INPUT NEEDED: New build for HD (AVCHD) Video Editing

[KThomas00]

Hi Everyone,

I could use some feedback for this build I'm thinking about doing. I need to edit AVCHD data with Pinnacle Studio 11. Here is what I am thinking about buying. Could you let me know if there are any potential issues with this build?

On a side note... I already have a monitor, OS, and CD/DVD drives from another build, so I didn't include those here.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishL...WishListNumber=8858632

Thanks!

 

[disports]

i think the p5q pro would be better and it's cheaper if i'm correct.

might as well get the g. skill 4 gb (2 x 2gb) ddr2 800 for $79.99 i think

go with a 4850

are you overclocking? if not, i think you'll be fine with stock cooler, but won't harm.

 

[KThomas00]

Thanks for the response Smithrwon. Few questions for you:

1. Can you tell me what the difference are between those 2 Motherboards?
2. can you elaborate on the 4850? I'm not sure what you are referring to there.

Thanks!

 

[KThomas00]

Nevermind about question2... I figured that one out.

 

[disports]

sorry about that, i should've been more clear about the 4850 for the video card.

well for the motherboard, it's more of what you need and the layout of the board. i.e. the p5q-e has two lan ports.

 

[KThomas00]

Smithrwon,

Whats your take on my motherboard and dual Video Cards? I'd like to eventually get two video cards in the system. Does my motherboard give me a better chance of doing that? Sorry, not brushed up as I would like to be on Video Cards.

Thanks!

 

[disports]

The asus p5q pro is good. I think you'll be better of just using one video card (i.e. ati hd 4850, visiontek, asus, msi, etc) and you do know you have three hard drives listed right?

 

[rivan]

Originally posted by: KThomas00
Smithrwon,

Whats your take on my motherboard and dual Video Cards? I'd like to eventually get two video cards in the system. Does my motherboard give me a better chance of doing that? Sorry, not brushed up as I would like to be on Video Cards.

Thanks!

I'll make an assumption that you're wanting dual video for a second monitor (not for a SLI/Crossfire setup).

If that's the case, many/most dedicated video cards support dual monitors these days, so you only need one to support two monitors.

 

[KThomas00]

OK... just took a crash course on SLI. I wasn't exacly sure how dual video cards worked, now I do. So, what do you guys recommend for AVCHD video editing? Will a see substantial performance gain with a dual video (SLI) setup? I want to make editing this data as smooth as I can. Would all this just be overkill though? Should I just stick wiht the one video card?

Thanks!

 

[KThomas00]

Hi Smith,

Yes. I was going to use the smaller drive for the OS/Programs etc... The other 2 drives would either be striped or just 2 stand-alone drives. Not really sure how I want to go about that yet. I may just use the other large drive as a backup just in case. I guess it all depends on the performance.

 

[sswingle]

Your video card isn't going to do a thing when it comes to encoding video, and VERY little in editing. Its all CPU.

 

[rivan]

Originally posted by: sswingle
Your video card isn't going to do a thing when it comes to encoding video, and VERY little in editing. Its all CPU.

He's totally correct there - SLI will net you nothing for video encoding (unless there's a plugin somewhere that uses video processors for rendering).

I've actually looked at your list now, and have some comments:

On your video card, read the reviews here for ~$100 video. That budget is more than sufficient, but there are some better choices out there.

On your drives, AVCHD uncompresses to ginormous files, so you're going to want something faster for a working drive. Maybe two somethings, and if I were you I'd consider a couple of these or a couple of these. The new Raptors are WAY worse than the Caviar Black in terms of price/size/performance, but they're still faster. Use the SR High End DriveMark 2006 here to get an idea of how each those drives compare.

I'd use one drive as source drive and the other as destination; if you needed to drop your total system drives to two, I'd think two of either of those would cut it. Use the system drive for your source files and the other for output only.

The CPU cooler isn't necessary (in my opinion) unless you're overclocking or expect other unusual heat concerns. The retail processor you've got linked has a heatsink and fan included, which is perfectly fine.

Depending on the board and CPU revisions you receive, you may need to flash the BIOS on the motherboard - it looks like the 2.83ghz E0 Q9550s require BIOS v1004.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Pinnacle Studio 11 will not run 4 parallel threads across those cores. An E8500 @ 3.16GHz will whup that quad's arse and save you $140+. There is a combo deal for the PQ5 and E8400 for $275 - the e84 is probably 5% slower than the e85 - but that would save you $185 over your cpu/mobo combo.

As noted, the video card is beyond your needs and you are probably paying $40-$50 too much for your power supply.

If it is your primary intent to transcode video with this rig you could possibly slash as much as $400 from your hardware budget, purchase a copy of Adobe Premiere and build a rig with a Q6600 or Phenom quad.

 

[KThomas00]

heyheybooboo,

Are you sure about Pinnacle not using all the cores? I found this: software such as Photoshop, Pinnacle Studio Plus, QuickTime and 3D Studio Max all greatly benefited from the power of four dedicated cores.

The reason I decided to go with a quad core is because I am currently running an AMD X2 and the editing is very choppy...

 

[Blain]

If you're editing HD content, go with a 300GB VelociRaptor over the 640 WD.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: KThomas00
heyheybooboo,

Are you sure about Pinnacle not using all the cores? I found this: software such as Photoshop, Pinnacle Studio Plus, QuickTime and 3D Studio Max all greatly benefited from the power of four dedicated cores.

The reason I decided to go with a quad core is because I am currently running an AMD X2 and the editing is very choppy...

Yup. Pretty much.

The OS will 'load balance' across 4 cores at maybe 25% cpu utilization - which is in no way comparable to running 4 parallel threads. I tried it myself with the trail version of P-11 on my quad and 2p workstations.

I think there is a 'Pinnacle' category at Tom's CPU Charts if you want to check it out yourself and compare dual v. quads.

Adobe Premiere & Sony Vegas (and 3d Studio Max). Yup.

Pinnacle isn't one of them - maybe Liquid is, however ...

 

[sswingle]

My quad kicks ass running Premiere Pro. I also use TMPGenc to convert AVCHD to HDV, and that uses all 4 cores.

 

[KThomas00]

sswingle,

What are your specs? Also, how long does it take to convert AVCHD to HDV and is there any quality loss?

 

[sswingle]

Q6600, 4GB ram

I haven't played around with it too much, I don't own the AVCHD camera. Longest file I have is 33 seconds (65.2 mb) and it takes a minute to convert. Resulting m2t file is 108 mb. Playing both back, I can see no difference in quality.

Reason I have to convert in the first place is no AVCHD support in Premiere.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: sswingle
Q6600, 4GB ram

I haven't played around with it too much, I don't own the AVCHD camera. Longest file I have is 33 seconds (65.2 mb) and it takes a minute to convert. Resulting m2t file is 108 mb. Playing both back, I can see no difference in quality.

Reason I have to convert in the first place is no AVCHD support in Premiere.

The rumahs on the internets say that native support with no transcoding is right around the corner. I've been holding out on that $300 upgrade but might have to jump next week if the rumahs are true ...

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo

The rumahs on the internets say...
might have to jump next week if the rumahs are true ...

??:roll:??

 

[KThomas00]

Hi Everyone,

I just to give an update and ask another question...

I bought the Antec p182 case. It was bundled with the Antec 850 Quattro PSU for $200, so I figured I would jump on it. I know 850 is probably overkill for me, but I figured why not, the combo deal was pretty good (at least I think it was).

As for my question... What is everyone's thoughts on the HD4830 to save a bit of money. I was going to pull the triger on a 4850 until I saw the review on the 4830 today. Seems pretty decent. I'm not much of a gamer. I basically will be using the computer for HD Video Editing.

Here is an updated wish list (I've left the case on for now so I can watch the prices).

http://secure.newegg.com/WishL...WishListNumber=8858632

Any updated feedback?

Thanks!

 

[disports]

For the price, I think I would still get a 4850.

 

[MichaelD]

You've purchased an excellent case and powersupply; they will serve you quite well. :thumbsup: You can never have too much powersupply. The 850Q is a nice unit.

I think your proposed rig looks great. True, the videocard is overkill but it's not "big overkill." Never hurts to have a little extra power in any area in your pocket.

One thing; you're going to need another HD, preferably TWO more. For video editing, it's best to keep your source and destination drives separate. That way you're not simulataneously reading, processing on and writing to the same HD, resulting in really slow render times.

You'll have to set all your source/destination preferences in the NLE program you're using. I use Vegas Pro 8.0 and I use three physically separate drives.

Vegas program is on C: with the OS and the rest of the programs
Source files (raw HDV/DV) is on D:
Destination ("write to") drive is E:

Vegas reads video from D:, has temporary working file on C:, writes processed files to E: Smooth as buttah.

If the budget only allows for two HD's, that's OK too. Just keep the video files on the second drive and you'll be fine.

 

[KThomas00]

Michael,

Thanks for the feedback. I had 3 drives to start, but I moved it down to just 1 to see what it would cost to get a basics rig up and running. I'll add an additional drive for now and I'm planning on getting a third drive and another 4 gig of RAM for xmas (as I'm going to be using Vista Ultimate 64 bit).

I've receieved mix reviews about HD speeds. Some say velociraptor and others say that's overkill. What are your thoughts? I assumed a large drive with 32MB cache would be sufficiant. Thoughts?