Building new computer for video editing

Kevin Mc wrote on 8/25/2007, 4:16 PM

Hi -

I am preparing to build a new PC-based computer primarily for video editing. I figure if it's spec'd out for video work, it will run all of my other applications just fine. I am willing to throw money at this thing if it works well for rendering and editing videos.

I need suggestions on the following:

Motherboards / Processors / Cooing Systems
Memory - how much / what kind?
Video Cards - what am I looking for in particular?

I would appreciate any input that you pros can offer.

Thank you,
--Kevin

Comments

Eugenia wrote on 8/25/2007, 4:32 PM

I blogged about this a few months ago:
http://eugenia.gnomefiles.org/2007/07/06/sony-vegas-requirements/
I would particularly go with an nvidia card btw, because the Magic Bullet plugins have special support for it.

Kevin Mc wrote on 8/25/2007, 4:48 PM

Thank you - that is helpful info. I am currently running an NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE (256MB), but am not convinced that VMS is utilizing this card to its fullest potential. When I am editing, I must keep the Preview Window in Draft mode - or the video does not synch with the audio (video is not smooth on edit/playback). Am I missing something? (i know that's a general question - but am hoping for some general wisdom) :)

My present system is an Intel 1.9GHz, 1GB RAM, 256MB NVIDIA, 1TB HD (spread over 4 drives).

Chienworks wrote on 8/25/2007, 5:28 PM

Vegas makes no use of the video card's processing capabilities at all.

Eugenia wrote on 8/25/2007, 5:31 PM

Almost no one gets smooth playback in anything other than preview or draft mode, so don't worry about this. The nvidia card is utilized. What you got is good (I assume that your 1.9 GHz CPU is a recent one), except the RAM. You will need 2 GB of RAM to properly work with HDV, although 1 GB of RAM is ok for plain DV. As I am writing this I work on an HDV video (documentary on a release of a local rock band's album) and VMS uses 1.7 GBs of RAM (there are 4 video track and 2 audio ones).

ADB wrote on 8/26/2007, 2:01 PM

Take care with NVIDIA with VIA chipsets. Do a google on the RX55 register error.

Kevin Mc wrote on 8/26/2007, 4:08 PM

Thanks - I've stayed away from VIA chipsets for a very long time as they always present more problems than they solve.

Paul Mead wrote on 8/27/2007, 11:51 AM

This topic comes up often in the regular (pro) Vegas forum. I suggest you skim there for suggestions. Some people have done a lot of research and have learned lots of interesting things about what works best for video.

Kevin Mc wrote on 8/27/2007, 12:19 PM

Thank you Paul. Will do...