first build, video editing mobo

[jcox87]

I'm building a computer that I want to be able to handle avid or premier, after effects and read/print HD without any problems. I also want to be able to play starcraft 2 when that's out, but I don't know if anyone has a guess about those specs. My buget is $1350 total. I'm really leaning toward an Intel Quad Core 2 Q9650 (LGA775), and I was going to get a EVGA 790i SLI FTW motherboard, but someone on another forum convinced me there's no need for DDR3 RAM. He then recomended the ASUS p5q-e motherboard. It has pretty much all the features I want except that it only has 2 possible firewire ports and I've read mixed reviews about it. Pretty much every review I read about the EVGA one was extremely positive. Does any one vouch for the p5q-e as a editing mother board, or do you know of another board I should look at? Thanks a lot for any feedback. And if it matters I was planning on either a nvidia GTS 250 (maybe two with sli) or GTX 260.

 

[Yami]

With budget you'd most likely be able to get a decent i7 build, seeing as graphics won't be especially important here and an i7 would be idea for video editing.

except that it only has 2 possible firewire ports

There are very few motherboards which have more. The standard is one on the rear I/O and then one possible on the case.

 

[Brinson]

If you need more firewire ports a pci firewire card is like $10.

Video editting is not that intense. Any build in that price range is going to do well.

Keep in mind that alot of the lag in video editting comes from dealing with large files. Standard def is 400mbs a minute. Not sure what high def is but I'm sure its massive. I'd look at the speed of the hard drives you buy extra closely.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

This build is $1,190 before mail in rebates. I did not include an os because you can use the Windows 7 RC free for a year at which time you can buy a final version of 7. I didn't incldue a extra fire wire card but there is plenty of extra room in the budget for one that suits your needs.

Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner - CD / DVD Burners

Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

OS drive
Newegg.com - Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2MH080G2C1 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Solid State Disks

Storage Drive
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GV-R487-512H-B Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Power Supplies

Newegg.com - Intel Core i7 920 + Asus P6T + 6gb OCZ Gold DDR3 1600mhz combo deal

While some people may disagree with adding the Intel X25-M I included it because it's pretty much the fastest drive on the market so it should help reduce lag if you use it for the OS, key aplications, and storing videos while you are working on them.

 

[jcox87]

Thanks for the input guys. I was starting to consider the i7, so I think I'm going to go for it. All your comments were really helpful, especially the proposed build. That does look like a good motherboard, and a good deal. The reviews could be better, but so far the cons wouldn't affect me much. I'll probably do a lot more looking around though, now that I'm going for the i7. I might go for a bluray burner over a solid state drive, unless you think there're going to be real lag problems. Would everyone recomend recomend radeon 4870 over geforce gts 250? Thanks again for responding.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

The bluray burner vs SSD will largely come down to personal preference.. There may not be any lag issues just using the 1TB drive, it's relatively fast as far as conventional drives go but is still significantly slower than the X25-M. You could always start out only using the 1tb drive and if you run into any lag issues get a ssd, and if you don't run into any lag issues then go with the blu ray burner.

The HD 4870 is quite a bit faster than a GTS 250.

 

[philbar71]

if you are looking for the nvidia equivelent to the hd 4870 the core 216 is what you should be looking at.

Newegg.com - XFX GX260NADFF GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards $170

 

[jcox87]

Just out of curiosity, would 2 gts 250s provide significant graphics over the 260/4870? I'm leaning toward a nvidia card because I've used them before, and I've read some stuff saying they're better with most gaming. Not that big of a deal, but it makes the extra $20-30 bucks seem worth it. Is it?

 

[Brinson]

Video editting is a cpu, not gpu, task. Your gpu will make basically no difference.

Its all about:

1. How fast the hard drive reads/writes the multie-gigabyte file.
2. How long the CPU processes the file changes.
3. The speed and amount of RAM that the files can be stored in.

 

[jcox87]

I know that the gpu doesn't make much difference unless the editing program has specific jobs it routes to the gpu. I was just asking because I've heard mixed reviews about sli/crossfire, and I saw a gts 250 on sale for $90. If I saw another deal that good I might consider sli for some gaming on the side.