Video Editing System opinions and advice

[rallymcwilliams]

Approximate Purchase Date: August 2012

Budget Range: $2500 - $3000

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Video editing using Premiere Pro CS6, colour correction, some AfterEffects/Photoshop work, possibly moving on to Avid at a later date.
The primary use for this system will be to edit films for festival entry. I'm also just finishing up an AV Technology Diploma and am looking to start getting more freelance work shooting and editing. Other than odd jobs, I am currently not earning any money from editing, so faster render times will save me nothing other than time at the moment. That said, I’m still looking for a system that will remain relevant for as long as possible within my current budget.
I haven't done any gaming since the old Counter Strike and Starcraft days but I'd be keen to check out some new games in my spare time.

Location: Melbourne, Australia

Quote below is from PC Case Gear:
Intel Core i7 3930K.................................................................................$599.00
ASUS P9X79 Pro Motherboard.................................................................$329.00
Gigabyte Geforce GTX 570 Super Overclock 1280MB...............................$359.00
G.Skill Ripjaws Z F3-16GB (4x4GB) DDR3-1600........................................$115.00
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB SSD........................................................................$289.00
Western Digital WD Black 2TB WD2002FAEX...........................................$189.00
Corsair Carbide 500R Case - White.........................................................$145.00
Corsair TX-850 V2 Power Supply.............................................................$165.00
Pioneer BDR-207DBK Blu-Ray Disc Writer OEM.........................................$109.00
ASUS PA238Q 23in IPS LED Widescreen Monitor......................................$349.00

Sub-total: $2,648.00

I also have a 21inch CRT (Hitachi CM828) to use in dual screen, as well as a second reference for checking colour, grey scale and black levels.

Overclocking: Yes /Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Possibly SLI down the road if I need it. Video editing is more CPU rather than graphics intensive so we’ll see.

Additional Comments:
**I opted for the 1600 G-Skill Ripjawz as I’ve heard the 1833 models have some compatibility issues with the GTX 570.
**I’ll also be upgrading my storage when I have more funds, adding 2x2tb WD Black in RAID-5 for my scratch disk, leaving the current 2tb as storage and the SSD as my boot/program drive. Videoguys.com recommends that a 256gb SSD may not be enough for OS/editing software. Is this really true? I’d be keen to hear from anyone video editing with a 256gb SSD as their boot drive.

Any suggestions/thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

[manofchalk]

Motherboard and CPU are good (if a bit overkill, but that's good on editing machines) choices.

Where's your aftermarket cooling? LGA2011 CPU's don't come with a stock heat-sink (not that you'd want one) so you need to get your own. If you just want a good, budget air cooler. The Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO is the one to get. It performs very well for its price.
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=207_23_1300&products_id=18670

But considering you have plenty of cash left and top end components in the build, I would suggest something a bit better. The Corsair H100 is about the best all-in-one water cooling loop you can get. Some may argue that the air cooled Noctua NH-D14 performs better and is cheaper, but the thing is huge, which will lead to issues with RAM clearance which a water cooler avoids (the Noctua looks horrible as well).
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=207_160_45&products_id=17961

RAM is good. Theres no reason to go above 1600Mhz as the price to performance increase isnt worth it.

The SSD is actually quite large. A 128GB should easily serve your needs, the whole Adobe CS6 suite is only 10GB installed. Given proper management of space (moving the user files and pagefile, deciding which programs and games get installed where, putting documents/movies/music on a HDD), it shouldn't fill up. The Vertex 4 is a good SSD as well, its what I recommend.

PSU is good. Leaves you room dual Crossfire/SLI, overclock and add in a custom water cooling loop if you wanted to.

Seagate Barracuda's are much cheaper than the Caviar Blacks, and perform a bit better as well. Dedicating HDD's as raw file storage (or scratch disk as their properly called), rendering output storage and general storage is a good idea. It means that during the rendering process, data isnt being written to and read from the same drive, which slows things down a bit. This Seagate drive from MSY has the same specs as the Caviar Black, and is $60 cheaper.
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=8876

 

[rallymcwilliams]

Thanks heaps for your help. Cooling was the one thing that hadn't been touched on in the builds I looked up so I'm glad you brought that up.

I've taken a quick look at the two cooling units you suggested and am leaning slightly towards the cheaper option. I really want to stick as close to $2500 as possible and was thinking the extra $100 could be put towards the RAID scratch disks.

I was split on whether to go with the Barracuda's or Caviar Black's. On one hand, most reviews on Barracuda's are pretty positive, with only some 'clicking noises', fear of failure and a few more DOA stories. On the other, the Caviar Black has generally more positive reviews, has a 5 year warranty, but costs around $70 more.

So which one??? I usually tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to storage and video editing. I'm still leaning towards the Caviar Black but will think a little more about putting that $70 saving towards more HDs or better cooling.

As for the SSD, the 256gb is still within my budget, and I'd like to run my OS drive at under 85% capacity for as long as possible.

Also, have you had any experience with MSY or PC case gear? Case Gear's website is ridiculously superior. They aren't open for pick-up on weekend's though which means I might have to wait a bit longer. So keen to get it all up and running!

 

[Dangi]

Why don't you get a Quadro or FirePro card instead of GTX570 ??
Sure Adobe is optimiced to use CUDA but still, Quadro cards ( and FirePRO) are made for rendering and edition, and are way faster than the common GTX

 

[rallymcwilliams]

Sure, but they're also a fair bit pricier.

A Quadro 2000 is around +$300 (for performance which I've read is either on par or slightly behind the GTX) and the Quadro 4000 is +$700.

As a student who's working part time and not really earning anything at the moment from editing, $700 is a lot of money. Don't get me wrong, the 4000 would probably be my top choice, but I'd rather invest that kind of money into a new SLR or some lighting equipment.

If I ever move on to working mostly with Avid, I'll start looking into the hardcore workstation video cards. Until then, the modest but meaty GTX will have to do.

 

[manofchalk]

Iv dealt with PC Case Gear, MSY and Umart (I live close to Melbourne), and have had no issues with them. PC Case Gears service is pretty good, haven't had the misfortune to test the support team at the other places yet. PC Case Gear and Umart both have a massive range's, while MSY's are smaller, but they make up for it by offering the cheapest prices on what they do have. Between the three stores you'l find the cheapest prices in Melbourne

I have the 1TB version of that drive in my rig right now and I'v had no issues. As for the 1yr vs 5yr warranty, a HDD will either break in the first three months or never (unless you drop it, which they wont cover you for anyway). I have two old Seagate drives (a 1Tb and 250GB that are three and five years old respectively) still going fine.

 

[dalmvern]

I originally would have said go with the Seagate drives up until 3 months ago after my original Seagate crashed on me. Then I went through 3 more Barracuda drives that lasted less than a month then I just said screw it and got another Caviar Black. I have had my first 500 GB Caviar Black for about 4 years now, no problems at all.

 

[rallymcwilliams]

Hey guys, I'm hoping I can get a few opinions on the following PSUs. I've read up on a few reviews and other forum topics on them, but now just need to decide if the extra $$ are worth it for my rig?

I don't really like the idea of going overkill, so +$70 for AX seems like too much. Would the +$40 for the HX be the sweet spot or am I just throwing away my cash??

Any help would be awesome!

Corsair TX-850M............$175
Corsair HX-850..............$215
Corsair AX850...............$245

 

[manofchalk]

The only difference between those supply's is how modular they are and their efficiency.

Unfortunately Corsairs are quite expensive in Australia, I would suggest a completely different brand. This Silverstone 850W is equivalent to the HX-850, except fully modular and $55 cheaper! Silverstone is also a respectable brand when it comes to PSU's.
Silverstone Strider Plus 850W, 80+ Silver. $159
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15_995&products_id=13278
I have the 750W version of this supply and no issues so far.

Or if you want Gold efficiency.
Silverstone Strider 850W Gold. $189
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15_995&products_id=20120

 

[rallymcwilliams]

Silverstone Strider Plus 850W, 80+ Silver. $159
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15_995&products_id=13278
I have the 750W version of this supply and no issues so far.

Brilliant. Got some great reviews (very similar to the Corsair HX) and is $56 cheaper