New PC build for video editing

crag345

crag345

crag345

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21 Nov 2009
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5
Hello,

As a newcomer, I would appreciate some advice from the experts. My current PC is feeling the strain of video editing using Pinnacle Studio 12 and I am considering a new build. I propose to keep my Western Digital Caviar 500Gb SATA HDD and I am disinclined to move away from Windows XP Pro at SP3. The heaviest use is video editing with other more mundane uses such as spreadsheets and internet usage but no gaming and it is unlikely to be overclocked.

I would appreciate any views or comments on basing a new PC build around these components:

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P - it seems to have more than enough connectivity but is it overkill?

CPU - AMD Phenom IIX4 955 Black Edition

Memory - Corsair XMS3 DHX PC3-12800 1600MHz DDR3 – install either 4 or 6 Gb

Any advice on an appropriate graphics card would be most welcome.
 
What is your budget?

Ideally, if you had the funds you could go for an intel i7 which is the king of tasks like video editing (especially when overclocked).
 
Many thanks to both of you - Trisdov and cmdr andi. So it's Intel i7 - well, back to the drawing board! I'll be back for your further thoughts once I've got mine in order!
 
To be honest, I am running a Phenom x4 9650 @2.3Ghz, and standard 4Gb RAM @800MHz as well as Vista and I can edit and render short (5mins) 1080i/p HD and no problem with 720p HD with After Effects CS4 and Sony Vegas 9.
 
i7 using x58 motherboards and 6gb of ram is pretty pointless on 32bit win xp with the memory addressing cap,unless you plan to use it with a 3gb memory kit which isnt something anyone here would really recommend.

If you really must keep win xp choose i5 750/i7 860 with 4gb of ram,6 gb would be an utter waste as it's unadressable by 32bit os's.
I mention the i5 as it's so close to the price of a Phenom II setup and intel quads just do video encoding so much better than Amd,if you have the budget for an i7 860 and you think it's worth the extra to you for the hyperthreading take that instead.

Look at upgrading to a 64bit os which would make more sense to you in the long run and open up the way to as much memory as you think you can use.

As for a non gaming graphics card you cant go wrong with anything sub £50 these days,if you are really stuck on what to get try this

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-144-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1274

Cheap and cheerful and will at least allow you to play HD movies etc with your pc.
 
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95thrifles said:
he never said his xp was 32 bit, you can get 64 bit xp
however I do question why anyone is refusing to move over to win7
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He never said it was 64 bit either,it was better to mention this rather than spend all that money only to find out it was crippled by a 32bit os.
 
Well, thank you everybody for all the advice; it's invaluable. I'm using the 32 bit version of XP and I take the arguments for moving to the 64 bit version. As regards Windows 7, I'll wait and see how it settles down.

I'm thinking, now, of using a Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4P board as it leaves me the option of using either a Intel i5 or i7 cpu (the i900 cpus are too expensive for me). In that respect, I will probably opt for a Intel i7-860 cpu and 4Gb of DDR3 memory with 9-9-9-24-2N latency from G.Skill. I'll take Legion's advice with regard to a graphics card.

So, am I now on the right track?
 
crag345 said:
Well, thank you everybody for all the advice; it's invaluable. I'm using the 32 bit version of XP and I take the arguments for moving to the 64 bit version. As regards Windows 7, I'll wait and see how it settles down.

I'm thinking, now, of using a Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4P board as it leaves me the option of using either a Intel i5 or i7 cpu (the i900 cpus are too expensive for me). In that respect, I will probably opt for a Intel i7-860 cpu and 4Gb of DDR3 memory with 9-9-9-24-2N latency from G.Skill. I'll take Legion's advice with regard to a graphics card.

So, am I now on the right track?
Click to expand...

I don't understand, the i7 900s are too expensive but the i7 800s aren't?

The i7 920 costs £22 less than the i7 860. Plus, considering you can get a great X58 board for £139 - X58/i7 is probably what you should be looking at.

With the X58, you CAN just stick with 4GB of RAM (2x2GB in dual channel), however, it allows you to do triple channel also - which usually means 3x2GB. This is actually cheaper per gigabyte than the 4GB kits. I suggest going for this RAM while it is this price, you can run it at stock speed and it will still be fantastic due to the massive bandwidth of triple channel mode.
 
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the i7 8 series cpu costs more than the 9 series actually
the mobo's are priced similarly
the RAM costs a bit more but you get more from it (6 gig tri channel vs 4 gig dual channel)
 
crag345 said:
Well, thank you everybody for all the advice; it's invaluable. I'm using the 32 bit version of XP and I take the arguments for moving to the 64 bit version. As regards Windows 7, I'll wait and see how it settles down.

I'm thinking, now, of using a Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4P board as it leaves me the option of using either a Intel i5 or i7 cpu (the i900 cpus are too expensive for me). In that respect, I will probably opt for a Intel i7-860 cpu and 4Gb of DDR3 memory with 9-9-9-24-2N latency from G.Skill. I'll take Legion's advice with regard to a graphics card.

So, am I now on the right track?
Click to expand...

That spec looks fine to me,you can save a bit more on the motherboard though with a cheaper one if you prefered,the UD4 has a lot of features even the biggest of enthusiasts would struggle to ever use lol.

Also with Win 7,I really dont understand your reluctance to adopt it,it's by far the best version of windows ever,it's faster,uses less system resources and totally stable.

If you are worried about program compatability with the software you currently use,I wouldnt be worried about it at all,a quick google for others using it on win7 would soon put your mind to rest.
 
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Legion said:
Also with Win 7,I really dont understand your reluctance to adopt it,it's by far the best version of windows ever,it's faster,uses less system resources and totally stable.

If you are worried about program combability with the software you currently use,I wouldnt be worried about it at all,a quick google for others using it on win7 would soon put your mind to rest.
Click to expand...

You are so right, this is by far my favourite version of windows - its so snappy and every piece of hardware and software I can throw at it works without any problems.

To the OP: Moving from XP to Win 7 is going to be a huge jump- hope you do make the leap :)

By any chance are you a student? As students can get Win 7 Pro upgrade for £30 if they have a valid .ac.uk email address.
 
I made the jump from xp to win 7 home premium 64, very stable, havent had any compatibility issues whatsoever, only wish id started using the betas before it was released to retail as opposed to hanging on to xp for so long.
 
You have all made me think. Regretfully, I am too old to have a student's card but I'm still learning, so I accept the advice on Windows 7 and on any new build I'll install the home premium 64 bit version. If I have problems on legacy kit, I'll put it on wife's machine!

For my purposes of video editing, the sensible choice of processor boils down to the Intel i7-920 but what about the stock heat sink fan or should I, in terms of silence and reliability, go for a Noctua Dual Fan Quiet Cooler solution? In respect of motherboards, I was burnt once by an Asus board on compatibility with graphics cards so I prefer Gigabyte and I propose to use a Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R with 6Gb of RAM. On the graphics, I think a XFX ATI Radeon HD4530 card would be suitable. I can do the sums in respect of the PSU and note that a reliable brand should be sourced.

Lastly, but most importantly, I acknowledge the most informative threads by 96thrifles and Legion; you have done marvellous jobs.

Hopefully, I'm progressing towards a suitable machine.
 
If you want the most power possible for your video editing, and don't want to worry about overclocking it - have a look at this bundle.

This is certainly more expensive than buying a UD3R and building it all yourself - but its the best performance you can get without getting your hands dirty and overclocking yourself.
 
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