Video Editing PC configuration

[jose]

I would change the mobo to a DFI SLI-DR , because it has 8 sata port for the future and the quality of DFI.

 

[kmrivers]

SLI is not necessary in this rig. I don't see this person gaming and would not need two video cards. DFI is too much work for this system. For my own, i would consider it. When i build other people's rigs though i go for stability. Anandtech stated that the Epox is the best at stock speeds. I may overclock mildly. I am going to stick with Althon 64, no X2. Just would not fit the budget. I am going to look at p4 as well. Trying to make a decision on whether to get 2x512MN or 2x1GB. If i stick with A64, i may look at the Ultra-D.

I have heard many horror stories(how many times have you heard that line?) about the DFI boards. If it can be assured that i can pull this thing out of the box, and it will work without having to play around.

Also, for the drives i have decided on the WD Raptor 74GB SATA, do i need to do anything special to install windows on it. I remember hearing i need to slipstream it into the windows install. For the storage drives I am choosing 2 250GB WD SATA JB drives.

 

[jose]

The reason for the SLI-DR version is NOT for an addl. video card but for the 8 sata ports. Also in the non UltraD versions you can add a LSI sata/scsi controller in the other 8x pci-e slot.

As far as Epox vs DFI, DFI is a better board... All the horror stories about DFI come from ppl. not following DFI's recomendation's... not using a quality native 24pin psu, using ultra cheap memory, etc.

Check the mobo forum, someone is already having bootup problems w/ the Epox mobo....

Regards,
Jose

 

[NatePo717]

The X2 3800+ is supposed to come out at around $350 which isn't that much more expensive then a 3700+. Epox and DFI are both great boards. If I were you I would look for the one with the most features. If you go DFI use OCZ ram and a 24 pin power supply or it will hate you. My first build was with a DFI board. Stuck it all together and booted it right up without having to change a thing in bios. Easiest thing I've ever done and it was perfectly stable.

 

[kmrivers]

would it be better to go nforce3 or nforce4? the reason i ask is because i see that natepo has the nforce3 250gb. i don't think 8 sata ports is necessary. nor will this peron be using scsi ever. This system is not for me, it is for someone with a 1500 budget. I suppose i could leave it open for expandability. However, i just dont see this person doing that. I know the 3800+ will be coming out, but no one knows when. I know DFI is a better board, and i may be convinced as far as getting it.

Do you think i should go 1Gb or 2GB? Don't know what to do here, i have never done any video editing so i dont know how demanding it is on the memory.

Will an A64 do editing well? My brain is going to explode pretty soon. This budget is killing me. I am almost thinking about saying, hey wait a while and get some more money.

I really don't want to go toward an Intel, it is the AMD fanboy in me i am sure. Dual Core looks to be promising, the price is 1/3 of the budget though. It would be really tight.

With the 4200+ X2, DFI nf4-ultra D, and the 3 hard drives we are at a 1100 bucks. leaving 400 for the rest. It just isn't possible. She wants a sleek case, and i need a 17+ LCD!

 

[jose]

Tell her to raise the budget. It's better getting good componets now rather than having to upgrade sooner...

As for as the 2gig vs 1gig, memory prices are dirt cheap, why not get 2 gigs.. I remember paying $500 for a 16mb stick for my 386 25mz system....

Make a list of what you think she "should" get and explain to her why it's better now to spend a little extra money, rather than spending more money later..

Also maybe you could get a 3200+ Venice instead of the X2, I don't know if her programs would benefit from the X2..

 

[kmrivers]

Here is the setup so far.

2 Opteron 244 - $300
Asus K8N-DL - $266
2 sets of 2x512MB Corsair Registered ECC PC3200 (2GB total mem)- $310
Western Digital 80GB SATA - $54.50
NEC 3540A DVD+-/R/W - $44
XFX 6600 Dual DVI - $123
Maxtop 450W EpS12V PSU - $48
LG 1780U LCD DVI Monitor - $265

 

[shoRunner]

why 2 opteron when an x2 would be cheaper as fast. motherboard would also be significantly cheaper. and only 1 80gb hd, for a video editting rig??

 

[kmrivers]

we are going with a small hd til she gets the camera. then we will get a bigger hd. how would an x2 be cheaper? she doesnt want to wait for the 3800+. I got a great deal on those opterons, they are 200 a piece normally. Mobo would be cheaper yeah, but it is also a dual processor motherboard. x2 is too expensive, these 2 opterons will perforrm very well.

 

[shoRunner]

i thought that it was 2 for $300 each. but it's still cheaper for a x2 (4200+ $545, mobo $105, memory $80 x2 $810)

 

[kmrivers]

what kind of memory are you using? decent performance memory at 2x1GB runs at least 225. Putting that setup right at what mine was. I decided not to go X2, i guess if the decision was made about the hard drives was made before i bought this stuff i could have gone x2. I am sure the performance will be on par with x2 if not better. Each CPU has its own memory channel, with 1GB for each.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

You don't need decent performance memory. The onboard memory controller on the Athlon 64 makes it so there's only like a 2% difference... Stick with the X2 4200+, a nice cheap board, and 2GB of value RAM.

 

[shoRunner]

your getting "2 sets of 2x512MB Corsair Registered ECC PC3200 (2GB total mem)- $310" so i matched that configuration with:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440 <--- 2 sets of 2x512 corsair VS.

IMO the X2 would definately be faster than 2 244 opterons because they are only clocked at 1.8ghz and the x2 is at 2.2ghz. also the non-ecc ram will be faster.

this article will slightly demonstrate my point. the dual opteron 252's are clocked at 2.6ghz and you will see that the single dual 875 clocked at 2.2ghz is very competative with it, even though it is clock 400mhz less. i believe if the tables were turned the dual core would beat the slower clocked dual processors. though those benchmarks are server and database tests i think they give a idea of how the performs on the desktop would be.

 

[Excelsior]

Yeah..Id definitely get an X2 if I was you, but whatever.

 

[kmrivers]

its a little late now. the lower hard drive space decison was made after i got the opterons. oh well. it will still be a good system. people do video editing on less than that. i know i will be doing x2 on my next system thats for sure. premiere is SMP enabled, so it will run well for her.

 

[bob4432]

too bad she couldn't have waited for the x2 3800 as it would be a better system with future expandability and 2x1GB PC3200 <$200.

 

[kmrivers]

dont know if you guys took the time to research the board. This is an nforce4 board with all the normal bells and whistles. SATA, PCIe, etc. So it an not a 3 year old server board. Laster on she could even sell these opteron adn go for two dual core opterons. I think it is very expandable. Since most changes to AMD chips are done on their server line first.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy

Originally posted by: kmrivers
there appears to be only one board for the x2 and thats the abit an8-ultra. at least that is the only one on newegg.

Any nForce3, nForce4 board will support X2. I suggest looking into the ASUS A8N-SLI Premium.

could you please point me in the direction of a nf3 board that supports x2?

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: kmrivers
whats wrong with dual core p4's. aside from the amd bias

it is not an amd bias, the amds just perform better...

 

[Valkerie]

CHASSIS + PSU ? RAIDMAX X1 ATX-909WBP Black/ Silver Computer Case With Side Panel Window - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811156175
$74.99

MOBO ? ASUS MB P5WD2 955X S775 1066FSB DDR2 PCE16 GBLAN SATAII ATX RETAIL
http://www.atacom.com/program/print_htm...&Item_code=MB77_ASUS_WD_2C&USER_ID=www
Price: $194.95

CPU ? intel Pentium D 820 Smithfield 800MHz FSB 2 x 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Dual Core, EM64T Processor - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116213
$245.99

RAM ? Transcend 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR 533 (PC 4200) System Memory ? Retail [x2]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820208309
$128.52 x2 = 257.04

VIDEO ? ATI (Connect3D) Radeon X800 XL 256MB DDR/PCI-E/TV-Out/VGA/DVI (OEM)
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant...=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=190527
$259.00

SOUND ? Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS 7.1 24bit Internal OEM PCI
http://www.compuvest.com/Description.jsp;jsessionid=IEkc4YWvfAe82huf?iid=125005
$64.47

HD ? Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA II Hard Drive ? OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a...1&ATT=Hard+Drives&CMP=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r
$125.00

OPTICAL ? TOSHIBA Black IDE DVD Burner Model SD-R5372 BLK W/SW ? OEM [x2]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827130034
$39.99 x2 = $80.00

MONITOR ? Polyview V17E Silver-Black 17" 14ms LCD Monitor Built in Speakers ? Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824024506
$199.99

TOTAL = 1500 USD

I know, I just like showing off, this was in another thread as well.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: kmrivers
Here is the setup so far.

2 Opteron 244 - $300
Asus K8N-DL - $266
2 sets of 2x512MB Corsair Registered ECC PC3200 (2GB total mem)- $310
Western Digital 80GB SATA - $54.50
NEC 3540A DVD+-/R/W - $44
XFX 6600 Dual DVI - $123
Maxtop 450W EpS12V PSU - $48
LG 1780U LCD DVI Monitor - $265

Fantastic choice for a video editing workstation. Even thought the X2 fanboi's don't like it, it will most likely outperform an X2 system in editing because of the additional bandwidth provided by each CPU having it's own mem controller and dedicated memory bank. And updated to dual core opterons it would definately PWN an X2 system.

 

[gsellis]

That 80GB is a killer. I can run about 2-3 20-30 minute projects on my notebook before it is full with an 80GB drive. Get 2 200-250s soonest. Use 1 for capture, 1 for render (I think PP1.5 does allow that too).