New system specs

[Marthmp]

I am in the process of building a Edius editing system. My problem is my IT people insist on building the PC. Here are there specs. Will this be OK?

Base Unit: OptiPlex 745 Minitower,PentiumD 945/3.40GHz,2X2M,800FSB (222-5849)
Memory: 1.0GB,Non-ECC,667MHz DDR2 2x512,OptiPlex 745 (311-5040)
Video Card: Integrated Video,GMA3000,Dell OptiPlex 745 (320-5169)
Hard Drive: 160GB SATA 3.0Gb/s and 8MB Data Burst Cache,Dell OptiPlex320 and 745 (341-4216)
Operating System: Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2,with Media,DellOptiPlex 320, 740 and 745 English,Factory Install (420-6287)
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM Drive: 16X DVD+/-RW SATA,Black,Roxio Creator Dell Edition,Dell OptiPlex 745 Desktop or Minitower (313-4378)

[7hbg]

You need to tell us what you will be editing: SD or HD

For starters;

Pentium D is an entry-level processor for this (good for SD but it will straggle with HD), I think the Core 2 Duo is what most are using now.
1GB ram maybe, but I recommend 2GB.
Hard drives, you should have one for the OS and minimum of 2 in RAID0 for your data.

[Trax]

I am in the process of building a Edius editing system. My problem is my IT people insist on building the PC. Here are there specs. Will this be OK?

Base Unit: OptiPlex 745 Minitower,PentiumD 945/3.40GHz,2X2M,800FSB (222-5849)
Memory: 1.0GB,Non-ECC,667MHz DDR2 2x512,OptiPlex 745 (311-5040)
Video Card: Integrated Video,GMA3000,Dell OptiPlex 745 (320-5169)
Hard Drive: 160GB SATA 3.0Gb/s and 8MB Data Burst Cache,Dell OptiPlex320 and 745 (341-4216)
Operating System: Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2,with Media,DellOptiPlex 320, 740 and 745 English,Factory Install (420-6287)
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM Drive: 16X DVD+/-RW SATA,Black,Roxio Creator Dell Edition,Dell OptiPlex 745 Desktop or Minitower (313-4378)

I think that this is not optimal system configuration for Edius.
Good solution (good price and good system performance) in my opinion:

Motherboard: Intel DG965WH with latest BIOS
Processor: Intel Core2Quad Q6600
Memory: 2x1 GB DDR (2GB)
Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce 8600GT
System HDD: Western Digital Raptor 150 GB
Video HDD: 2x SEAGATE Barracuda ES 750 GB on RAID 0
DVD writer: SONY NEC Optiarc Blu-ray BD-M100A
Sound card: Creative SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Xtreme Audio 24-bit 7.1
Monitors: 2x 22" LCD LG Flatron L226WTQ-SF
Case: CoolerMaster Centurion Micro ATX 541
Power: XILENCE power 500W, ATX2.0
Operating System: Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2

and Edius NX of course... ;-)

[pjsssss]

I think your IT guys need to be fired if that is the specs they want to use for an editing station....
The processor is on the low end, the Ram is not enough, I doubt the onboard video will be sufficient, the hard drive should be bigger (for only pennies more), IMHO very few mini towers give enough space for cards and adequate ventilation, you need storage drives...

I do like the choice of OS :-)

Honestly, it sounds like they are trying to build something for the cheapest price possible. You will not be happy editing with that set up. Check the setups that people are using here.

[GrassValley_MD]

I have to agree with all of the opinions here. I would talk with the IT guys and explain that Video editing is a different beast then regular computing. :)


Mike

[STORMDAVE]

The OP's specs are geared more towards using Microsoft Word than editing :D

He's better off building one himself.

[Gordon B]

All the folks above are giving you good advice, maybe I can offer a bit more.

I have just rebuilt my editing PC as follows:-

1. Asus P5K Premium motherboard

2. Intel Core 2 Quad CPU

3. Ram-DDR2x2GB

4. ATI dual DVI high end 250 DDR2 Mem (can't remember model..it's in the PC)

I have replaced my previous build which had a (then) top range MB with a single core 3.06 P4 CPU and 1GB mem. Although I could capture HD, it was a real struggle with drop out and jerky pictures. Even playback had to be rendered, and that spec was higher that your IT guy is suggesting.

This very day I have done my first test HD capture and it was like capturing SD, honest it was that smoooooth, the playback was faultless. I captured using the generic HD OHCI input and the Canopus HQ codec.

This result has made it all worthwhile and it didn't cost a fortune.

My advice is to find someone who knows about NLE systems to build you a REAL machine.

Best of luck.

[Mr Bill]

I have just rebuilt my editing PC as follows:

1. Asus P5K Premium motherboard

2. Intel Core 2 Quad CPU
. . .

Hi Gordon,

That's great to hear because I'm about to use the same MB & CPU for my new system.
Are you using a Edius Card ?


Bill

[Gordon B]

Hi Bill,

Only my trusty DV Storm2 card with hardware encoder. I was considering an NX PCI Express card, but do I really need it? On capture and playback I was monotoring the CPU usage in Task Manager and it was running on all four chips at 16 to 18%, it was crusin'

I am using Edius 4.51c.

It's a great board and the Quad chip really delivers.

Cheers,

Gordon.

[NHaskett]

I thought you couldn't use the storm card for HD??

Nev

Hi Bill,

Only my trusty DV Storm2 card with hardware encoder. I was considering an NX PCI Express card, but do I really need it? On capture and playback I was monotoring the CPU usage in Task Manager and it was running on all four chips at 16 to 18%, it was crusin'

I am using Edius 4.51c.

It's a great board and the Quad chip really delivers.

Cheers,

Gordon.

[Gordon B]

Kev, I only mentioned my DV Storm 2 in answer to Bill's question about which boards I was using, of course you are correct to say that Storm does not support HDV, I use Generic HD OHCI for that, and it works a treat.

[Angelo]

I use the DVStorm2 for DV/SD editing that gives me true colors to be viewed on to a calibrated external display with perfect frame accuracy from Edius' timeline.

For HDV capture and HD editing I use the OHCI port. I'm only experimenting with HD editing and for me I find it difficult without the use of a calibrated external monitor when doing color correction or seeing title/text colors, I do have the overlay set "closely" to matched the calibrated monitor. This is where the NX card is needed, to do what the DVStorm2 does but in HD. But all my output is on DVD-/+R media, therefore I still edit with my trusty DVStorm2 for DV/SD output.

All the DV cams that I have are DV 4:3 and creating 16:9 DVDs there is a noticeable quality loss. One solution for shooting excellent quality 16:9 is with HDV cams. I can use M2T(HDV) or HQ 1440x1080i footage in a DVStorm2 timeline for SD editing and my 16:9 DVDs have easily doubled in resolution compared to 4:3 DV footage stretched to 16:9. I quite pleased with the results and all in RT. As a test my 3.06Ghz Duo-Core can do two M2T (or HQ) 3DPIP in RT on a DVStorm2 SD timeline.

Reading that Gordon and others are getting excellent results I'm thinking about getting the Quad-Core to get more effects in RT with HD footage on a SD timeline. This editing method has given the DVStorm2 a new life.

...Angelo