I'm putting together a system that I'll be using for High Def video editing. The software (Avid Media Composer) is fairly picky as far as the Nvidia drivers go which is why I'm going with 8xxx series cards. I know the 8xxx series will work. Additionally, I need 1 primary video card (the 8800GTS) and a secondary video card that can be less powerful (8600)

The software runs on Window Vista Biz 64 and I need 4 drives for a Raid that will store my video files. I already have a hard drive that I'll be using as my system drive, and I also already have a DVD burner. I plan on overclocking this as well.

Depending on where I purchase everything, the total comes out to around $1800. It's a bit more than I wanted to spend, but I think this will last me a while. I usually keep systems 3-4 years.

here's what I've put together:


1 CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139002


1 EVGA 512-P2-N757-TR GeForce 8600 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130290


4 Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148288


1 Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115042

1 CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145197


1 MSI NX8800GTS 512M OC GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127325


2 Tuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835154001

1 ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131299


1 Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835100007

1 Antec P182 Gun Metal Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129025

1 Microsoft Windows Vista Business SP1 64-bit English 1pk for System Builders DSP OEI DVD - OEM

Question the RAID... why 4 drives? RAID 10 is great on paper, but terrible in the real world. RAID 5 is superior in all aspects.

Good choice on the motherboard. x8 won't matter, because you are using the cards separate of each other.

You don't need DDR2-1066 RAM. Drop down to DDR2-800 and get 8GB. HD is very RAM intensive and 8GB will benefit you greatly.

Get this x2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231148

CPU is fine.

How serious are you about video editing? Is this a hobby or your business?

If this is your business consider dual quad Core Xeons and 16GB of RAM.

If this is a business computer do NOT overclock it.

thanks for the tips!!!!

I'm planning on doing Raid 0. All the media originates on Tape (HDV) so if the drives crap out, I can just reload. I need about 2 TB of storage....so to get to that amount i can do 4 500GB drives, 3 750 drives or 2 1TB drives. the cost works out all about the same. but i'll get the most performance from having more drives. my current setup has a 2 drive raid and it was never really fast enough.

that GSkill Ram looks good....but won't the faster RAM allow me to get higher overclocks? i wanted to go to 8GB but i heard there were problems when overclocking with 4 Dimms. plus i'm pretty sure the editing software is a 32 bit application that runs in Vista 64 so it can only take advantage of 4GB anyway.

i'm not using the system for business anymore....i've got full blown avids at work that i can use for that. this is just for my home use. doing short films, editing my wedding video, maybe the occasional freelance project if it comes along. in fact, as i explained to my wife that i have to get a new computer in order to edit our HD wedding videos. the setup i have now is chocking.

i'd love to do dual Quad xeons (and i love the idea of Skullrail) but i can't justify that cost for a home system.

i've been wanting to build my own system and overclock it for ages! i'm actually pretty psyched about seeing how fast i can push it!

You are getting Q9450. Unless you plan on taking it past 3.6 which is 1:1 with DDR2-800 memory, you don't need anything faster.

Skullrail is VASTLY overpriced. You can do much better building a "server" system than Skullrail. $600 for a motherboard is stupid.

" i've been wanting to build my own system and overclock it for ages! i'm actually pretty psyched about seeing how fast i can push it!"

Careful- pushing too hard too quickly is how you damage components.

yeah, i know i've got to take it nice and slow. don't want to burn out my new equipment.

even the server motherboards were too much....i really didn't want to spend more than $200 for the Motherboard. i tried to find a balance between performance and cost I could live with. i'm glad the p45s came out when they did, although I was really hoping to bring everything in a bit more cheaply.

3.6 is about as high at the Q9450 will go, especially on air cooling.

So your DDR2-800 RAM is just fine.

(Read some on it to see how high people have gotten it.)