What makes a good video editing PC?

[Warbo]

So I want to make a good PC for video editing and I have seen some general rules like multiple hdd's but if you could lay out an actual system for me that would be soOoPa awesome 🙂

Here are my boundaries and stuff :
£900-1100
Bought inside UK
Non linear video editing (sony vegas and adobe after effects)
I prefer AMD to Intel but I really don't care that much between brands as long as the performance is the best for money.
I don't mind overclocking as long as it is completely stable.
Running at 1920-1080
I am planning to build it within the next month.

Thank guys ;D

 

[mfenn]

Fast CPU
Plenty o' RAM
Separate HDD for scratch and final output, SSD for OS/apps.
Big, beautiful monitor

 

[Warbo]

Sweeeet, do you think a good graphics card would make any difference and would going for a xeon be worth the extra money instead of just going i7?

 

[mfenn]

Unless your apps are CUDA or OpenCL accelerated, the GPU makes no difference at all. There's no real point in going for a Xeon unless you want a particular CPU that isn't offered as an i7.

 

[Warbo]

OK cool thanks, and on the issue of the SSD, will it really make a huge amount of difference to have a SSD for the OS apps because they are pretty expensive still and I could put the money into a couple monitors

 

[busydude]

OK cool thanks, and on the issue of the SSD, will it really make a huge amount of difference to have a SSD for the OS apps because they are pretty expensive still and I could put the money into a couple monitors

You need to choose based on your priorities. Yes, SSD will make a difference but if going for an SSD means to lose a monitor, that doesn't seem so good.

If I were to choose between SSD and an additional monitor I will opt for the latter.

 

[Warbo]

MMMk, well if you had a budget of £1100 (($1600ish) and wanted to make the best adobe after effects editing system you would choose..... (not taking into account 1st monitor/mouse keyboard etc)

 

[mfenn]

Monitor easily

 

[mmntech]

Editing programs use more RAM than anything else. Especially After Effects. You want a fast CPU for encoding.

Fast hard drives make no difference for prosumer stuff. I've used USB 2.0 external 1tb drives for my editing. Plenty fast enough for 30mbps DV content with no stuttering. Buying an SSD for an editing system is completely pointless.

 

[busydude]

CPU: AMD Phenom II x6 1090T - $300
Mobo: Gigabyte 890GX USB 3.0, SATA 6Gbps - $125
RAM: 8 GB G.skill ripjaws 1600 - $335
Video: XFX 5750 - $129
HDD : Samsung 1TB f3 - $70
heatsink: $40
Case: CM 690 II adv: $100
Monitor: dell U2311 IPS : $300

Total: $1399

You can add an SSD or 8 gigs of memory or upgrade video to 5850 for an additional $150

EDIT: Forgot adding PSU.
PSU: Antec, Seasonic, Corsair 650W : $90

Total: $1489

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

If you are going to use Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 with the Mercury Playback Engine (MPE) you'll want to go with a GTX 285 or 480 at this time. The 285 is officially supported and the 480 will be in the near future.

 

[Warbo]

Ok thanks guys, getting a really good idea of what to do at this point, if I have any more questions I know who to turn to ;P

 

[Sp12]

CPU: AMD Phenom II x6 1090T - $300
Mobo: Gigabyte 890GX USB 3.0, SATA 6Gbps - $125
RAM: 8 GB G.skill ripjaws 1600 - $335
Video: XFX 5750 - $129
HDD : Samsung 1TB f3 - $70
heatsink: $40
Case: CM 690 II adv: $100
Monitor: dell U2311 IPS : $300

Total: $1399

You can add an SSD or 8 gigs of memory or upgrade video to 5850 for an additional $150

EDIT: Forgot adding PSU.
PSU: Antec, Seasonic, Corsair 650W : $90

Total: $1489

A: Meh, I would save 33% on the CPU by going to a 1055 (200$). If you don't overclock, you lose 12.5% (at most) on performance, if you overclock, you save 100$. It's a MUCH better bang/buck, especially for editing.

B: Also, I would recommend switching to an XFX 5770 instead, it's a better card all around. On the other hand, Adobe is paid big bucks to offer hardware acceleration on Nvidia cards, so that may be better.

ATI cards have the ability to output to 3 monitors though.

C: I would also spend the money for a seperate HD/SSD for scrath/final.

D: Get the 8 gigs of ram.