help build an editing computer....here is what i have.

Help me build an editing computer. Will also be doing 3d modeling and sculpting. Will be working in:
After effects CS5
Premiere pro CS5
Cinema 4D
Tracking stuff for matchmoving (leaning towards pftrack)
Zbrush or some kinda modeling software.

Here's what I think I need so far. If you think this won't suffice feel free to make suggestions. I would like to really keep the cost down.

Generic case
Motherboard with an i5 which ill overclock for better performance
Atleast 1gb video card ( I know hd rendering uses proccessor not video card but I still need a good video card. Do you think its better to buy a video card with processor built in or without?
Around 250 or 300 gb harddrive with 7200 rpm speed.
I'll be using external storage.
At least 8gb ram or do you think I need to go 12gb

If you have parts in mind please post links. Which video card? Which processor?

A friend of mine said I can build an editing comp for 500 and I just don't see that happening . I think 700 is the price figure closer to reality.

What do you think guys?

Thanks

Roman
 
Memory has never been cheaper, think TB, not GB. Other than that, an editing computer on a budget is somewhat of an oxymoron with CS5+. There are just some things you can get away with and some things you can't. You could spend your whole budget on a graphics card, easily. I'll be curious to see what people come up with.
 
$700 for a rig to run $3500 worth of software.. seems like bad business..

$1200 for my most recent rig.

i7 990x 3.2g 6 cores
24GB RAM
2TB Raid 0 Editing HD
1TB system HD
$500 nvidia card
Media reader
Hot swap SATA drive bay
 
$700 for a rig to run $3500 worth of software.. seems like bad business..
I'm sorry, but the difference between $700 and $1200 is small enough to render a statement like this absurd.

If you're not going to invest in an i7 (arguably a good decision) then at least get a Sandy Bridge i5.

You might as well get three 4GB sticks of RAM since you're more than likely getting a MOBO with triple channel RAM.
 
No guys what I meant is 700 is the least you can spend to get somewhat at least ok performance. While I want to pay minimal I still understand i need to invest. I was asking for suggestions as to what parts I need not that my budget is 700.
 
I'd definitely go with an i7 over an i5. The i7-2600k seems like a decent value. I think the cheapest graphics card that supports GPU acceleration with Premiere CS5 is the Geforce GTX 470. 8 gigs of RAM is okay, but it's probably worth bumping it up to 12; RAM is cheap. As for hard drive space, I'd get as much as you can afford. You say you want to use external drives, how do you intend to connect them? USB2.0 and FireWire aren't fast enough; you'll want to go with eSATA or USB3.0. Make sure you have those ports available.
 
First, you would be much better off getting advice from a computer forum like Tom's Hardware. That being said, I would like to clear up a few questions that seem to be coming up.

For video editing, it is more important to have as many cores (virtual and real) as possible, than to have higher ghz. This is because NLEs use the processor differently than programs like games. With this in mind, the Sandybridge are the way to go without a doubt. Unless you are buying the top of the line (i.e. the most expensive) 1st generation i7 6-core, then you would be better off with the sandybridge versions. The i5-2500k is one of the best for the price. It is better at running NLEs than almost all of the 1st gen i7s and it is much cheaper than the only slightly better (when it comes to NLEs) than the sandybridge i7s. There are many comparison with rendering times found on tomshardware, and these will be the best indicator of how well it will run your NLE.

With regards to a video card with a processor, there are none. You can get a processor with an onboard graphics card (many have them including many sandybridge processors), but the video care is not going to be up to the challenge of an NLE. You were spot on with the 1G rule as this will handle the HD processing easily.

Finally, 8G is plenty for RAM, although the more the better is always true with RAM.
 
As an IT guy (though not a hardware geek) I definitely agree with as much RAM and the machine will hold. More RAM is ALWAYS better. Anything it can hold in memory rather than have to go read from disk is a huge performance bump. In database world the perfect scenario is enough memory to hold the entire database in RAM so it virtually never has to go read disk because Disk (or network) is almost always the slowest link in the chain.
 
For video editing, it is more important to have as many cores (virtual and real) as possible, than to have higher ghz. This is because NLEs use the processor differently than programs like games. With this in mind, the Sandybridge are the way to go without a doubt. Unless you are buying the top of the line (i.e. the most expensive) 1st generation i7 6-core, then you would be better off with the sandybridge versions. The i5-2500k is one of the best for the price. It is better at running NLEs than almost all of the 1st gen i7s and it is much cheaper than the only slightly better (when it comes to NLEs) than the sandybridge i7s. There are many comparison with rendering times found on tomshardware, and these will be the best indicator of how well it will run your NLE.
I agree that the 2500k is the best budget processor by far. The thing to consider though is that NLEs will get better at utilizing those virtual cores in the future. Still, that'll only be a few more seconds saved, and on a tight budget you could spend the money you would've spent on the 2600k on a better GPU which is a bigger help up front and down the road.

I'd also look into getting a decently sized SSD if you could afford it, since it would be a pain to have to reinstall your OS and all your other programs to take advantage of it.
 
Since you're building this from the ground up, if you want to take advantage of CS5.5's GPU acceleration and can afford it, I think it's a good idea to check out the Premeire Pro CS5.5's specs page. About halfway down the page there is a list of supported cards. And then, to be on the safe side and to (hopefully) cover all of your bases...
Visit the NVIDIA website for system requirements and compatibility. The list of graphics cards that are compatible with Adobe Premiere® Pro CS5 is updated on a regular basis.
...before purchasing. :)
 
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Since you're building this from the ground up, if you want to take advantage of CS5.5's GPU acceleration and can afford it, I think it's a good idea to check out the Premeire Pro CS5.5's specs page. About halfway down the page there is a list of supported cards. And then, to be on the safe side and to (hopefully) cover all of your bases... ...before purchasing. :)

While only certain cards are said to be compatible with the GPU acceleration, almost any of the 4** and 5** series can utilize it. It is a very (emphasis on very) easy hack. Here is an old article about it.
 
Suppose no heavy 3d modeling with matchmoving. What is a minimum system I can run for my AE and Premiere and still be able to render out videos with no lag. As that is my issue- The playback is choppy and the render chockes my ram.

So once more, what is a minimum system I can run and still have normal render and playback with AE and Premiere Pro. At least for the time being while I accumulate funds to really invest into a heavy machine.
 
rendering from AE is dependent on whats being rendered. My system (intel 990x extreme 6 core, 24gb ram and Raid 0 disks) can still take a LONG time to render complex stuff. Multi streams of HD, several layers of CC, nesting compositions etc all add up to LONG render times. Like 1 hour for 8 mins of footage!

I have pretty long RAM previews which is nice :) and its about twice as fast as it was on my previous system..

my point? Setting your sights for LAG free is doomed to be a disappointment.

Basic advice.
Get the fastest intel CPU, the most RAM and as much SATA DISK SPACE you can afford right now. Your programs will RUN on just about any decent system, your PERFORMANCE will improve with more investment.

Its the classic "time or money" equation.. if you have more TIME than MONEY, then a slow rendering machine is fine, you have all the time you need to spend waiting on renders.. .. if your time is worth more to you, then you spend money on things to reduce your down time.

There is a cross over point, where you realize your LOOSING money by not having FASTER performance, then its an easy answer, spend the money.


You also learn to work in your limitations.. I never render a full what ever in the middle of a session.. I might render out a shot or two, but the full renders I start just before I go to bed.. no time waste..
 
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Thanks for the reply

I am not so much concerned with render time, but rather with having a system that is capable of rendering smoothly. Whenever I render now, it comes out choppy, jerky and unbearable to watch.
So as long as I can render normally, I don’t mind longer renders. Matter of fact, I’ll post up a video to show u this ugliness that happens.
 
even my system can sometime get jerky on playing back uncompressed quicktime files. (well not often but sometimes)

This scares a lot of folks, thinking that there is something wrong with the render, when its the playback that bad. However, thats not always the problem, so do post a sample. Though, dont be surprised if the video you POST plays back fine in the youtube\vimeo player..
 
Excellent advice wheat. Time is money goes both ways.

This is my current budget build:

MOBO: ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) ($160)
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K ($220)
RAM: 12GB DDR3/1600 (~$70)
GPU: GeForce GTX 560 Ti ($230)
HD: 120GB SSD + 1TB HDD (~$300)
PSU: Antec BP550 Plus 550W ($65)

Throw in a decent air cooler (~$50) and decent case (~$50) and that's ~$1,150. Obviously, you could not get the SSD ($200 alone) and cut a few corners here or there but I think that's a decent build to start with.
 
120GB SSD is fast, but not big enough as a video editing DATA drive, so its a boot drive which to me seems a waste.. Two 1tb drives in Raid0 will get you faster. Get three, one for the system\boot drive.. but thats just me..

IS that all the RAM the MB will support? RAM is so cheap that NOT MAXING it out is silly.. Recall that last year it was about $100GB.. might go there again.. its a fickle market..

Regardless, I would have LOVED to have the system you specked out this time last year. (I just got my new system a month ago, and wont get a new one for a year or more!)
 
120GB SSD is fast, but not big enough as a video editing DATA drive, so its a boot drive which to me seems a waste.. Two 1tb drives in Raid0 will get you faster. Get three, one for the system\boot drive.. but thats just me..
I was kind of worrying that 120GB might not be enough. I've read that for most people it is, but I plan on using a hacked GH2 which will have much larger files so...

I prefer SSD over RAID arrays because I'm lazy. RAID requires conscious effort and some modicum of technical skill, whereas you can just plug the SSD in.

IS that all the RAM the MB will support? RAM is so cheap that NOT MAXING it out is silly.. Recall that last year it was about $100GB.. might go there again.. its a fickle market..
No, but over 12 is kind of overkill. It's certainly an option but I don't think it would be worth the money, personally.

Regardless, I would have LOVED to have the system you specked out this time last year. (I just got my new system a month ago, and wont get a new one for a year or more!)
You're only going to keep that beast for a year? Shame. Summer was only just beginning...
 
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