, it's come time to finally replace my desktop that's served me well for the past 6 years that I've owned it, primarily used for photo editing, digital painting and music production. I've gotten a great deal of mileage out of my existing system and would like to build this next system to do the same + HD video editing. I don't game at all on PC so this would strictly be for photo, video and audio production.

This is what I'm thinking of right now:

http://secure.newegg.ca/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=14518406

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[HotDamn!]

I think that GPU is a little overkill but it's up to you, someone will come tell you which one you need for HD editing because I can't really remember.

This is a little more up to date when it comes to thermal compound: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020

You can also get MX-3 but budz would have to give you a link for that, I think newegg only has MX-2 but works just as good. MX-3 and 2 has no cure time like the Arctic Silver but I have no complaints with it.

Could save a little money with this drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

Samsung works great

Also you can get this PS which is a little more popular and they can be cheaper. Plus it's compatible with your CPU, not sure if that's too important or not, I'm sure they'll all do fine with your CPU: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017

[edDV]

Need more detail on your HD video editing requirement. What formats? What camcorders? What output devices?

At a minimum get a display card with PureVideoHD (NVidia) or AVIVO-HD (ATI) support. 3D GPU features are primarily for gaming.

[aedipuss]

for adobe pp cs5 support only certain quadro boards or a gtx285 will work for gpu assist.

[INFRATOM]

1- With the cost you came up with it's better to catch a deal or sale on Dell and get a ready made computer. You don't need to worry about compatibility.
2- customize your choice and max out the best CPU extending your budget even a bit more, if you are not multitasking 4Gigs of memory is enough it would be cheaper if you add RAM yourself later.
3- If you decide you like to build yourself, checkout anandatech and Tomshardware site and look at the examples pick the motherboard and RAM that is compatible. Go for second generation X58 chipset. Buy your case and PSU at local computer store on sale, don't buy off brand. PSU around 600 Watts is enough if you use only one video card. Check if your retail CPU has cooling fan, you don't need other cooling and don't overclock. A noticable speed difference comes from good hard drive like raptors or a pair of RAID one for OS and one for data.
Good luck

[redwudz]

You only list one hard drive. I use at least three for editing PCs. A smaller fast one for the OS. I'm currently using a 10K RPM WD Velociraptor 150GB. The boot drive gets constant access from the OS, so not the most efficient place to work with files. I use two other large drives for video, one for editing and the other for storage, usually 500GB, but 1000GB will work as well. It's also a nice option to have e-SATA sockets at the rear of the computer if you need to quickly add a additional HDD.

I'm not a fan of Asus MBs, mostly use Gigabyte these days, but that's up to you.

And welcome to our forums.

[budz]

I with redwudz on getting smaller hd for the operating system & using 2 large capacity hds for editing purposes. As well as using Gigabyte motherboards instead of Asus. IMHO Asus quality control has gone downhill from the Pentium 4 days. You'll need more than 1 scythe sflex fan since the CM 690 II case only comes with 2 fans. You can get some cheaper case fans like the CM R4 fans.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103060

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103061

Here's some 120mm yate loons that I buy from Petra's. I use them on my pc's and for builds that I do for others.

http://www.petrastechshop.com/12yalod1cafa1.html


Get a Corsair 650HW or 650TX power supply instead of that Cooler Master. Artic 5 silver is old school now get some ARTIC COOLER MX2 Thermal paste.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020&cm_re=arctic_cooling-_-...-020-_-Product

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005


6gb Ram is overkill for photo, video and audio production. You'll do fine with 4gb Ram.
Corsair 4GB (2X2GB) DDR3-1600 Ram, $136.49

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145263

Just my 2 cents!

[kimco52]

I have had some bad luck with Gigabyte boards and AMD lately. I had good luck with Gigabyte 10 years ago and am probably still running with it in one of the old computers. However, when the last one started having problems after about 6 months of use, I took it out and went back to an old ASUS board which worked just fine and still is. But it is old.
I am upgrading my main computer now. ASUS P6 board with Intel I7-930, nVidia Quadro Pro video card driving two monitors and Corsair DDR3 6GB memory (3X2). Gonna put Windows 7 Pro 64 bit on it. I am currently running XP Pro. I have all the parts... just waiting for time to actually do the migration.
I was going to use a Matrox card (Been using one for years) but the latest one does not do extended desktop to 2 monitors yet. They said they may have drivers in July. I didn't want to wait.

[mtrax8]

Thank you all for the very informative replies!

I've made a few changes:

motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R
primary HD - WD VelociRaptor 150GB
MX2

Still trying to select a video card - thinking of going for something with GeForce 9800 GT - but I'm utterly confused as to which brand to go with - PNY, EVGA, GIGABYTE, MSI, BFG?

To answer edDV's question above - will be editing video from a Canon T2i, will just output to files for now, no need to burn to b-rays yet.

Any reco's for quiet fans/power supplies? I hate having mission control next to me, and as I don't really have a bonafide vocal booth to record in, the quieter I can get my PC down the better.

Udpated wishlist: http://secure.newegg.ca/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=14518406

[HotDamn!]

Good changes as for the GPU brand EVGA is a very good one to go with and so is BFG.

I have a BFG GTX 260 and I've had very good experience with the customer service. Also when you register your card online at BFGtech.com, depending on which card you get you have 100 days to participate in the Trade Up program. . This just lets you get a better card within the 100 days and you just pay the difference.

Some restrictions:
Only BFG graphics cards introduced on or after February 21, 2008 are eligible for the Trade Up program. Eligible graphics cards include BFG GeForce 9 series graphics cards and some BFG GeForce 8 series graphics cards, such as the GeForce 8500 GT 1GB that was introduced after February 21, 2008.


PS, your link doesn't work.

[redwudz]

I think you'll be happy with the VelociRaptor. I used a SSD previously, which was faster, but too small and too much maintenance and much more expensive.

There are a lot of video card brands out there. I don't find much difference in operation when they have the same chipsets. About all I can advise is to check the NewEgg reviews for some idea of quality and dependability. I've used Gigabyte, MSI, BFG, EVGA, Asus and a few others with no complaints or problems with any of them.

For power supplies, I've used Thermaltake, Corsair, OCZ, Seasonic, lately and they have all been quiet. Much quieter than my CPU and case fans. I have one Thermaltake with a 140mm fan that is virtually silent. Make sure it has the connectors you need, especially with CPU connections and video card connections. 500W is plenty unless you are a gamer and use SLI video cards. I prefer modular supplies as you can get rid of some of the more useless cables. JMO, but $50 - $95 seems a good price range, especially if you keep an eye out for sale prices.

[DarrellS]

I have the same case and I like it a lot. It has holes to run the cables behind the MB and a hole to mount the Hyper212 without removing the MB. The HDDs mount backwards so all the cables are out of the way. Oh, and it has a SATA connector on top of the case.

The MB is probably the right choice but I hate the fact that all the X58 boards have so many GPU slots and hardly any slots for anything else.

I saw an HIS 4670 video card for $89 bucks at newegg...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161287

...but you could get a card that only takes up one slot since your case should come with a GPU cooler mount (it takes an 80mm fan that is not provided). This case uses 140mm fans although you can use 120mm fans. I moved my 140mm fan from the front to the side and put a 120mm fan that I had in the front. I'll eventually get another 140mm fan for the front.

Take Redwudz advice on PSU. I bought a Corsair TX750 which is a good PSU but it has way too many cables and even though I run them to the back they still make a huge coil in the bottom of my case. I was looking at a Thermaltake when pricing an I5 build.

I would get two SATA 6 HDDs. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533 since the board supports them.

[mtrax8]

I would get two SATA 6 HDDs. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533 since the board supports them.

Which drive would be faster/better for my main drive: the WD 7200 rpm SATA 6 or the WD 10,000 rpm Velociraptor SATA 3 ?

[budz]

If you want a fast drive get a solid state drive for your operating system but it's pricey! Newegg had their shocker special today for $139.99 for a OCZ solid state 60gb drive.

[DarrellS]

I'm in the small boot drive group also (VelociRaptor or SSD if you can afford it). The 1TB drives would be for storage. 6Gb/s transfer speed and 64MB cache. Shouldn't have any problems moving files around.