Building a Video Editor PC - advice?

[Mini-Me]

Hi there.

I'm wanting to build a PC specifically for working with and editing video.

I will be getting the following basic components:

- Socket 775 Intel CPU based mainboard
- Intell P4, Socket 775 CPU @ 3.0GHz
- 2x 7200RPM 250GB Seagate drives(prefer SATA, but IDE is OK)
- DVD writer
- 2GB DDR system RAM, or more if mainboard supports it
- 256MB PCIe graphics card
- Soundblaster Live! 24-bit OEM soundcard
- Pinnacle Avid Liquid Pro 7 editing package and capture device

All this will cost a few grand, but I want a good, fast, stable editing PC.

At this time, I would appreciate some suggestions for what type/brand of mainboard and graphics card I should considder. The system does not need to be a super-powerful gamers machine, but it does need to be something quite juicy, to prevent/minimise editing problems, and keep the speed up, so the editing process is not slow.

I know you can get Socket 775 faster then 3.0GHz, but they are not that much faster, but the sure cost a lot more, so I decided that 3GHz should be plenty fast enough, and at a reasonable price.

Thanks for any suggestions.
:)

[saphalline]

As long as you stick to a tried-and-true Intel chipset, you shouldn't have any problems with platform slow-down. I would recommend one of the more premiere i945P-based mobo's because many of them are or will be supporting Cedar Mill and Presler. These mobo's will also use DDR2, not DDR. Some of the super-high-end i975X-based mobo's support up to 8GB of DDR2 RAM, but that's a bit extravagant at this point. :p I'm sure at least one more chipset generation will go by before Vista hits the shelves.

Graphics card - you don't need a powerful one. There are two reasons to buy an expensive vid card: for gaming, or for CAD work. Video editing gets a boost by having a dedicated vid card, but other than that all the data will be processed by the CPU. The VPU/GPU doesn't get used beyond basic 2D duties. A Radeon X550 would be perfect here, but there are some 256MB X1300's that aren't much more expensive.

Are you sure you only want a P4? Not a PD? Dual-core would be awesome for a video editing system. But if you don't have the cash then don't sweat it. A P4 630 or 631 (pending mobo approval) would be fine for the CPU choice.

[Mini-Me]

Are you able to give me some more info on dual-core CPU's?
Don't they need specific m/boards, or can you use them in board designed for single-core CPU's?

[saphalline]

Don't they need specific m/boards, or can you use them in board designed for single-core CPU's?Both actually. Single-core CPU's will work in mobo's with dual-core capable chipsets, but not necessarily the other way around.

On Intel's side, the i945P chipset is compatible with most LGA 775 CPU's. The ones with a 1066 FSB are the exception. However, some mobo's with this chipset do not yet have support for all the latest CPU's, and some have new BIOS versions that aren't necessarily going to be installed on the mobo when you buy it. Each passing day gets better and better, but Intel really needs to learn a lesson here.

The i975X chipset is the new ultra super awesome chipset from Intel. It supports every darn LGA 775 CPU ever made. With the latest BIOS versions. :rolleyes: Most of the i975X-based mobo's are going to have support for Cedar Mill and Presler as soon as you open the box, but caution is always a shopper's best friend. The downside is that mobo's with this chipset are going to be ultra super expensive as well. It's not uncommon to see i975X mobo's at more than twice the price of basic i945P mobo's.

[Mini-Me]

OK, Cool, Thanks Saph.
:)

I think I'll probably go for one of the more up-market mainboards, and stick to the ATi 256MB PCI-e VGA card I was thinking about in the 1st place.

I'll let you all know how things turn out - thanks for the input.

(won't be buying for a few days, so anyone else who want to comment - please do!)

:)

[Mini-Me]

What's your opinion(s) on Foxconn, AsRock, Asus and Gigabyte brand m/boards?

I'm currently looking closely at this board (http://tw2005.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_Spec_GA-8I915PL-G%20(Rev%202.x).htm)

[saphalline]

Not a good mobo. It uses the old i915P chipset and has DDR slots. DDR is not the best choice for an Intel platform anymore. Go DDR2.

I trust Asus and Gigabyte more, but AsRock is technically a sub-division of Asus. I still like Asus mobo's better than AsRock, though. As for Foxconn, they've been around for ages, but not in the mobo business. Until they can stay in the market and make a good name for themselves, they won't make the big name list, IMO.

[Mini-Me]

Thanks, Saph - you're a great help.
:)
What is DDR2 - just DDR RAM with 2x the operation speed or something like that?

[Mini-Me]

Saph(and anyone else who cares to comment!), how about this board? (http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=182&model=485&modelmenu=1)

[saphalline]

How about this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130537) mobo?

[Mini-Me]

Obviously you think this is a good choice, Saph?
Newegg do not ship internationally. I am checking out MSI Australia, which is NZ's "Next-door neighbour" - they will probably send one out to me.

What is it about this board, Saph, that you like; IE: what makes you like the specs of this board over the last link I posted?(the Asustek one)

[Mini-Me]

I've found a NZ distributor of MSI boards...
:)

[jlreich]

Because of the limitations of chipset, this MB does not support Win98/ME
Saphalline I have seen this on some boards lately. Any idea what's up with that? What is it about the chipset that doesn't work with 98/ME? They just not making drivers for them or what?

Sorry for getting off topic Mini-Me. :rolleyes:

[saphalline]

The MSI mobo I linked to supports 65nm CPU's out-of-the-box, and it uses the i945P chipset. For your system, look for either the i945P chipset or the i975X chipset. These two are rock-solid and work with all CPU's and devices without a problem. SLI still has some problems on Intel platforms (problems that are not present on AMD platforms) so I consider it to be inferior for anything other than a full-blown gaming system. Your video editing system is not likely to need SLI, and I always say if you don't need it, don't get it! SLI would probably complicate the building/configuring of your system. The MSI mobo is a bit more barebones, however, so if you want a more expensive mobo with more features based on one of those chipsets, just let me know.

jlreich - Modern chipsets (and platforms in general) are moving so far beyond what Win98/ME was intended to do it's not even funny. Keep in mind that it's now 2006, and ME was released in 2000. Do the math and you'll see that's an eternity for computer technology. ;) Some of the things that the old Win9x kernel simply can't handle are double Hyper-Threading, Virtualization Tech, new CPUID return strings, multiple SATA emulation, multi-core CPU's, 64-bit support, 32+ PCIe lanes, 8GB DDR2 max RAM capacity... the list goes on and on. And if you think about it, every single one of these things was developed after the year 2000. Half of these things could possibly be fixed by drivers and another service pack, but M$ no longer supports Win98. And the other half of the list is just a case of hardware incompatibility.

The Win9x kernel, for instance, has a major problem with IDE emulation above and beyond 4 controllers. And each SATA port is technically on its own channel and is thus emulated as its own IDE controller. The i945P chipset has 1 IDE controller and 4 SATA 300 ports. That's 1 real and 4 emulated IDE controllers. Too much! Search the net and you'll find cases where the main hard drive connected to the 4th SATA port on a mobo was not found during a Win98/ME installation. These sorts of low-level hardware incompatibility issues have no work-arounds. And since WinXP is pretty much a given for most people... well, the hardware manufacturers have all but given up hope for the Win9x kernel. It's time it died anyway.

[jlreich]

Thanks Saph. Yes that all makes sense. And I agree it really is time for 98/ME die. ME should have never been around in the first place. :p With hardware support going away there will be no choice in the matter.

Thanks again.

[pentachris]

The MSI board saph recommended does not include onboard IEEE 1394, something I'd consider very high in importance for a video editing machine.

[Mini-Me]

Hokey pokey then guys.
:)

Thanks Saph - looking for other boards with the chipsets you mentioned.

The NZ MSI agent does not have the board you linked to, and would have to order it in for me from overseas anyway, so I'd be better off ordering it directly myself, if need be, from Australia.

[saphalline]

The MSI board ... does not include onboard IEEE 1394, something I'd consider very high in importance for a video editing machine.Good point. You know, Mini-Me, if you're in direct contact with an MSI agent, you can pull some strings that way! :D

Just ask for a mobo based on that chipset with the features you want and guaranteed support for the 65nm CPU's out-of-the-box. The MSI agent should be able to hook you up directly instead of relying on a vendor/reseller.

[Mini-Me]

Will do.
:)

I'm at Conextec now(NZ agent for MSI), and they have pretty much ALL MSI boards that they currently have for sale on the Taiwan site...

The i945 boards are about 3x the cost of a cheap board, but you get what you pay for when building a special box like this...

I'll keep you posted as to what happens.

[Mini-Me]

Hokey pokey.

This is my shopping list for the new video-editor:

MAINBOARD:

- MSI 945G Neo-F Socket 775 Intel mainboard: Intel 945G N/bridge, Intel ICH7 S/bridge, 4x DDR2 533/667 unbuffered, support P4, P4EE, Pentium D, Pentium XE & Celeron D CPU's, 1066/800MHz FSB. 2 x ATA133, 4 x SATA2


BRAIN(CPU):

Intel Pentium 4-640, 3.2GHz Prescott core, 800MHz FSB, LGA775 EM64T


GRAPHICS CARD:

- MSI RX1300PRO-TD256E ATi X1300PRO 256MB DDR2 PCI-e 16x


SYSTEM MEMORY:

- 2 x 1GB sticks of GeIL DDR2-533 4300 with heat spreader(GX21GB4300X)


HARD DRIVE:

- 1 x Seagate Barracuda 300GB 7200RPM SATA2, 8MB cache, NCQ


OPERATING SYSTEM:

- Windows XP Pro 64-bit edition, SP2


Sound chipset in the Intel ICH7 chip should provide suitable audio, but if not, I will drop a suitable PCI soundcard in there at a later date.

The system will only work with video-editing, and will not be used for anything else - other computers will do the other things, this is strictly a video-editor.

Now everyone - what are your opinions of this list?

[saphalline]

Looks good to me! :D

[Mini-Me]

Okey dokey. Thanks for that confirmation Saph.
:)

BTW - forgot to mention - 500W Silverstone ST50EF PSU too...

[pentachris]

Still no onboard firewire? I guess your video editing won't involve digital video capturing?

You can add on a firewire card inexpensively, but if I am building a machine for a specific purpose, I'd rather have specific features to support that purpose built in.

But it's your choice in the end.

Edit: Also, Windows 64? Any particular reason? The main reason I know of to choose 64 is it allows you to use more than 4 GB of physical memory (good for servers). Do you think you'll install more than that? Driver issues with 64 are still a big concern, and some programs bug out on it also.

And I hope you mean "Windows XP Professional x64 Edition" and not "Windows XP 64-bit Edition," which is for Itanium processors.

[Mini-Me]

Re: Firewire - Don't need it. All my capturing is via analog HiFi VCR only.
I don't even own a digital video-camera.
Also, the Pinnacle DV/AV card I use for capture has a firewire port on it, so I get one via the Pinnacle capture card!
:)

Re: XP - yes, x64 version, but you have a very good point - perhaps I will just use the standard XP Pro version with SP2...

Would that be your choice?(not to even bother with the x64 version)

[saphalline]

For anyone else building an A/V system, definitely take pentachris's advice to heart. It's not difficult to find a mobo with onboard firewire, and it doesn't have to mean spending a lot more money.

I would at least suggest a dual-boot system for testing x64 support. The wrinkles haven't all been ironed out yet. If you want to keep it simple, just go with regular 32-bit XP. Sometimes it's better to have something that works than to have something that uses the latest technology. ;)

[pentachris]

saphalline:

THANK YOU for writing "pentachris's advice" instead of "pentachris' advice." That's a grammar pet peeve of mine.

That's all... :)