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New Computer Build
I am in the process of building a new video editing computer. I am using Adobe CS3 Production software and have heard that I need to use a motherboard and graphics card that work the best with this software. I have already purchased an Intel Q9400 Quad Core processor with Windows Vista 64. I would be intersted in hearing what others are using for hardware and any other recommendations that you might have regarding building a new computer for video editing. Thanks for the help.
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5 Replies
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Well you definitely want to make sure and get enough Ram. I use a Mac Pro and I have 12GB of Ram. If you can’t afford that at least get 6, it will still scream. If you are doing HD video make sure to get a lot of RAM, you need it if your movies are long.
As far as graphics cards go you can’t go to wrong there either way you go. For video editing the most important thing is you processor and memory. You can go Nvidia or ATi, but get a card with at least 512mb of ram.
If I was building a windows rig for editing it would go like this
Vista 64
12GB Ram
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 (Basically two GPUs on one card)
2 – 1TB 7,200RPM Hard DrivesAnother nice feature for a video editing system is to have an external esata port. That way you can access stuff on external drives a lot quicker, and even edit of of them.
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Thanks Lucas. I really appreciate your advice. Let me ask you this. You mentioned getting a lot of ram. The Motherboard that I am looking at will support up to 16gb of ram. This is ddr2 ram. Is ddr 2 enough or is it really worth the extra money to go with ddr3 ram with another motherboard? Thanks again for the help.
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DDR3 isn’t a huge necessity but there is a difference in performance and upgradability. Take into account how long you want to keep your system, if you think you’ll be getting a new one in a year or so then ddr2 will be ok. But if you want to take full advantage of your system and be able to make effecient upgrades later I would go with a DDR3 motherboard. It also depends on everything you’ll need it for, basically if you want faster access to your RAM its DDR3.
Hope that helps, I just built a PC system and I decided to go with DDR3 after all the research I did. But I don’t plan on ever buying a PC again, this should last for a while and then I’ll probably end up with a Mac pro somewhere down the road.
Oh and I also found with a 64 bit system its better to have the faster RAM. I have a brand new 64 bit system with CS3 master suite and my computer idles at 1.5G of RAM. With SD projects open in PS and AE it uses around 80% of my 6gigs. So with a x64 system and SD footage i would go with at least 6 gigs, at least. I’ll probably be upgrading to 9 or 12.
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I have a Dell Pc that has ddr2 ram and I have a Mac Pro with the DDR3, and by far and away the Mac’s memory performance is much better. It is much better to spend the money and make the system futureproof, then realize you need to upgrade just a year later.
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The 3 biggest contributors to performance are:
1. CPU technology and speed
2. RAM speed
3. GPU card and memory.Recent builds that I have done were based on the new Intel i7 CPU’s, 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM and Nvidia 9800GT video cards. These systems are outperforming my dual XEON based systems that cost $$$ more.
We could squeeze even more performance by putting in workstation level graphics, but the price increase for most is not worth it.Edward Roberts
Micro Media
Greer, SC 29651
micmedsales1@micmed.com
https://www.micmed.com
https://www.thecablestation.com
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