New Build

[vairox]

It's that time (current PC in sig, don't laugh!).

I5-3570K $228 (no microcenter)
Biostar TZ77B $108
Hyper 212+ $25
2x4GB Samsung MV-3V4G3/US $41
Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 630W $51
Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE 22X SATA DVDRW $17
Cooler Master Cooler Master Elite 430 Mid Tower $42

I Don't game, I do a lot of video encoding/audio stuff and will set up Plex media server on the system. I've got two questions, anyone use the TZ77B ? I'm a bit confused on Biostar's boards, they have a TZ77A, TZ77B (can't see any difference) and a TZ77XE4... I assume if I'm not gaming (no need for SLI) then the TZ77B should be plenty? other question, I'm going to use my WD 1.5TB as my OS drive, is Windows 7 gonna run dog crap slow? it's SATA 150...I've been out of the loop for quite a while, do I need to get my flame suit out of the closet?

[proxops-pete]

If you do lots of video editing, I'd get more memory (assuming you are running 64-bit OS)...

[vairox]

Alright, but besides that running the OS on that drive should be alright? I know it won't be SSD fast...but shouldn't be slow right?

[proxops-pete]

It won't be slow that much... just loading/startup times... My laptop and one desktop run Win 7 and laptop's 5400 rpm HDD doesn't seem that bad to me....

But if your video sizes are greater than few GB, I'd think that loading it from SSD would be significantly faster...

[James]

Nah, honestly even the fastest CPU these days can't outrun even a normal 7200rpm drive.

Even using Intel's Quicksync technology and encoding video that way, you don't outrun a normal drive.

That's just my experience though.

[kujoe2002]

If you are video editing, hell even audio editing, you are going to need to soup up that sucker alot.

You will want at LEAST 8GB MINIMUM. Get as much RAM as you can get. This means you will need a 64 bit OS. If you can, get Win7 Pro or Ultimate so you can max out the RAM with as much as your mobo can handle as Home Premium will only see 16GB. You will want SSD for your primary HDD and SATA at 1TB each (min) for your data drives as video takes a ton of space and audio (uncompressed can take a lot too. With all that RAM you will want a bigger PSU, especially since you will want to upgrade your video. Go Nvidia as my friends uncle works at Dreamworks and they say they go by Nvidia. If you can afford it, this is what I would do:

MOBO: ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 $150

CPU: Intel Core i7-2700K Sandy Bridge $320

CPU Heatsink: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus $30

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) $200

video: PNY VCQ4000-PB Quadro 4000 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 $749

power: CORSAIR Professional Series HX850 $175

audio: Delta 66 $240.

HDD: Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD $200

MEDIA: 2x LITE-ON 12X BD-R 2X BD-R $220

cables: 4x OKGEAR 18" SATA 6 Gbps Cable
$18

This comes out to 2302 but if you are going to be professional video and audio editor, then you are going to want these high end products. In reality, this isn't that bad. My friend got a MAC which was much more expensive than this with stuff that isn't as good. Latency is your biggest concern which is why you want the SSD and that much RAM. M-Audio is professional industry and you should be using phono jack and none of that 3.5,mm crap. As for storage, I would just get the standard WD Black SATA HDD's:

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB

as getting a few of these will be cheaper than buying the 2TB versions. You need lots and lots of storage space. Everything or almost everything will be running at 6.0 to help reduce latency. This is your future livelihood?

[Steven P Jobs]

What does a video editor need a $800 Quadro card for? I thought those days were over.

[James]

Honestly, for that money I would probably spend the video card money on a HD6770 or similar with 5 mini-DP ports and a bunch of low price Dell 23" 1080p IPS monitors.

[kujoe2002]

What does a video editor need a $800 Quadro card for? I thought those days were over.

if you have a large studio it is. But the money goes for other parts such as cameras, etc. If you are going to be a strict video editor, you will want the best stuff. You can go with the 400$ one as well.

[Steven P Jobs]

Of course if you do high end video stuff the price of your computer is kind of irrelevant compared to the tens of thousands you're going to spend on even a basic RED/Alexa/whatever setup, but I'm not sure that's what the OP meant when he said video editing. Premiere Pro CS5/CS6 and Avid are the only video editing apps where having a fast graphics card even helps AFAIK (I'm still stuck on Final Cut Pro 7), and a license for each of those costs as much as if not more than a new computer does. But if you're going with Adobe, just get whatever graphics card you can afford with the highest possible amount of CUDA cores.

If you just want to edit the personal videos you shot with your consumer/prosumer camera, any decently specced computer will do. I'd recommend an i5 and 8GB RAM for but honestly you could probably get away with even less. If the specific app you want to use for video editing doesn't benefit from a fast GPU, any basic card with at least 1GB RAM will be more than enough.

Also I wouldn't build a computer without an SSD anymore. 128GB is more than enough for the OS and your software, and then you can put everything else on large 7200RPM drives.

[vairox]

I'm not filming Jurassic Park 5 on my computer...just editing 1080P, video effects, using Vegas, filters etc. Consumer stuff.

[Steven P Jobs]

Vegas has no GPU acceleration at all so you'll be fine with just about any card. If you don't need a dedicated GPU for anything else, you could just see how the Intel integrated graphics work for you and upgrade later if you find yourself needing it.

I'd still recommend an SSD though. You can get a great 120GB SSD for about $150 these days. It's impossible to explain the speed improvements gained from an SSD to someone who has never used one, it's unlike any upgrade ever before. The only issue is that once you've used one you will get upset every time you have to use a computer without one.