Specifications for New PC Build? For Video Capture & Rendering on Windows

[Neil-Betamax]

Hi,

I'm paying a guy who builds PCs for a living, to build me one suitable for video.

I'd like it to perform well for rendering videos with FFMPEG & Davinci Resolve, whilst also being great for Video Capture - the main reason I'm seeking a better PC. I'm capturing analogue VHS & Betamax.
My 8th Gen i7 Thinkpad vPro functions ok for these purposes, so it doesn't need to cost a fortune as I won't be doing anything like pixar animation on it, not that level anyway. But it'd be a bonus to pay a little more for something which performs well enough, without breaking the bank.

The guy building the PC doesn't know a great deal about Video creation in general, but knows a lot about building game PCs.

I'm thinking a 4TB SSD - this will be the greater part of the cost.

After reading posts on reddit I've seen the following advice on a similar post regards Davinci Specs:

"At least 32GB RAM - 8 Gigs of Vram"

"32 gigs of ram and a Nvidia GPU from the 20 series or above"

"50/Core i7 desktop. You're going to want an NVidia GPU. AMD works, but it can be flaky."

I guess everything else will be pretty standard, I hope what I want will run on Windows 10 as that's compatible with my current software.
Hopefully I can hack it to prevent updates as I have done with my current PC, since I've experienced updates conflicting with software compatibility in the past.

Any comments on this would be very appreciated, just so I have a good idea at what I'm aiming for in terms of hardware.

[Alwyn]

Best to ask the users of your intended software for the optimum setup.

Consider an iGPU in the CPU to help things along. Intel "i" processors come in both flavours; some with an iGPU and some without.

I probably don't have my system setup up optimally for AVISynth, but my CPU (i7-13700K) gets hammered during some filter runs and gets hot (the RTX-3060 isn't being used); a really good cooling setup is essential. I have an NZXT Kraken liquid setup.

For programs that are optimised for the GPU though (eg Magix Video Deluxe) the CPU isn't worked hard at all.

None of this is relevant for capture; any recent, even basic, machine can handle lossless capture easily.

[Neil-Betamax]

Best to ask the users of your intended software for the optimum setup.

Consider an iGPU in the CPU to help things along. Intel "i" processors come in both flavours; some with an iGPU and some without.

I probably don't have my system setup up optimally for AVISynth, but my CPU (i7-13700K) gets hammered during some filter runs and gets hot (the RTX-3060 isn't being used); a really good cooling setup is essential. I have an NZXT Kraken liquid setup.

For programs that are optimised for the GPU though (eg Magix Video Deluxe) the CPU isn't worked hard at all.

None of this is relevant for capture; any recent, even basic, machine can handle lossless capture easily.

Thanks for your thoughts on this, very helpful.

I also chatted with my mate who works in video production for a living just yesterday. He's selling his RTX 3060ti for £175, it hasn't been used much, & hasn't been hammered with crypto mining or anything like that. He won an RTX 5060 so doesn't need it any more, he enters competitions all the time so always ends up winning cool stuff - but then I do know someone who works for SCAN who's the guy building this PC for me, so I think he can get a good staff discount on brand new parts.

He says NVIDIA GPUs have CUDA, which is a big help in rendering so I hear. & from what I understand, the ti has CUDA & more cores.

I guess really, for what I need I can't go too wrong.

If I go with an RTX 3060ti, I've read that since it's a dedicated card, you won't need a separate iGPU for basic display output.
I think I'll need to take some time to digest this, but thats some good info to work on from here.

[hydra3333]

I'm capturing analogue VHS & Betamax.

Good luck with that.
There's threads on the issues around that (including the need for time base correcting and the need for a good video player ... and none of that is "cheap").

IIRC lordsmurf had a professional website around that type of stuff
https://www.digitalfaq.com/
https://www.digitalfaq.com/editorials/digital-video/professional-analog-workflow.htm

[Alwyn]

Good luck with that.

Pardon the French, Hydra, but that is ridiculous. The hysteria around digitisation is reaching fever pitch and I shake my head at how hard this apparently is. It's not.

[Alwyn]

If I go with an RTX 3060ti, I've read that since it's a dedicated card, you won't need a separate iGPU for basic display output.

Here's an interesting titbit: when I export a lossless AVI to H264 in Video Deluxe, the UHD770 runs the export at 200% play speed. The 3060ti runs the export at only 20% play speed.

Whereas when I'm exporting H264 from H264, I get 1200% with the 3060 and only ~200% from the UHD770, so how your particular software uses each GPU will be a factor in what you buy.

[Darryl In Canada]

[QUOTE=Neil-Betamax;2778115]

If I go with an RTX 3060ti, I've read that since it's a dedicated card, you won't need a separate iGPU for basic display output. I think I'll need to take some time to digest this, but thats some good info to work on from here.

Correct, the RTX 3060ti is a GPU or what used to be called graphic cards or video cards in the past. It has an HDMI port (and maybe DVI) that connects to your monitor. I have the same one, by the way. Some software relies more on a CPU with many threads and/or lots of RAM. The trick to building any computer system is to avoid a bottleneck. The CPU, GPU, and RAM should be equivalently good so that none of them bring the others down, so to speak. For gamers, one set of hardware will be best. For video editors, another. Lurk around PcBuild on Reddit for a while and you will get some good guidance.

Regardng video capture of analog sources, any modern computer is more than enough. For context, I built a Windows XP computer with a motherboard circa 2004 in order to use an older, preferred AGP capture card. And that computer fast enough for analog video capture. My only recommendation is to not do anything else on your new computer when capturing video. And make sure you have at least two hard drives, one for the OS and one for data capture.

Depending on your space and budget, you could buy an old computer with a hard drive for your OS, and another hard drive for your data. And then use that computer for capturing. Then copy the data onto a USB flash drive and copy to your modern computer to do your post work.

[hydra3333]

Pardon the French, Hydra, but that is ridiculous. The hysteria around digitisation is reaching fever pitch and I shake my head at how hard this apparently is. It's not.

work once sent me to France for a few months. I'm not great with human languages... my new colleages there(wonderful people) only ever managed to teach me to swear in french
Cheers

PS
That's not a go, just an anecdote about my French comprehension !
I am hoping to learn something here as we have about 200 20-30yo vhs-c tapes to capture/transcode and the only thing I found about 10 years ago was a vhs->DVD recorder which produces blocky DVDs with no filtering like deinterlacing denoising and dehaloing and sharpening and whatnot.

[Neil-Betamax]

[QUOTE=Darryl In Canada;2778138][QUOTE=Neil-Betamax;2778115]

If I go with an RTX 3060ti, I've read that since it's a dedicated card, you won't need a separate iGPU for basic display output. I think I'll need to take some time to digest this, but thats some good info to work on from here.

Correct, the RTX 3060ti is a GPU or what used to be called graphic cards or video cards in the past. It has an HDMI port (and maybe DVI) that connects to your monitor. I have the same one, by the way. Some software relies more on a CPU with many threads and/or lots of RAM. The trick to building any computer system is to avoid a bottleneck. The CPU, GPU, and RAM should be equivalently good so that none of them bring the others down, so to speak. For gamers, one set of hardware will be best. For video editors, another.

Thanks for that. I'm wondering if it might be better to avoid using a dedicated GPU really, one reason is it will be more expensive but also, I'm unsure if its really necessary as for what I'm doing.

I'm still looking around, & currently comparing two specs:

Intel i7 Sixteen Core CPU
32GB RAM
4TB M.2 SSD 887
DVD ReWriter
8x USB Ports
Windows 10

& this one...

Intel i5 Ten Core CPU
RTX 3060ti GPU
32GB RAM
4TB M.2 SSD
DVD ReWriter
8x USB Ports
Windows 10

I'm hoping the first spec above will be good enough for use with Davinci Free version & studio 20, if I upgrade to that.
otherwise, FFMPEG, Avisynth and my processes for capturing analogue are nailed (I use a black magic shuttle with media express & a Panasonic DVD which acts as a Time Base Corrector, had great results). It's the rendering really which I'm trying to compare but I'm thinking both these specs should be powerful enough to render video well, the first option should hopefully be good enough even though it doesn't use a dedicated GPU. & in terms of bottlenecking (a new term for me which I looked up after you mentioned) it might make sense to stick with the i7 Intel i7 Sixteen Core CPU
32GB RAM.

[Subtitles]

Have you given any thoughts about the case and how to cool your new PC?

[Neil-Betamax]

Have you given any thoughts about the case and how to cool your new PC?

Thanks, the guy who's building it will be fitting some decent cooling systems. He does it for a living so I have my faith in how he'll fit a well equipt case and cooling system. I used to build PCs myself, but this was over 20 years ago and, it makes sense to work with someone who has better knowledge than me in terms of compatibility etc. Cheers for the headsup though, I think it will be sound on that note.

[Neil-Betamax]

I'm slowly getting somewhere.

I think, with the amount of knowledge I could gain, which is pretty out of my depth in terms of how certain GPUs and CPUs are utilised with particular software, I'm towards making a decision based on the recommendation from my friend who creates & renders video for a living, he's selling his RTX 3060ti to me.

I think the research would be pretty endless but I've reached out on reddit, to a forum where people are discussing davinci resolve studio 20 - it seems probable that I might move from the free version to this paid for version at some point.

So long as I can do basic editing and rendering, with the mind that my intel i7 8th gen vPro can handle a lot of what I do, I think I'll be safe with a ten core i5 along with the RTX 3060ti. It's a bit of a stab in the dark but, either way I need a dedicated GPU.

I'll see what the Davinci users say regards to the spec I'm anticipating, here's what I think I'll be going for:

Intel i5 Ten Core CPU
RTX 3060ti dedicated GPU
32GB RAM
4TB M.2 SSD
DVD ReWriter
8x USB Ports
Windows 10

Thanks for many of you on this forum, I've nailed the process of capturing and compressing my analogue video over the last 15 years! So really, this is to make sure my new machine is equiped enough, whilst not being overkill or too expensive for how I'll be using it when it comes to rendering and editting.
I digitise analogue video but I also create music videos.
I have a habit of over thinking things but, when there's a lot of money to be spent you have to be sure to be making the right decisions.

[Subtitles]

What is missing from your list is the motherboard brand name and model.
I realize that you trust the guy who is building the new PC for you, but he should give a full list of all the parts that he will be using.

If you want the DVD ReWriter to fit in the PC case, then he will have to choose a case that will have a bay (not popular these days) and this going to be large and heavy and expensive. Most probably he will choose a smaller case and you will have to use an external DVD ReWriter, which are not as reliable as an internal one. But a DVD ReWriter would be a nice to have addition to the PC I would say so an external one should do because it will save you money in the end.

[Neil-Betamax]

What is missing from your list is the motherboard brand name and model.
I realize that you trust the guy who is building the new PC for you, but he should give a full list of all the parts that he will be using.

If you want the DVD ReWriter to fit in the PC case, then he will have to choose a case that will have a bay (not popular these days) and this going to be large and heavy and expensive. Most probably he will choose a smaller case and you will have to use an external DVD ReWriter, which are not as reliable as an internal one. But a DVD ReWriter would be a nice to have addition to the PC I would say so an external one should do because it will save you money in the end.

you're right in saying that, thanks for bringing it up. The guy who's building it has provided me with x6 different specs. I guess he's kept things concise and less in depth as he's aware it's been a long long time since I've wrapped my head around specs in general. So he's kinda simplifying things for me here in a way.

After having had a few conversations about my purposes for the machine, he's omitted a lot of detail as yes like you say, we do have a lot of trust between us and he's very open on social media with his business. I've bought x2 Macbooks he's modified for me in the past, he does it for a living so I'm definately in safe hands. I could always ask but, I trust the motherboard will be sound.

& The DVD ReWriter, I also find it better to have an internal rather than external (whilst I still use an external DVD on another machine). I'd imagine it will be a large tower case, most of his builds are like this. He even takes the time to make them look good from the outside, sometimes with transparent perspex & the odd LED display (not something I'd particularly want myself) but yes, he does make them look the part and keep all the wires tight & intact so it doesn't look messy. As far as PC builders go I think he goes above & beyond, & he gets good rates as he also works for a major component supplier in the UK fulltime, which helps keeps his costs competative.

All I really need now is to perhaps add an extra slave drave, an internal HDD 4tb sata for my data & I think I'm good to go. Then, I'll have the joy of faffing around for months getting all my current software installed - hopefully there's no horrendous conflicts with whatever version of windows 10 I have installed. If I can hack it to prevent updates like I have done with this PC, I will be happier than ever.