New Build - Video Editor

Here’s my story. After working for more than 30 years as a carpenter, several years ago I decided I needed a change and went back to school to learn Video Editing. The school I went to has more than 80 workstations (all 8-core Mac Pro’s) and as long as it doesn’t interfere with classes, they let me use their facilities whenever I want. I prefer to work with Avid, but I can also use Final Cut.

But recently a friend of mine gave me an Avid Media Composer V3.0 new in the box. So it’s time I put together my own workstation. To get the computer I want at a price I can afford, I’ve decided to do my own build.

I figure if I can satisfy Avid’s minimum requirements, then CS4, Toon Boom and others should be okay too. Here are the Avid minimums from their website:

# Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33 GHz processor or faster
# Memory: 4 GB of RAM (6 GB of RAM recommended for Windows 7 and Windows Vista)
# Graphics Card: NVIDIA Quadro FX family3 (FX 560 or higher)
# Internal Hard Drive: Minimum 80 GB 7200 rpm hard disk

Being the minimums, I’d like to beat them wherever I can. I have a budget (before software) of $1200. After I’ve bought mouse, keyboard, and a used Wacom Intuos pad, I’m left with about $900.

Approximate Purchase Date: Before the end of August 2011

Budget Range: Under $900, anything less would be greatly appreciated and used for needed software.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Video editing, cartoon animation, storyboarding, the usual stuff. (I’m not a gamer - games freak me out, like hyperventilating into a paper bag before I even finish the training level.).

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, mouse, Wacom Intuous pad.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.com. But a local brick-and-mortar outfit - Fry’s - is guaranteeing to beat any internet price on any part. And no shipping. Sales tax is extra of course (8.5% in CA) but dealing with a human being (even a greasy sales-type) has its perks.

Country of Origin: USA

Parts and OS Preferences: Avid only works with Intel CPU’s and NVidia GPU’s. Avid MC3 only runs on XP pro, not Windows 7. Someday I’ll upgrade, probably when Avid releases MC6, and then I’ll need a 64 bit OS as well as some new parts.

Here are the choices I’ve come up with so far. I’m not sure if these parts are totally compatible with each other.

CPU: Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52400 $194.99
newegg

Ram: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBXL $30.99 newegg

Mobo: ASRock P67 PRO3 SE LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $84.99 (Open Box) newegg

GPU: PNY VCQFX580-PCIE-PB Quadro FX 580 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Workstation Video Card $154.99 newegg

Optical Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM $20.99 newegg

Boot Drive: Kingston SSDNow V100 Series SV100S2/64GZ 2.5" 64GB SATA II Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $99.99 newegg

Media Storage: HITACHI Deskstar 7K3000 HDS723015BLA642 (0F12114) 1.5TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $64.99 newegg

Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts EA-500D Green 500W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply $54.99 newegg

Case: Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $59.95 newegg

Monitor: Suggestions?

Monitor Resolution: 1920 by 1080 hopefully, but 1600 by 900 is probably the best I can hope for. Either that or two used 17” monitors.

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Additional Comments: The on-board sound on the mobo will probably be fine. I would like to have dual monitor capability (two plug-ins).

Mail-in Rebates? Yes