Specs for PC occasionally used for video editing with SVP.

[John Rofrano]

[fabio mereghetti] “As sometimes I have to work on video editing with HDV footages (Canon HV40 and similar devices) I would like to build the new machine with specs that would let me edit directly without having to use proxies, if possible.”

For working with HDV an Intel Core i5 should be fine. If you think you will be getting into editing AVCHD (AVC/H.264) you’d be better off with an Intel Core i7. You don’t need a powerful graphics card for HDV. SSD drives are nice for speed but not required. I would get something that has at least 2 drives, one for your OS and applications and a second drive for video files.

I like to use the VideGuys DIY guides for parts recommendations. The current DIY 10 has a system you can build for $1183 USD. Look at the past DIY’s for cheaper systems. The older DIY’s show prices of the day which are a lot cheaper now.

I’m not sure what your sources for parts would be in Italy but you should be able to get close to one of these systems.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Kell Hymer]

Hi Fabio,

If you will be editing HD footage, you will need a robust system unless you don’t mind working at frustratingly slow pace. The most important thing is CPU power and Intel processors are best for this as Sony Vegas will harness Intel’s hyper-threading. Some of the newer quad cores will be “OK” but I suggest a 6 core processor such as the Haswell Extreme i7-5830K or 5930k. Both of these use the 2011-V3 socket (not compatible with the previous 2011 sockets/CPUs). This requires an Intel X99 board which also supports the New DDR4 memory.

If you want to save a little bit of cash, go for an X79 board with a quad core i7-3820 or 4820K. For six cores, the i7-3930K and 4930K are great. I use the 4930K on a Asus P9-X79 Deluxe motherboard. While it does not support the new DDR4 memory like the X99 boards, it is plenty fast with quad channel memory up to 64GBs. Both X99 and X79 give 40 PCI-E lanes, reducing any bottlenecks for multiple video cards or PCI-E based SSDs.

Here is what I would do. I do not know the prices of all the components but assuming you do not need monitors or a PC case, you should be close to your budget.

– Intel X79 based Motherboard
– i7 SandyBridge-E or IvyBridge-E processors. Best to go with a 6 core. You will regret not getting the extra 2 cores after a few minutes of editing HD footage :). Also note that many X79 motherboards will require BIOS updates to support IvyBridge. Check the manufacturer to ensure compatibility.)
– 16GB RAM (4 X 4GB in order to utilize the quad channels) or 32GB (4 X 8GB)
– Minimum of 2 Hard drives, one for Windows and the other for your source material for your projects. Solid state drives will boost performance.
– Basic or mid range AMD video card if using Vegas Pro 10 or higher. Fully understanding GPU support in Vegas is near impossible, but suffice it to say AMD is better supported. NVIDIA GPUs in the GTX 5XX series or below will work in Vegas. Do not worry about the “workstation cards” as they are better suited for 3D modeling and CAD work, not so much for NLEs. I am looking to get an AMD gaming card to replace my Quadros. The GPU should be your last worry. Save the money and focus on a good processor. Some Intel processors, none of those mentioned above, have integrated graphics. I have heard that this can sometimes cause stability problems for video editors, especially when using a standalone GPU. You can turn integrated graphics off, but it seems like a waste to have a processor that does this and not be able to use it.

Current System: Intel i7 3930K | Asus P9X79 Deluxe | Nvidia Quadro 4000 & 2000 | OCZ Revo 480 GB PCI Express SSD | Windows 7 64 bit | Vegas Pro 12 (64)

[Fabio Mereghetti]

Thanks both for your answers.

I started looking at the Videoguys DIY X.

I’m mixing a bit from the two lower budgets lists.

For now I picked up:

Mobo – Asus Z87 pro
Proc – i7 4770 3.4GHz
RAM – G.skill 16GB

I’m not sure about the gpu. In the DIY lists there are all Nvidia while I remember reading somewhere in the forum that maybe it would be better to go on AMD R9 series: any more detailed advice on this, please?

Thanks.

[Kell Hymer]

I agree with John, the Video Guys DIY builds are great guides. John really knows his stuff and has been a great help on these forums. As far as the GPU is concerned, the Video Guys DIY builds are not NLE/CAD/3D Modeling specific. I have found that the professional Quadro and FirePro cards are not designed for NLE applications such as Vegas. I spent months researching Vegas’ GPU compatibility and summed it all up in the following thread:

https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/24/984273

Current System: Intel i7 4930K | Asus P9X79 Deluxe | Nvidia Quadro 4000 & 2000 | OCZ Revo 480 GB PCI Express SSD | Windows 7 64 bit | Vegas Pro 12 (64)

[Fabio Mereghetti]

After following DIY 10 and reading the thread about GPUs
I did my homework and ended up with this list:

Asus Z87 pro 90MB0DT1-M0EAY5 113€
Intel i7 4770 3.4GHz BX80646I74770 262€
G.Skill Ripjaws X 2x8GB 145€
Sapphire R9 290 triX 11227-03-40G 257€
Antec Three hundred 2 0761345-15320-1 73€
Corsair HX850i CP-9020073 159€
Zalman CNPS10X OPTIMA 120mm 34€
SSD Crucial M500 240GB CT240M500SSD1 91€
Pioneer BDR 209 63€

Total (VAT included) 1197€

or this one (with Thunderbolt if I understoood correctly):

Asus Z87 expert 90MB0DV0-M0EAY5 165€
Intel i7 4770 3.5GHz BX80646I74770K 282€
G.Skill Ripjaws X 2x8GB 145€
Sapphire R9 290 triX 11227-03-40G 257€
Antec Three hundred 2 0761345-15320-1 73€
Corsair HX850i CP-9020073 159€
Zalman CNPS10X OPTIMA 120mm 34€
SSD Crucial M500 240GB CT240M500SSD1 91€
Pioneer BDR 209 63€

Total (VAT included) 1269€

Please check if everything fits together as I saw
that there are a lot of similar asus z87 motherboards
and Intel i7 4770 processors and I’m still not so sure
I picked up the best options.

I don’t really see if Thunderbolt could be of any use
for me, today or tomorrow, but maybe it would be better
having a mobo with that feature: wouldn’t it?

Should I consider adding a few bucks to my budget
where would you think they would be best spent?

I had a quick look to the price of a six cores i7 but
it costs like two 4 cores, for what I could see.
I read somewhere about using a workstation architecture
with two Xeon processors but I know too little to understand
if technically this would fit my needs and i don’t know
anything about the costs, too.

Two little questions:

WIll my PCI (not PCI-e) firewire card work with this mobo?
If not, what should I look for to download from my Canon HV40?

And which way to go to be able to still use IDE drives (maybe as backup units)?

Thanks again for the time you are spending to help me.

fabio

[John Rofrano]

[fabio mereghetti] “Please check if everything fits together as I saw that there are a lot of similar asus z87 motherboards and Intel i7 4770 processors and I’m still not so sure”

Well… that’s the problem with building your own PC. No one can tell if the parts play nice together until you actually build one. Just because the specifications say it will work, doesn’t mean it will work reliably, or at all. This is why I recommend using a list from Videoguys DIY. They’ve already built one and proved that it works and in some cases, the amend their list when it doesn’t work!

If you are not going to follow an exact DIY parts list, then I recommend that you start from scratch and follow these rules: #1 Pick the processor that you want. #2 Pick a motherboard that supports that processor. #3 go to the motherboard manufacturer’s web site and get the list of memory that they have tested with and certified that it works with that motherboard. Then only buy that brand and model number of memory. Do not buy other model numbers from the same brand. If it’s not on the certified list, don’t buy it! Trust me on this one, I didn’t do this once and I spent a week getting the memory timings correct because he motherboard didn’t configure the memory correctly and I had to do it manually. It’s no fun!

[fabio mereghetti] “I don’t really see if Thunderbolt could be of any use for me, today or tomorrow, but maybe it would be better having a mobo with that feature: wouldn’t it?”

Thunderbolt 1 is 10GB/s which is 25x faster than Firewire 400, 3x faster than eSATA, and 2x faster than USB 3.0. Thunderbolt 2 (which is only available on a Mac) is 2x faster than that (20GB/s). This is how you want to be connecting your external storage in the future. Personally, I would get the motherboard with Thunderbolt because it is more “future proof”.

[fabio mereghetti] “I had a quick look to the price of a six cores i7 but it costs like two 4 cores, for what I could see.”

I’m not seeing that. The Intel Core i7-5820K Haswell-E 6-Core 3.3GHz (BX80648I75820K) is $389 USD which is 312€ euro. That’s not double the price of 262€ it’s only 50 euro more and the single most significant increase in performance that you can make for Vegas Pro it adding more cores. I’ve had a 6 core for almost 3 years. I now have a 12-core (Dual Xeon 6-Cores). I couldn’t imagine building a new compute for video editing and only using 4 cores.

[fabio mereghetti] “WIll my PCI (not PCI-e) firewire card work with this mobo? If not, what should I look for to download from my Canon HV40?”

No. PCI cards do not fit in PCI-e slots. You would need to purchase a motherboard that has both types of slots and that would be a very old discontinued motherboard. Just buy a new PCIe Firewire card. they only cost $15/12€. I bought a Rosewill PCIE FireWire 1394a Card 2+1 Ports Model RC-504 and it works great.

[fabio mereghetti] “And which way to go to be able to still use IDE drives (maybe as backup units)?”

You may be able to find a very old USB 2.0 enclosure that might accept the drive but here is my advice. Any drive old enough to have an IDE interface is old enough to be failing soon so the best place for it is in the garbage before it fails. Drives are cheap. I’m guessing an IDE drive wouldn’t be more more that 500GB in size and a new SATA III 500GB drive is only $50/40€.

Personally I buy a lot of WD Passport 1TB USB 3.0 drives when they are on sale for $59 and fill those up.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Fabio Mereghetti]

Thanks John.

You are right about the i7-5820 price. I can find it for 340€ here.
But if I understand correctly, going that way I will have to change the mobo and the RAM: right?
And I’m a bit lost in trying to find the right pieces not having a guide like the DIY lists (even the top one goes quad (4770 + Z87).

For instance, I had a look at the Asus site and I could see that there are many different X99 mobos but I don’t know which one to pick.

So, I think I will stick to the 4770 with the expert flavour of the Z87.
I’m leaping from a single core AMD FX53 so I think I will see “some” improvement all the same. And I usually have to edit a multicam project a couple of times a year, asking for no money. And till now I did it on this single core, with proxies and… a lot of patience.

Anyway, I will have a look to see if I can find some trusted place where to look for a DIY list with a 5820 o some in that league.

And again thanks for the time spent to try and help me.

Grazie mille.

fabio

[John Rofrano]

[fabio mereghetti] “But if I understand correctly, going that way I will have to change the mobo and the RAM: right?”

Yes. Like I said: you pick your processor first, then a compatible motherboard, then the memory recommended for that motherboard by the manufacturer.

[fabio mereghetti] “For instance, I had a look at the Asus site and I could see that there are many different X99 mobos but I don’t know which one to pick.”

If you pick the Core i7-5820K, then you need a motherboard with Socket LGA 2011-v3. From the ASUS site there are 5 motherboards to choose from. Most of them differ in Gaming graphics (which don’t matter for video editing) and the number of USB and SATA ports, etc. From previous models, VideoGuys usually recommends the PRO and WS versions so I’m guessing that the X99-E WS and X99 PRO are probably best for video editing. If you compare them side-by-side you can quickly see the differences.

[fabio mereghetti] “Anyway, I will have a look to see if I can find some trusted place where to look for a DIY list with a 5820 o some in that league.”

You could always buy a pre-built PC. That eliminates the hassle of finding parts that work together.

[fabio mereghetti] “Grazie mille.”

Prego (gosh… I miss being in Italy and I need to go back) 😉

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Fabio Mereghetti]

Any link to a trusted PC builder that would ship to Italy at reasonable costs?

Thank you.

[John Rofrano]

[fabio mereghetti] “Any link to a trusted PC builder that would ship to Italy at reasonable costs?”

I’ve sent friends to iBuyPower and they have been very happy with the systems they build. They build gaming computers which are usually very good for video editing. I see that they have a web site in Germany that lists prices in Euro so I assume they may ship to Italy. Here is the link:

https://www.ibuypower.de/

They have an Intel® Core™ i7-5820K with an AMD Radeon R9 280X (Paladin X959) for 1469€. You can configure it with an R9 290 for 95€ more. The thing that’s nice about iBuyPower is you get to pick your own parts and they only show you parts that work together. Check it out.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com