What PC to build?

Report · Mar 17, 2010

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.

Report · Aug 04, 2010

The boards that have 4 slots support Tr- Channel just like the 6 slot boards. You just can only use 3 slots. Tri Channel is really decided by the CPU and not the board since the memory controller now resides there. The only reason the memory has any bearing on this is simply the amount of ram you put in. Now Memory manufacturers also adjust sub timings on the memory to better ensure functionality based on whether the kits will be packaged as dual or tri kits. This does not mean you can't buy the dual kits and put them on a Tri Channel system. It just means you will have a higher chance of having issues with the ram working together. The HP tech you spoke to is correct and that board does support Tri channel.

Eric

ADK

Report · Aug 04, 2010

This thread has been *extremely* helpful. Thanks all!

After years of using Premiere elsewhere, I am looking to have a NLE setup at home. I'm 90% sure I'll be buying Premiere Pro CS5, but am still considering the options. For me editing video is a serious hobby, not a profession.

Building a system from scratch is intimidating, so I went to HP's site and looked at options. Any comments on this setup as a starting place? More disks etc would be added later.

HP Pavilion Elite HPE-380t ($1300)

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-930 quad-core [2.8GHz, 1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache]
9GB DDR3-1066MHz SDRAM [5 DIMMs]
1TB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
1.8GB NVIDIA Geforce GTX 260 [2 DVI, HDMI and VGA adapters]
LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
Integrated sound

Report · Aug 04, 2010

Something must be wrong with that memory spec. How could you have 9 GB in 5 DIMM's? Or is this another HP unique design or is it a typo?

Find out how many disk drives you can have in it and what the power supply rating is.

What media are you going to edit on this computer?

CS5 requires an absolute minimum of two drives and that may be marginal.

Report · Aug 05, 2010

>>How could you have 9 GB in 5 DIMM's?

Perhaps 4 x 2GB + a 1GB stick?

Report · Aug 05, 2010

Bill: Thanks for the quick feedback. No typo; claims to have 9GB, no idea how exactly. Will only take 2 drives and power supply only 460 watts. Back to the drawing board for me....

Report · Aug 05, 2010

Good Idea Mike!

Report · Aug 05, 2010

I am building my first pc and actually switching from Mac to pc.... 'oh the irony'. I intend to build my rig around around the

Intel Core i7-980X Extreme Edition Gulftown 3.33GHz 6 x 256KB L2 Cache 12MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80613I7980X

and nvidia geforce gtx 480 or the quadro 1800

I would love to know why one graphics is better than the other.

I would like to stick a mobo with usb3.0 and ieee 1394b(fw800)

i would like at least 8gb(or12?) of fast ram

I cant find the mother that would work for this set up and I do not know enough about ram to decide?

can anyone give me some pointers

I am going to overclock

I will be using this computer to edit hd in cs5 and would like it to be super fast

I will also be taking full advantage of lightroom and photoshop and would love to be able to expand into cool special effect even though I do not know how to do that yet. I will be using cs5 and avid Xpress but NO gaming!

Thanks

Report · Aug 05, 2010

I am a newbie at designing high performance PCs but after assembling one designed by someone else I recommend a bigger case than I used.

The CM Storm Scout case that I use was adequate but with a bigger box it would have been easier to get SATA cables around the GPU card.

I recommend 5 drives (4x1TB) in Raid 5 and one for the operating system and CS5.

I damaged my new working PC by transporting it home in my automobile.

I suggest assembling it in the same place that it will be used.

There is an article in the August Videomaker Magazine on the Cerise 12 core PC $8000.

They show the case and and I liked the extra room it has over my Scout case.

I know the the 6 core CPU cost $1000 and my 4 core CPU is under $300.

I am wondering if you will get $700 better performance.

Report · Aug 06, 2010

1. You will not find (to my knowledge) a PC motherboard that has IEEE-1394b, only 1394a. Why would you even want the 1394 b?

2. You have not told us you intended input and output formats, that makes a big difference

3. I would not consider anything less than 12 GB and if your primary output is MPEG and you use Photoshop you should start with 24 GB. For high overclocking you want DDR3-1600

4. Do not get a Quadro 1800 as it is way to expensive and is not a current Fermi card.

5. Plan on lots of disks and a good RAID card

6. Read the many threads in these hardware forums especially all of Harm's great ones on new design.

One of the better large very flexible cases is this one.

Take a look at successful builds of CS5 machines at my benchmarking site

Message was edited by: Bill Gehrke

Report · Aug 06, 2010

Bill Gehrke wrote:
1. You will not find (to my knowledge) a PC motherboard that has IEEE-1394b, only 1394a. Why would you even want the 1394 b?

On the subject of FW800: The machine that ADK is currently building for me has FW800 ports which I requested to support my Lexar UDMA CF card readers. All of my photos and videos are recorded to CF cards and speed of injesting large amounts of footage is important to me. I'd be interesting in suggestions anyone might have for a better way of accessing CF cards since the future of FW800 is problematic, but I see myself using CF cards for many years to come. Thanks.

Report · Aug 06, 2010

The next revision of card readers will be USB 3 I am sure instead of E-Sata especially with the new laptop shells starting to release with onboard USB 3 ports. However the speed will still be limited by the media which even class 10 devices still only transfer at 30MB/s regardless of the max interface speed.

Eric

ADK

Report · Aug 06, 2010

ECBowen wrote:
However the speed will still be limited by the media which even class 10 devices still only transfer at 30MB/s regardless of the max interface speed.
Eric
ADK

Eric,

Not sure I understand. According to Lexar, the CF/UDMA FW800 readers I have are rated at 100MB/sec. The CF/UDMA cards I have are rated at 90MB/sec.

http://www.lexar.com/digfilm/cf_pro_600x.html

I'm sure in real-life usage these numbers may be lower, but are you saying that 30MB/sec is still the maximum I will experience? Thanks.

Report · Aug 06, 2010

Actually I didn't know about those. Thanks for the heads up. Evidently they have much faster CF cards than they do SDHC cards. I am sure you would get close to that 90MB/s.

Eric

ADK

Report · Aug 06, 2010

I want iee1394b(800) because within the next year firewire 3200 will be out and I work at home and at school. I use avid in both places and they use Mac pro where I am gonna use pc, I will keep stuff on external hd if I need to move it back and forth.

Report · Aug 06, 2010

Firewire 3200 is coming down the pipe and in contrast to USB 3.0, the 3200 will be backwards compatible with all 800 port devices. On top of that is the premise that the software will be the only needed to change the speed, not the hardware. So you can keep saying that firewire is going away but it is simply not true. It is more stable and a lot of people, especially those who have stuck with mac over the years will still use it. I am all for usb 3.0 but I would like my options to remain open. I found one here but I do not know if it is compatible with everything I have in mind

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131648&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3891137&SID=194r0

Report · Aug 06, 2010

"Firewire 3200 is coming down the pipe and in contrast to USB 3.0, the 3200 will be backwards compatible with all 800 port devices."

I am not sure where you heard USB 3 is not backwards compatible but you are incorrect. It is like all previous versions of USB.

Eric

ADK

Report · Aug 06, 2010

"I will be using cs5 and avid Xpress but NO gaming!"

What version of Avid do you have? Have you upgraded to Media Composer?

Eric

ADK

Report · Sep 09, 2010

I am looking at building a new i7 setup to replace my older LGA775 with the intention of purchasing Creative Suite Design Premium, mainly for premiere and photoshop. Anyway, I have a few questions:

1) I that the GTX 470 (and 480) are recommended here. I know I have read that Adobe plans official MPE hardware acceleration with the 480 but the 470 is up in the air. At this point neither are listed on the compatible hardware list. Does anyone know if official support has been announced/implemented, particularly for the 470, or is the hack for allowing the card to be accepted still necessary?

2) Is it worth running raid for your 2 non-OS drives if you are using the controller on the motherboard (ICH10R to be specific) and not a hardware-based raid card?

Not that it matters, but I am an enthusiast currently using an older version of Premiere/Photoshop Elements and a Panasonic MiniDV (SD) camcorder. I am planning on going HD after I get the new computer and CS5 built/paid for. Likely another panasonic but I don't know what format I will be working with.

What I have so far:

Antec 900 two - $80AR
Corsair 650W - from previous
150 GB Velociraptor WD WD1500HLFS - $100
9400 GT (I Think) - from previous

LG Bluray Burner - fp
LG Bluray ROM - fp

Win7 pro 64 - $30

Planning to get

GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R
i7-920
3 X 2 GB DDR3 (Add more later)
GTX 285 or GTX 470 (depending on adobe support)
4 X 500GB WD black 2.5 inch drives (possibly)
CS5 Creative Suite Production Premium

Report · Sep 09, 2010

Well, I guess I found the answer to my first question:

http://blogs.adobe.com/premiereprotraining/2010/09/premiere-pro-cs5-5-0-2-update.html

and

http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/systemreqs/

say the 470 is officially supported with the 5.0.2 update.

They need to update the hardware compatibility page as it does not list it. I guess I will shoot for the GTX 470 since it seems to be better than the 285.

Report · Sep 09, 2010

Personally, I would go for 3 x 4 GB of memory on a new build. The i7-920 is no longer available the current low end is the i7-930. These are generally availble from Microcenter if you have one close by for $200 if you can go into one of their stores and pick it up.

Report · Sep 21, 2010

I started to build my PC. I have run into a problem at the very beginning. Following this Forum's advice, I have the ASUS P6X58D Premium MOBO with the Intel i7 CPU, and the NOCTUA NH-D14 CPU cooler (and, of course, the beautiful Lian-Li case). My problem is the fan connections and mainly the CPU fan connection.

The MOBO has 5 fan connectors:

CPU_FAN (4-pin, the 4th pin:"CPU FAN PWM" )
CHA_FAN 1 (4-pin, the 2nd pin: "CHA FAN PWR")
PWR_FAN (3-pin)
CHA_FAN 2 (3-pin), and
CHA_FAN 3 (3-pin).

I assume that those 4th pins support the power management. And here is the problem: The beautiful NOCTUA CPU cooler has two fans but both of them have only 3-pin connectors! (The Intel CPU cooler fan that came with the CPU has the required 4 pins.)

Here is another problem: the ASUS User Guide (p. 2-22) says: "Only the CPU_FAN, CHA_FAN 1, CHA_FAN 2 and CHA_FAN 3 connectors support the ASUS FAN Xpert feature". But the latter two connectors are 3-pin connectors! How can they also support power management? Or they are only monitoring?

I contacted ASUS 'Live Chat' but they couldn't give a full explanation. I am waiting from NOCTUA for their e-mail answer.

For entertainment I attached the transcript of the Live Chat with ASUS. (BTW, what does 'np' stand for?)

Report · Sep 21, 2010

I think your assumption is correct, you need all 4 pins on the fan to be able to use the fan speed control in the bios. You can disable this and let the CPU fan run at the stock speed. You just won't get the noise reduction of throttling the fan down when it is not needed. You should be able to connect the 3 pin connector to the 4 pin block on the board. IIRC, there's only one way you can connect it so you won't scre it up.

Report · Sep 21, 2010

Thanks. I will try to buy four-pin fans for the NOCTUA cooler (if they have

it). I am still trying to get an answer from ASUS about their two 3-pin

connectors that allegedly supports the Fan Xpert feature. - Laci.

Report · Sep 21, 2010

HI,

I would save some money and time, and just install the fans that came with the noctua cooler, this way the fans will run full speed and the temps will remain cooler. the fans are not to noisy.

Baz

Report · Sep 22, 2010

Hi Baz, Thanks for jour advice, I just did that. Right now I have the DRAMs,

the video card and all the fans running - I could get into the BIOS! (Now, I

just have to install the hard disc and optical drives and figure out what to

do with the million left over wires that came with the Lian-Li case and the

Silent Pro.) - Laci.