So I'm in need of help making a video editing computer for a friend (with light gaming capabilities) for under $700 with rebates. He doesn't want to overclock it and the only thing that is worth reusing from what he has is a terabyte seagate drive. Here's what i was thinking and what questions i have.
CPU:From what I've seen quad core is a must for a good video editing pc and intel is probably the way to go. I was thinking between the q6600 and q8200; leaning towards the q8200 because it seems to be a few percent faster but also $10 cheaper form newegg (where i plan on buying all my parts).
RAM: At least 4gb seems to be the way to go--with upgrading to more an option later if needed (would it be needed)? I was thinking 2 2gb modules running at 800mhz but was wondering if it's worth the extra money to go with 1066 (i know, i know there are probably a million posts on this but I'm still looking for bar graph-here's the answer results for video editing)
GPU: Not sure what to do here since the best answer seems for this project seems to be cut the gpu to the bare minimum and upgrade later (but needs to be able to run UT2004 at 1280*1024). I've been going between using on board graphics (is it fast enough yet for ut2004?) or an 8600gts ($40 with rebate).
Mobo: Again thinking about spending less here since he doesn't have much interest in overclocking, esata, hdmi out, optical out, or any of those advanced features. Looking at ECS P45T-A because RAID is a possibility for this system.
Case + PSU: Obviously a good quality psu and decent case. No need for flash here, although it's not frowned upon, but needs to be a atx case for storage. Rubber grommets for hard drives is a plus-but not necessary so i was looking at Rosewill R5601 or a Cooler Mast Centurion. PSU wise, it needs to be fast enough to have around 5 hard drives, 3 dvd/cd drives, 1 or 2 6-pin gpu power cords, and probably under $60 with rebate. Looking at OCZ StealthXStream OCZ500SXS 500watt.
OS: Pretty much has to be 64-bit for upgrading ram purposes and i've heard xp 64-bit it atrocious so vista is ok with him. Probably going to go with home premium oem.
HDDs: Thinking we'll use his terabyte drive and install vista on that then upgrade him to a raid 0 array with some cheap 250's later down the road-or is it more important to get raid 0 now(because i know photo editing loves raid 0, so it would make since video editing does). As for redundancy it would be nice but he's pretty good at backing up stuff, but raid 5 is a great possibility for him.
Optical Drives: Although a blu-ray burner may be sweet it's gotta be thrown out for the moment due to cost so I'm thinking a basic sata dvd/cd read and burn everything drive with lightscribe-whatever shows up on sale and is good quality.
Last minute ideas/problems:
Will 1066 ram work ok with the 1333fsb of the mobo/cpu?\
There is an hdtv in the next room from this computer (about 25 feet) and we where thinking about eventually getting a blu-ray player, netflix renting w/ blu-ray, a ati 3 series or 4 series with hdmi via converter or built in, and a long hdmi cable with powered extender to save him money from getting a blu-ray player and give him the ability to put movies on his hard drives on send them right to the pc. Is this a good idea or would wireless be a better option (we're worried about the signal of an hdmi cable over 25-30 feet).
Lastly, i know that gpu's are starting to do some video encoding, photo editing, and possibly video editing. Can anyone recommend a good quad core supported, gpu accelerated video editor (cost not a factor here..don't ask why). Pinnacle liquid maybe?
OK, so if you got through reading all of this is appreciate your time and would love to hear tips, ideas, or anything else helpful you can share.
CPU:From what I've seen quad core is a must for a good video editing pc and intel is probably the way to go. I was thinking between the q6600 and q8200; leaning towards the q8200 because it seems to be a few percent faster but also $10 cheaper form newegg (where i plan on buying all my parts).
RAM: At least 4gb seems to be the way to go--with upgrading to more an option later if needed (would it be needed)? I was thinking 2 2gb modules running at 800mhz but was wondering if it's worth the extra money to go with 1066 (i know, i know there are probably a million posts on this but I'm still looking for bar graph-here's the answer results for video editing)
GPU: Not sure what to do here since the best answer seems for this project seems to be cut the gpu to the bare minimum and upgrade later (but needs to be able to run UT2004 at 1280*1024). I've been going between using on board graphics (is it fast enough yet for ut2004?) or an 8600gts ($40 with rebate).
Mobo: Again thinking about spending less here since he doesn't have much interest in overclocking, esata, hdmi out, optical out, or any of those advanced features. Looking at ECS P45T-A because RAID is a possibility for this system.
Case + PSU: Obviously a good quality psu and decent case. No need for flash here, although it's not frowned upon, but needs to be a atx case for storage. Rubber grommets for hard drives is a plus-but not necessary so i was looking at Rosewill R5601 or a Cooler Mast Centurion. PSU wise, it needs to be fast enough to have around 5 hard drives, 3 dvd/cd drives, 1 or 2 6-pin gpu power cords, and probably under $60 with rebate. Looking at OCZ StealthXStream OCZ500SXS 500watt.
OS: Pretty much has to be 64-bit for upgrading ram purposes and i've heard xp 64-bit it atrocious so vista is ok with him. Probably going to go with home premium oem.
HDDs: Thinking we'll use his terabyte drive and install vista on that then upgrade him to a raid 0 array with some cheap 250's later down the road-or is it more important to get raid 0 now(because i know photo editing loves raid 0, so it would make since video editing does). As for redundancy it would be nice but he's pretty good at backing up stuff, but raid 5 is a great possibility for him.
Optical Drives: Although a blu-ray burner may be sweet it's gotta be thrown out for the moment due to cost so I'm thinking a basic sata dvd/cd read and burn everything drive with lightscribe-whatever shows up on sale and is good quality.
Last minute ideas/problems:
Will 1066 ram work ok with the 1333fsb of the mobo/cpu?\
There is an hdtv in the next room from this computer (about 25 feet) and we where thinking about eventually getting a blu-ray player, netflix renting w/ blu-ray, a ati 3 series or 4 series with hdmi via converter or built in, and a long hdmi cable with powered extender to save him money from getting a blu-ray player and give him the ability to put movies on his hard drives on send them right to the pc. Is this a good idea or would wireless be a better option (we're worried about the signal of an hdmi cable over 25-30 feet).
Lastly, i know that gpu's are starting to do some video encoding, photo editing, and possibly video editing. Can anyone recommend a good quad core supported, gpu accelerated video editor (cost not a factor here..don't ask why). Pinnacle liquid maybe?
OK, so if you got through reading all of this is appreciate your time and would love to hear tips, ideas, or anything else helpful you can share.
