Opinion on this Computer for Video Editing at DVinfo.net

Bruce Hedge · January 25th, 2009, 03:28 PM

Hello and thanks in advance for any advice on this computer that I'm considering. It's a sytem recommended by a computer builder on ebay. I would use it solely for editing and creating finished HD documentaries (generally 15 minute to occasssionally 1 hour features) and "how to" movies (generally 20 minute to 45 minute features) in HD from video segments (generally 3 minute to 15 minute segments) captured on an EX3. It is specked as follows and it is priced at about $2300. I'd appreciate any knowedge as to how this setup would perform, any design shortcomings and pricing. Thank you again for any help or advice you can provide.

• Intel Core 2 Quad 64Bit CPU
• 4 GB RAM
• 7200RPM 250GB SATA Boot Hard Drive + 500GB SATA Data Drive + 1TB RAID Array
• 512MB NVidia PCI Express Dual Display Video (VGA/DVI)
• 20X DVD-R/+R Dual Layer DVD/CD Burner
• 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Network card
• 6 USB USB 2.0 Ports/ 3 Firewire 1394A Ports
• Keyboard & Mouse
• Windows XP Professional
• Hardware and Software Video Editing Suite, including: ADS AV/Link hardware, Sony Vegas Pro 8
• Backup System Restore DVD, in case something goes wrong, you can revive your system to where it was the day you got it.

Adam Gold · January 25th, 2009, 03:37 PM

In theory it looks like it should perform well. But depending on your editing SW, you might want to go with a 64-bit OS and a lot more memory.

And if you want to distribute in HD you'll need a Blu-Ray burner.

George Pada · January 25th, 2009, 04:48 PM

Hi,

You should consider using a faster configuration for your boot hard disk.
2x 10000 rpm hard disks on a raid controller @ stripe mode.

It will bring up the cost a little bit but it will speed up the pc a lot.

Graham Hickling · January 25th, 2009, 10:54 PM

You may want to get some specific advice on which motherboard to use - it's the core of everything in your system and some models are flakier than others. Also, depending on the model it will likely come with your firewire and ethernet ports built in.

Tripp Woelfel · January 26th, 2009, 07:30 AM

At $2,300, the price seems a little dear.

You'll need to make sure that the internal power supply is up to supporting all the hardware.

Not sure if a RAID is necessary. Remember that the data rate for native HDV is the same as DV. 7,200 RPM drives are up to this task. RAID is not a panacea and involves some management on your part so be absolutely sure you want a RAID before you go there. Some searching on this board can give you good info you can use.

If I was looking for a new system for HDV now, I'd get the fastest CPU I could find. The new Intel i7 appears to hold promise but the reviews I've seen recently seem split on whether it's faster in real world applications than the other Quad Core processors. In the future, the i7 and whatever AMD come out to combat it will be faster.

I don't know how Vegas uses memory and I suspect that it's a 32-bit app but I would probably choose XP 64 or Vista 64 for the OS. I know that some wouldn't touch Vista with a barge pole but it's worked well for me. This would let you up your RAM to 8GB.

Perrone Ford · January 26th, 2009, 08:26 AM

Trip is on the money. Vegas won't use that fancy graphics card so get as much cpu and memory as you can get. I use XP64 and its a much better way to go for 32bit or 64 bit Vegas.

Mark Williams · January 26th, 2009, 10:37 AM

Bruce,
Take a look at avadirect.com. It is a very reputable company. You should be able to put together a system using the latest i7 motherboard, quad processor, 6gb ram, decent video card and 3 hard drives for under $1700, using top-of-the line componets. I would feel uneasy about buying non-discript components thru an Ebay builder.

Here is a quick shopping basket I put together.. This is configured as software raid that you might not need.

ANTEC, Nine Hundred Two Black Mid-Tower Case w/ Window, ATX, No PSU
CORSAIR, CMPSU-750TX TX Series Power Supply, 750W, 80 PLUS®, 2
eVGA, EVGA X58 SLI, LGA1366, Intel® X58, 6400 MT/s QPI, DDR3-1333MHz 12GB
INTEL, Core™ i7-920 Quad-Core 2.66GHz, LGA1366, 6400 MT/s QPI, 8MB L3 Cache, 45nm,
VIGOR, Monsoon™ III LT CPU Cooling System, Socket 1366/775/771/939/754/AM2, Retail
MUSHKIN, 6GB (3 x 2GB) Performance™ EM3-8500Series PC3-8500 DDR3 1066MHz CL7
SAPPHIRE, Radeon™ HD 4830 575MHz, 512MB GDDR3 1800MHz, PCIe x16 CrossFire, DVI /2, HDTV
WESTERN DIGITAL, 160GB WD RE, SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache
WESTERN DIGITAL, 500GB WD Caviar® Black™ (WD5001AALS), SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 32MB
WESTERN DIGITAL, 500GB WD Caviar® Black™ (WD5001AALS), SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 32MB C
RAID, RAID 0 (striping), min 2 hard drives required
LITE-ON, iHAS120 Black/White 20x DVD±RW Dual-Layer Burner, SATA, Retail
MICROSOFT, Digital Media Keyboard 3000, Keybiard, Black, USB, Retail
LOGITECH, SBF-96 Optical Mouse 400dpi, Black, PS/2, OEM
MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition w/ SP1, OEM
WARRANTY, Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)

Bruce Hedge · January 26th, 2009, 11:28 AM

This is so very, very helpful, it is amazing. It provides a basis for investigation and learning and ultimately a much more informed and accurate purchase. I really want to express to you all: thank you and I will keep reading studying this information as it comes in.

Jon McGuffin · January 26th, 2009, 07:58 PM

Yes, Bruce.. $2300 for that RIG is *WAY* overpriced...

#1) Go to the Vegas forum and look for the forum topic about the i7 and Vegas.. It should be fairly near the top. Read that through...

#2) I just built an i7 system with 6Gb of RAM, 4 hard drives, one at 10,000rpm, two in a RAID 0 and another 1TB drive, super high end case, high end fan, high end power supply, etc, etc, etc all for about $2000. And frankly, that's fairly overpriced. I just wanted the best and this system is nice. And OH BY THE WAY.. I also got TWO 24" Monitors for that price.

You definately want to go i7 if your budget is anything over $1500..

Jon

Don Miller · January 27th, 2009, 10:36 AM

It does have $1K in software. So it's not that bad if it includes burn-in and decent support.

No reason for those small drives. 4 1TB drives can be purchased for $400 dollars and will be faster than what he has listed.

I suggest shopping for a deal on an major vendor system. Install the software and extra hardware yourself. Anyone capable of editing with a pro solution can do this with a little study. It's safer to know the system for when things go wrong. The core system spec'd is basic and easily purchased. Just get a big case.

I also suggest seeing if a i7 920 CPU system can fit the budget. Video editing seems to be where this new architecture will rock.

If you go with the vendor listed, Intel had a big price cut on the CPU listed last week.

January 25th, 2009, 04:48 PM	#3
George Pada Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Crete Greece Posts: 76	Suggestion Hi, You should consider using a faster configuration for your boot hard disk. 2x 10000 rpm hard disks on a raid controller @ stripe mode. It will bring up the cost a little bit but it will speed up the pc a lot. __________________ Visit my work at www.atheaton.gr

January 26th, 2009, 08:26 AM	#6
Perrone Ford Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Tallahassee, FL Posts: 4,100	Trip is on the money. Vegas won't use that fancy graphics card so get as much cpu and memory as you can get. I use XP64 and its a much better way to go for 32bit or 64 bit Vegas. __________________ DVX100, PMW-EX1, Canon 550D, FigRig, Dell Octocore, Avid MC4/5, MB Looks, RedCineX, Matrox MX02 mini, GTech RAID, Edirol R-4, Senn. G2 Evo, Countryman, Moles and Lowels.

January 26th, 2009, 10:37 AM	#7
Mark Williams Trustee Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Deep South, U.S. Posts: 1,526	Bruce, Take a look at avadirect.com. It is a very reputable company. You should be able to put together a system using the latest i7 motherboard, quad processor, 6gb ram, decent video card and 3 hard drives for under $1700, using top-of-the line componets. I would feel uneasy about buying non-discript components thru an Ebay builder. Here is a quick shopping basket I put together.. This is configured as software raid that you might not need. ANTEC, Nine Hundred Two Black Mid-Tower Case w/ Window, ATX, No PSU CORSAIR, CMPSU-750TX TX Series Power Supply, 750W, 80 PLUS®, 2 eVGA, EVGA X58 SLI, LGA1366, Intel® X58, 6400 MT/s QPI, DDR3-1333MHz 12GB INTEL, Core™ i7-920 Quad-Core 2.66GHz, LGA1366, 6400 MT/s QPI, 8MB L3 Cache, 45nm, VIGOR, Monsoon™ III LT CPU Cooling System, Socket 1366/775/771/939/754/AM2, Retail MUSHKIN, 6GB (3 x 2GB) Performance™ EM3-8500Series PC3-8500 DDR3 1066MHz CL7 SAPPHIRE, Radeon™ HD 4830 575MHz, 512MB GDDR3 1800MHz, PCIe x16 CrossFire, DVI /2, HDTV WESTERN DIGITAL, 160GB WD RE, SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache WESTERN DIGITAL, 500GB WD Caviar® Black™ (WD5001AALS), SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 32MB WESTERN DIGITAL, 500GB WD Caviar® Black™ (WD5001AALS), SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 32MB C RAID, RAID 0 (striping), min 2 hard drives required LITE-ON, iHAS120 Black/White 20x DVD±RW Dual-Layer Burner, SATA, Retail MICROSOFT, Digital Media Keyboard 3000, Keybiard, Black, USB, Retail LOGITECH, SBF-96 Optical Mouse 400dpi, Black, PS/2, OEM MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition w/ SP1, OEM WARRANTY, Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty) __________________ Mark videos: http://vimeo.com/channels/3523 Stock: http://www.pond5.com/artist/mark29

January 26th, 2009, 11:28 AM	#8
Bruce Hedge New Boot Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Boise, Idaho Posts: 11	your experience & opinion is very much appreciated This is so very, very helpful, it is amazing. It provides a basis for investigation and learning and ultimately a much more informed and accurate purchase. I really want to express to you all: thank you and I will keep reading studying this information as it comes in.

January 25th, 2009, 03:28 PM	#1
Bruce Hedge New Boot Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Boise, Idaho Posts: 11	Opinion on this Computer for Video Editing Hello and thanks in advance for any advice on this computer that I'm considering. It's a sytem recommended by a computer builder on ebay. I would use it solely for editing and creating finished HD documentaries (generally 15 minute to occasssionally 1 hour features) and "how to" movies (generally 20 minute to 45 minute features) in HD from video segments (generally 3 minute to 15 minute segments) captured on an EX3. It is specked as follows and it is priced at about $2300. I'd appreciate any knowedge as to how this setup would perform, any design shortcomings and pricing. Thank you again for any help or advice you can provide. • Intel Core 2 Quad 64Bit CPU • 4 GB RAM • 7200RPM 250GB SATA Boot Hard Drive + 500GB SATA Data Drive + 1TB RAID Array • 512MB NVidia PCI Express Dual Display Video (VGA/DVI) • 20X DVD-R/+R Dual Layer DVD/CD Burner • 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Network card • 6 USB USB 2.0 Ports/ 3 Firewire 1394A Ports • Keyboard & Mouse • Windows XP Professional • Hardware and Software Video Editing Suite, including: ADS AV/Link hardware, Sony Vegas Pro 8 • Backup System Restore DVD, in case something goes wrong, you can revive your system to where it was the day you got it.

January 25th, 2009, 03:37 PM	#2
Adam Gold Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Woodinville, WA USA Posts: 3,467	In theory it looks like it should perform well. But depending on your editing SW, you might want to go with a 64-bit OS and a lot more memory. And if you want to distribute in HD you'll need a Blu-Ray burner.

January 25th, 2009, 10:54 PM	#4
Graham Hickling Trustee Join Date: May 2004 Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Posts: 1,669	You may want to get some specific advice on which motherboard to use - it's the core of everything in your system and some models are flakier than others. Also, depending on the model it will likely come with your firewire and ethernet ports built in.

January 26th, 2009, 07:30 AM	#5
Tripp Woelfel Trustee Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Conway, NH Posts: 1,745	At $2,300, the price seems a little dear. You'll need to make sure that the internal power supply is up to supporting all the hardware. Not sure if a RAID is necessary. Remember that the data rate for native HDV is the same as DV. 7,200 RPM drives are up to this task. RAID is not a panacea and involves some management on your part so be absolutely sure you want a RAID before you go there. Some searching on this board can give you good info you can use. If I was looking for a new system for HDV now, I'd get the fastest CPU I could find. The new Intel i7 appears to hold promise but the reviews I've seen recently seem split on whether it's faster in real world applications than the other Quad Core processors. In the future, the i7 and whatever AMD come out to combat it will be faster. I don't know how Vegas uses memory and I suspect that it's a 32-bit app but I would probably choose XP 64 or Vista 64 for the OS. I know that some wouldn't touch Vista with a barge pole but it's worked well for me. This would let you up your RAM to 8GB.

January 26th, 2009, 07:58 PM	#9
Jon McGuffin Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Carlsbad, CA Posts: 634	Yes, Bruce.. $2300 for that RIG is WAY overpriced... #1) Go to the Vegas forum and look for the forum topic about the i7 and Vegas.. It should be fairly near the top. Read that through... #2) I just built an i7 system with 6Gb of RAM, 4 hard drives, one at 10,000rpm, two in a RAID 0 and another 1TB drive, super high end case, high end fan, high end power supply, etc, etc, etc all for about $2000. And frankly, that's fairly overpriced. I just wanted the best and this system is nice. And OH BY THE WAY.. I also got TWO 24" Monitors for that price. You definately want to go i7 if your budget is anything over $1500.. Jon

January 27th, 2009, 10:36 AM	#10
Don Miller Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Chicago Posts: 706	It does have $1K in software. So it's not that bad if it includes burn-in and decent support. No reason for those small drives. 4 1TB drives can be purchased for $400 dollars and will be faster than what he has listed. I suggest shopping for a deal on an major vendor system. Install the software and extra hardware yourself. Anyone capable of editing with a pro solution can do this with a little study. It's safer to know the system for when things go wrong. The core system spec'd is basic and easily purchased. Just get a big case. I also suggest seeing if a i7 920 CPU system can fit the budget. Video editing seems to be where this new architecture will rock. If you go with the vendor listed, Intel had a big price cut on the CPU listed last week.