Video editing computer

[Revolution09]

I'd like to put together a computer that will be used mainly for video editing (programs like Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop, etc.) that can easily handle HD video. I'm thinking a budget of around $2000. Only things I won't need are speakers, mouse, keyboard, and possibly monitor (currently have a 20" but I might want to upgrade to something that can display HD video at full size- 1920x1080)

Thanks

 

[GuitarDaddy]

I would say you would want

P35 chipset motherboard
Q6600 quadcore CPU
4gb ram
and at least 2 modern fast HD's

 

[gsellis]

add...

nVidia 7xxx series or Quadro video card (to drive the video level you want - Adobe likes nVidia)
1 more HDD for a total of 3 (500's are reasonable now)

See the LCD sticky in Video Cards and Graphics for your monitor selections.

 

[jkresh]

I agree, quad core, lots of ram, several fast drives. HD video (especialy in raw) takes a lot of bandwidth so you might want to setup a raid 0 array for editing (with a sperate drive for the os, and one for backup as raid 0 can fail). Maybe two 500gigs or two raptors in raid 0 for work (depending on budget and how much video you use), 1 tb drive for backup, and 1 250gig or whatever for the os and programs. This should be doable within the $2000 budget (and you might even have room for a blue ray drive (good for archiving hd )).

 

[Revolution09]

Thanks alot guys, I'll look into all your suggestions. I didn't see any reccomendations for video editing specifically in the LCD Thread... would this pretty much fall under Multimedia or Photo Editing? If not, any suggestions?

edit: also, what Quadro card would you recommend? and why do most Workstation cards not have alot of memory (until you get to like $1000 most only have 128-256mb)


edit 2: Power supply! any recommendations here as well? I've put together the following so far:

Intel Core 2 Quad Core Q6600
Asus P5K Deluxe
OCZ DDR2 800mhz 4gb (2x2gb)
PNY Quadro FX1500 256mb
2x Western Digital Caviar 500gb
LG GSA-H54N DVD-RW
Antec P182
Total: $1800

 

[Blain]

* Go with a good nVidia video card. I'd forget quadro due to price & drivers.
* I'd go with two 74GB Raptors (RAID 0) and a large HD with 5 year warranty, for storage.
* I would stick with 2GB of memory, myself. The "need" for 4GBs just isn't there.
* I'd stick with XP Pro, as I'm anti-Vista.
* You want plenty of good clean power for your Quad core and drives... Seasonic, Enermax or PCP & Cooling should treat you right.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Revolution09
I'd like to put together a computer that will be used mainly for video editing (programs like Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop, etc.) that can easily handle HD video. I'm thinking a budget of around $2000. Only things I won't need are speakers, mouse, keyboard, and possibly monitor (currently have a 20" but I might want to upgrade to something that can display HD video at full size- 1920x1080)

Thanks

You should be able to find a referb Mac from Apple (quad-core box) for about that much - have you considered that? Apple's got a great rep for pro-quality builds for video editing, and is an excellent solution if you want to focus on the video editing, rather than on the building of the PC yourself part. The software you list is native on Intel for MacOS now, and you can also run XP via BootCamp, natively. Have you thought at all about this?

PS: For what you list, you really don't need a 'workstation' graphics card.

 

[gsellis]

RE LCD thread. Go with color accurate monitors, so Photo Editing is closer to the mark. The new 92% Gamut's are high on the wishlist, but the cost is high too.

As for RAID, not necessary with HDV. I edit 1080i with 3 500's right now (C: E: F. Processor horsepower is where it is at. It took 5 days (24 hrs X 5 continuous) on the first pass to Deshake 1h 15m of HDV with my E6600.