Videoguys DIY 10 Update For the past 10 years we have been publishing our Videoguys’ DIY articles as a service to our customers and the internet community. We publish these guides as a recipe for building your own video editing workstation at an affordable price but these DIY recommendations may also be used to compare specs on already built machine like an HP Workstation. I know it has been a LONG time since we first introduced our DIY 9 build and even our DIY 9.5 updates are over a year old.  Every day we get calls and emails from our customers asking about our DIY recommendations and when we're going to build our DIY 10 machine.  I’m happy to report that we’ve finally found an enthusiast level motherboard with Thunderbolt - the Asus Z87-Deluxe/Quad - which we can use for DIY10! Why we waited I’d like to explain why it seemed like forever since our last DIY system build. We have been waiting for an enthusiast class Ivy Bridge motherboard with Thunderbolt and had been told would initially appear the summer of 2013. It didn't. In February, 2013 we posted a potential DIY X build using the Asus P8Z777-V deluxe motherboard with Thunderbolt and many of you are running this build with great results. We still wanted to wait for a completely integrated Thunderbolt solution. You can read the full guide and check out the recommended builds here https://www.videoguys.com/Guide/E/Videoguys+DIY+10+++Our+wait+for+Thunderbolt+is+over/0x86959ff2ee4098c3eef68b2070f368dd.aspxhttps://www.videoguys.com/Guide/E/Videoguys+DIY+10+++Our+wait+for+Thunderbolt+is+over/0x86959ff2ee4098c3eef68b2070f368dd.aspx. Gary ... View more

Videoguys DIY9 Update Feb 2012 update with 3 recommended builds! You can mix & match components between the two P9X79 builds or go with a budget system based on the P8Z68 and i7 2600K processor. We tried to get as close to $2K as possible for our system, but we went over. We are leaning towards the base Asus P9X79 motherboard over the Pro. We'll save some bucks and we feel we'll still need FireWire for capturing our older legacy DV & HDV footage.   We're going to go with an SSD boot drive even though it adds almost $200 to the cost of the build. I'm still thinking we may go for the full 32GB of RAM. I think we may be penny wise and pound foolish going with just 16GB. We're also going with a GTX570 to save costs, although for Avid you really want to go with a Quadro2000 or 4000. Unfortunately we still have not had the chance to build our DIY9 machine. Some internal IT issues have taken the bulk of our tech teams time over the past few weeks. We are also finding the i7 3930K processor in very tight supply. Gary ... View more

Scott, I'm not going to fight with you. For some reason you just can't seem to understand the fact that you are an "EXPERT" integrator, and our DIY articles are for everyone else. Even after I recommend folks buy integrated systems from you 😉 Bad mouthing Avid support has nothing to do with this discussion or your points. I don't know why you feel you must go there. You don't have to always rip other companies and vendors to show off how good you are. Let your systems  do that for you. I get calls and emails from end users everyday. We offer free tech support for everything we sell, plus folks just come to us for advice. Replacing the graphics card with a Quadro card solves so many stability problems for so many customers.  As I said - we recommend the GTX570/580 as the go to solution for Adobe. You are entitled to your opionion about Quadro cards. I'm not saying you are wrong, just that one size does not always fit all. Please please please try to keep this thread thoughtful and positive. Harm did a great job - lets not derail this thread. Gary ... View more

We have been recommedning the GTX470 and now the 570/580 for Adobe CS5.x as the best value and performance for the Mercury Engine. I posted the hacks on our website to enable the broader CUDA cards to work when Adobe only had Quadro cards and the GTX460 listed. We recommend the Quadro cards based on our need to support Avid (they only certify Quadro cards) and the added "stability" they offer.  Quadro cards have a longer life cycle, and the drivers don't change as often as the gamer cards. So while they aren't always the hottest or fastest cards, you know what your getting and you know they work. We run into customers with stability and crashing issues all the time. Many times it is the GPU that is the culprit. Our go to tech solutions is to get thema  Quadro card. Why? Because it works and it leaves our customers happy. Dennis Radeke of Adobe posted a very good article on his blog: Diving into NVIDIA GPU’s and what they mean for Premiere Pro Very good reading. Gary ... View more

Some folks like to DIY, but we find that many of our DIY readers really want to find someone who can build a machine for them, they just need to understadn what specs they need. So our DIY guide becomes teh starting point for their system shopping. Which is why we updated our recommended turnkey NLE workstation dealers page: Get a turnkey NLE solution from an expert NLE integrator. You can follow this link to a list of turnkey providers recommended by the Videoguys. All of the companies featured on this page make excellent NLE workstations, fully loaded and optimized for long format video editing. Both ADk and Safe Harbor are on the list. One of the advantages of a turnkey over a DIY is that the resellers we recommend take the time to test and tweak their systems. Many times they have relationships with Intel or the motherboard vendors that gets them advanced looks and even access to system design support teams. I'd like to thank Harm for this thread, his research and the time he puts in onthese forums. He is a great asset for the Adobe community. Gary ... View more

Our customers are finding the 2600Ks are an excellent choice for budget systems. What kind of stuff are you running into with the X79s? Anything you can share here? Gary ... View more

Great article. Could it be true - Harm, ADK and Videoguys are now all on the same page! Intel 3930K as the way to go for the best perfomance. Those interested can check out our latest DIY9 sneak peak machine based on the new Intel Core i7 Sandy Bridge-E 3930K running on Asus P9X79 Gary ... View more

Got it. I didn't realize the second RAID 0 was for the export. That makes perfect sense. Have you guys tested exporting to an SSD drive? That would be even faster and even a 128GB SSD should be big enough for any export files. GAry ... View more

Not understadning why you would want Two sets of RAID0 drives. Videoguys recommends the following: C: Boot drive. 500GB or bigger. A 7200 RPM drive willwork just fine. If you want faster bootup and program opens, right now a 10K RPM drive is a better value then SSD, but not as fast. D: RAID for Video.Can be internal or external. For External we recommend G-Tech and Glyph.           Option 1:A pair of drives  RAID0 gives you performance and value. 2 x 2TB= 4TB of usable space, but no redundancy if a drive fails.           Option 2: 4 drives set up as a RAID 5. This gives you performance plus redundancy. 4 x 2TB = 6TB of usable space E: Export drive. Single 7200RPM drive. Your exports will go smoother and faster if you output the files to a dedicated physical drive, rather then the D: RAID. You can also set up a partition or folder on your C: drive for the exports. Not as good as a dedicated drive, but better then exporting to the same drives as your project resides on. Another benefit of having a dedicated E: drive is that you can use it for back-ups, digital photo library, MP3 library, etc. You can find this plus a whole lot more info in Videoguys Video Storage FAQ Gary ... View more

Scott, I hear what you are saying. I still think that for my higher end custoemrs who use CS5.5 or Avid, with I/O hardware and a RAID, I'm going to stick with my i7 Hex core recommendation - for now. But I also see your points, and for so many editors with tapeless workflows, Sandy bridge gets the job done. So my recommendation has been changed to tthe following: I'm still not ready to  recommend Sandy Bridge or the Asus P8Z68-V Pro motherboard yet for our  more advanced editors. If you think you are going to be using one of our  advanced NLEs such as Avid or Adobe or Edius or Vegas with hardware I/O  and /or a RAID, stick with our Core i7 Hex core. However: If you plan on  using one of these NLEs for DV, HDV or tapeless workflows like AVCH or  DSLR footage; and you do not plan on adding an I/O card, then Sandy  Bridge is worth considering. If you use  consumer level video editing apps like Pinnacle Studio, Sony Vegas Movie  Studio or Premiere Elements then Sandy Bridge is a very good choice for  you. Gary ... View more

Scott - Thanx for the feedback.I was looking forward to your reaction to my post. From what I could gather about the Asus Z68 mothterboard that had me so excited was the ability to force the bottom slot to PCIe 4x.  The reviews I read said you can allocate PCIe 4x to the bottom slot at the expense of some extra USB ports. I also thought this would be dedicated bandwidth. If that's not the case, then I guess this Mobo isn't the evolution I had hoped for. I also had high hopes for the Virtu software. That the d-Mode would allow you to disable the on board graphics while enabling the new encoding instructions embedded in the Sandy bridge processor sounded very cool.  If you could do this and still have the Mercury Playback Engine take full advantage of your dedicated GPU like the GTX470/570, that would be SWEET! I had also hoped that the Z68 would make quicksync better and easier to set up. So I guess I still may not be recommending Sandy Bridge for my customers. We'll stick with the i7 970 hex core for now. Which unfortunately has gone up in price fto $575 over the past few weeks. Although I do think that for tapeless workflows that will not require I/O hardware and RAID storgae, Sandy Bridge is a great price/value preformance solution. Gary ... View more

I found this article that has the middel pocessor i7-3960X hexcore at $999 http://www.zdnet.com/blog/computers/intels-three-sandy-bridge-e-processors-to-be-known-as-core-i7-3000-series-extreme-edition/6384 he Core i7-3960X will be the new performance champ, with its six  cores bumped up to 3.3GHz and 3.9GHz in Turbo mode. It will come with  15MB of L3 cache and an unlocked multiplier. As with previous hexa-core  Extreme Editions, this processor should run around $999 when it’s  released. The Core i7-3820 will reportedly be priced similarly to the Core  i7-2600K, the reigning king of Sandy Bridge processors, and will provide  an interesting alternative for those who don’t need the i7-2600K’s  unlocked multiplier. It will also square off against AMD’s forthcoming  Bulldozer line, the priciest of which will be priced in the same  ballpark. Gary ... View more

Harm, Will do. Any word on price points? Intel may price them out of the range of our DIY systems. We try to stick with CPUs under $500 Gary ... View more

Just wanted to let you all know we've published a DIY update on our blog: goo.gl/HQMjG Videoguys DIY Update: Sandy Bridge - Getting closer with the ASUS P8Z68-V PRO Motherboard Over the past few months we've taken some heat on some NLE user  forums for our recommendation to NOT use Sandy Bridge CPUs for building  your NLE workstation. We didn't take this lightly and we understood the  frustration it would create for people wanting to build a new NLE  workstation. You want to use the latest technology and take advantage of  the speed and performance per dollar of the Sandy bridge CPUs. Our Sandy Bridge concerns where not about the CPU, but rather the  available chipsets and motherboards. The first chipsets had very real  potential problems that gave us reason for the concern. The two biggest  being the shared PCIe bandwidth and the integrated graphics. When  building a computer for video editing job number one is to avoid any  system bottlenecks. While a system can be great for gaming, it may not be good for video  editing. Gamers want the highest possible video framerates and the  quickest possible seek times. For HD video editing we are working with  very large files, that can be very heavily compressed.  A bottleneck  anywhere can create all kinds of performance, stability and workflow  issues. So when we post a new DIY build, we are looking for a system  that can handle the most rigorous video editing timelines, with as much  realtime performance as possible. When we have to render or encode, we  want it to be the fastest possible, while delivering files that are 100%  defect free.  That's why it's important to start with the chipset  first, then find the right motherboard and from there add the components  that will maximize the performance for video editing. As I said earlier, the first couple of rounds of Sandy Bridge  motherboards did not impress me. While I know that some system  integrators and expert DIY builders are using Sandy Bridge today with  great success, I wanted to wait until I found a chipset and motherboard  that addressed my main concerns without sacrificing Sandy Bridge  performance. We may have found it! I've been doing some research on the  Asus P8Z68-V Pro and I'm very interested in it. It addresses two of our  main Sandy Bridge concerns: PCIe bandwidth and Integrated Graphics. http://goo.gl/HQMjG I'm still not ready to recommend Sandy Bridge or the Asus P8Z68-V Pro  motherboard yet. It is very new and I want to see more feedback from  users. Both for video editing and gaming and just general computers. We  are going to keep looking into it, and if it meets our expectations, we  will begin our DIY9 build around it. That said, I really want to see a  Sandy Bridge motherboard with integrated Thunderbolt! read more... ... View more

Fantastic article. I really like how you differentiate the needed hardware based on the CODEC to be used. This is a great approach and one I think I will "borrow" for future articles on Videoguys Just a heads up, I've updated our DIY8 article to reflect the latest info and chipset pricing. Intel Hex core has fallen to $599. I'm still onthe fence about the new Sandy bridge chips. while I thinkt ehy are fantastic for laptops, not so sure I like them for workstations. When you add PCIe cards for I/O (eg Matrox MXO2 Mini or AJA Kona) and an exteral RAID controller, I'm concerend about throughput bottlenecks. Once agian, great job on the article. Gary Videoguys.com ... View more