Stupid girlfriend! 1300$ Video Rendering System

[deltakid]

Sorry guys but this one is urgent and it would be fantastic if you could help me out.

My girlfriend forgot to close the balcony door, a video project that got to be done by this Wednesday (deadline) was rendering, we left the house for some shopping, a thunderstorm came, wind blew the rain inside so my computer got soaked and screwed. Arrgh!

I keep my girlfriend but I need a new computer to finish my work (at least I had a backup) and I got to get the system tomorrow. I bought my last computer 1.5 years ago so I do not know what would be best right now but here are some details:


What do I want this system for?
I will render some video projects via Premiere CS4, some of them in HD. This is pretty much all I want to do with this machine besides some general stuff like Photoshop, surfing and maybe sometimes gaming but that doesn't really matter. I know I won't get a killer HD rendering monster for 1300$ but it would be good to get one that's just as good as possible and I could upgrade well during the year.

Things I need for 1300$
- The system should be a raid system with 2x500gig hard drives.
- I need everything besides the OS, keyboard, mouse.
- If possible I would love to get a 22" monitor that is able to display HD along with a HD capable gfx card.

I know some of you here are up to date and can suggest a great system. It would be great if someone could help me out. I will try to do as much research as I can today as well.

 

[WR2]

Right around $1100:
Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz $270
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P P45 Motherboard $135 plus $20 rebate
G.SKILL HK 4GB DDR2 800 $43
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4870 512MB Video Card $175 plus $15 rebate
WD Caviar Black 640GB HDD $75 x 2 $150
SAMSUNG 22X SATA DVD Burner $26
Antec Sonata III case and 500W PSU $120
Acer X233Hbid 23" 5ms HDMI 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor $190

 

[aevm]

+1 to WR2's list.

Maybe with 2 of those 4GB RAM kits, if you have a 64-bit Windows and your video projects are large.

Maybe a GA-EP45-UD3R instead of the GA-EP45-UD3P. That saves you $15 and gives you an additional PCI slot. On the other hand, the GA-EP45-UD3P has two PCI-E slots. If you want to use 3 or 4 monitors eventually, then get the GA-EP45-UD3P, and add a HD 4650 or HD 4670 in the second PCI-E slot when you buy the third monitor.

 

[drteeth]

Basically you are looking for about what I am looking for.... this is some of what I ended up with a few changes to better suit you.

Core I7 920 -
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10009642
Zip has an extra $30 on MIR

Asus P6T Deluxe v2
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10009631
save $20 over newegg instant.

Corsair TX750-
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10007112
Save another $10 after MIR over NewEgg

you might even be able to get the Corsair Tx650 depending on whatcha wanna do with it later.

$640 after MIR

Antec 300- $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042&Tpk=antec%20300

Any above mentioned mid GPU - $150

Dark Knight Cooler - OCZ freeze - $45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029

2 WD black 640 drives for above mentioned raid config - $160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

OCZ Platnium 3X2GB - or ytou could go with a Gskill 3x6 and save a little - $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381

Pioneer DVD burner - $23
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129032

Above mentioned monitor for its HD-ness - $190



comes to jsut above $1300 and has a pretty much solid core with upgradeable components for later.

You could even trim a little with the board, power supply down to 650 TX and ram too if you arent going to Overclock.... you could get that below $1300 and still have a core I7 system.

just a thought

 

[deltakid]

Thank you. Some things changed.
I realized I do need a i7 system so I will have to go for a cheaper gfx card that is supported by Adobe which will be the ATI 4850 and a regular 22" monitor (no HD resolution).

I also realized I have two 500gb hard drives in a shitty NAS and I can use them as file storage and get a faster boot drive instead and a 1TB harddrive.

So this is my idea now:

i7 - 920
Asus P6T DELUXE X58 Socket 1366
OCZ 6/1333 TRIPLE 6GB (3x2048MB) 1333 MHz CL 9-9-9
SAPPHIRE ATI HD 4850
Some 650+WATT PSU
Some decent case
Some 22" monitor

What kind of bootdrive should I get? Will every 7200rpm / 32mb do?
Any other recommendations to the specs I posted above?

 

[aevm]

I think an Antec 300 would work well there, and it doesn't cost much.

Try to stick with a good brand for the PSU - Corsair, Antec, PC P&C

Boot drive - I'd just get another WD 640 Caviar Black. There's really no point in buying a smaller drive just for Windows because smaller drives cost a lot more per GB and they're often slower. Just make a 100GB (or whatever) partition for Windows to keep things clean.

 

[WR2]

With a 4850 as your video card (and the rest you listed) you only need a good quality 450W PSU. 4850 PSU recommendation look under System Requirements.

WD Caviar Black 640GB or 1TB is about as fast as you'll get unless you step up to the WD Velociraptors.

 

[Helloworld_98]

don't forget the i7 eats energy so 450w may not be enough after you account for 80% efficiency.

 

[deltakid]

I probably just play save and go for a 600W psu. I will also just get one 1 TB WD Caviar Black like suggested and make a clean startup patition.

Then I put the other two 500 gb hds in as raid.

I also found this cheap monitor that could display HD video. I might try to squeeze that in my budget.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001314

A big thank you to all of you. I was already worried I would end being confused and have to buy some shitty system tomorrow but now I'm quite confident I have a decent build.

 

[aevm]

This OCZ Fatality 550W is good value for $45:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022

It's got 37A combined on 12V and shouldn't have a problem handling your setup.

 

[deltakid]

I don't get the difference between the Asus P6T and the Asus P6T Deluxe.
Which one should I get?

http://asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=QtpKQuERkuYw6trc&templete=2
http://asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=vXixf82co6Q5v0BZ

I do not plan to overclock the system and got to save some money.

 

[aevm]

The Deluxe has "16+2 Phase Power Design" instead of "8+2", and it also has a SAS controller. Both are things you can very well live without, IMO. Get the P6T and save the difference.

 

[jackbravo]

if you don't plan to tri-sli either .... consider teh gigabyte ex58 ud3r - it's 185$ at newegg and at microcenter, and would save u $100 on the mobo. Also if you don't plan on OC'ing, the aluminum heat sink (vs copper on the asus) for the cpu should work fine.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128375
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0304422


The OCZ ram at newegg is now 77$ with free shipping. Save $13.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381&cm_sp=DailyDeal-_-20-227-381-_-Product


The WD Caviar Black 500 is 70$ on amazon with free shipping. That should save $20. You can get the 640 as well for 5$ more each.
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Black-WD5001AALS/dp/B001GQYYSG/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1240250836&sr=1-5



Total saved: $123

 

[deltakid]

Thank you guys! But what about this feature of the deluxe version:

Triple-Channel DDR3 2000(O.C.) / 1866(O.C.) / 1800(O.C.) / 1600(O.C.) / 1333 / 1066 support

Does that mean the regular version doesn't support the OCZ 6/1333 TRIPLE 6GB (3x2048MB) 1333 MHz CL 9-9-9 I was planning to buy?

 

[xthekidx]

No the regular P6T will handle the ram just fine. Get the ram that jackbravo suggested. Its first rate, I will vouche for its performance and quality.

 

[aevm]

No, it doesn't mean that. The regular version does support that OCZ RAM no worries.

BTW, here's some RAM with better timings (7-7-7-20 at 1.5V) for $76 after rebate:
OCZ 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227375
I even found user reviews at Newegg using it with P6T and with P6T Deluxe.


Edit: actually, the RAM jackbravo suggested is even better, for the same price, so get that one.

 

[jackbravo]

i didn't see you didn't need the hd's anymore...

if you want a high def monitor (this may be a bit overkill) but it's a sweet deal for $230

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11380427&whse=BC&topnav=&cat=62021&hierPath=62021*&lang=en-US

 

[drteeth]

Good to hear you going Core I7!

+1 again for that ram....

Update: that Asus board discount ended today so its back to just under the same price as newegg but you can still get the CPU there cheaper and save maybe $10 now over newegg on the board.

Board: save money and get the non deluxe version.

Its coming together quick for ya

 

[jackbravo]

More options:

(btw - the 500gb caviar black are also 32mb cache)

Monitors:
Sceptre 24" 1080p $220
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11243103&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=&lang=en-US

Prebuilt:
CyberPower PC i7/gts250/6gb ram $1100
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11470969&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|84|56671|78518&N=4035050&Mo=38&pos=1&No=9&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=78518&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC10600-Cat56671&topnav=

Dell XPS 435 i7/3650 $1000 + upgrade the gfx card for $150
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11330142&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|84|56671|78518&N=4035050&Mo=38&pos=1&No=10&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=78518&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC10600-Cat56671&topnav=

Dell XPS WITH High Def Monitor - i7/HT 4670
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11466104&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|84|56671|78518&N=4035050&Mo=38&pos=1&No=6&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=78518&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC10600-Cat56671&topnav=

 

[xthekidx]

Jack your recommendations are going downhill. Those prebuilt's aren't that great a deal, and westinghouse is probably the last brand I would consider for a monitor, Sceptre would be just before Westinghouse.

On the HDD, go for a 320/640/1TB drive, the higher platter density of their platters makes them faster than the 250/500/750 GB drives. The WD1001FALS is just a hair slower than the VRaptor.

 

[jackbravo]

that may be true however, he can pick up a prebuilt comp TODAY vs. wait till the end of the week for his parts to ship. Didn't he say the project was due on Wed?

 

[xthekidx]

It would be worth paying the extra to get 2nd day or overnight delivery if he could chose the parts he was getting, the build quality would be much higher.

Plus I don't think those PC's are available in stores, it says allow 7-10 days for delivery.

 

[deltakid]

I have the system now next to me and its awesome. Thanks guys! It's damn fast even though I hate the switch from XP 32 to Vista 64. Can't wait until Windows 7 comes out.

I also bought a 23" 1920 x 1080 samsung monitor so I can finally watch some HD stuff. Great great great and I wouldnt have such a dope system without you guys. Thanks!

 

[jackbravo]

awh man, you can't leave it like that. You gotta tell us some details. What's your final system details and final price?

 

[specialk90]

deltakid, here is one of the best recommendations yet: MAX out your ram to 12GB. I use PPro CS4 too and read a great article on DigitalContentProducer.com discussing PPro CS4 and its ability to use more than 4GB of ram in Vista x64. Encoding times were 50-800% faster with 8GB+ of ram vs 4GB in 32bit, and this was for HD encoding too.

I hope you didn't waste any money on faster ram because most, if not all of the X58 boards go down to 1066 or 1333 MHz when all 6 slots are full. I know this due to another thread where someone asked if the ASUS P6T manual was correct in stating this. With enough Ram, PPro will actually be able to use a higher % of the 4 cores. And if you use After Effects and/or Dynamic Link, you will need at least 12GB of ram. The test at DCP showed D-L using over 8GB of ram.

Good Luck(not with your PC, but with your GF