Custom build computer

[Joseph Tessier]

Jim,

I purchased my new desktop at Maingear.com and specifically asked for recommendations for video editing as opposed to gaming. I spoke with Chris Morely and got good advice, I think. So far I’ve been happy with my editing experience. I process my AVCHD files recorded at the maximum for my cam (24mbs) and with VP11 have very good resolution full screen output in real time on my 2nd monitor with very few hiccups. I got the Vybe SS with i7 2600 processor, 120gb SDS for the OS and 1TB hard drive which I use for video. The video card is GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1gb. That was 8 months ago so you know how quickly things change, but like I said, I’m pleased with the smooth workflow so far.

JPaul

System Specs: I7 3.8 Ghz Quad Core 16GB Ram Win 7 Home Prem 64 VP 10/11 x64

[Jim Greene]

Thanks Joseph! I’ve never heard of maingear.com, sounds like an awesome company. So I’m torn with the decision of spending about $1600 more for them to build a computer compared to me buying similar components and putting it together myself.

-Jim.

[Joseph Tessier]

If you’re short on time you could do both – have them build the basic unit and you could add hardware yourself. That’s basically what I did. I’ll vouch for their tech support – always picked up the phone when I called.

JPaul

System Specs: I7 3.8 Ghz Quad Core 16GB Ram Win 7 Home Prem 64 VP 10/11 x64

[John Quick]

Some recommendations here:

https://www.johnrofrano.com/pcequipment.htm

(I don’t know how old this posting is – may be newer better components.)

John

[Dave Haynie]

I always build my own system. No problems with that, IF you’re comfortable, and/or have the tech resources to do a bit of system-level debugging, if it comes to that. That’s far less common than it used to be, but it can still happen. But it’s definitely the way to get what you want, and at least as you go high-end, a good way to save money IF you have the time and expertise. Or just refuse to settle.

My system is about half the performance of the one you’re looking at (AMD PhenomII x6 1090T CPU, 16GB RAM, AMD HD6970 GPU) and it’ll tear through a track or two (composited) of Canon video (from my 60D, pretty much the same CODEC as the 5D Mark II) at full speed, even with a few FX on ’em. So you’re good to go with that system. The Canon CODEC is actually a bit less CPU intensive that regular AVCHD/AVCCAM video, since it’s IP only, not IPB…. I’ll see a little drop in frame rate on full quality previews compositing two similar AVCCAM tracks from my HMC40.

From the Canon, the bitrate’s about twice that of a typical camcorder, so you will win with a fast HDD. It’s not the raw bitrate, which is pretty mild for today’s HDDs, but the fact that, once you’re streaming a few tracks, your source drive will be seeking all the time, which has a very large impact on effective drive throughput.

-Dave

[Jim Greene]

Thanks Dave. I look forward to the day I can scrub (or even just play) at full framerate, even at “Preview” quality. Is it worth the double price to get the GTX 590 with 1024 CUDA cores vs. GTX 570 with 480 CUDA cores? It might be overkill, but I often have 2-3 audio tracks, 4 video tracks (multicam) and then often use 2.351:1 masking.

-Jim.