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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Is this PC system substantial or am i insane?

Jeremy_Sawatzky

Jeremy_Sawatzky

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Im going to be lookin to build my new pc around editing scarlet 3k footage. This is a list of the components i would put together to complete the system.

i7 920 oced to 4.0ghz - add thermaltake 120 cooler to do this. - $250

asus x58 mobo - $250

12 gbs corsair ram - $325

Ati 5870 - for the eyefinity triple display system - $450

Thermaltake 850w PS - $150

OCZ vertex SSD drive 60gb - this is to load the OS on - $300

OCZ vertex SSD drive 120gb - to pile footage onto for editing - $550

750 gb and 1000 gb WD drives for storage - $already own

3x samsung has-bw 24in screens - $600 for 2, i already own 1

Adobe Master Collection CS4 for editing - got it

Windows 7 ultimate 64 bit - got it

Total Price - Around $3500

I dont want to go mac for these reasons. 1.Price, this system in a mac would cost 8000. 2, no triple display with one card. 3, I cant afford it. 4, i dont like macs.

I think this system would have absolutly no issues editing 3k footage. But am i stupid for not going mac straight off the bat? I know that in the future i will drop 15 grand on the most bada*s mac system ever for editing epic footage. but 3500 to hold me off for quite a long time seems like a reasonable option. I will admit i do enjoy gaming everyonce in a while. I know u can get 3 screens with a mac but not with 5870 performance. so i just want some imput. tell me what u guys think. thanks
 
Lots of good stuff here.

Next would be a raid of some sort. Most X58 mobos have onboard raid controllers for 4-6 disks. Hard drives are cheap. Will definitely speed up most tasks. You will fill up that 128 GB SSD in no time...

Why ATI? The Nvidia cards give better performance in CS4. If you spend 700 USD on a QuadroFX 3800 - http://www.nvidia.com/object/buy_now_results_ci.html?id=QDFX3800 - you get hardware acceleration in AE, Premiere and PS. For instance real time conversion of HD material to BluRay h264... http://www.nvidia.com/object/builtforadobepros.html

EDIT: OK, I reread your post, if the triple display is a big deal for you maybe you will be happy with the ATI...

Good luck on your new system, the SSD system drive will blow your mind...

Cheers,
Fredrik
 
I think the latter (you asked, so I answered)

Why would you want to buy a 'puter for editing Scarlet footage when the release date has not even been announced?

Not only you don't know what will be required or supported but also when that may be. I suggest that by the time you actually NEED a computer, the answers to your questions will present themselves.
 
I second Pawel's comments.

And... I would go nVidia for the video card. The Eyefinity triple-display thing sucks. Why do you need/want 3 displays off a single card?
 
Come on, the guy is buying a new computer. Pawel, you make it sound like buying a computer is like getting married. No reason to make him feel stupid (or insane).
And Jeremy, you WILL be able to edit Scarlet footage on this. No matter what release date. But it might be on CS5, though...

Cheers! :cheers2:
 
I second Jeff's comment about Nvidia. RED software does not play nice with ATI 0n PC's yet. For project storage and editing think drive capacities in Terabytes, not Gigabytes. One or two Terabyte drives paired in a RAID 0 minimum with a couple more for backup. I have a couple of clips to play with in REDcine on my laptop and a less than 1 minute file is over 1gig.
 
I aint guna lie i do enjoy some gaming as well thats why im pushin for the 5870. I NEED 3 screens. i duno if its just me or my workflow when i get goin ive got premier, after effects, bridge, encore, file windows and a whole pile of other crap all open at the same time. and it needs to be that way. And im definitly not buying this until i got some more funds saved up and i actually own my scarlet. that will probably be over a year. 20 bucks says nvidia will have a wicked 3 or more display card by then. What about the SSD workflow when i get my footage id pile it onto that ssd with nothing else and edit from that location, is that likely to speed things up? and what about the NO MAC workflow anyone think im retarded for not going mac?
 
I can't argue with the 3 screens. I'm just curious why you want to run them from the same card in that particular configuration unless it also fits in with your gaming. I'm a gamer too, or was... Back when I had more free time. Now my free time consists of cruising reduser.net while my systems render. My primary workstation has two 30" LCD displays plus a 46" plasma.

The RED tools work fine on the newer ATI cards. Or at least I haven't seen any issues. I prefer nVidia cards overall on Windows though. They just have better performance across the board. ATI always looks great in the specs and sometimes has superior performance on one or two select games, but nVidia dominates on a broad spectrum. nVidia is also more supported and capable for most "pro" apps when you get into 3D or other visualization and graphics software. Adobe CS4 doesn't really prefer either one, except for the hardware acceleration for H.264 with a couple of Quadro cards. But I wouldn't spend the extra money on a Quadro card just for that. But if that's of interest and you end up running other software like Maya, XSI, Modo, etc.. A Quadro may be worthy of consideration. Although, a GTX 285 or 295 are the equivalent of the top end Quadros in general performance and are a whole lot cheaper.

And no, you don't need to get a Mac. In some ways, current RED workflow has a few advantages on the Mac -- tools are released first for the Mac, etc.. But Adobe CS4 on Windows right now is a complete solution for RED. They just need to update the RED support to handle the new color science and build 21. Hopefully it happens soon. Needs a few bug fixes too. But it seems to work the same on both Mac and PC and has the same bugs in the RED support (and CS4 in general) on both platforms.
 
Jeremy_Sawatzky said:
I aint guna lie i do enjoy some gaming as well thats why im pushin for the 5870. I NEED 3 screens. i duno if its just me or my workflow when i get goin ive got premier, after effects, bridge, encore, file windows and a whole pile of other crap all open at the same time. and it needs to be that way. And im definitly not buying this until i got some more funds saved up and i actually own my scarlet. that will probably be over a year. 20 bucks says nvidia will have a wicked 3 or more display card by then. What about the SSD workflow when i get my footage id pile it onto that ssd with nothing else and edit from that location, is that likely to speed things up? and what about the NO MAC workflow anyone think im retarded for not going mac?
Click to expand...

If you are shooting 3k raw 1 gigabyte is going to get you about 2 minutes of storage at 24fps more or less. Is 4 hours footage on 120GB SSD enough to handle short term storage for your projects? How about backup?
 
yes i think 120 gb ssd should be able to hold all the footage i need, im going to be doing wedding edits and some nature videoography. oh and david congrats on your 1000 post count!
 
but seriously the cost just skyrockets the more gb i add maybe a 2tb raid 0 configuration would be a better option?
 
Jeremy_Sawatzky said:
but seriously the cost just skyrockets the more gb i add maybe a 2tb raid 0 configuration would be a better option?
Click to expand...

Fast reliable storage isn't cheap (yet), unfortunately. But don't fret, your timing might just work out. If you said you can get a 256GB SSD I'd say go for it, cause you could later add a second and be in very decent, but not great really. How much is enough obviously depends on how much you shoot though, duh. So just make sure to run some very serious numbers based on your personal prior experiences, and be prepared to hate the answer to the equations. You don't want to shoot weddings and have to be concerned with only shooting good stuff, cause I would guess the bride would murder with her bare hands you if you miss something important. Anywhoiza, you know how it goes, just make sure to buy at the last possible moment cause drives are exploding in size.
 
Fredrik Harreschou said:
That's wrong info. The new Quadro cards accelerate lots of stuff in CS4 and Nvidia is a lot closer to the Adobe developers.
From an earlier post: http://www.nvidia.com/object/builtforadobepros.html
Click to expand...

You don't need a Quadro to take advantage of much of that acceleration. And on my 4GHz workstation with Quadro4800CX about half of the acceleration isn't any faster than what the CPUs alone are delivering. The only real exception is the H.264 compression and some of the image effects rendering. Most of which can be enabled to process on a GTX 285, 295, etc.. with a little fiddling.

A Quadro w/ SDI option is a very good solution for CS4 if you want to connect a monitor. No need for an additional AJA or BMD card, unless you need inputs as well.

We have to consider the guy is trying to build a <$3500 computer. Installing a $700+ video card isn't helping his situation and he will get more out of the system with a faster RAID or other hardware than with a Quadro.
 
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