Looking for a computer for video editing

[saneman]

Hey All,

I am looking for a computer to do video editing w/o breaking the bank. I like the Mac but it's too expensive for me yet. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[pkme2]

What's your budget?

 

[saneman]

Budget is in the vicinity of $1000.

 

[pkme2]

You might to get a Dell E510 system for < $1000 with 17' LCD monitor. I just checked the Dell site and they have an instant 23% discount going on right now. Check it out and if you really want a better Video Rig, increase your budget. Good hunting.

 

[saneman]

pkme2, how much do you think a better video Rig will cost and which one?

 

[ForumMaster]

as for your question, i think you know the answer. the more you spend the faster it will be.

since video encoding is usually multi-threaded, dual core or even quad core (such as the mac pro) do the job significantly faster. ofcourse the mac pro starts at little over twice your budet.

it all depends on how important this is to you. getting a good $1500 computer would do the job much faster.

i belive (although i might be mistaken) that adobe premire uses the graphic card to accelerate the encoding process.

a dell would be a good idea. but the more you spend the faster the job will go.

BTW, make sure you go with conroe and not the old crappy P4 or Pentium D's.

 

[pkme2]

Forummaster is right.

A C2D build would be the way to go. Let me check out something, I'll get back to you. I presume you Newegg?

 

[saneman]

I'm sorry guys but I'm a rookie at hardware (C2D, you newegg???) As I said earlier, I would love to get a Mac but not now. I have a couple of projects on hand and after I finish that, maybe I'll be able to go for the Mac. As for now, I'd like a system which would be fast enough for Avid Xpress Pro and maybe after I get a Mac, useful enough to continue using it. Thanks for all your input!

 

[Topplayer]

newegg.com is where you should buy most of your stuff
C2D = core 2 duo
C2d is the new intel CPU out right now

 

[d3n]

Yes defiantly Core 2 Duo, try for the one with the 4Meg Cache it will help greatly with any real-time editing. The only way to do that at reasonable cost seems to be to look at an OEM system like a Dell Precision 390 that has discounts going.

Almost as important is the disk subsystem. Ideally you would want a set of SATA II 3GB hard drives in Raid 0 to edit the film and work from. These would be separate from the HD that the OS boots from. The best course for your budget might be to get a system that is able to do RAID0 with a small drive for the OS then get a couple of SATA II 3GB HDs added in from Newegg to setup the RAID 0 set.

PCIx is pretty standard now but you defiantly want that if you have a separate SATA controller card to hook the RAID 0 set up too.
'
If you go with a Dell Precision 390 (small business website) make sure you get the mini-chassis with the fire wire card option and I would go ahead and get the integrated 5i/ SAS controller card. It?s your best option for getting hardware base RAID in a low cost box. This is a big plus for video editing. Also I would upgrade to the dual DVI video card or just add one of your own.

This blows your budget by about 80% but I think it would be well worth it and will be able to stand on its own legs for quite a while.

 

[d3n]

BTW jsut though I'd add that the RAID 0 option is not suited for any type of long term storage. Any error on ethier drive and your video library would be gone. Theres always the option of storing to DVD if you dont have another system to store it on.