Video Editing

fmuellerfmueller Auckland, NZ Icrontian
edited March 2011 in Hardware
I have just converted my old main rig to a HTPC and love it. For now I do all other computer stuff on my laptop - a cheap Acer, which actually does a pretty good job for most of the stuff I do. I am not into gaming, but mostly web browsing, word processing, and photo editing. For photo editing my machine is just barely suitable, and I do a lot of that. Also, my camera is a Rebel T1i, which has HD Video, and I am becoming more interested in that. In the medium term, I think I'll need a dedicated machine for video editing, but I haven't even made up my mind if that's going to be a desktop or a laptop. I still have a pretty decent 22" screen, keyboard and mouse. Would have to buy everything else.

So after this long intro, what are people using for video editing these day? Should not break the bank, but give decent performance for some years. I have put PCs together from components in the past. I am looking for recommendations for a mobo/processor/RAM/HD combination or a laptop.

And before I forget, it is going to be a freezing cold day in hell before I buy anything that helps lining the pockets of Steve Jobs. Any recommendations in that direction are wasted electrons :bigggrin:

Many thanks!

Comments

  • mertesnmertesn I am Bobby Miller Yukon, OK Icrontian
    edited March 2011
    Breaking the bank is a pretty ambiguous phrase, so here are some quick system configs:

    Portable, Powerful & Inexpensive (Intel):
    Mobo: Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3 (mini-ITX) $114.99 + shipping
    CPU: Intel Core i5 2500 $209.99
    RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3-1333 $41.99
    HD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 7200RPM HDD $64.99
    DVD: Whatever is inexpensive on Newegg $17.99 + shipping
    Case+PSU: Thermaltake Element Q (inc 250W PSU) $64.99 + shipping
    Total Cost: $514.94 + shipping

    Portable, Powerful & Inexpensive (AMD):
    Mobo: ASUS M4A88T-I Deluxe (mini-ITX) $124.99 + shipping
    CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T $199.99
    RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3-1333 $41.99
    HD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 7200RPM HDD $64.99
    DVD: Whatever is inexpensive on Newegg $17.99 + shipping
    Case+PSU: Thermaltake Element Q (inc 250W PSU) $64.99 + shipping
    Total Cost: $514.94 + shipping

    The prices aren't a typo. The cost is identical before shipping.

    Either one of these systems would work very well for you. I have both CPUs, but haven't done a complete benchmark run yet for them (that's coming soon hopefully). If there's still room in the budget, an SSD or moving to 8GB (2x4GB) RAM would be a nice upgrade. On the Intel side, moving to an i7 2600 would also be good if the budget can handle it. If costs need to be reduced, a lower CPU is about the only viable option. AMD's Phenom II x4 955 Black is the same speed, but in a quad flavor for $60 less. Between those two are faster quads and slower hex CPUs. For Intel, you can save about $20 dropping to a lower i5. I wouldn't recommend an i3 for video since they're only dual core.

    Anyway, that should give you a pretty good start.
  • fmuellerfmueller Auckland, NZ Icrontian
    edited March 2011
    Many thanks for the super detailed response :thumbup

    I am not quite ready to make a purchase tomorrow, but that will certainly give me a lot of food for thought. Your suggestions also appear to be in a very reasonable price range, meaning the ambiguous 'not breaking the bank' criterion has been met :bigggrin:

    I take it there is no clear advantage in going with Intel or AMD in this price range right now?

    Last but no least, can you suggest a SSD, since you mentioned that as a possible upgrade path?
  • mertesnmertesn I am Bobby Miller Yukon, OK Icrontian
    edited March 2011
    fmueller wrote:
    Many thanks for the super detailed response :thumbup

    I am not quite ready to make a purchase tomorrow, but that will certainly give me a lot of food for thought. Your suggestions also appear to be in a very reasonable price range, meaning the ambiguous 'not breaking the bank' criterion has been met :bigggrin:

    I take it there is no clear advantage in going with Intel or AMD in this price range right now?

    Last but no least, can you suggest a SSD, since you mentioned that as a possible upgrade path?
    I'm working on official benchmark runs for the Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs. If you want an idea of how the AMD CPUs perform, I've got a series of benchmarks in the Phenom II X6 1100T review. It doesn't have the 1090T, but the performance will be pretty close since there's 100MHz difference. Either platform will work well for HD video though. I haven't looked at other reviews of the Intel CPUs, so I don't honestly know how they compare yet. To further complicate matters, AMD will be bringing their new "Bulldozer" architecture sometime around this summer. No idea how it'll compare either.

    As far as SSDs are concerned, I only have experience with the OCZ Vertex 2. I love it though, and would highly recommend it. The drawback is that you'll want to have a mechanical drive for your data since the cost rises quickly for increased SSD capacity. This would either necessitate a larger case or the use of an external drive solution.
  • fmuellerfmueller Auckland, NZ Icrontian
    edited March 2011
    Thanks again!
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    edited March 2011
    I recently went to a 128GB SSD, but you could definitely use something like a 64GB (though I would be loathe to go smaller) for OS/some data intensive programs (or writing your video files out) and then move them to a mechanical drive for long term storage (anything from the green drives, to caviar black to raptor).
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