video editing/encoding specs please

backtothefuture

backtothefuture

backtothefuture

Associate
Joined
14 Nov 2003
Posts
544
I need to build a video editing, encoding and ripping pc... secondary use would be for casual gaming and multimedia...

not sure whether to go for AMD Phenom orIntel i7...

looking for a (mid to upper) medium end pc that I can upgrade a couple of years down the line...i.e. processor wise (currently have an Opty 170 on a S939...not much I can do with that!)

would be looking to get a PSU, Mobo, RAM, boot HDD and CPU.... intend to use storage HDDs, GPU (HD4850) and sound card from existing PC...

how much RAM should i be looking for?

budget is £400-450 max

any advice appreciated
:cool:

PS not too bothered about OCing if it means heat/stability issues...not sure if that is video editing friendly?

PPS I presume Crysis would be smooth with my existing graphics card as long as I get a current gen CPU?
 
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Asus M4A89GTD PRO AMD 890GX (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £107.99
(£91.91) £107.99
(£91.91)
OCZ Obsidian 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 Dual Channel (OCZ3OB1600LV4GK) £89.99
(£76.59) £89.99
(£76.59)
AMD Phenom II X2 Dual Core 555 3.20GHz Black Edition (Socket AM3) - Retail £84.99
(£72.33) £84.99
(£72.33)
Patriot PS-100 32GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive £64.99
(£55.31) £64.99
(£55.31)
OCZ StealthXStream 600w Ready Power Supply £59.98
(£51.05) £59.98
(£51.05)
Sub Total : £347.19
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £62.51
Total : £419.70
 
thanks for the recommendations!

is power going to be enough? do current gens use much less power?

in addition to above, will also have 2 optical drives and about 3 HDDs...and a Radeon 4850 + an Asus Xonar D2.... (possiblly a WIFI card as well...)
 
PSU will be fine, Overclocking would definitely benefit you and a 4850 will run crysis, not maxed obviously but certainly playable on high you'll struggle on enthusiast tho. I think that's your questions done in a nutshell.

Also what HDDs do you currently have as you may benefit from using one of them to boot (providing one of them is up to the task) then using the saved pennies to spend on CPU/mobo/ram combo. I'd suggest getting a quad of some variety if encoding is your main use, i know the 555's are likely to unlock but it's not guaranteed.
 
I went from a AMD Phenom II (the first Phenom 2s) to the setup in my sig, and it is dam quick when converting, and video editing. But for the budget and the fact you wont overclock I would go with what paininlife said.

*edit - don't the Patriot PS-100 have bad driver problems or something?
 
skippy2421 said:
PSU will be fine, Overclocking would definitely benefit you and a 4850 will run crysis, not maxed obviously but certainly playable on high you'll struggle on enthusiast tho. I think that's your questions done in a nutshell.

Also what HDDs do you currently have as you may benefit from using one of them to boot (providing one of them is up to the task) then using the saved pennies to spend on CPU/mobo/ram combo. I'd suggest getting a quad of some variety if encoding is your main use, i know the 555's are likely to unlock but it's not guaranteed.
Click to expand...


Thanks. I currently have a 74GB Raptor as my boot and a couple of 320gig Maxtors in RAID 1... intending to use the latter as storage in the new PC... the WD would probably be used as a gaming drive if I use a SSD as my boot...

cheers
 
atmax1 said:
I went from a AMD Phenom II (the first Phenom 2s) to the setup in my sig, and it is dam quick when converting, and video editing. But for the budget and the fact you wont overclock I would go with what paininlife said.

*edit - don't the Patriot PS-100 have bad driver problems or something?
Click to expand...

yes I was reading up on the Patriot PS-100 and it seems to suffer from freezes during Windows and slow write times!...

Crucial might be a better option!....
 
If this is going to be for video editing and encoding then you need a quad. I would hesitate getting a 555 in expectation of unlocking to quad if the whole purpose of the build hinges on getting a quad.

That said my 555 unlocked fine so... :D

I think the current batch do seem to all unlock, I have not noticed anyone on the forums with a 555 that did not.

+1 to overclocking. There is no reason why it should cause stability issues. You would defiantly benefit. You will need a better cooler if you do though. Not even sure how the stock dual core cooler will cope with an unlocked quad...

I would go for the thermolab baram and an apache 120mm fan. Or similar.
 
maybe this?

*OVERCLOCKED*
AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core 9850 2.50GHz Black Edition @ 2.80GHz /
Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 AMD 770 DDR2 Motherboard /
Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 TwinX Dual Channel Kit Bundle

OCZ Vertex 60GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive

OCZ ModXStream Pro 500w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply

Sub Total : £412.71
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout)
Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £73.89

Total : £496.10

cost so much because of the ssd lol
 
If this is an encoding spec, You could do with both quad and intel. As the chips like for like are the more efficient. I5 750 would do you very well. unfortunately i'm walking out the door as i type this. I'll do a spec later, But if i was in your position I'd be buying the I5 750.

Just wondering whether you're in need of a bluray drive, when you say ripping. Unless you already have one.
 
What editing package are you using? HD or not?

If HD then I'd be looking at:

Intel i7 CPU, 8GB RAM+, Fast OS Drive, RAID'd Media drive, RAID 0 Scratch disk.
 
Dangerous said:
What editing package are you using? HD or not?

If HD then I'd be looking at:

Intel i7 CPU, 8GB RAM+, Fast OS Drive, RAID'd Media drive, RAID 0 Scratch disk.
Click to expand...

He has a "budget is £400-450 max" not something you can get that kind of thing for... I don't think you can anyway.
 
wannabedamned said:
If this is an encoding spec, You could do with both quad and intel. As the chips like for like are the more efficient. I5 750 would do you very well. unfortunately i'm walking out the door as i type this. I'll do a spec later, But if i was in your position I'd be buying the I5 750.

Just wondering whether you're in need of a bluray drive, when you say ripping. Unless you already have one.
Click to expand...

I'd be inclined to use the raptor to boot and use the extra on i5 and when you have some cash at a later date then get an SSD.

Hold on you have MM access right? You could save a few pennies there.
 
Hi, whats MM access? (am using PowerDirector 11 for non HD editing but might switch to HD at a later date)...

If I use 8GB RAM that would not be DDR3 would it? i.e. I'm assuming I need it in 3s... so would need either 6 or 12 (do they come in modules of 3GB?)

I have a bluray/hd combo drive (LG) ... the ripping would mainly be for ripping and encoding my existing DVDs into DivX so I can watch on TV using a media player ...

I'd need to get through quite a few DVDs so ideally would want something that eats ripping/encoding for breakfast though doesnt look like budget can afford that :D ...might be able to push towards £550 if I wait till end of April!

What cooler can I use that would be friendly with my case (Lian Li PC 1100V) and easy to install (apparently the Arctics aren't very AM3 friendly)

thanks!
 
Have a look at the virtual dub + divx benchmark results in this comparison.

It looks like the i5 is about 20% faster than a phenom II X4 (neither overclocked).

To be honest I would still go for the phenom because any quad core will munch through divx pretty fast so it is down to whether you want to pay for the difference.

Also it is generally considered that the AM3 (AMD) socket will be around for longer, so you have a better chance of upgrading. Perhaps you can upgrade to the hex cores later on and totally OWN your dvd collection. :)
 
Last edited:
The Phenom II X6 is being released at the end of the month. It would be useful to see how these perform especially since they seem to implement some sort of Turbo Boost like technology like the Intel Core i5 and Core i7.
 
920 is definately king of the hill at the moment. but a £450 spec around a 920 processor isnt very feasible I dont think. Not including SSD aswell.

Also you'd probably be actually looking at the 930, as its the same chip pretty much just newer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom