Video editing hardware recommendation 2011

[won_lek]

Hi, I am primarily using Video Editing software (i.e. Sony Vegas).

I have configured the custom built computer system as following, please comment if I am lacking of anything?

1) CPU - intel i7 960 3.20GHz. LGA 1366. Quad Core.

2) Motherboard - Asus P6X58D-E MB, Socket 1366, X58, 6xDDR3, RAID, 3-Way SLI, CrossFireX, SATA3, USB3.0, Gigabit LAN, 8CH, ATX, Express Gate

3) Memory - Corsair 12GB Kit (3x4GB), PC-12800 (1600MHz) DDR3, Vengeance Series, 9-9-9-24, Triple Channel Kit

4) Main harddisc (for installing windows and programme) - Samsung 1TB Spinpoint F3, SATAII, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache x1

5) RAID 0 hardisc (for storing temporary video editing footage) - Samsung 1TB Spinpoint F3, SATAII, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache x 2 with RAID 0

6) Casing - Antec Three Hundred , Black, ATX, No PSU.2 x USB2.0, Top mounted 140mm exhaust fan

7) LG Black Blu-Ray Burner, 10xBD-R Read/Write, 16xDVD+-R Read/Write, SATA, Lightscribe, Silent Play

8) Graphic Card - ASUS Geforce GTX570 (742Mhz), 1280MB GDDR5 (3800Mhz), PCIE 2.0, 2x Dual Link DVI, HDMI, DP

9) Power Supply - Antec EA-750 750W EarthWatts ATX Power Supply, 80 PLUS certified, 135mm low noise cooling fan, 4x +12V outputs, 4 x PCI-Express, 9 x SATA

10) Monitor - Acer 23" Widescreen LED, Black, 1920 x 1080, 5ms, 120,000:1 ACM, VGA, DVI

11) Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64bit with Service Pack 1 DVD OEM


For interest - system is $2078 (Australian Dollar).

i am not quite sure whether those parts compatible or not, especially i7 960 and the ASUS motherboard and the graphic card.

Thanks.

 

[boiler1990]

1) CPU - intel i7 960 3.20GHz. LGA 1366. Quad Core.

2) Motherboard - Asus P6X58D-E MB, Socket 1366, X58, 6xDDR3, RAID, 3-Way SLI, CrossFireX, SATA3, USB3.0, Gigabit LAN, 8CH, ATX, Express Gate

3) Memory - Corsair 12GB Kit (3x4GB), PC-12800 (1600MHz) DDR3, Vengeance Series, 9-9-9-24, Triple Channel Kit

I would replace this whole set up with the i7-2600K, a Z68 motherboard, and a good kit of 8GB (2x4GB) RAM. The 2600K is significantly faster than the older generation i7-900s, so there's no reason to invest. Plus, the i7-900s are about to die off.

4) Main harddisc (for installing windows and programme) - Samsung 1TB Spinpoint F3, SATAII, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache x1

5) RAID 0 hardisc (for storing temporary video editing footage) - Samsung 1TB Spinpoint F3, SATAII, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache x 2 with RAID 0

I'm liking the RAID 0 setup (not sure its necessary but I don't know how Vegas works), but can you afford a 120GB SSD? You'll get incredibly fast boot/load times for anything installed on there (OS, Vegas, etc).

6) Casing - Antec Three Hundred , Black, ATX, No PSU.2 x USB2.0, Top mounted 140mm exhaust fan

Solid case. Take a look at the Cooler Master HAF 912; it's the same price (at least in the US) and is a little bigger on the inside.

8) Graphic Card - ASUS Geforce GTX570 (742Mhz), 1280MB GDDR5 (3800Mhz), PCIE 2.0, 2x Dual Link DVI, HDMI, DP

9) Power Supply - Antec EA-750 750W EarthWatts ATX Power Supply, 80 PLUS certified, 135mm low noise cooling fan, 4x +12V outputs, 4 x PCI-Express, 9 x SATA

Just note that this configuration will likely not support SLI. An 850W PSU is recommended for 2x570s. Not sure if that's an upgrade path for you, but just wanted to make you aware of that in case.

 

[won_lek]

Hi, thanks for that.

What is SLI??

 

[boiler1990]

SLI is 2 or more NVidia GPUs linked together for increased graphics performance (usually in games).

 

[won_lek]

how to determine a good kit of 8 GB ram? how about this one?

Corsair 8GB Kit (2x4GB), PC-12800 (1600MHz) DDR3, Vengeance Series, 8-8-8-24, Dual Channel Kit

and this is my online configuration following your advice:
1) i7 - 2600K
2) ASUS - P8Z68-V PRO
3) Cooler Master - RC-912A-KWN1
4) Antec - CP-850
5) Main harddisc (for installing windows and programme) - Samsung 1TB Spinpoint F3, SATAII, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache x1

6) RAID 0 hardisc (for storing temporary video editing footage) - Samsung 1TB Spinpoint F3, SATAII, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache x 2 with RAID 0

7) LG Black Blu-Ray Burner, 10xBD-R Read/Write, 16xDVD+-R Read/Write, SATA, Lightscribe, Silent Play

8) Graphic Card - ASUS Geforce GTX570 (742Mhz), 1280MB GDDR5 (3800Mhz), PCIE 2.0, 2x Dual Link DVI, HDMI, DP

 

[won_lek]

also, do I get the benefit of i7-2600K if I don't overclocked it??

 

[boiler1990]

how to determine a good kit of 8 GB ram? how about this one?

Corsair 8GB Kit (2x4GB), PC-12800 (1600MHz) DDR3, Vengeance Series, 8-8-8-24, Dual Channel Kit

I'd get a 1600MHz set because it's the most balanced in terms of cost and performance. Corsair, G.Skill, Kingston, Patriot, and Mushkin are all my top choices for memory because they make good products and have been in the business a long time. G.Skill usually is the cheapest, though you may see sales on Kingston or Corsair - regardless, they are all about the same in terms of quality and performance, so don't be afraid to go with one over the other.

You could easily make do with a Cas Latency of 9 (instead of 8 like the Corsair set you posted), and it will be cheaper (sometimes significantly).

2) ASUS - P8Z68-V PRO

I'm not sure how pricing works out in AUD, but Asus boards are generally much more expensive than other great boards from ASRock, Gigabyte, and occasionally EVGA. I'd wholeheartedly recommend a Gigabyte board, because they generally have similar features for a much lower price. The Z68 UD3 boards are very good for the money.

3) Cooler Master - RC-912A-KWN1
4) Antec - CP-850

The Antec CP-850 won't work with this case. The CP-850 is larger than normal PSUs and was designed specifically for the Antec 900/1200, and the P183 (all very expensive cases). The Antec HCG series, however, is very cheap, and a 750W PSU is the right size for a GTX 570 + i7 system (enough headroom and still efficient).

also, do I get the benefit of i7-2600K if I don't overclocked it??

The i7-2600K is only a little more expensive (at least here) than the i7-2600, and is something like .1 GHz faster at stock. However, the added ability to overclock is useful, because you can up the core clocks without touching the voltage (to some degree), which is essentially a free performance boost. Down the road, OCing the CPU can keep your system a bit more future proof; I know many people still doing hardcore gaming on Core 2 Quads that they've just overclocked, because it prevents them from being CPU-bottlenecked.

 

[won_lek]

Hi Boiler1990,

Thanks and great appreciate for your step by step guideline. They help a lot to me.

This is the re-modified configuration after looking at your advise, please have a final look? thanks a lot!

1) Intel Core i7 2600K (3.40Ghz / 8MB / LGA1155 / Quad Core, Overclocking Enabled)

2) Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 Z68, 4DDR3, 1333, RAID, GBLAN, 2PCIE16, SATA3, USB3, ATX, HDMI (Is this the one you meant?)

3) Corsair 8GB Kit (2x4GB), PC-12800 (1600MHz) DDR3, Vengeance Series, 8-8-8-24, Dual Channel Kit (I can keep this Cas-Latency of 8 because for some reason, this price is not expensive. It is same as the 9 of other series).

4) Main harddisc (for installing windows and programme) - Samsung 1TB Spinpoint F3, SATAII, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache x1

5) RAID 0 hardisc (for storing temporary video editing footage) - Samsung 1TB Spinpoint F3, SATAII, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache x 2 with RAID 0

6) LG Black Blu-Ray Burner, 10xBD-R Read/Write, 16xDVD+-R Read/Write, SATA, Lightscribe, Silent Play

7) Graphic Card - ASUS Geforce GTX570 (742Mhz), 1280MB GDDR5 (3800Mhz), PCIE 2.0, 2x Dual Link DVI, HDMI, DP

8) Cooler Master HAF 912 Advanced Case, ATX / Micro ATX, 4x 5.25", Front USB & Audio, No PSU

9) Antec HCG-750 - Antec 750W High Current Gamer Power Supply, 80 PLUS Bronze, 135mm fan, High Current +12V rail(s), 4x PCI-E, 9x SATA, 6x Molex

10) LG 21.5" Slim Widescreen LED, Black, 1920x1080, 5ms, 50000:1, VGA, DVI (monitor, if you can advise too. haha)

11) And Windows Professional 64 bit.

Thanks!

 

[won_lek]

and also, by following your advise, it has greatly reduce the price from AUD2300 now to AUD1990.

For me, it reduce a lot.

thanks.

 

[boiler1990]

2) Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 Z68, 4DDR3, 1333, RAID, GBLAN, 2PCIE16, SATA3, USB3, ATX, HDMI (Is this the one you meant?)

Yeah, there are several UD3 boards (UD3, UD3H, UD3P) but they're essentially identical. As long as it has what you need it will work well. I love my P67A-UD4-B3

3) Corsair 8GB Kit (2x4GB), PC-12800 (1600MHz) DDR3, Vengeance Series, 8-8-8-24, Dual Channel Kit (I can keep this Cas-Latency of 8 because for some reason, this price is not expensive. It is same as the 9 of other series).

That's surprising - usually CL 8 RAM is like $20-30 more per kit in the US.

10) LG 21.5" Slim Widescreen LED, Black, 1920x1080, 5ms, 50000:1, VGA, DVI (monitor, if you can advise too. haha)

I personally would go for a 23-24" monitor if they aren't extremely expensive - I have several 20"ers and they're not that spacious. My 24" is great though

As far as brands go, Asus, LG, Dell, and Viewsonic are the first that come to mind that I would purchase.

 

[won_lek]

OK, great! I have changed to LG 23" now. add price about AUD10, and that is still acceptable. haha..

Thanks anyway.

 

[won_lek]

Hi,

It is me again. Heard somebody said GeForce GTX 570 will overkill the system and the motherboard Quick Sync is good enough (or better??)

What is the advise?

 

[boiler1990]

I just did some reading and found that as of late May/early June 2011, Vegas doesn't utilize support of Intel's Quick Sync.

EDIT: It is my understanding that Quick Sync is supported by the Z68 chipset, so you shouldn't need to change motherboards again.

The GPU may be a bit overkill - I assumed you were going to do some gaming on this computer, but for a work computer it is a bit much. Check to see if Vegas utilizes CUDA, because then an NVidia GPU would still be the right choice.

 

[won_lek]

Best answer selected by won_lek.