First Build, nearly ready, HD Editing and compositing Rig

[Guest]

I've been doing my research and am finally just about ready to buy. I only want to get opinions on some parts choices.

I'm open to suggestions on the case an the RAM if you have any, the rest are pretty straight forward.

I7 920
MSI Eclipse SLI http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130215
WD Velociraptor 300
WD Cav 1 Tb
Pioneer Blu Burner 8x
Cooler Master 1000 Cosmos http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119138
Corsair DDR3 1600 12gb

Samsung SyncMaster T260 (Already bought)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On these parts I'm not so sure,

EVGA GF GTX 295 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130453

Corsair 1000HX PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139007

CPU Fan & Thermal compound?

I'm hoping that the PSU can handle future upgrades, I plan to add more HDDs, upgrade the RAM once prices drop, and I'll likely add an additional GTX 295 later on as well. The Corsair was suggested to me and I want to get some more feedback as I don't really understand how one goes about selecting a PSU. Tips will be appreciated. I just want something that will be able to keep up with the upgrades and be good for the system in the long run.

As far as the GTX 295, I've looked at the EVGA and PNY models, but can't spot any differences other than color and price. Any help you can give will be appreciated.

I'm planning on a modest OC to 3Ghz, and would like suggestions for the CPU fan and Thermal Camp if necessary. Also if you have any cooling related suggestions for the Coolmaster case or a better case for this job, please feel free to post. I'm really more concerned with how well the case cools than how good it looks, I picked the Cosmos because it looks quiet too.

Thanks in advance!
-Treiz

 

[Proximon]

The GPU is massive overkill, and you want to add a second? Even if this were a hard core gaming rig that doesn't sound like a good plan.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3520&p=5
Just so you know I'm not raining on your parade for no reason. Read the entire article if you have time.

From your stated usage it sounds as if you would be better off grabbing a GTX 260 and using the extra money for a high speed SSD.

If I'm missing something here, then it would still hold true that 3 GTX 285s beat 2 GTX 295s.

However, I seriously doubt your applications need more than ONE GPU.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the comment.

I had planned on doing two of the GTX 285s in SLI, but with the 295 I have a free slot. As for adding another, it's just a thought, not sure what I will need next year but I'm sure that I don't want to have to upgrade my PSU. I chose the Eclipse for its Video benchmarks and it's slot placement. I will be gaming on this rig, but the primary focus is the video editing, thus the large amount of RAM.

I've been looking at CPU fans and am thinking about getting the Noctua:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608007

I am interested in getting a SSD for the boot drive, but I don't know enough about them. If you have a suggestion I'd love to hear it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Is it just me, or does newegg's prices seem to fluctuate quite often? Do they change them every week?

 

[Guest]

I'm looking at cases again (shoots self), I was wondering if anyone had heard anything good or bad about this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112224

 

[Proximon]

They change when they change, but there is always a big change around the first of the month

OK, just so we're clear that the video editing doesn't need all that GPU.

The GTX 295 is, of course, very fast at gaming. It's not very good at saving money though Really, it has the lowest frames to dollar ratio.

That's why you don't find it recommended in the TH video guide:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-gtx,2270.html

I'll get off it now.

I don't actually think the Corsair is the best PSU for dual GTX 295s, should that actually happen. The margin would be pretty slim at best.

Enermax Galaxy 1250 review:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=145

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194046
You might want to check that the PSU fits in your case though.

I think the CPU cooler you picked is just right.

OCZ Vertex is a pretty good mix of performance and price. Comes in 3 or 4 different sizes.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227395

Intel has the best SSDs but they come at a high price.
http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3535&p=3

We don't go in much for MSI boards around here. They seem to have a higher fail rate than Gigabyte or Asus. However, there are certainly worse boards and if you are sold on the features, then OK.

 

[Guest]

Asus was my second choice, as I said I picked the MSI mostly for its slot placement. When you say fail rate is that over time or out of the box DOA? More than anything else I want a machine that will last.

The OCZ you mentioned is listed as SATA 2? What's the difference?

 

[Proximon]

SATA 2 is available on all modern boards. Higher bandwidth.

My impression with MSI is mostly over time. First year type stuff. Also more general issues and instabilities. It's all relative... as I said there are worse brands.

 

[Guest]

Well I guess I'll go back to the drawing board on the Mobo then. One thing I've been curios about is extended ATX Mobos, what's the differece or advantage?

How about EVGA mobos? I didn't really look at those.

 

[Proximon]

They seem to be pretty good quality. A bit new to Intel chipsets. Up until this year they were doing Nvidia only.

 

[Guest]

What's the deal with extended ATX mobos? I looked at one and couldn't spot the difference between a regular one and an extended?

 

[Proximon]

Different dimensions. Extended ATX is over 3 inches longer.

 

[Guest]

I like the look of these boards, but I'm not sure what the difference is between them. One appears to be a newer model but it's cheaper. WTH?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188047

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188048

 

[specialk90]

Getting 1600MHz ram is a waste because X58 boards can only support 1333 with all 6 slots full and this is done by forcing it within the BIOS as it defaults to 1066.

What programs do you use for editing and compositing? I use Premiere & AE CS4 and both love ram. If you think you will be hitting the scratch disk with 12GB of ram, then using Raid or another V-Raptor for the scratch disk(for AE) will help a lot. You also want either Raid or another Raptor for the Media Cache(for Premiere).

It looks as though this is a gaming PC first and video editing a distant second as your storage setup can be improved a great deal to benefit editing & compositing.

What is your budget?

 

[Guest]

I was originally going to go with two Raptors and the 1Tb. I was looking at an SSD to replace the boot Raptor, but decided against it. I'm thinknig I'll wait instead of buying two raptors, and swap the Raptor to cache when I finally do pick up an SSD to Boot with. I'm still in school at the moment so my editing at least for the next year will be light.

As for Programs, I am using Avid primarily, with Premier and AE as necessary.

For my budget I was hoping to stay around 2500-3K, I still need to get the software. If your tip about the RAM is accurate then I can save some money.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What do you guys think about Silverstone Cases and PSUs?

 

[Shadow703793]

^Their cases are OK, and thier high end PSUs are quite good. But imo, I think Corsair and PC Power are better.

 

[Guest]

Alright then, thanks for the reply! I'm still going back and forth on the mobo now. I like each of these but each has a different drawback.
EVGA Classified
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188047 Price

Rampage
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131352 Slot placement

MSI Eclipse
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130215 Reliability

Gigabyte
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128361 Not enough info, not sure

I like the Eclipse and the classified, I'd like some more opinions on these two and the Gigabyte.

 

[Guest]

Allright, I think I'm going to just bite the bullet and buy the more expensive board. It's only money right?

$450 -EVGA Classified
$480 -Lian Li PC-B70 + Corsair 1000HX PSU
$353 -I7 920 + Noctua Fan
$550 -GTX 295
$180 -OCZ Plat 12Gb 1333
$229 -Pioneer Blu
$229 -Raptor X2
$185 -WD 1Tb + Vista Premium
----------------------------------------
~$2900

What do you think?

 

[specialk90]

Go to Dell because they have the 150GB Velociraptor for only $135 so you can get 2 of them and possibly run in Raid.

What will you use to backup your data? I recommend getting another 1TB drive to run them in Raid 1 to protect your data in addition to increasing read speed and random access.

For Gfx card: doesn't Media Composer 3 require Quadro or you must turn off some things?
Also, what game needs more than a single 295? You seem to be expecting a game that absolutely requires 2-3 295's to run well.

PSU: have you seen the new PC Power & Cooling 1000w which has 88% efficiency and states that it can support 2 295s and its only $200 plus a 5yr warranty.

Love the Lian-Li case, btw. I got one 2yrs ago and its been great. I got it because it holds 12 drives. however, newegg doesn't sell it anymore.

 

[Guest]

Good point. Forgot to check the newest Avid specs. No big deal though, Quadro 1800 is $100 cheaper than the GTX 295 and I can step down to the P6T.

 

[Guest]

Revised:

$400 -P6t + Vista Ultimate
$480 -Lian Li PC-B70 + Corsair 1000HX PSU
$353 -I7 920 + Noctua Fan
$450 -Quadro 1800 or 3800 $840
$180 -OCZ Plat 12Gb 1333
$229 -Pioneer Blu
$229 -Raptor x2
$105 -WD 1Tb
-----------------------------------

 

[Guest]

Does anyone know where I can get more info on the Quodros? Not sure if I should spend the extra $400 on the 3800 if all I'm doing is video editing and light gaming.

 

[Kill@dor]

You mean Quadros right?

http://www.nvidia.com/object/builtforprofessionals.html

 

[Guest]

I was just checking that out, but didn't really find what I was looking for. Also checking with the guys on the Avid forum to see what they say.

 

[Kill@dor]

What exactly are you looking for? If you want a less expensive Quadro, i suggest you look on Ebay... in terms of price but i don't know any other sites that might sell it cheaper.

 

[Kill@dor]

You can still get a regular card and edit and game... It might be slower than a Quadro, but it works the same to be honest. Cuda is the way to go these days i guess...and most of the new nvidia cards have that.