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  • Sony Vegas Pro Workstation

    Posted by Joshua Smith on July 12, 2011 at 12:15 pm

    Hey guys,

    Could anyone take a sec to look at the specs for a tower I am about to buy as my new editing workstation? I need something reliable and that I can possibly keep for a few years to make it pay for itself.

    If you see anything that doesn’t sound adequate for using Sony Vegas Pro 10, Magic Bullet/Looks, and utilizing raw files from my Canon T2i and an AVCHD Camcorder please let me know your recommendation.

    (I am thinking of getting rid of the RAID 0 Stripe option as I was advised that my computer performance will suffer if I am using the 1TB drive for the OS/NLE and the 1TB drive for dedicated video storage as one single RAID 0 array. What do you guys think?)

    Joshua

    ——————————————————————-
    Here’s the aforementioned specs for my new computer:

    Joshua Smith replied 14 years, 10 months ago 6 Members · 16 Replies
  • 16 Replies
  • Mike Thomas ii

    July 12, 2011 at 3:24 pm

    Yes, drop the RAID 0 config. I am not familiar with that motherboard, but if I was building a new video workstation I’d be looking for a SATA III 6G controller and drives.

    It might be handy to have a good eSata port for an external drive. Great for backups and moving files to other computers.

  • Joshua Smith

    July 12, 2011 at 4:10 pm

    Ok, so the hard drives selected are not adequate? Or are you just suggesting the best possible drives for building a workstation?

    Thanks Mike so much for your help!

    Joshua

  • Mike Thomas ii

    July 12, 2011 at 5:51 pm

    You will get better performance over SATA II 3G drives but not the have added risk of a RAID 0 config.

    I have been really impressed with the 1TB Western Digital Black 6G drives (WD1002FAEX), I have two in my computer and I have two of the older WD 3G Black drives in external NextStar3 eSata units. I needed to add a new PCIe card for the SATA III upgrade. I cloned my drives over to the newer ones, now I use the older ones for backups.

    Your CPU & GPU look pretty solid. For a brand new 64-bit system, I’d go with the newer drives.

  • Jeff Schroeder

    July 13, 2011 at 12:18 am

    Mike is right, If your going to have a raid you want raid(5) with at least 4 drives in a jbod setup.

    I’m not familiar with the mobo, and there have been a few negative remarks about sandy bridge with video editing. You’ll have to track that down.

    Jeff

    http://www.narrowroadmedia.com

  • Mike Thomas ii

    July 13, 2011 at 3:16 am

    Hey Joshua,

    If you can build your own (better) system it would cost you less or no more than what is being offered. Just a suggestion.

    As Jeff noted, MSI mobos are sometimes questionable. I prefer to build desktops with only Intel mobos with Intel CPUs on work jobs.

    I’m an old system builder that believes any video or audio or RAID should come from a fast bus on a seperate card.

  • Nigel O’neill

    July 13, 2011 at 6:04 am

    I tend to use Asus or Gigabyte motherboards. MSI’s can be a bit flaky.

    Your power supply could be a bit underpowered if you plan to run more drives in future. I would look to a good quality 850W PSU that delivers clean power.

    Video card is a bit on the low side. If you plan on using Sony AVC, a GT480 or GT570 should do the trick.

    My drive configuration is 5 drives:
    C: 1 TB drive: Operating System & Programs
    D: Projects: 2 x 1 TB (RAID 1) – mirror < provides redundancy
    E: Output: 2 x 1 TB (RAID 0) – stripe < no redundancy, but excellent write speeds

    I also have eSATA which connects to a slot-in caddy.

    My system specs: Intel i7 970, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 10 (x32/x64), Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S Pro 4.1, Neat Video Pro 2.6

  • Mike Thomas ii

    July 13, 2011 at 11:10 am

    Joshua head explosion in 3-2-1…

    You will do fine on a two drive SATA III system. My preferences are: drive one, Windows OS and apps on a formatted 8kb cluster; drive two, for video files and storage only with a 32 or 64kb sized cluster. For price performance get the WD Black drives.

    Mobos are a flavour of the month at times, see what of other people have, and working. If you really want a system that will keep up with tech get a board where you have two x16 PCIe slots, your video card will take up the first. 32GB max memory is a good option also. You cannot beat the Intel Core i7-2600K on price performance!

  • Joshua Smith

    July 13, 2011 at 12:17 pm

    Thanks Mike, Jeff, and Nigel for your suggestions! I really appreciate it! I did not expect so many helpful responses. I also got a quote (see below) from another wholesale computer store that my dad knew and I was wondering if this may be a better buy (price & quality-wise). It is about $150 bucks more but I believe the video card to be better suited for video editing and I opted for one 500GB drive for the O/S and two 1TB drives for storage of raw files and rendering (respectively). I am having trouble identifying the make of the motherboard (if anyone can assist me with this–is it MATX?)

    I opted to not get an O/S on this build since I already have a 64-bit version of Windows 7 Pro and could install that myself…

    Thanks you all!

    Joshua
    ———————————————————————

  • Jeff Schroeder

    July 13, 2011 at 1:10 pm

    Joshua,

    Do you feel confident assembling a computer yourself? If not do you have a friend who can help you?
    There are also videos on youtube to show you how to assemble a computer. Plus, you can ask me questions off the board.

    I can beat the last invoice you posted by $300 and set you up with a better system.

    -better mobo
    -twice as much memory
    -faster drive
    -nicer case

    All from newegg.com. I’ve been making high end system since the 486 was the best.

    Jeff

    ====================================================================================================
    Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
    Model #:Three Hundred
    Item #:N82E16811129042
    Return Policy:Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
    In Stock
    $69.95 -$10.50 Instant $59.45

    ASUS SABERTOOTH P67 (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
    Model #:SABERTOOTH P67(REV3)
    Item #:N82E16813131702
    Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
    In Stock
    $219.99 -$15.00 Instant $204.99

    ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU TOP/2DI/768MD5 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support …
    Model #:ENGTX460 DirectCU T7
    Item #:N82E16814121390
    Return Policy:VGA Standard Return Policy
    In Stock
    Mail in Rebate Card
    $149.99 $149.99

    COOLMAX CUL-750B 750W ATX 12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI/Crossfire ready Modular and Compatible with Core i3/i5/i7 Power Supply
    Model #:CUL-750B
    Item #:N82E16817159111
    Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
    In Stock
    Mail in Rebate
    $79.99 -$12.00 Instant $67.99

    Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
    Model #:BX80623I72600K
    Item #:N82E16819115070
    Return Policy:CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
    In Stock
    $314.99 $314.99

    CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 15000) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9
    Model #:CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9
    Item #:N82E16820233142
    Return Policy:Memory Standard Return Policy
    $94.99 $94.99

    HITACHI Deskstar 7K3000 HDS723015BLA642 (0F12114) 1.5TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5″ Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
    Model #:0F12114
    Item #:N82E16822145520
    Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
    In Stock
    $69.99 -$5.00 Instant $64.99

    Seagate Barracuda ST3250312AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5″ Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
    Model #:ST3250312AS
    Item #:N82E16822148699
    Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
    In Stock
    $36.99 $36.99

    ASUS Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E818A7T/BLK/B/GEN – OEM
    Model #:DVDE818A7T/BLK/B/GEN
    Item #:N82E16827135224
    Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
    In Stock
    $16.99 $16.99

    COOLER MASTER Hyper N 520 RR-920-N520-GP 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Intel Core i7 compatible
    Model #:RR-920-N520-GP
    Item #:N82E16835103057
    Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
    In Stock
    $45.99 $45.99

    Subtotal: $1,057.36

    ====================================================================================================

    http://www.narrowroadmedia.com

  • Joshua Smith

    July 13, 2011 at 6:27 pm

    Hey Jeff,

    Before I get my hopes up, could you change a few of the specs to match the quote I posted? I was hoping to have at least three HDs, one for the O/S and two others for raw files and rendering, respectively. I can do 500 gb on the O/S drive if you can give me 1TB drives for the other two.

    Next, can you accomodate 16gb of ram? That’d be my dream setup to be able to access as much ram as I could afford. Plus, I’d love an internal USB 3.0 hub and internal SD/HC Card reader.

    S/N: Do you prefer the GeForce GTX460 vs the GeForce GTX550 video card?

    And how do you charge as far as labor? I saw you posted the “subtotal” so I was wondering what other fees I could be charged for.

    If you’d like to contact me off the board, my email is killajayproductions@gmail.com. I appreciate your help Jeff as I solidify what I’m going to invest in.

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