Video Editing Rig ~$1000. Suggestions?

[Ninjahedge]

Hey peeps. Long time no type....

Anyway, I was going through my old bookmarks for rig builds and a lot are dead...

I was wondering if anyone could help with a few links to build sites that could give me some blueprints for decent mid range video editing systems.

Req's are:

$1000 max (+/-)
Mini Tower case (I could use one of my older Lian Li's if needed).
SSD Boot, 2T+ Data drives

Peripheral gear/monitors already available.

ANY decent links to some rig recipes and reviews would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

[Cerb]

Slightly over, realistically, but something like this would be in the right ballpark, I think. A video card may help, but IGP is quite fine, these days. Doing some Googling, I couldn't much under about $1500. To long-time Mac people, even that is cheap!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1245 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($287.99 @ Amazon) <- any >3GHz i5-4xxx would be fine, and just as good when editing, but this should encode much quicker (depending on format, encoder, and settings, of course).
Motherboard: ASRock H87M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($119.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($107.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Toshiba 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($114.99 @ Best Buy) <- cheapest I saw with 7200 RPM and a 3-yr warranty
Case: Nanoxia NXDS4B MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($79.99 @ Amazon) <- Define Mini or 350D, instead?
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 450W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Amazon) <- the Corsair CX430 is $20 AMIR, again, but I wanted to avoid pricing that way given how ephemeral MIRs can be.
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro (OEM) (64-bit) ($129.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $995.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-14 05:36 EDT-0400)

General reasoning: You can always add more drives. You can always add a video card. There's a fair chance you can use >8GB right off, and if not, you'll grow into it. A CPU is hard to replace, relatively, and provides little value that way, so that's one thing to go all-in for. The E3-1245V3 is roughly the same as the i7-4770.

 

[Blain]

* SSD for OS & programs
* SSD for editing scratch disk
* Spinning platter HD for project storage when complete

 

[mvbighead]

* SSD for OS & programs
* SSD for editing scratch disk
* Spinning platter HD for project storage when complete

This is exactly what I was thinking. Last time I did video editing, the spinning disk while editing was one of my BIGGEST problems. Heck, I'd even consider running RAID0 with 2 smaller SSDs as your work area, and store the original and completed working on spinning disk. That may be overkill, but as much performance as you can get on the editing disk is going to help a lot.

 

[Cerb]

* SSD for OS & programs
* SSD for editing scratch disk
* Spinning platter HD for project storage when complete

Depending on budget constraints, a RAID 0 of 2x240GB M500s would be pretty cheap, with a slight CPU and PSU price reduction (an i5-4670 would offer about the same performance except when encoding as the i7-4770/E3-1245V3), and/or going with 8GB RAM. A single 480GB wouldn't be much more (a bit slower, but no RAID to deal with). I don't know that there's worthwhile room to cut out much else, or move to a 1TB SSD (at least not if any 2TB+ HDDs are needed as plain data drives).

Now, I wouldn't personally build a PC this way, but I also don't do any more than the simplest of video editing, only occasionally, and it's hard to figure out what to scale down from $2k+ builds. It's got the GB/$ and IOPS going for it, with no split IO sacrificing any of the bandwidth or IOPS (assuming a 720GB RAID 0):
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($204.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H87M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($80.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($107.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($107.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($107.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($100.00 @ NCIX US)
Case: Nanoxia NXDS4B MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro (OEM) (64-bit) ($129.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $999.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-14 15:47 EDT-0400)

 

[Ninjahedge]

Sounds good.

I also have the opportunity to use my old Lian Li case and 450W power supply to help diffray the cost, but those are my old items and would only save about 150...

If the board does Raid well, I could go double on the SSD and 0 it for some speed, maybe cut the memory to 8 with only one sim...

The key here is best for the buck. My friend SAYS 1000, but if I can get it down to 800 with easy upgradability it might be better. (Sometimes he spends more than he should on shhhhhh... stuff).

The suggestions are VERY appreciated guys. It gives me something to start with that I can more easily compare. I will be coming back of I have any changes to see what you think.

Thanks again!

 

[Cerb]

What is your current PSU, and how old is it?

 

[Cerb]

Going with that $800 target, and not counting the case, either, here's a simple cut down version. But, it may not be the best idea, depending on what your PSU is.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($204.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H87M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: Kingston Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($119.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($119.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($100.00 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro (OEM) (64-bit) ($129.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $832.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-16 14:45 EDT-0400)

If you're set on 7, or 8.1, you can save another $30-40 with one of the Home OEM versions, on top of that.

 

[Ninjahedge]

Thanks Cerb.

I will look into that this week.

 

[Ninjahedge]

What is your current PSU, and how old is it?

Antec 550W Tru Power (hehehe, One "An" short).

TP2-550EPs12V.

Sorry for the delay, just had a kid (literally) and the schedule is a little wacky.

 

[Ninjahedge]

Slightly over, realistically, but something like this would be in the right ballpark, I think. A video card may help, but IGP is quite fine, these days. Doing some Googling, I couldn't much under about $1500. To long-time Mac people, even that is cheap!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1245 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($287.99 @ Amazon) <- any >3GHz i5-4xxx would be fine, and just as good when editing, but this should encode much quicker (depending on format, encoder, and settings, of course).
Motherboard: ASRock H87M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($119.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($107.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Toshiba 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($114.99 @ Best Buy) <- cheapest I saw with 7200 RPM and a 3-yr warranty
Case: Nanoxia NXDS4B MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($79.99 @ Amazon) <- Define Mini or 350D, instead?
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 450W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Amazon) <- the Corsair CX430 is $20 AMIR, again, but I wanted to avoid pricing that way given how ephemeral MIRs can be.
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro (OEM) (64-bit) ($129.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $995.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-14 05:36 EDT-0400)

General reasoning: You can always add more drives. You can always add a video card. There's a fair chance you can use >8GB right off, and if not, you'll grow into it. A CPU is hard to replace, relatively, and provides little value that way, so that's one thing to go all-in for. The E3-1245V3 is roughly the same as the i7-4770.

If the PS works with this and I do the following changes:

2 x SSD
No Case
No PS
Drops the price slightly to $970.

What is your opinion on going 2 x 8G for memory and dropping the SSD's to 128 rather than 240?

Also, what is the difference between the Xeon E3 and the I5-4670? You said the Xeon will code faster?

Thanks again!

 

[Cerb]

The Xeon E3 series are often cheaper than roughly equivalent Core i7 CPUs. Those ending in 0 lack IGP, those ending in 5 have it.

The desktop Core i5 CPUs lack HT. The desktop Core i7 CPUs have HT. The Xeon E3V3s above the 1225 have HT.

They're the same base chip, just with varied speeds, and other features turned on or off (none of which typically matter except HT and IGP).

The Xeon E3-1245V3, FI, is for all practical desktop purposes identical to the Core i7-4770, except for having a 3.8GHz Turbo speed instead of the i7's 3.9GHz.

With the smaller SSDs, you'll lose space and speed, how much speed depending on model. Should you do it to keep in budget? Good question.

 

[mfenn]

A TruePower 2 is really old, I don't think that I'd reuse it in a new build.

 

[Ninjahedge]

Mfenn, any real reason?

Reliability?
Compatibility?
Space heater factor?

I am not worried about having enough power, the thing was used to house a RAID1 5 disk array, 2 monitor vid card, sound card, board, etc etc....

Dropping to a decent SSD and having no real vid card would make things lighter on the load.

Speaking of Vid cards, would the board be able to play ~3yo or non FPS type games? A smooth 30fps on something like Civ V would probably be all that he would want for now.

Thanks!

 

[Cerb]

PSUs have capacitors and possibly MOVs, which degrade from use, especially from ripple and spikes. Over time, they may pass greater surges, or pass more noise from the power line (and allow more internal has to make to the AC side). It's hard to measure how far along in its service life it may be, so once one is around 5 years old, it's generally a good idea, if building mostly or all new, to replace it.

 

[mfenn]

PSUs have capacitors and possibly MOVs, which degrade from use, especially from ripple and spikes. Over time, they may pass greater surges, or pass more noise from the power line (and allow more internal has to make to the AC side). It's hard to measure how far along in its service life it may be, so once one is around 5 years old, it's generally a good idea, if building mostly or all new, to replace it.

Agree 100%. A TruePower 2.0 is closer to a decade old at this point, they were introduced in 2005. Time to put the old girl out to pasture.

OP, you won't be able to play any sort of graphically intensive game on the IGP, but Civilization should be OK at 1080p and medium settings.

 

[Ninjahedge]

Thanks guys.

The PS is old, but only had about 2-3 years of use before I put it in the "Hey, I could use this for something else" pile.

Also, what is the difference between the Ares and Ripjaws series' for G.Skill?

Thanks for the input.

 

[Ninjahedge]

Oh, opinions on the kingston 240 versus the Crucial?

Kingston 240G SSD

Crucial 240G SSD

 

[lehtv]

Kingston V300 has been a bad pick ever since they switched to using ridiculously slow asynchronous NAND (without any announcement or change in product name).

That said, the Crucial M500 isn't the fastest drive on the planet either, but it's still a lot faster and better quality. It's a good pick. Personally though, I wouldn't get the M500 240GB. The 480GB version is a bit more enticing since it's faster than the 240GB model, and far less expensive than any competition.

Instead I'd go with Sandisk Ultra Plus 256GB $120 from Amazon (it's $150 on newegg). It performs quite a bit better than the M500.

 

[Ninjahedge]

Thanks for the link!

 

[mfenn]

The PS is old, but only had about 2-3 years of use before I put it in the "Hey, I could use this for something else" pile.

Doesn't mean that you should trust a new PC to a decade-old PSU. Just get something that supports modern ATX standards, has new capacitors, and better efficiency.

Also, what is the difference between the Ares and Ripjaws series' for G.Skill?

Given equivalent speed and timings, literally the only difference is the heatspreaders.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Ninjahedge]

Ahhhh, the memories.