PC Wanted - For High Performance Useage

4743hudsonj

MaxG wrote: »

I can afford anything I want.
The idea of using the machine, is to Edit it on. I would rather watch a proper television set.

i know i know i got that

just thought that editing would be a lot easier if you could see the final product as it would be.

as for the specs you need

it will be tight


i doubt you will be able to get quad core without sacrificing other components quality

i would reccomend getting a dual core processor with a higher clock speed

yes it wont be as good as the dual core at the rendering and stuff when you edit but it will be better overall and allow you to get all the components you require up to a half decent spec

RobTang

Theres no way you can fit a full custom build high performance system for under 400 quid. Quad core and a decent gfx cards are way over budget if you expect a full system.
Cheapest is about £360-£390 for a q6600 base unit but you still need an OS, peripherals, maybe a better gfx card and a monitor. (extra £200-£300 on top say)

The only way to do it is to
A. use an existing system for parts (case, peripherals etc)
B. go second hand.
C. downgrade your expectations a lot. (ie. quick shop came to £350 all in for a e5500+ on board graphics, cheapest possible everything)
D. raise your budget

However you can edit on anything really as long as you have the hard disc space and dont mind waiting a bit longer.

Jakg

the 9500GT is waaaaay worse than the 8800GT.

Lemme spec something up (as i'm bored...)

Jakg

Here goes:

First of all - Yes it's £20 over but a bit of surfing on HUKD will probably knock that off the price.

Optical Drive - Well, you need one to burn your movies to a disc. I went for the cheapest burner I could find.

Case - You need a case, and you'll need a powersupply. The problem is that most PSU / Case bundles use a supercheap PSU which run the risk of blowing your hardware. This was cheap, and will do the job - saying that you can probably get much higher gear for very little extra (my £30 FSP 700w PSU new from Scan, or my Antec 900 from eBay for £32 for example).

Hard Drive - HD movies will EAT space. You'll also need something fast - 1TB should be more than enough, but RAID mirroring might help if your ready to spend some extra. Seagate's 7200.12 drive is a little faster, but about a tenner or so more. If you need extra i'd look at RAID first...

Memory - Any old DDR2 will do - I went for 4GB because i'd recommend that for workstation use, but 8GB might help - but its more £ and you can add it when you need it. Play do good deals on PNY RAM, the Crucial Ballistix is a little faster, a lot more overclockable and has a liftime warranty (no proof of purchase required), but i only went for it because it's cheap :P

CPU - You need a quad core, and for the budget your looking for you have two choices - the Q6600 or the Q8200 - both are around the same speed - the Q8200 is a little slower, but the SSE4.1 etc might make up for that in rendering. Plus, it's cheap... The OEM is cheaper by about £8, but needs a cooler - the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro is £15, so it's up to you if the £9 extra is worth it for cooler temps and lower noise.

Motherboard - I don't like ASRock at all, but it's the cheapest 775 board I could find with 4 DDR2 slots. Replace with whatevers cheap, tbh...

Graphics Card - The 8800GT was discontinued and replaced with the near identical 9800GT - I want for a cheap one. You do need one as Pinnacle seems to benefit from GPU acceleration, so a dedicated one might help - but i'm not quite sure how scalable this is, so it might be worth checking out how much benefit you get from that over a cheap dedicated.

Operating System - You need one, but I haven't put one in there simply because with 7 slated for release this year (supposedly) it's £70 wasted buying Vista - you might as well try the RC until the release (although that does put the overall cost near £500...).




FWIW I was building myself a cheap PC to use for Uni, and wanted some power behind it and got this bundle - very rarely in stock but it is £205 for whats costed £250 in my build - slower GPU and GFX card, but a better mobo.

el_gringo_3

I'd look at geting the processor second hand to save a few quid. I often trade in old processors and bits of memory at CEX for mine, and i've never ever had a problem. In fact i think the only 'faulty' processor i've ever come across was one that had been manhandled! They are ok for graphics cards as well, although i'd avoid buying a hard disk drive from there.

isofa

If you are serious about video editing you'll get a high spec balanced monitor. I could blow your budget twice over just on a decent NEC panel! Depends what's important to you...

Knub

Don't forget for a processor with one or more cores and 4gb+ of RAM - you will need a 64bit Operating system.

I think you may want the decent monitor so you can check the final products even though you may not be watching it there.

timbim_2

For video editing, you want two HDD's, one for OS and programs and the other for video data. Using one is a fast way to destroy the HDD, it'll be seeking far too much and will die on you, taking data with it. And you need to remember that you'll need firewire for video capture, not sure if that board has it onboard. If not, you'll need a controller card. Get a good PSU, Corsair or the like, or you run the risk of blowing the bits. I'd also go for a decent case, maybe the antec 300 or the like, to maximise airflow and reduce the risk of overheating.

MaxG

I know what I need, but what shop did you paste that picture off?

Jakg

I used eBuyer but Scan are usually a little cheaper.