looking for a PC for video editing

[klaus]

I've a 6 year old celeron 466 that I use for MS office and internet.

Recently bought a digital camcorder and it takes foreverto download (firewire), edit and save the video files so have decided to buy a new PC. Would appreciate any thoughts on what I should look for and where to buy.

Havent decided on a budget but was thinking about 400 pounds for the base unit (have a 2 year old monitor). Its not absolutely essential that I stay below 400 as long as its on something that I'd use. I dont intend to play games on it.

Thanks
Klaus

 

[floppybootstomp]

Most video editing software states that you need a processor of or above 1.6Ghz to process video files.

Two things to remember - the more memory the better and ideally you want a lot of hard disk space.

Oddly enough, a high end video card isn't that important, an ATI 9600 or Nvidia FX5700 will cope well.

For video editing I use an XP3200 CPU based system (2.2Ghz); 1Gb memory; ATI 9800 pro video card; 2 x 120Gb hard disks in RAID 0 (240Gb) and another 120Gb hard disk for storage.

For editing I'm currently using Ulead Video Studio 8 and Pinnacle Studio 8.

That copes with everything I can throw at it

Oh, and obviously you'll need a firewire port.

I could spec system parts for you to build, but I really don't know a lot about ready made systems.

 

[Kenny]

The Custom PC video encoding benchmark favours LGA775 processors and dual-processor setups. Depending on what formats your encoding between, a dual-processor system can encode at real-time-ish speeds, which I`ve been led to believe is as good as it gets.

A gigabyte GA8IPE 775 Pro is compatable with LGA775 processors, but uses AGP graphics and DDR1 memory. Plus it has a fully functional AGP and PCI lock so you can overclock it pretty far, which should improve your encoding times.

Kenny

 

[klaus]

I could spec system parts for you to build, but I really don't know a lot about ready made systems.

That'd be great! If I knew the specs then I can either get it custom made at local store or find someone who can help install.

I did notice this ad for Savastore which sells motherboard kits with cpu, fan and power source installed and soak-tested (dont have a clue what soak testing means and can only assume it doesnt include water!!). In any case if I were to buy a motherboard kit then I can install the rest...

While I wouldnt consider a dual processor right away but it could be a nice option to have for next year.

Klaus

 

[floppybootstomp]

Sorry for late reply, nursing a king sized hangover atm

Here's a suggestion for an AMD Socket A based system, 2.2Ghz, 200fsb, total cost would be about £600.00 (including case/psu).

I haven't included a case/PSU as that's very much a personal choice, but do go for at least a 400W PSU.

You'll be able to buy a case/PSU from between £50.00 and £140.00.

Note that socket A is now outdated technology but still a valid system build.

This machine will cope admirably with video editing.

They are only suggestions, feel free to mix n match parts either to preference or budget.

I'll cobble together a 64 Bit system shortly, it will probably be more expensive.

If anybody else wants to suggest a system, please do, maybe an Intel one, all you Intel bods out there

And remember, this machine's prime use is video editing, NOT GAMING before you all suggest a more expensive video card.

AMD XP3200 OEM £94.5
Gigabyte 3D Pro Rocket Cooler £29
Abit NF7 V2.0 Nforce 2 motherboard (on board sound, 2 x Firewire ports): £44.5
2 x 512 (1Gb) Corsair Value Select PC3200 memory: £100
Seagate Barracuda 8Mb Cache SATA Hard Drive, 200Gb £84
Floppy Drive £8
Pioneer A108 DVDRW £50
Connect 3D Radeon 9600XT 256Mb Video card: £101
Internal rounded cables, aprox: £20
Total: £531.00
Plus a case and PSU. Go for at least 400W PSU.

 

[ChristopherP]

Now i know flops your not going to like this...BUT Socket 478 systems are better for any kind of media editing - the reason? Encoding works on raw clock speed not architechture efficiency, thats why you see Intel chips come out top over faster AMD chips in the benchmarks.

A 3.0GHz prescott would be better in this instance, with a gig of RAM...

 

[floppybootstomp]

Now i know flops your not going to like this...BUT Socket 478 systems are better for any kind of media editing - the reason? Encoding works on raw clock speed not architechture efficiency, thats why you see Intel chips come out top over faster AMD chips in the benchmarks.

A 3.0GHz prescott would be better in this instance, with a gig of RAM...

I didn't know that There again, I don't profess to know everything

OK, wise guy, s'posing you suggest an Intel system for this fella ?

Asus Board, Retail 3Ghz CPU is what I'd start with...

 

[ChristopherP]

Abit over Asus - The IC7-G is great, You get rounded cables and all the goodies.

Retail 3.0GHz with LOTS of cooling... encoding is VERY processor intensive... so 4 case fans?

Get a couple of 80Gb drives....

 

[floppybootstomp]

Alright then, Mr Postill's suggestion.

Keep in mind requested budget was £400.00

My system above was £531 plus case/psu = aprox. £600.00

Here we Go:

Abit IC7G Motherboard, onboard sound, 2 x firewire, LAN: £96.00
Prescott 3Ghz CPU, retail with cooler): £125.00
2 x 512 (1Gb) Corsair Value Select PC3200 memory: £100
2 x 80Gb Seagate Barracuda 8Mb cache SATA Drives: £89.00
Floppy Drive £8
Pioneer A108 DVDRW £50
Connect 3D Radeon 9600XT 256Mb Video card: £101


Total: £569.00

Plus a case and PSU. Go for at least 400W PSU.

Allowing aprox £71.00 for case/psu as in my first suggestion = £640.00

Another £40.00 then.

That's not so bad when you consider what you're getting, I suppose, but I'm not sure if 160Gb will be enough for doing lots of video editing.

I could still tailor a system to £400.00, just about, it'll just work slower on encoding though.

 

[ChristopherP]

Switch Corsair for the GeIL, the Seagates for the Samsung Spinpoints (MUCH quieter) and the DVD-rw for a NEC Dual Layer one, and youve probably saved £40, with NO performance loss.

If graphics are important, you can get a 6600GT 128Mb GDDR3 for about £130.

 

[floppybootstomp]

The Geil Value memory is around £6.00 more expensive.

Samsung drives are same price as Seagate. And Seagate drives are quiet. 5 year warranty as well.

The NEC Dual layer is £6.50 cheaper than the Pioneer A108 dual layer writer.

Not even using all my fingers I can work out that comes to - just about the same

Geil may be OK now, but once they were rubbish. Same goes for NEC. The Pioneer 108 is a proven good and reliable DVDRW

And I knew, I just knew, somebody would suggest a better video card.

It's not needed. One has to try to be a little flexible to cater for people's needs and not blindly recommend the same product over and over again.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Chris I read this post from Thrax over at Short Media Forums (That's Shorty's place) in a thread titled AMD 64 or Pentium 4?

Not the last comment about the AMD 64 being better at rendering. Your comments?

Here's how this works...

The Athlon 64 of any sort can beat current P4s with a 1.1GHz clock deficit in anything BUT applications that are:
-SSE3-optimized
-Constantly filling the pipeline (Media encoding (MPEG2/XViD/DiVX..))

The margin widens in the Athlon's favor when applications:
-Use significant memory bandwidth
-Favor low-latency memory access
-Are FPU intensive
-Use significant system bandwidth
-Favor high-speed inter-CPU links (IE, SMP server tasks)

This means that an Athlon 64 4000+ at 2.4GHz is faster than a 3.5GHz p4 (Generally faster than a 3.6).

What does AMD always lose at?:
XViD, DiVX, MPEG2, and MP3 encoding (Though there are a few exceptions).
SSE3-optimized tasks.
And anything else that uses Intel-only instructions and/or keeps the P4's grotesque pipeline filled.


Basically it works like this, to put it very simply:

If the Athlon is 1MHz-1200MHz slower, it's going to win a benchmark on anything that doesn't depend on clockspeed. It'll win in games, office apps, rendering, DB transactions, server transactions, floating point calcs, most synthetic benchmarks and so on.

 

[klaus]

Would there be significant improvement in video editing when 64 bit software come in the market? If not then I'd go with the proposed Socket A based system.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Would there be significant improvement in video editing when 64 bit software come in the market? If not then I'd go with the proposed Socket A based system.

The 64 Bit system would be a little faster. But 'significant' improvement? No, not really. If we're just talking video editing, Office, Net, audio and grafix, the proposed system will be fine.

In fact, compared to what you're used to, it will fly.

If you order an OEM CPU without a cooler, be sure to order some Arctic Silver Five heatsink compound, and follow the instructions for using it.

 

[klaus]

Thanks.

What's a good place to start looking for prices on these components?

 

[floppybootstomp]

www.overclockers.co.uk

www.overclock.co.uk

www.kustompcs.co.uk

http://www.cclonline.com/

www.scan.co.uk

www.komplett.co.uk

www.tekheads.co.uk

www.over-clock.com

 

[psd99]

www.dabs.com
www.micro-logic.com


there are enough there for lots and lots of browsing
use www.kelkoo.co.uk for price matching to find out the cheapest place for specific components!

 

[Quadophile]

Like it or not nothing can beat an Apple Mcintosh for video editing. It was originally built for video and graphics, Intel or AMD cannot come close to it. The reason? Graphics processor built into the main processor which makes it very very fast. I have not owned one but know a lot of people who are into serious video editing choose nothing but Apple.

Now coming to the price of an Apple, I know it is a bit expensive so I suggest you look for some used desktops if you can. If you do not go for an Apple you will never know what you actually missed out on.

 

[floppybootstomp]

As an alternative to an Apple Mac, you could use a Matrox Video Editing Suite, comes with Adobe Premiere, it's own dedicated PCI video card and breakout box/interface.

More or less instant rendering

But very pricey - typically about £700 to £900.00.

 

[paul nicolson]

or buy a dvd player/recorder and download you files straight to that, sony do some good ones with firewire ports.

Most dv cameras let you edit on screen.