Inspiring

Question

What PC to build?

Forum|Forum|15 years ago
March 17, 2010
43 replies
77157 views

A question often asked is what system to build for NLE.

Basically you can think along three roads, a budget PC, an economical PC and the warrior PC. Notice that MAC is not mentioned here. There are three reasons for that, one is I'm not qualified to really advise on MAC's, two is that they are way overpriced and three they are severely limited in component choices. So this is all about PC.

Whether you want to have a budget, economical or warrior PC, there are a number of common components that you will always need, a case, a PSU, CPU cooler, monitor, keyboard, mouse, DVD/BR burner and stuff like that so I'm not going into those components.

So what is this all about?

1. CPU
2. Motherboard
3. Memory
4. Disk setup
5. Video card

This is certainly not intended to be a full description of what to buy, but only to point you in a direction that will make it easier to make your own list of components required.

CPU
Budget: i7-860, Economical: i7-930, Warrior: Dual X5680

Motherboard
Budget: ASUS P7P55D, Economical: ASUS P6T WS Pro, Warrior: SuperMicro X8DAH+

Memory
Budget: 8 GB, Economical: 12 GB, Warrior: 24+ GB

Disk setup
Budget: 3-4 SATA disks, Economical: 5-8 SATA disks (plus raid controller), Warrior: 12+ disks and Areca ARC 1880iX-16/24 controller

Video card
Budget: ATI HD 5670, Economical: nVidia GTX-285, Warrior: nVidia Quadro FX 3800+

Effectively at this moment (March 2010) that means in approximate costs for the 5 components and not counting everything else you may need,

Type PC	Approximate budget
Budget	$ 1,200
Economical	$ 2,100 (excluding RAID controller)
Warrior	$ 8,500 (including Areca RAID controller)

These figures are around minimum to budget for. I hope this gives you something to ponder about.

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A

Anonymous

Thank you very much for your extensive efforts to educate...your advice is succinct and pertinant, the fruit of many years experience, I'm sure. Thanks for sharing with us. I've read the links you sent & printed them to use while I compare options.

If I had more time, I'd build one...best way to learn! Thanks again.

A

Anonymous

Greetings, I've read this thread with eager (but, admittedly ignorant) interest.

I'm creating patient-education programs with audio/video/graphics/animation etc... and need to keep my focus on the content vs. the technology.

Are there any technically sound, pre-configured and optimized for "Adobe CS5" available for those of us who don't know enough about hardware to build a sytem ourselves?

Sara

Harm_MillaardAuthor

Inspiring

There are many configurations posted here in different price brackets. Depending on your budget, I would take the list of components that were used in good and stable performing systems that fit your budget and ask a system builder in your area for his comments or suggestions and ask him to make you an offer you can't refuse. You will then also have the support close by.

J

jyeager11

Known Participant

I was on the verge of pulling the trigger on this deal :

http://www2.dell.com/ca/en/home/desktops/desktop-studio-xps-9000/pd.aspx?refid=desktop-studio-xps-9000&s=dhs&cs=cadhs1&~oid=ca~en~70702~studio-xps-9000-en-feat_3~~

From $1,938
You Save $440
Now $1,498 (before taxes)

Then a friend looked around for me and assembled this hypothetical build :

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition 64BIT Dvd OEM
•Limit 5 per customer.
•Usually Ships in 1 to 2 Business days.
Yes $145.87 $145.87

Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM
•Limit 5 per customer.
•Usually Ships in 1 to 2 Business days.
Yes $98.88 $98.88

XFX Radeon HD 5850 XXX Edition 755MHZ 1GB GDDR5 4.5GHZ 2XDVI HDMI Display Port PCI-E Video Card
•Usually Ships in 1 to 2 Business days.
Yes $334.80 $334.80

LG BH10LS30 Bluray Writer 10X BD-R 16X DVD-RW Lightscribe SATA Retail Box
•Limit 2 per customer.
•Usually Ships in 1 to 2 Business days.
Yes $169.88 $169.88

Asus P6T X58 ATX LGA1366 DDR3 3PCI-E16 PCI-E1 2PCI CrossFire SLI SATA2 GBLAN Motherboard
•Usually Ships in 1 to 2 Business days.
Yes $253.80 $253.80

Antec Truepower New 750W Modular Power Supply ATX Active PFC 80 Plus SLI Ready Blue 120MM PWM Fan
•Usually Ships in 1 to 2 Business days.
Yes $125.01 $125.01

Antec P183 ATX Tower Case Black 11 Drive Bay 4X5.25 1X3.5 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB & Sound
•Usually Ships in 1 to 2 Business days.
Yes $146.65 $146.65

2 X OCZ XTC Platinum OCZ3P1333LV6GK DDR3-1333 6GB 3X2GB CL7-7-7-20 Triple Channel Memory Kit
•Usually Ships in 1 to 2 Business days.
•$20.00 CAD Mail in Rebate for this item - click here
Yes $168.71 $337.42

Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping Quad Core Processor LGA1366 2.66GHZ Bloomfield 8MB LGA1366 -SLBEJ-
•Usually Ships in 1 to 2 Business days.
Yes $324.32 $324.32

Payment Detail
Shipping & handling $0.00
Insurance $29.05
Sub Total $1,936.63
GST(5%) $98.28
No PST - Outside BC residents $0.00
Total $2,063.96

In both cases, I was going to add at least 1TB as a 2nd HD.

Rig will be for Photoshop, Sonar audio editing, and full screen HD video playback (not editing). No gaming. No overclocking.

Dell's video card is a 5770. The custom build is a 5850. Both may be overkill. Dell's PSU is 475W. The custom build's is 750W. Dell's OS is Win7 Home, the custom build's is Win7 Pro. Dell's blu-ray only writes CD/DVD. The custom build writes BD/CD/DVD.

Is either one of these a no-brainer? Any red flags? Please note that price *is* an issue right now, as I'm being hit with all kinds of emergencies simultaneously... but my current rig (7 years old, upgraded to an Opteron 180 somewhere along the way) is falling apart on me. After a false-alarm HD failure scare this past weekend, I don't want to keep pushing my luck.

PS: I'm in Canada, these are all in CND prices.

Harm_MillaardAuthor

Inspiring

Dell XPS is brain damaged from the start: The BIOS is crippled, not allowing any overclocking.

In your custom system, I would definitely add a smallish 150+ GB disk for OS & programs, not waste a 1 TB dirve. The 5850 may be a bit pricey in comparison to the 5670 and not deliver any measurable benefits. For MPE you may consider the approved cards, although they do come with an additional price tag. And we are not even sure when MPE will come.

J

jyeager11

Known Participant

Harm Millaard wrote:
Dell XPS is brain damaged from the start: The BIOS is crippled, not allowing any overclocking.

Did you miss the part where I went out of my way to mention that I wouldn't be overlocking?

The part about not wasting a 1TB drive as the OS drive makes a lot of sense, though. Thanks.

J

JCschild

Participating Frequently

Very nice little guide!

the only thing i would make comment on.

the 860 and 920/930 are the same price.

the boards for each are only $30 apart. (p55 being slightly less)

so the cost of a P55 vs X58 are not that big a jump.

4 vs 6 gig or 8 vs 12gig not a big stretch..

however for many the 860 is more than they need. (DV, HDV)

FYI the 860 overclocks very nicely to 3.6GHz without voltage increases.

As to the Apple my biggest reason for not recommending them to clients right now is not about cost or choices.

its all about OSX inability to properly mutli-thread.

at least Adobe is much better on an Apple right now that Final Cut! FC is rather embarressing.

Scott

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