What PC to build?

[Harm_Millaard]

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.

[JCschild]

to be as blunt as possible!

nothing AMD has can beat Intel price or performance.

Scott

ADK

[AlistairY]

Many thanks for all the advice you give.

I currently use Premiere Pro with a Matrox card for editing DV but I hope to get CS5 in the near future with a view to switching to AVCHD. Based on what I have read in this forum I put together specifications for an editing computer and requested a quote from a supplier.

I requested:

Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R
Processor	Intel Core i7 930  2.8GHz
RAM	12 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 RAM or similar
Boot Drive	300/500GB? Hard Drive - 7200rpm, 16MB Cache, SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
Video Storage	1 X 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s  2 X 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s RAID 0	pagefile/scratch/renders Video storage	samsung hd103uj ?? Seems to be highly thought of
Case	Something with plenty of cooling
Power Supply	reliable 850W	Corsair or CoolerMaster ??
DVD Burner	Blu-ray Disc Burner	LG GGW-H20L BR/DVD burner ??
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470
OS	Windows 7  64-bit Pro?

They have responded with a quote incorporating the following. I find the details confusing so have included it in the hope that you can say  ok or not.

The different motherboard worries me and I am not sure if the disks are suitable.

Cpu	Intel lga1366 i7 930 - Quad core+Hyper-Threading / 8 threads , 2.88ghz box cpu / 3.06ghz turbo boost , 4.8GT/s - 1x QPi , VT-x , no VT-d + no TXT, no ASE , built-in tripple channel DDR3-1066 memory controler , support upto 24gb , 25.6GB/sec memory bandwidth , 45nm - 4x64k L1 + 1mb(4 x 256kb) L2 cache + 8mb L3 cache , with VT-x
Motherboard	ASUS Rampage 2 Extreme LGA1366 mb ; with on-board extreme OC tweakIt , Dual BIOS , external debug LED poster , EL i/o , Voltminder LED ( cpu/mem/nb/sb voltage warning led ) , on-board on/off/clear CMOS switch , fanless heatpipe design , 16+2 phase power design , nVidia SLI / ATi coressfire ready ; intel X58+iCH10R , 6x tripple channel 2-phase DDR3 2000 ( support XMP upto 1.69v ) , 9 x s-ata2 with raid 0/1//0+1/5/10 ( 8 x SATA + 1 x e-SATA ) , 1 x parallel ata133 , on-board SupremeFX II ADI 2000B Dobly Digital live 7.1 audio with coaxial+optical S/Pdif out + dual gigabit lan + ieee1394a ; 1x pci , 2 x pci-e(1x) , 3 x pci-e 2.0 (16x+16x+1x or 16x+8x+8x ) - 1 x PS2 only for kb
Ram	Corsair CMX6GX3M3A1333C9 , XMS 3 , with heatsink , 3 x 2Gb kit - support Intel XMP ( eXtreme Memory Profiles ) , ddr3-1333 ( PC3-10666 ) , CL9 , 1.5v - 240pin - lifetime warranty
Hdd	seagate barracuda 7200.12 st3500418as , 500gb, sata3G , 7200rpm, 16mb cache - 3 years warrenty
Hdd	seagate barracuda ES2 ST31000340NS / constellation ES ST31000524NS , dual processor + multi-drive firmware maximized , 500gb, sata3G , 7200rpm, 32mb cache, designed for 24x7 digital video surveillance or business-critical applications ( NAS , video surveillance … ETC ) - 5 years warrenty
Case	Coolermaster RC-690-KKN1 , CM690 black , No psu ( bottom placed psu design ) : tools free for Pci+3.5"+5.25" ; 2 x front usb + audio in/out + ieee1394 - 4/5x 5.25", 1/0 x 3.5" , 5x 3.5" hidden ( hdd side removable ) - 1 x front blue-led fan + 1 x rear 120mm fan + 1 x side 120mm fan upto 7 - atx
PSU	Corsair TX850 , Eps12V , ATX 12V V2.2 - 850w ( 12v : 840w ) , nvidia SLi ready , 80PLUS certified for energy saving , 24pin ( 4pin detachable ) , with active-PFC , 4 x 8pin (2+6) PCI-E power connectors , 8x SATA , 1x 140mm thermal controled fan ; with OCP, OVP, OPP, SCP, UVP - 5 years warranty - no power cord
Blu-Ray	LG BH10LS30 , Lightscribe , black , Dual Layer , Blu-Ray writer (10x) , 50/25/17/8.5/4.7GB : DL BD-RE , DL BD-R , DL dvd+R , dvd±r/rw ; SATA , 2mb buffer
Gpu	Asus ENGTX470/2DI/1280MD5 , HDMi ready , geforce GTX470 , 40nm , SLi support , Pci-E 2.0 16x , support HybridPower , 1.25Gb/1280mb 320bit DDR5 , support 3D Surround + DirectX 11+tessellation + shader model 5.0 + 32x AA ; max resolution 2560x1600 , HDCP Compliant , RoPs : 40 , 133.9Gb/sec memory transfer , 448 cuda cores @ 1.215Ghz ( pixel shader engine + vertex pipelines ) , core/memory : 607/3348mhz , 2x dvi + HDMi ( with dvi to d-sub converter )

Apologies for the level of detail but I don't know what to exclude.

[ruma bambusa]

Hi, Urgent help requested

We are running a development project in East Timor,

Currently we are trying to put together a computer to run Premiere Pro CS5

one configuration we have been advised is

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3R MB, Intel P55, DDR3 2000, PCI-Ex16, SATA3, USB 3.0

CPU: i7-870 Core i7 QUAD CORE CPU , 2.93 GHz, Socket LGA1156

Graphics Card: ATI HD 5750 PCI-E 2.0 1GB 128 bit GDDR5

Sound Card: Intergrated 7.1 HD Audio

Hard Disk Drive: 2 x 1.5TB Seagate SATA2 HDD in RAID 0 (SPEED)

RAM: 8 Gigabytes 1333 Mhz DDR3 (64Bit OS only)

Found at

http://www.gr-tek.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=Corei5ExtremeGaming

or from

http://www.pcmarket.com.au/system-details.php?computersystem_id=2203&todo=switchview&newtopage=true

or could you suggest changes from options available

Cheers

[JaysonM-Y]

if you're not gonna build it yourself, http://www.adkvideoediting.com/ is our trusted builders.

and for laptops, go Sager.

4 things i had trouble with

you need one more disk for your OS a 200-300gb vraptor(10k-15krpm) would do.

Processor - i7950 would be better

Ram - 12gb(3x2gb sticks) DDR3 @ 1600

Gfx Card - Nvidia gtx470

Also, you forgot to mention your budget.

[ruma bambusa]

Thanks for the feedback,

Yes we are not in a position here where we can afford to build ourselves (East Timor)

I will also need to use an Australian based company as this is where we need to get our supplies from

We are an NGO development program and fund are always tight and tightly monitored but a system that will work is essential

We are not making top end productions only information and education materials to use locally

I will check your suggestions with the suppliers that I can locate

Any further feedback greatly appreciated

Cheers

[JaysonM-Y]

LOL we used to post a pic of one of my friends from australia upside down on our profiles.

That nostalgia being revived, if it's your choice going with a budget of USD 2,000(I'm not sure the pricing thar in the outback) would be good.... Then the others(guys on teh forum) could help you specify the best hardware.... btw, you might wanna start a new thread.

[bad Timing]

For editing, we believe a gaming computer is a clear choice.  They are extremely fast for their price.  We are using 4 Dell Alienware Auroras.  We feel good about letting Dell do the engineering.  They are easy to buy, dependable, competitively priced, and fast.   With Dell Alienware, there is a large user base to lean on if you have a problem.   We have had  "0" problems in this first year of operation.

[Skulltrail Editing]

I only build xeon rigs i can help you with that.

Xeon cpu work great but cost a lot of money

[mikeklar]

I would appreciate it if you or somone here would comment on the component selection I am planning to use to build a new workstation.

CPU - Intel Core i7 950 3.06 GHz

CPU Fan -  Not yet decided

Motherboard - ASUS Rampage III Extreme

Tower - Cooler Master 922

Memory - DDR3 1600 MHz

System Drive - Raptor 10000 RPM VelociRaptor WD 3000 BLFS 300 GB

Caching and Program Drive - Seagate 7200 RPM 1.5 TB (extra one in my stock)

Power Supply - Antec TPQ-1000 TruPower Quattro 1000 watt

Four hard drives at 2TB eatch to be configured as RAID5 - Seagate 7200 RPM

RAID card- Adaptec RAID 3405 (moved from existing computer)

Video card - nVIDIA Quattro FX 3800 (moved from existing computer)

BluRay - LG BH10

DVD Burnger

Two SSD drives for caching- not yet decided

I'd be interested in comments about the ASUS Rampage III Extreme.  My reason for choosing it is the two extra SATA ports with 6.0 Gp/s as well the USB 3.0 ports.  In addition the ability to tweak the clocking.

Cheers,

Michael

[flbreen]

My olny concern is that the case is large enough to provide a 1 inch gap between the video card and the drive bays.

In the PC is asembled this summer the video card was so long that there was no gap.

It was hard to push the video card in and all the power lines and some SATA lines had to run over the video card.

[mikeklar]

Your point is one I did consider when selecting this case, having gone through this a couple of months ago with a nVIDIA's Quattro FX 4800 card which did not fit into my existing tower.  This case is 3.5 inches deeper than the one I have now and the hard drives are placed sideways so that the cabling does not extend into the case.  I selected it in part due to the location it will have to occupy and the manner in which it vents.  The biggest turnoff is the "red LED lit front fan", which, hopefully can be turned off, I mean the LED not the fan.

Your point is of importance as I expect to add another video card and this time one without compromize.

Thank you for your input.

Cheers,

Michael

[Dave514]

Harm:

I'm in a position to build a new video editing coomputer for CS5. My budget is $2500. I have the CS5. Was thiiiiiiiiiiikng of getting two Hard Drives each two TB and mirroring them. Your thoughts please.

Thanks,

David

[bad Timing]

We purchased all new equipment this year. We do not have the time or

expertise to build a computer. So we buy them. The 4 computers we

purchased were all Dell Alien Auroras. We felt they were a low cost

option and their operation has been flawless. Some have the 920 and

some the 980x processors. They accommodate 4 hard drives. You can

purchase them with the RAID 1 option. We use RAID 0 without an issue.

But, we store nothing on the computers. With the 920 processor and

12 gb ram they cost about $2,200.

If the reason you are using RAID 1 is because you are storing the data

on your computer we would not use the standard 2tb drives. We prefer

enterprise hard drives. They cost considerably more (2 1/2 x ) , but

there should never be an issue. For storage we prefer RAID 6 NAS.

That is another subject altogether. Western Digital WDRE4 - GP

WD2002FYPS is a common choice. Be certain they were made after May

2010 for some pretty important upgrades.

Good luck to you.

[Dave514]

Thanks for your input. Working with CS5 I

need very speifc Nvidia Graphics Cards that optimize the

workflow not offered by Dell.

[bad Timing]

We order the Fermi cards already installed. It is not any special order.

[JCschild]

the answer is no

you need a minimum of 3 drives

1) OS

2) Work drive (can be raid 0,3,5,6)

3) final output/render (can be raid 0,3,5,6)

raid 1 (mirror) is pointless use an external to back up to...

also there are far far better choices for the $ than Alienware where you would actually get support for Adobe...

the cheap Aurora's (which aint cheap once built out for editing) use MATX boards.pretty sad for editing stations

scott

ADK

[Neostim]

Hi,

I, like most others in this thread am building a custom PC (for someone), the only problem is the budget is $1,850 CAD after taxes and shipping, so it's a bit more limited, I had some questions:

In the minimum requirements it lists RAID 0, is this to be a dedicated drive for rendering only? I was planning on doing a RAID 0 (500GB drives) and an OS Drive (500GB), as well as a storage drive (2TB), does this make sense, would all cache/rending point to the RAID 0?

I'm getting the GTX 470, with using this graphics card and CUDA, does this mean it no longer uses the CPU at all, or does it use the CPU and GPU now to do the processing of the video?

The components I'm looking at getting are as follows, right now it's a bit over budget, so I'm looking at possibly going with a less expensive motherboard and going down to 8GB ram.

Graphics Card - EVGA GTX 470

CPU - Core I7 @ 3.06Ghz

Motherboard - Asus P6X58D-E

Raid 0 - 2 x 500GB Seagate 7200rpm drives

OS Drive - 1 x 500GB Seagate 7200rpm drive

Media Storage - 1 x 2TB Western Digital Green drive

RAM - 12GB - G.Skill ripjaws Series 12GB (3 x 4GB)

Case - Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP

Power Supply - CMPSU-750TX 750W (I've got to take a look at this, might not be enough)

Blu-Ray Burner - LG WH10LS30K

OS - Win7 Prof 64bit

Right now this is totalling around $1,950. First of all, does this setup look decent? It matches a lot of the others I've seen, I'm just not sure on the hard drive setup, Power Supply, and if the graphics card is doing all the work, maybe I could bump down the CPU a bit.

Thanks to anyone who replies!

[Harm_Millaard]

In an editing rig, NEVER use green disks. Get full 7200 RPM disks only. Try to avoid using mid towers, better go for full size towers.

[Neostim]

Thanks for the reply! I'll look for a bigger tower, hopefully there is one in the same price range.

I'm curious on the green drive, you definitely know better then I, but I wanted to ask. If media is being stored on it, why the need for 7200rpm? I understand if your actively converting to a drive then you need speed, but once your project is done, do you typically store it on a usb drive or slower large drive, or is that demand for speed still there during playback (in the case of uncompressed video I guess?)

Thanks again for the input

Any input on the hardware I'm using, does it at look OK overall?

[Harm_Millaard]

Let's get the first obstacle out of the way: USB drives are ONLY good for backups, nothing else.

Green disks: about 30 - 40% slower than normal 7200 SATA disks. Imagine a timeline with 5 video tracks, a couple of audio tracks and a single disk is hard pressed to supply the data, even if they are static, to the CPU at a sufficient rate, especially if the fill rate goes up.

If you are talking not about a media drive but about an export drive, then a green disk is OK, speed is no longer important.

[Neostim]

Ahhh, the one time I don't copy my message before hitting submit and it logs me out and I lose it

I did mean an export disk (assuming that means where you store your media when your done editing and it's been converted to it's final format).

To be honest I know nothing about adobe premier, I've done research to understand what the requirements are and different recommended setups, I guess the biggest thing I'm grasping at is the hard drives, and I think it's because I don't understand the workflow, I'm planning:

500GB 7200rpm - OS/Page File

RAID 0 / 2 x 500GB 7200rpm - I assume this is where you would keep all your projects as you were working on them for rendering/editing etc.. ? I know it's a requirement for Premier CS5, but it didn't really go into detail on what's to be stored on it.

2TB - I assumed the user of the machine would need somewhere to store his finished work, if this isn't needed, or a 7200rpm 1TB drive would be better, I can absolutely change it.

Thanks again for the reply, I really appreciate it, I just want to be sure I get the hardware and configuration right, so I don't buy all these parts and realize I should have orderex x instead of y

...I'm copying and pasting this one just in case

[Harm_Millaard]

I suggest to create a new thread with your questions. I'll be happy to answer them, but more people may benefit from the discussion that in an old thread like this one.

[Neostim]

Will do... for anyone who happens to follow the thread in the future, my new thread is at http://forums.adobe.com/thread/763808?tstart=0

[ItsGregHere]

Hi Harm,

I'm about to get a PC built for home video editing.  Are there any changes to your orginal post you'd make/suggest now given the time that has pasted since then.  It's a great post.

[Chuck_A__McIntyre]

I would start here:

PPBM5

This chart will provide a picture of the top performing hardware suitable for Premiere Pro CS5.  Choose your desired performance level, take note of the hardware and price it out on a website like newegg.com.

Personally, I would go with an Intel 980x processor, 24GB of RAM and an Nvidia GTX 580 card to power MPE.

Scott with ADK likes Mushkin RAM.  One needs to consider recommendations from someone who builds video editing computers for a living.  Personally, I have been using RAM purchased online from Crucial over the years without issues.

If you don't want to build the system yourself, have Eric with ADK build one for you.  There is a big difference between going with a system builder specializing in gaming computers and one who majors in building video editing computers.

I favor the Gigabyte motherboards, but a lot of guys like Asus.

Harm has some great advice related to overclocking and hard drive configurations.