I7 Build For CS4 - Need Opinions

[paulymath]

I'm looking to build a i7 system for video editing in Premiere CS4 or maybe CS5.

So far, here's what I've come up with:

CPU:
Intel Core i7 930 Quad Core Processor LGA1366 2.8GHZ 8MB L3 Cache 130W 45NM Retail Box ( x1 )

Motherboard:
Gigabyte X58A-UD3R ATX LGA1366 X58 DDR3 4PCI-E SATA3 USB3.0 Sound GLAN CrossFireX SLI Motherboard ( x1 )

Memory:
Kingston ValueRAM KVR1333D3N9K2/4G PC3-10666 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1333 CL9 240PIN DIMM Memory Kit ( x3 )

Video Card:
Zotac GeForce GTX 470 Fermi 607MHZ 1280MB 3348MHZ GDDR5 PCI-E Dual DVI-I MINI-HDMI Video Card ( x1 )

or

ASUS GeForce GTX 480 Fermi 700MHZ 1536MB 3696MHZ GDDR5 PCI-E 2XDVI HDMI Video Card ( x1 )


Hard Drive:
Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM ( x2 )

or

Western Digital WD10EARS Caviar Green 1TB SATA 64MB Cache 3.5IN Hard Drive OEM ( x2 )

or

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM ( x2 )

OS:
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition 64BIT DVD OEM ( x1 )

Case / PS:
Antec Sonata III Black ATX 16IN Mid Tower Quiet Case 3X5.25 2X3.5 4X3.5IN 500W 120MM Fan



Summary:

I currently have an old dual core 2.8ghz CPU with 2gb ram and it really sucks for rendering video in CS3. I am recording like hours and hours of screen captures and I want to encode them in either 1280x720 or 854x480 hi def settings so everything crawls.

This computer is fine for all my other work, so I will keep it for that but I wanted to get another system which I can use strictly for editing/encoding videos.

The above listing is the starting point of my build. The case is just the same one I have right now, but I think I'll need to get a bigger case with a bigger PS to keep it properly powered and cool.

I was thinking of running the HD's as a striped set, as I do backups off to an external drive anyways and as soon as the vids are done I upload them online anyways so I'm not too worried about data loss and I like the speed benefits of striped HD's.

What do you guys think?

-Paul

 

[ulysses35]

i7 CPU's (9**) and the X58 chipset require triple channel memory kits to work at their best. You need a 3 x 2gb kit.

 

[paulymath]

Ok, how about this:

Corsair XMS3 TR3X6G1600C9 6GB DDR3 3X2GB DDR3-1600 CL 9-9-9-24 Core i7 Memory Kit ( x2 )

So I get 12 GB of ram total.

-Paul

 

[Emperus]

If this build is purely for professional purpose then my recommendation would be to avoid the GTX 470.. Too much power, heat and noise.. Instead opt for a ATI FirePro V4800.. If you prefer the Nvidia camp then getting a GTS 250 is more sensible..

 

[paulymath]

If this build is purely for professional purpose then my recommendation would be to avoid the GTX 470.. Too much power, heat and noise.. Instead opt for a ATI FirePro V4800.. If you prefer the Nvidia camp then getting a GTS 250 is more sensible..

If this build is purely for professional purpose then my recommendation would be to avoid the GTX 470.. Too much power, heat and noise.. Instead opt for a ATI FirePro V4800.. If you prefer the Nvidia camp then getting a GTS 250 is more sensible..

Ok, I see that both the GTX 470 and GTS 250 both support CUDA. The 470 has 448 CUDA cores and the 250 has 128 CUDA cores. I'm not sure what kind of gain you get from the extra cores, but since it has almost 3x as many cores, could it offer a 3x gain you think?

The 470 is about $300 and the 250 is about $130. I realize that the 470 is more than 200% the cost, but relatively speaking in terms of the whole computer setup, it's only about a 10% price difference between the two cards.

I don't want to cheap out by 10% and reduce the performance of the whole setup by 200% type of thing.

I guess I'll have to investigate and see exactly how much performance boost having those extra CUDA cores actually gives.

Thanks for your feedback. You may be right. It might be better for me to get the cheaper card and invest the $ into something else.

I'm purely going to use it for video editing. I don't do any gaming, except the occasional Warcraft session but that's rare and even then my "old" computer handles WoW perfectly so no troubles there.

-Paul

 

[Emperus]

The main performance decider is the CPU.. CUDA is more hype than substance.. If you need the fermi architecture then waiting for Nvidia to release the fermi based quadro cards is a better option.. Till then, you can use the GTS 250 and find out for yourself if CUDA really plays a part..

 

[paulymath]

Well, to start with, the whole point of getting this second system for video editing/encoding is so that I can keep working on my primary machine while the other does the encoding.

So, at the end of the day ANY second machine (even a cheapie $500 one) is a big improvement.

I'll do a bit more research on how much these "CUDA" cores really help. My biggest slowdown right now is during rendering of the video's/encoding them into MP4 files.

Let's say I went with the GTS 250. If I wanted to apply the extra $200 I saved into upgrading something else, what would you recommend upgrading in my setup?

Faster CPU? Faster HD? More/Faster Ram?

The videos I edit are usually about 30mins in length, not many effects, more volume rather than quality/complexity of video.

 

[Emperus]

Faster hard drive definitely.. But don't make an immediate purchase.. Get your system with the GTS 250 and start with your work.. If you see satisfactory improvement then it'd be easy for you to decide as to what you'd want to do with the leftover cash.. At that point you could invest in getting a SSD which would surely help getting things done a little more faster..

 

[ksampanna]

If at all you feel the 250 is satisfactory, you could get another 250 & run them in SLI.
I would have suggested the 980X, but you probably don't save that much money to get it.

 

[DXRick]

Learn to use Google! Search for premier cs4 cuda. I did this and found this article. Apparently, Premier requires a Quadro card for CUDA.

Oh, and both memory options will give you 12MB total (since 2x3 and 3x2 both equal 6):

Corsair XMS3 TR3X6G1600C9 6GB DDR3 3X2GB DDR3-1600 CL 9-9-9-24 Core i7 Memory Kit ( x2 ) = 12MB

Kingston ValueRAM KVR1333D3N9K2/4G PC3-10666 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1333 CL9 240PIN DIMM Memory Kit ( x3 ) = 12MB

 

[paulymath]

DXRick, there are other articles that I read which say that the Quadro is not required. Maybe it's something that has been added to Premiere CS5.

Also, by 12MB surely you mean 12GB right? Either way, yes I would need 3 sets of the Kingston ram, but Ulysses35 advised me that I need the Corsair type ram to utilize with my MB/CPU so I'll be going with that.

 

[Emperus]

You must read these -

http://forums.adobe.com/message/2790577

http://blogs.amd.com/work/2010/04/12/bringing-adobe-creative-suite-5-to-life-with-amd-technology/