Computer System for Video Editing - What Do You Think?

jorberg

Distinguished
Sep 16, 2006
106
0
18,680
Hello Everyone,
I am planning on building a new system for video editing within the next couple of weeks. I wanted to run my system by you guys (The Experts) to see if you have any suggestions or changes that I should make. I do a heavy amount of video editing with HDV files, which can sometimes be up to 12gigs/file which is why I have a lot of storage. The case has hot-swappable RAID cages inside which will make storage solutions easier. I will also be doing a lot of compositing in After Effects with some minor 3D modeling in Cinema 4D which means I'll be needing plenty of RAM. I'm planning on running Windows XP 64bit edition. It is more stable with the Adobe Suite than Vista. Here is the system that I am planning on building:

Processor: Intel Core i7 920
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128362

Ram: 12gigs Corsair XMS3 DD3-1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145222

Storage: 10x Seagate 500gig Baracudda Hard Drives
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288

System Hard Drive: Western Digital VelociRaptor 150gig Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136296

PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower 750watt
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153036
(Purchased -- Used From Previous Build)

Case: Lian Li PC-A7110B
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112179

Graphics: GeForce 8800GTS 640mb
(Purchased -- Used From Previous Build)

----------

Okay, I don't think I missed anything. Two of the parts I will be bringing from a previous build -- the Graphics Card and the PSU. The only thing I'm concerned about is the PSU being able to push all of this stuff. If I need to upgrade to a higher wattage, I can do that. I just wanted to get everyone's opinions on what I'm planning on getting. I am on a budget, but I wanted to make sure that I got a system that will last me at least 2 years. I plan on upgrading the CPU in about a year when the new models come out. That's my reasoning for picking the lowest i7.

I almost forgot -- I am kind of concerned about the hard drives as well. I've been hearing bad things about Seagate here lately about a lot of failures. These hard drives will be divided up and put into RAID5 for different uses. I want to make sure that I get the most reliable hard drives possible, so if Seagate isn't the brand I need I can definitely go with something else.

Any help you guys can give me will be much appreciated. Thank you for your help!
-jordan
 

kubes

Distinguished
Nov 4, 2008
925
0
18,990
The i7 is a prefect cpu for you situation. Good choice on that one.

PSU:
Thermaltake toughpower doesn't make the best psu's in the world. They are probally a middle of the road player. This Psu is still overkill though for your current setup. It will easly power all your stuff but the quality of the psu isn't the best. I wouldn't consider this a dangerous psu for your rig but keep an eye on it. If this thing starts failing swap it before it kills something else.

For case: you can save a bunch of money if you go with the Antec 1200. This is a full size tower like the lian li and (i think) keep air moving through the case much better. Can save a few bucks by doing this. Lian li yes makes great cases but Antec is just below them in quality. For preformance they may even beat them.

I see your wanting 10 500 gig drives? with this in consideration are you using a raid controller? I'm a bit confused what you mean that they are being split across users.
 
I heard this about that motherboard:

Just wonder if anybody has problems with Gigabyte GA EX58 UD5. It is one of the latest socket 1366 motherboard for the Intel i7 processors.

The mobo board was bought with a Intel i7 920 and populated by 6 Gb of 1333Mhz ram. It can be configured to run dual channel by omitting the 3rd channel.

My main issues with it are

(1) The 2 Realtek 8111D RJ45 network interfaces don't work with Vista home, both the 32bit and 64bit versions. With the as-shipped Bios Vista can sees them as faulty hardware but could not fire them up.

The 2 nic interfaces are detected by the Bios as it can test its presence and report the length of the network cable to the router.

The above may be conceived as a Vista's own problem. However if I upgrade the Award Bios version from F2 to F3 these 2 network interfaces disappear! Thus Gigabyte's way to curing the problem is to hide them. I know this because the Bios will no longer detect the network interfaces after the Bios update. What is more if I reset the Bios back to the as-shipped F2 version everything reverts back to the original condition - Vista sees the network interfaces which are reported faulty.

(2) I could not load Xp onto this mobo. The error is IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. This happens regardless I use a Pata or Sata hard disk, Xp home or Xp professional, 3-channel or dual channel memory configuration. A mobo has to be pretty bad to be not able to accept a Xp installation.
 

roadrunner197069

Splendid
Sep 3, 2007
4,416
0
22,780
Western Digital 640s are better then the seagates. More then one of those Seagates will fail ASAP. I used to use Seagate only, but thaey have gone down hill.

Your motherboard only has 10 sata ports, so you wont beable to run the 11 drives and a dvd drive, unless you have a add in controller.
 

cah027

Distinguished
Oct 8, 2007
456
0
18,780
I say get bigger drives and fewer of them. Also. consider a couple large external drives for low access storage. I use one to keep my avi files on before I get around to editing/encoding. That way, if I have a failed drive I won't loose my original. I delete after I am done. I can understand wanting drives for different tasks but why 10? How are you going to set them up exactly ?
 

pip_seeker

Distinguished
Feb 1, 2006
437
0
18,780
you might want to make sure AE will work with 64bit XP... from what I see on the requirements page it doesn't look like xp64 bit will work with it.

I don't know why adobe products are like this... almost like they intentionally cripple them.

Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 2 (Service Pack 3 recommended) or Windows Vista® Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with Service Pack 1 (certified for 32-bit Windows XP and 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista)


http://www.adobe.com/products/aftereffects/systemreqs/
 

jorberg

Distinguished
Sep 16, 2006
106
0
18,680
Hey Everybody, thank you so much for your support and replies. I am glad that I have the basics correct.

As for my Storage Solution, I was planning on separating the Hard Drive RAIDS into 3 sections -- One for Video Storage, One for stock video footage & music, and the last one for general data/document storage. You guys are right about the motherboard only supporting 10 hard drives, and to be honest I completely forgot about a DVD drive!! Ha Ha! That would have been bad! Evongugg that one looks like exactly what I will need -- thanks for the link!

Do you guys think that the RAID controller on the motherboard is good(fast) enough for what I want to accomplish? (RAID 5) I haven't messed with RAID before, but I plan on following some of the guides that I've seen here on the forums. If anyone has a specific guide they think I should follow that would be awesome if you could post a link!

So you think I should go with Western Digital Hard Drives? If I move up to 640gig hard drives i won't have to buy as many which will make things a little easier. So seagate has gone down hill? That's a shame. I used to be very loyal to them!

I've read a couple small articles and posts about issues with After Effects & XP64 bit -- From what I understand, it isn't officially supported, but users aren't encountering any problems using it. You're right though -- Adobe really does seem to want to cripple its own software by not allowing it.

Evongugg.....your post about the motherboard makes me worried about it. Do you think that I should switch to another? I won't be using the Tri-SLI or anything like that. I mainly wanted it because of the number of SATA ports, the fact that it has ESATA and firewire integrated on the board. I also like the amount of ram that it supports, although I probably won't update past 12gigs for a looooooong time. All of the motherboards are pretty expensive, so cost-wise there isn't really much of a difference. I really just want the best for what I plan on using it for.

Thanks again for all of your help so far! I really appreciate it!