Thoughts on Video Editing Setup

[EarthwormJim]

I'm building a new computer for my Dad, he's planning on using it exclusively to edit with Avid Liquid 7 pro.

I've read around a bit but I'm still a bit iffy on the video card I should go with. Budget is around $2000, maybe a little more but that's about the limit.

So far this is what I have planned:

CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Memory - 2GB Mushkin DDR2 800
Motherboard - Asus P5N-E
Video Card - ATI HD2900pro
Sound Card - M-Audio Revolution
OS Drive - 250gb HDD
Output Drives - two 500gb HDD in raid 0
Cache/Rendering Drive - 250gb HDD
PSU - 600W Enermax.

So any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to overclock this system, get the most performance for the buck as possible, and as long as its 100% stable I see no downsides.

I've seen a few turn-key editing bays and a lot seem to use Quadros or FireGL cards, will a standard gaming card like the HD2900 be fine? I'm avoiding the 8xxx Nvidia series because of driver issues with Avid.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

The Quadro cards can really help your render times but aren't suitable for gaming.

 

[EarthwormJim]

Originally posted by: MagnusTheBrewer
The Quadro cards can really help your render times but aren't suitable for gaming.

You think it would perform better in this situation with Avid Liquid? This machine has no intention of being used for gaming.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: EarthwormJim

Originally posted by: MagnusTheBrewer
The Quadro cards can really help your render times but aren't suitable for gaming.

You think it would perform better in this situation with Avid Liquid? This machine has no intention of being used for gaming.

You should definitely call them...
http://www.avid.com/support/

I found one page on their site that recommended a Radeon 9800 Pro or a GeForce 5950 Ultra card, so obviously they need to update their site, those cards are old.

Too much money involved, so again, call them and ask what kind of hardware setup works best with their software.

 

[EarthwormJim]

Originally posted by: bamacre

Originally posted by: EarthwormJim

Originally posted by: MagnusTheBrewer
The Quadro cards can really help your render times but aren't suitable for gaming.

You think it would perform better in this situation with Avid Liquid? This machine has no intention of being used for gaming.

You should definitely call them...
http://www.avid.com/support/

I found one page on their site that recommended a Radeon 9800 Pro or a GeForce 5950 Ultra card, so obviously they need to update their site, those cards are old.

Too much money involved, so again, call them and ask what kind of hardware setup works best with their software.

Good idea I'll do that tomorrow.

 

[Blain]

I would stick with an Intel based chipset on the MB.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: Blain
I would stick with an Intel based chipset on the MB.

:thumbsup: Definitely. And an Intel motherboard would give him the best stability.

 

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: MagnusTheBrewer
The Quadro cards can really help your render times but aren't suitable for gaming.

No. Wrong card.

 

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: EarthwormJim
I'm building a new computer for my Dad, he's planning on using it exclusively to edit with Avid Liquid 7 pro.

I've read around a bit but I'm still a bit iffy on the video card I should go with. Budget is around $2000, maybe a little more but that's about the limit.

So far this is what I have planned:

CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Memory - 2GB Mushkin DDR2 800
Motherboard - Asus P5N-E
Video Card - ATI HD2900pro
Sound Card - M-Audio Revolution
OS Drive - 250gb HDD
Output Drives - two 500gb HDD in raid 0
Cache/Rendering Drive - 250gb HDD
PSU - 600W Enermax.

So any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to overclock this system, get the most performance for the buck as possible, and as long as its 100% stable I see no downsides.

I've seen a few turn-key editing bays and a lot seem to use Quadros or FireGL cards, will a standard gaming card like the HD2900 be fine? I'm avoiding the 8xxx Nvidia series because of driver issues with Avid.

This is a good setup and will get you into the next version well too. For the ATI card, you need Cat 7.6 at a minimum (between 6.6 and 7.5, there was a bug). Later than 7.8 is better according to Lew (Mod at Pcle boards). The only "problem" has been the GPU driver problem in the older cats. There is a thread about gamma, but that was proven to be a GPU editor bug and not related to the 2900. I have a 1950Pro.

This setup will carry over to the next version well. The codename is Jack Squat. Your dad can catch up to it here. All of that is in public, so I am not revealing anything covered by NDAs. Have your dad watch the Liquid Immersion videos Andy has posted if you want a little more. But the summary is that the next version will be designed to work on Vista, support DX10 (Liquid was the first editor to use the GPU for effects in mainstream), and looks like will have a 64-bit version. Liquid users will get the upgrade path, which has been about $199 in the previous jumps. In the thread link, Gary from Videoguys mentioned the 64-bit, which was the first I heard of it. Gary sells lots of copies, so has an inside track.

Liquid can use a Quad in some scenarios, and the next version will even be better threaded. You see a quad jump in when you have multiple 2D CPU effects doing Ken Burns of stills. TimeWarp is much faster, but still single threaded, but you can see some GPU and CPU renders at the same time (I had a dual HT Xeon that has since gone to the graveyard).

Does your dad have a handle in the Pinnacle board yet? Get him to register. You can PM me here and I can give him a shout. I use the same user name there.

Oh, bump the Render drive to 500GB too. I have 3 500's, and I end up using my Render drive as a store for older projects (the backup option - which really works well). I think I only have about 80GB free on it

 

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: bamacre

Originally posted by: EarthwormJim

Originally posted by: MagnusTheBrewer
The Quadro cards can really help your render times but aren't suitable for gaming.

You think it would perform better in this situation with Avid Liquid? This machine has no intention of being used for gaming.

You should definitely call them...
http://www.avid.com/support/

I found one page on their site that recommended a Radeon 9800 Pro or a GeForce 5950 Ultra card, so obviously they need to update their site, those cards are old.

Too much money involved, so again, call them and ask what kind of hardware setup works best with their software.

That is really kind of old. HDV 1080 wants a PCIe card with 256MB. If you ask, the only thing they have published (in March) listed the 1900XTX 512 and an 1800 variant. It is out of date.