Potential Build for HD Video Editing & Gaming

[cns77]

Hey folks. I would appreciate some constructive feedback on this potential build. I'll be using this new rig primarily for HD video editing and rendering, digital darkrooming, and gaming. Eventually I'd like to be running dual or tri-SLI. I will also be OCing.

Thanks for taking the time to check it out.

CASE: SILVERSTONE TJ10-BW Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163089

PSU: Corsair HX-1000 1KW PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139007&Tpk=corsair%20hx1000

Mobo: EVGA 132-BL-E758-A1 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188039

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 (D0) if I can locate one. OCing for sure.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

Memory: (12GB) 2x CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224

GPU: BFG GTX 295 (I already own this card. 2 seemed like overkill on my 1680x1050 monitor.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143167

CPU Cooling: Thermalright TRUE Black Ultra 120 Extreme
http://www.heatsinkfactory.com/thermalright-true-black-ultra-120-extreme-cpu-cooler.html

2x Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 120mm 1600 RPM Case Fans in Push/Pull
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185006&Tpk=S-FLEX%20SFF21F

HD1: 1x OCZ Vertex Series 120GB SSD for OS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227395

HD2: 2 x 300GB 10K RPM Veociraptor in Mobo Raid 0 for Apps
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136322

HD3: 1 x Western Digital 1TB 7200 RPM HD for Storage
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

OS: Vista Ultimate

- I haven't decided on whether or not to get a new sound card as of yet. Also haven't decided whether or not to give my current 4.1 surround system (dropped one of the speakers, hehe) to a friend and purchase a new 5.1 system or to go with a killer set of headphones.

 

[specialk90]

Hi there.

Are you using Adobe or planning on installing Adobe? I ask because it is not possible to install Adobe CS# on flash based devices.

Secondly, the 2 V-Raptors in Raid 0 AND the SSD is overkill. You would be better off installing OS + Apps on the 2 V-Raptors and use the money not spent on a SSD by getting another 1TB drive to run in Raid 1 or better yet, get 4 1TB drives to run in Raid 10 for storage. Using a SSD for just the OS would provide little to no performance benefit.

I should add that I use Premiere Pro, After Effects and Photoshop CS4, and I have done quite a bit of research and testing to find the best performance with these programs. I use 4 Raptors in Raid 10 for OS + Apps and also a Raid 0 for scratch disk & media cache. The Intel Matrix Raid allows you to create 2 different Raid arrays while using one set of drives.

If you use Premiere Pro, you must use a separate sound card because it doesn't like or work well with onboard audio.

For Ram, save your money and get 1333MHz ram because the motherboard can only run 1333 when all 6 slots are filled. It technically defaults to 1066 but there is a way to force 1333.

I can add more once I know whether you are using Adobe or not.

 

[cns77]

Thanks for your reply Specialk90. I have been working with Adobe Premiere Elements for several months and yes, I am planning on using Premier Pro and PS CS4 among others.

Glad you mentioned that tidbit about Adobe and flash memory. I was planning on using the SSD for the OS, my Adobe products, and a few select games.

Appreciat the other advice as well. My builds are never as well thought out as I think they are...

 

[xthekidx]

A couple things:
1. If you will not SLI with another GTX 295 then your PSU is overkill. A 650tx would be fine, a 750tx if you will buy a crapload of HDD's

2. Corsair Dominator ram is overpriced, and you cant run 12gb at 1600mhz, so just get these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231230

3. The Heatsink you picked is for LGA 775, and it does not include a fan, its only the heatsink. If you want to use that cooler, then you can get the LGA 1366 version, but it doesn't have the black nickel plating on it so I don't know how important that is to you...(the black nickel plating is for looks only, that cooler actually works better without that plating on it because its one less layer for heat to go through)
http://www.heatsinkfactory.com/thermalright-ultra-120-extreme-1366-rt.html

 

[cns77]

A couple things:
1. If you will not SLI with another GTX 295 then your PSU is overkill. A 650tx would be fine, a 750tx if you will buy a crapload of HDD's

2. Corsair Dominator ram is overpriced, and you cant run 12gb at 1600mhz, so just get these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231230

3. The Heatsink you picked is for LGA 775, and it does not include a fan, its only the heatsink. If you want to use that cooler, then you can get the LGA 1366 version, but it doesn't have the black nickel plating on it so I don't know how important that is to you...(the black nickel plating is for looks only, that cooler actually works better without that plating on it because its one less layer for heat to go through)
http://www.heatsinkfactory.com/thermalright-ultra-120-extreme-1366-rt.html

Thanks xthekidx.

I do plan on running another GTX 295, Tri-SLI or something similar in the near future. The TRUE Black on the other hand, does work well with the LGA 1366 with an inexpensive adapter. Those two scythe fans I listed are for the TRUE.

 

[specialk90]

With CS4, working in PS x64, you should never hit the scratch disk with 12GB ram unless your projects are 500MB or larger.
With Premiere Pro, your media cache placement is very important. Creating separate partitions for the OS/Apps, page file, media cache and scratch disk will also help performance. A partition will limit each part to a specified section on the drives, so when data is added, the drives won't be going all over the place on the drives trying to read and write and becoming fragmented. Also, because you will be playing games, don't they like to have their own "scratch disk"? I don't play any games so I am just assuming.
C: For the OS+Apps, the first 70-80GB;
D: page file 13GB(you might have to set the amount in Vista before creating this partition or Vista might want to use more, and since 12GB, you wont need more than 12GB page file)
E: Scratch Disk - 6-10GB should be enough unless your projects go over 1GB
F: Media Cache(for Premiere) at least 30GB or up to 80GB depending on the length & # of projects you do every 1-2 months. For example, Premiere created 2GB of cache for only 10 or 12 minutes of edited AVCHD video I worked on the other day. You can adjust everything accordingly for the total amount of space you have, including space for games. You could probably combine scratch disk & media cache since you won't be using the s-disk much with all that ram.

I know its said to use Defrag often but I really don't like the added stress it causes on the drives. This is why setting up a great partition structure will not only help performance but also help drives from becoming fragmented very easily. What I suggested above is to get the absolute most performance from your drives. Using a separate location for the page file and media cache have been proven to increase performance.

Did you know that Dell has some great prices on drives(when sold separately)? The 150GB V-Raptor is only $135. The funny thing is that Dell is the only supplier of the 80GB V-Raptor and it sells for $180. Kinda dumb, especially since the V-Raptor uses 150GB platters to begin with.

 

[xthekidx]

Thanks xthekidx.

I do plan on running another GTX 295, Tri-SLI or something similar in the near future. The TRUE Black on the other hand, does work well with the LGA 1366 with an inexpensive adapter. Those two scythe fans I listed are for the TRUE.

Ok if you want to pay for the LGA 1366 bolt through that is fine, but its cheaper to just get the TRUE LGA 1366 with the fan, heatsink and bolt through kit all included. You will need to buy fan holders too for the fans.

 

[cns77]

Okay, I went with the aforementioned build for the most part but I ended up dropping the SSD and sticking with 2x 300gb velociraptors and the 1TB WD caviar black. I might pick up a 2nd 1TB drive as necessary. I also went with 2x EVGA GTX 285's because newegg had a sweet deal and I'd like the keep my GTX 295 in the current rig. I dropped down to 6GB on the mem so that I can get beyond 1333MHz.

I think that's all I changed from the previous build.

 

[specialk90]

If you use Premiere Pro CS4, you need 12GB of ram because it will greatly reduce your render/encode times vs 6GB. Also, 1600 vs 1333 ram will provide maybe a 1-2% increase in performance so sticking with just 3 sticks of ram will actually hurt performance.