New PC Wanted....Video Editing....Build Or Pre-Built?

[ReZourceman]

Hello Everyone.

 

It's come to my attention that I could acquire some savings that I didn't think I could acquire yet. It's not such a large sum that it would make much impact on a house deposit, but it would make my life a lot easier and happier if I had a more capable, faster and quieter computer.

 

I've done a lot of Googling, and find myself in a confused situation.

 

When searching for "video editing PC" theres a lot of help, but not many actual...buy places. HP Z1 G2 (or whatever it's called) looks incredible but it's too expensive. I'm looking in the £800 - £1,300 kind of price range.

 

Obviously, I know building one will be a lot cheaper. However I don't know HOW much cheaper. Also, I am overwhelmingly in too deep when it comes to considering building my own PC....I literally wouldn't know where to start when it comes to putting it together. It's such a large amount of money, I don't want to fuck it up. Is it easy to fuck up?

 

I'd rather by built (but still open to the idea of building myself...just need re-assurance, tips and advice), but yeah built would be easier.

 

I know I need a lot of RAM. I don't know what the next most important thing is....I read a lot of things about what I need, but I don't ACTUALLY know what they are. When things are listed as being "z80090 ghz" I have not idea what that stuff is.

 

I've been told before that video editing is more intensive than gaming and that's cool. There are a lot of gaming systems to choose from it seems....would these kinds of machines still be suitable for video editing, provided the RAM is high enough?

 

I would appreciate any and all help!

 

Whut shud I d0?

[Magnus]

I had no idea how to build a PC until I did it last year, and it really isn't that difficult! So I think you'll manage, ReZ. Just pretend it's LEGO! (Except cheaper.)

[Mr_Odwin]

My gut is telling me that a video editing PC won't need the same graphics card that a gaming PC would - I think most of the video editing work is done by the processor/RAM/HDD. So that's a significant difference in cost/build. I wouldn't believe me though - look into it yourself.

Also, building your own is both terrifying, and easy, kind of.

[MoogleViper]

Potentially the easiest way to go about it is to pick a pre-built PC that you'd like, and then we can see how much it would cost to build that yourself.

 

And from there we can look at improvements and the like.

 

My gut is telling me that a video editing PC won't need the same graphics card that a gaming PC would - I think most of the video editing work is done by the processor/RAM/HDD. So that's a significant difference in cost/build. I wouldn't believe me though - look into it yourself.

Also, building your own is both terrifying, and easy, kind of.

 

Yeah the GPU would be needed for processing images. The intensiveness of video editing is the rendering, which would be more CPU heavy.

[arab_freak]

Video editing is a big part of my job, so I highly recommend you build a system that fits the type of content you'll be exporting. My editing rig is an overclocked 3770k and 8 GB of DDR3 RAM, with a 660 Ti so I can play games. I've never had any problems with it and the longest thing I've ever edited was a half-hour episode for a TV show. I don't push beyond 1080p, and I haven't experienced any bottlenecks with the amount of memory I have, although I do plan to upgrade when time proves it necessary.

 

If all you're doing is making videos for the web, then any modest gaming machine will do the job just fine. If you want a better example of how extreme these things can go and how much horsepower you actually need to get a job done, watch this video:

 

[Emasher]

I'm probably a little late here, but there are a few things I thought I should mention. While 8GB of ram might be enough for editing 1080p video, going much above that though, you're going to want a little bit more. Frame buffers get very big very fast when you start increasing the resolution. Extra RAM is even more important if you're doing any sort of compositing or any other situation where the amount of data stored per-pixel is increased. Fortunately RAM is VERY easy to upgrade later on, so if you're just doing 1080p now, 8GB will probably be fine.

 

As far as GPU goes, it depends a bit on what software you're using. Certain applications are going to rely on the GPU more than others. You should look at the system requirements for the video editing software you're running and buy something a little bit better than the recommended specifications (if you can afford it). Looking and Adobe Premiere and Sony Vegas, they recommend 1GB and 512MB - 1GB of video memory respectively, but I'd recommend going with at least a 2GB card. 4GB if you're going to use it for any serious gaming as well. The graphics card is fairly easy to replace later, but also quite expensive.

 

The CPU is going to be a lot more important than the GPU. Basically, go with the best i7 you can afford. i5's are great for budget gaming rigs, but for video editing, you want something with a little more power.

 

The most important thing about the motherboard is that it has the right socket to support your CPU. You should also get one that has a PCI Express 3.0 port for your video card, although, that's most of them these days. Beyond that, just look for one that has the features you want, and make sure the form factor (eg. ATX) is supported by the case you buy. The motherboard is a huge pain to replace since everything's connected to it, so don't cheap out. Buy from a decent brand like ASUS.

 

The case isn't all that important (as long as it will fit your other components), but don't buy one with a built in power supply. The power supply, although not as sexy as some of the other components is one of the most crucial things to get right. At worst, a bad power supply (PSU) will burn your house down, or fry all your other components. It's absolutely crucial that you buy from a reputable brand (eg. Corsair), and read the custom reviews, since even good companies make bad products. Make sure you get a modular one if you don't want a tangled mess of unused cables inside your case, and make sure the wattage is sufficient for your CPU and GPU.

 

You're probably going to want a ton of hard drives to store videos on. These days, you should also strongly consider putting in an SSD. Installing your OS and commonly used applications on an SSD will significantly speed up start-up and launching applications. It's a very noticeable difference. If you can afford it, go with at least a 250GB one. 128 will do on a budget though. Speaking of operating systems, make sure you get a 64 bit copy of windows (go for the OEM version since it's cheaper, but that copy will be tied to the motherboard).

[ReZourceman]

Thanks for all the help guys! You weren't too late @Emasher! Much appreciated.

[Zechs Merquise]

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/

 

Try these guys. I build a lot of PCs for people and use PC specialist all the time. You can add and subtract components pretty easily and see how it affects the price. They give excellent after care too and a year long warranty which I have never needed!

 

If you're video editing I would say as much RAM as possible and a fast CPU with a good graphics card. The important thing for that kind of unit is a good PSU and make sure you pick a better quality case with more fans for cooling and room for a copper pipe or even liquid cooling system. It will cost, but keeping things cool keeps them running fast and saves you major hassle in the long run.

 

They even split their builds and options into different categories, you should try the 'Work Station Computers' which range from £800 to £3000, they will be the range you want and you will be presented with options that suit your needs.

 

Also, in that range you could more or less quit console gaming and better a far better quality of graphics and performance from a PC with that spec - kinda kills two birds with one stone. Plus, Steam and GOG are incredible!