PC Spec for HDV Editing

[SGI]

Hi everyone. I didn't want to start up a new thread. I am building a new computer for video editing and Photoshop. I have a HV20 and a Canon 7D. I already purchased/owned the following:

Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 (with builtin USB3.0 Ports and Firewire Port)
Intel i5-2500K (integrated HD3000 GPU)
Antec H2O 620 Water Cooler
16GB Corsair XMS3 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
Intel 320 Series 80GB SSD (from recent purchase) and a whole bunch of SATA drives from my previous machine (2TB, 1TBs, 750GB)
Thermaltake Level 10GT case (not a gamer but I like their 5 hot swappable bays with lock and I got a great price on it)
Corsair Builders Series 500W PSU
SIIG USB3.0 Mini Multi-Card Reader (for my 7D RAW Files - transfer speed is between 80MB-90MB/sec according to Windows Explorer!)

All these costs me about $600 and I'm wondering if I should exchange the i5-2500K (Quad Core - 4 Threads with 6MB L3 Cache) for a i7-2600K (Quad Core - 8 Threads with 8MB L3 Cache) for $100 more (making the system about $600 - which is 20% increase in cost!!!) - will the 4 extra Threads and 2 extra MB of L3 cache help? How much time will I be shaving off doing video editing/encoding/transcoding say for a 60min video??? I've seen benchmarks but they only give arbitrary CPU Mark numbers but never a real time scale of how much time saving it would be in the REAL WORLD. (if only maybe 1 min difference for a 60min video - from start to finish, this definitely not worth it but if it is 1 hour difference for a 60min video from start to finish then I'd say definitely I would exchange it) I will definitely be Overclocking this computer to gain more performance with it. In fact, my i5-2500K chip that I got is 100% stable at 4.9GHz and so far it looks stable at 5GHz as well. If I do get the 2600K, I will be overclocking it as well (just not too sure if I will be able to get to 5GHz at an acceptable temperature - below 75 degrees Celsius and Voltage - below 1.5V)

Any feedbacks will be greatly appreciated.

[Book of Edd]

Was wondering which one of these set ups are the best?

1. http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/v...oftware-Bundle

2. http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/v...D-1GB-Graphics

3. http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/v...-6GB-RAM1TB-HD

[Krane]

Hi everyone. I didn't want to start up a new thread. I am building a new computer for video editing and Photoshop. I have a HV20 and a Canon 7D. I already purchased/owned the following:

Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 (with builtin USB3.0 Ports and Firewire Port)
Intel i5-2500K (integrated HD3000 GPU)
Antec H2O 620 Water Cooler
16GB Corsair XMS3 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
Intel 320 Series 80GB SSD (from recent purchase) and a whole bunch of SATA drives from my previous machine (2TB, 1TBs, 750GB)
Thermaltake Level 10GT case (not a gamer but I like their 5 hot swappable bays with lock and I got a great price on it)
Corsair Builders Series 500W PSU
SIIG USB3.0 Mini Multi-Card Reader (for my 7D RAW Files - transfer speed is between 80MB-90MB/sec according to Windows Explorer!)

All these costs me about $600 and I'm wondering if I should exchange the i5-2500K (Quad Core - 4 Threads with 6MB L3 Cache) for a i7-2600K (Quad Core - 8 Threads with 8MB L3 Cache) for $100 more (making the system about $600 - which is 20% increase in cost!!!) - will the 4 extra Threads and 2 extra MB of L3 cache help? How much time will I be shaving off doing video editing/encoding/transcoding say for a 60min video??? I've seen benchmarks but they only give arbitrary CPU Mark numbers but never a real time scale of how much time saving it would be in the REAL WORLD. (if only maybe 1 min difference for a 60min video - from start to finish, this definitely not worth it but if it is 1 hour difference for a 60min video from start to finish then I'd say definitely I would exchange it) I will definitely be Overclocking this computer to gain more performance with it. In fact, my i5-2500K chip that I got is 100% stable at 4.9GHz and so far it looks stable at 5GHz as well. If I do get the 2600K, I will be overclocking it as well (just not too sure if I will be able to get to 5GHz at an acceptable temperature - below 75 degrees Celsius and Voltage - below 1.5V)

Any feedbacks will be greatly appreciated.

The only way you can determine those specifics is to measure it yourself. Otherwise, you can simply be aware that video editing is a system intensive task; and that an i7 is more sturdy than an i5. The more robust your hardware is, the better you editing experience will be.

Incidentally, although there is a definite price advantage in a custom built computer, you should keep in mind component compatibility is still an issue. For this reason, a preconfigured editor can still offer many useful advantages. Just thought I'd mention that for the sake of other less experienced users.

[Dr. Benway]

- will the 4 extra Threads and 2 extra MB of L3 cache help?

Yes, but more importantly what NLE are you using, and therefore why didn't you buy an NVIDIA GPU with CUDA acceleration?

[BarteS]

and that an i7 is more sturdy than an i5. The more robust your hardware is, the better you editing experience will be.

Absolutely, the suspension to go off-road is better on the i7 and it has more powered wheels to get you through tough situations.
I doubt whether it is still an open question. If the topicstarter hasn't decided yet, it could be Ivy Bridge is now an option too. (Not sure whether it is a very interesting one though. SGI already mentions temperature, the weak spot of Ivy due to the different heatsink. The 10% gain might be lost in the limited overclock. The very fact the transistors did again shrink and power consumption will be lower per cycle probably won't compensate.)
Unfortunately SGI did not mention which edit suite will run on this computer. That's very important as in the case of Premiere CS5 onwards it's very interesting to invest in a GPU and ignore the integrated graphics of Sandybridge. I'd still opt for an Nvidia card, although from CS6 on you can also make use of AMD cards to get the 'Freddy Mercury playback engine'. (I love the nickname...)

Incidentally, although there is a definite price advantage in a custom built computer, you should keep in mind component compatibility is still an issue. For this reason, a preconfigured editor can still offer many useful advantages. Just thought I'd mention that for the sake of other less experienced users.[/QUOTE]SGI has no issue in that department and most importantly, in preconfigured systems it's either impossible to overclock (stripped and locked down bios/efi) and/or heat dissipation is an issue.

[Krane]

in preconfigured systems it's either impossible to overclock (stripped and locked down bios/efi) and/or heat dissipation is an issue.

Exactly my point. The "ABS" will keep you in control; and from pushing your vehicle into a situationist beyond its designed limits.

[drapeama]

I'm actually running on a :
Windows Vista Ultimate x64
DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2900 MHz 5600+
Asus M3A78-EM
8192 MB (DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM)
ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series (512 MB)
Samsung SyncMaster 2253LW 22" LCD
Creative Audigy 2 ZS Sound Card
ST3200820AS ATA Device (200 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA-II)
ST3500320AS ATA Device (500 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA-II)
External SmartDisk 500Gb 7200RPM USB/FireWire

For me, it's more than enough for HDV editing /x264 encoding.

1) Replace Vista Ultimate x64 with Se7en Ultimate x64.
2) Replace the AMD Athlon 64 X2 2.9GHz 5600+ with an AMD Phenom X4 965 3.40Ghz.
3) Replace the ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series (512 MB) with a Zotac GeForce GT430 1GB
4) Add a Gateway 24" LED 1080p HDMI monitor.
5) Add 2x WDC WD10 EALX-009BA0 1TB Western Digital BLUE HDDs.

[Dr. Benway]

4) Add a Gateway 24" LED 1080p HDMI monitor.

Nah. Colour and imaging is our gig so...

http://shop.colourconfidence.com/pro...1w-lcd-monitor

[HueyNRolf]

and from pushing your vehicle into a situationist beyond its designed limits.

Poor situationist.


Keep 'em coming Krane.

[drapeama]

Nah. Colour and imaging is our gig so...

I'm fine with my 225$ investment. Thanks!
(so far, I think my videos doesn't look that poor in their colours to truly prove the need to invest such money in a monitor!)

[cgbier]

(so far, I think my videos doesn't look that poor in their colours to truly prove the need to invest such money in a monitor!)

As I doubt that the average user here watches YouTube from a broadcast calibrated monitor, I wouldn't lose too much sleep over that issue. As long as your waveforms and vectorscopes stay within legal limits, you'll do fine.

[drapeama]

As long as your waveforms and vectorscopes stay within legal limits, you'll do fine.

That's what I had in mind too.