Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I hope you guys can help me.
I want a computer that will be used primarily for video editing and general home use.
The video editing I will be doing will be not be professional. I barely have my feet wet with video editing. I have a contour +2 HD camera and few other DV 'helmet cams'. I don't have a preferred software, as I don't currently have a computer strong enough to run anything. I bought corel videostudio Pro X2, which is the oldest video editing software I could find that edits 1080p video. My computer still won't run it without crashing when applying effects. It's a gateway bought in early 2006 on a budget, not even worth mentioning whats inside it; just consider it to be completely trashed.
I'm currently a law enforcement officer going back to college, so I use the computer quite a bit for general use. My wife will be going back to school to get her masters next year, which means she will be using the computer more so than normal for general use. I figured we should go ahead and get a computer that will suit all needs: to last me through college, to last my wife through her masters, and allow me a computer powerful enough to edit video. I teach firearm classes and would like to use helmet cam footage of operating a firearm. The contour has a 480 resolution setting that captures at 120 fps, I hope to use this to slow video down and capture firearm techniques. The contour also captures 1920 X 1080 @ 30 fps and 1280 X 720 @ 60 fps. I help run a gun club which offers numerous firearm manipulations and tactics classes, and I would like to use all the above resolutions to compile advertising videos as well as videos to be used for instruction during classes. The contour outputs a .mov file that uses the H.264 codec and the other helmet cam I use most often outputs an .avi file that uses a 'motion jpeg' codec. This data has been collected using GSpot.
Unless a compelling argument is offered, I think I will start with the updated version of corel (Corel Videostudio Pro X5) once I complete my build for video editing. I'm looking for software that will be beginner friendly but still output a quality product once I've learned my way around the program.
Corel Video Studio Pro X5 System Requirements
Approximate Purchase Date: Buying parts throughout the next month or two
Budget Range: $550; the objective is to get the lowest price for what I need (this price is for OS, MB, Storage, and Processor -- See below)
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Video Editing, General Home Use, School
Are you buying a monitor: No
Parts to Upgrade: Motherboard, Processor, and storage
Do you need to buy OS: Yes
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: No preference
Location: Charlotte, NC USA
Parts Preferences: No preference
Overclocking: I have never overclocked, or even built a pc, so I do not feel comfortable overclocking at this time
SLI or Crossfire: No
Parts that I have already bought:
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE
ZALMAN Z11 Plus HF1
LITE-ON DVD Burner
PNY GeForce GTX 550 Ti
Questions about the build:
PROCESSOR
I'm not sure which route to go with: AMD vs Intel.
I've read a dozen or more builds on gaming/video editing builds and it seems Intel has won it across the board on all those builds, but I can't find a thread for a video editing only on a budget. All the video editing only machine builds I found were users that did video editing as an income and could justify above $1000 - $1500 for the build. I can't afford anything close to that, and I can't really say this will directly increase my income. It's just going to be a hobby and something to make life easier. And as a plus it will provide the people that pay me for firearms instructions a quality product. So for a build for JUST VIDEO EDITING, would an AMD actually win this battle? I know an Intel would be best, but is it necessary?
MOTHERBOARD
I don't PLAN on overclocking unless someone can make a very compelling argument on why I should overclock, and its something I can do for my first build confidently. I have a $40 Creative Sound card that I had to put on this computer in order to screen cast with internal sound and I want to have the ability to put in a TV Tuner later on. Do I need a motherboard with more inputs than what I have mentioned (obvious including the gpu i have already bought). I have read that storage is very important for video editing, so if you guys think its best, I would like to have the ability to RAID my HDD's and use a very cheap SSD for OS. Do I need a motherboard that will support 32 GB of RAM? Is it necessary to get another 8 GB, having a total of 16 GB RAM? What is the cheapest motherboard that will support what I need. I have trouble with the motherboards, I can't seem to grasp the chipsets and understand which chipset should be used for what.
Here the builds I have been playing with:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/C8jD i7-3770
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/C8kW i5-3570K
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/C8iS i7-2700K
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/C8me FX-8350
I read a post from a user on here that said he would not recommend buying a non 'k' intel; that's why I have a 'k' on two of the builds... again, these builds I was just playing with to look at prices. I need help because I honestly am not sure which would be best for what I want while spending the least amount of money. Any build is going to require tight budgeting, and anything over $650 will not be worth it to me, regardless. $550-$600 will make me a little uneasy but if it'll take the system to the next tier then I can pinch it off. Below $500 would be preferred, but I also don't want to waste hours on editing video (crashes, buggy, choppy, etc.). I have seen a lot of people on video editing builds ask about rendering time, and the answers are always generic, (ex: not a long time). I have no idea as to what kind of time we are talking about. I'll be doing short length video edits. I think my average finished video time will be 5 minutes, with 20 minute videos being on the extreme long side and very rarely done. The raw unedited videos may very well be 30 minutes or longer a piece. Most of the finished videos will be used with slide point presentations or posted on the gun club's class descriptions. So I'm not sure what kind of render time to expect, at all. I don't want to post expectations in fear of sounding ignorant.
I want a computer that will be used primarily for video editing and general home use.
The video editing I will be doing will be not be professional. I barely have my feet wet with video editing. I have a contour +2 HD camera and few other DV 'helmet cams'. I don't have a preferred software, as I don't currently have a computer strong enough to run anything. I bought corel videostudio Pro X2, which is the oldest video editing software I could find that edits 1080p video. My computer still won't run it without crashing when applying effects. It's a gateway bought in early 2006 on a budget, not even worth mentioning whats inside it; just consider it to be completely trashed.
I'm currently a law enforcement officer going back to college, so I use the computer quite a bit for general use. My wife will be going back to school to get her masters next year, which means she will be using the computer more so than normal for general use. I figured we should go ahead and get a computer that will suit all needs: to last me through college, to last my wife through her masters, and allow me a computer powerful enough to edit video. I teach firearm classes and would like to use helmet cam footage of operating a firearm. The contour has a 480 resolution setting that captures at 120 fps, I hope to use this to slow video down and capture firearm techniques. The contour also captures 1920 X 1080 @ 30 fps and 1280 X 720 @ 60 fps. I help run a gun club which offers numerous firearm manipulations and tactics classes, and I would like to use all the above resolutions to compile advertising videos as well as videos to be used for instruction during classes. The contour outputs a .mov file that uses the H.264 codec and the other helmet cam I use most often outputs an .avi file that uses a 'motion jpeg' codec. This data has been collected using GSpot.
Unless a compelling argument is offered, I think I will start with the updated version of corel (Corel Videostudio Pro X5) once I complete my build for video editing. I'm looking for software that will be beginner friendly but still output a quality product once I've learned my way around the program.
Corel Video Studio Pro X5 System Requirements
Approximate Purchase Date: Buying parts throughout the next month or two
Budget Range: $550; the objective is to get the lowest price for what I need (this price is for OS, MB, Storage, and Processor -- See below)
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Video Editing, General Home Use, School
Are you buying a monitor: No
Parts to Upgrade: Motherboard, Processor, and storage
Do you need to buy OS: Yes
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: No preference
Location: Charlotte, NC USA
Parts Preferences: No preference
Overclocking: I have never overclocked, or even built a pc, so I do not feel comfortable overclocking at this time
SLI or Crossfire: No
Parts that I have already bought:
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE
ZALMAN Z11 Plus HF1
LITE-ON DVD Burner
PNY GeForce GTX 550 Ti
Questions about the build:
PROCESSOR
I'm not sure which route to go with: AMD vs Intel.
I've read a dozen or more builds on gaming/video editing builds and it seems Intel has won it across the board on all those builds, but I can't find a thread for a video editing only on a budget. All the video editing only machine builds I found were users that did video editing as an income and could justify above $1000 - $1500 for the build. I can't afford anything close to that, and I can't really say this will directly increase my income. It's just going to be a hobby and something to make life easier. And as a plus it will provide the people that pay me for firearms instructions a quality product. So for a build for JUST VIDEO EDITING, would an AMD actually win this battle? I know an Intel would be best, but is it necessary?
MOTHERBOARD
I don't PLAN on overclocking unless someone can make a very compelling argument on why I should overclock, and its something I can do for my first build confidently. I have a $40 Creative Sound card that I had to put on this computer in order to screen cast with internal sound and I want to have the ability to put in a TV Tuner later on. Do I need a motherboard with more inputs than what I have mentioned (obvious including the gpu i have already bought). I have read that storage is very important for video editing, so if you guys think its best, I would like to have the ability to RAID my HDD's and use a very cheap SSD for OS. Do I need a motherboard that will support 32 GB of RAM? Is it necessary to get another 8 GB, having a total of 16 GB RAM? What is the cheapest motherboard that will support what I need. I have trouble with the motherboards, I can't seem to grasp the chipsets and understand which chipset should be used for what.
Here the builds I have been playing with:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/C8jD i7-3770
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/C8kW i5-3570K
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/C8iS i7-2700K
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/C8me FX-8350
I read a post from a user on here that said he would not recommend buying a non 'k' intel; that's why I have a 'k' on two of the builds... again, these builds I was just playing with to look at prices. I need help because I honestly am not sure which would be best for what I want while spending the least amount of money. Any build is going to require tight budgeting, and anything over $650 will not be worth it to me, regardless. $550-$600 will make me a little uneasy but if it'll take the system to the next tier then I can pinch it off. Below $500 would be preferred, but I also don't want to waste hours on editing video (crashes, buggy, choppy, etc.). I have seen a lot of people on video editing builds ask about rendering time, and the answers are always generic, (ex: not a long time). I have no idea as to what kind of time we are talking about. I'll be doing short length video edits. I think my average finished video time will be 5 minutes, with 20 minute videos being on the extreme long side and very rarely done. The raw unedited videos may very well be 30 minutes or longer a piece. Most of the finished videos will be used with slide point presentations or posted on the gun club's class descriptions. So I'm not sure what kind of render time to expect, at all. I don't want to post expectations in fear of sounding ignorant.