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How much RAM & GPU for Photo and Video Editing

O

Operandi

Diamond Member
I plan on building a photoshop and video editing (Vegas I think) machine for a client. Its going to be a budget build but not penny pinching cheap, about $700 for the machine itself.

Probably going to be based on a AMD Phen X3 and an AMD chipset. I know Photoshop benefits some from a GPU but how much? Is there any reason to opt for a more powerful GPU than what is included on the chipset? Also what about video encoding? Is this still all CPU for the time being?

For RAM I was thinking about 4GB min, I'm thinking more is a good idea since RAM is so cheap but how much (6-8GB)?
 
Originally posted by: Operandi
I plan on building a photoshop and video editing (Vegas I think) machine for a client. Its going to be a budget build but not penny pinching cheap, about $700 for the machine itself.
Click to expand...
Photo/Video editing specific machine + $700 budget = "Penny Pinching" :roll:

A Core i7 combo would shine with those applications, but not at $700.

 
Originally posted by: Blain
Originally posted by: Operandi
I plan on building a photoshop and video editing (Vegas I think) machine for a client. Its going to be a budget build but not penny pinching cheap, about $700 for the machine itself.
Click to expand...
Photo/Video editing specific machine + $700 budget = "Penny Pinching" :roll:

A Core i7 combo would shine with those applications, but not at $700.
Click to expand...

WTF? Of course an i7 would shine, try answering my original question.

I don't have a hard budget but around $650 is what I can to for Phen X3 on an nice Gigabyte AMD board.
 
Is a 4870 really necessary for photo editing? Doesn't seem to me that the 3D power would be needed.

Speaking generally, are you going to be providing support for this machine if something goes wrong?
 
Its a 2-D app. At most you'll need a 4670. Put more money towards a quad-core, if their video apps will utilize the extra core.
 
Combo Deal: $189AR, ASUS M3A78-EM AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G & Vista Ultimate 64-bit OEM
(I think you can find the same deal for your Gigabyte)

AMD Athlon X2 4850e 2.5GHz AM2 45W: $56

G.SKILL 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066: $100
(IIRC is on Asus QVL list)

Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 1.5Gb/s: $110
(OS/Apps)

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s: $55
(data)

ENERMAX Chakra ECA3052B Black SECC ATX Mid Tower: $30 AR

Antec earthwatts EA430 430W: $40

By the time you buy a DVD and a few fans should be a touch over $600.

I would give AMD 8-10 months on the ""ATI Stream Acceleration"" before spending too much money on a discreet video solution. GPGPU is close but just not quite there. Give AMD (and nVidia) a little more time to shake it out with their 'software partners'.

The 780g should push two LCDs (one analog/one digital) in the meantime. It's all 2D anyway, as Jae noted.

You got cash left over to bump anything. A 790gx would be sweet. I wouldn't spend the jack on an X3 unless your buyer really, really has to have it now. AM3 will most likely drive down original Phenom prices to X3 levels in a few months (and Deneb will be more moderately priced next summer/fall, anyway).

I guess you could even drop 4Gb of RAMs and save $50 but PS sure loves it. When not hitting the page file it should fly (even with the 45w X2).

If Vegas is like Premiere you could even add another hard drive (or two) and stay close to budget. Three HDs is really a minimum (OS/Apps, capture, output) and the more typically the merrier. Premiere can independently process your audio/video from separate drives as it 'builds' and outputs to another drive - I'm sure Vegas has a similar configuration for multiple 'scratch' drives.

And it's always nice to have an independent backup drive

 
Originally posted by: jae
Its a 2-D app. At most you'll need a 4670.
Put more money towards a quad-core, if their video apps will utilize the extra core.
Click to expand...
* The 46xx series doesn't support stream processing.
* The thread is limited to memory and GPU.
 
I don't see the 74GB Raptor as cost-effective when the 150GB VelociRaptor is only $40 more.
 
Originally posted by: DSF
I don't see the 74GB Raptor as cost-effective when the 150GB VelociRaptor is only $40 more.
Click to expand...

I don't disagree but that $40 is almost 'another' scratch disk.

I also considered capacity and 'transfer rate' of the drive and it just didn't seem to weigh in favor of the additional cost.

I've got a 'boatload' (one of those high tech terms 😀 ) of vector and raster graphic programs, 3d modeling and video media editing/transcoding programs. All told they consume less than 35Gb of my OS/apps drive.

Instead of using the 'My Documents' folder (I hide it) and accumulating junk on the OS/apps drive the OP may simply create a shortcut on the desktop to the main data root drive (and sub-directories) and configure his apps to save on the data drive(s).
 
...Focus on getting a Quad-Core and 2 kits of CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400). The video card doesn't play a big factor in picture and video editing. And stick with the WD "Black" hard drive since your on a budget.
 
I will probably load the system up with 6-8GB of RAM based on the comments I'm getting and the dirt cheap prices of memory.

Also there will be two hard drives in the system. The plan was for an OS/apps drive and a the 2nd for everything else. I can see how a third drive would be faster, is it worth while though?

Originally posted by: Blain
* The 46xx series doesn't support stream processing.
Click to expand...

Since neither the 790GX or the 790X support stream processing performance will be the same? Based on that on that I should either make the jump to a 48xx series card or stick with the base integrated GPU?

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo
I wouldn't spend the jack on an X3 unless your buyer really, really has to have it now.
Click to expand...

From the benchmarks I've seen the more cores the better for video processing, correct? I would wait for the Phen II for the performance boost and/or lower cost but I want to build this machine soonish before the new semester starts up.
 
This is what I would do.

I would have 2 hard drives, one used for main and the other used for as a scratch disk. I'm not sure how you would benefit from a 3rd disk.

Then I would get a quad with 8gb of ram, depending on your budget. I'm not sure what stream processing is all about, but it sounds like a gimmick to me. I would say a good dedicated video card and that should suffice for Photoshop CS4, I wouldn't go with integrated.

I would spend a lot of your budget on the cpu and ram because there's nothing more frustrating when your video editing and it takes ages to render. It would be ideal if you could wait for Phenom II, cause you could either get that, or a cheaper core 2 or Phenom I. Also make sure you stick with quads.
 
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