Video Editing Workstation - Suggestions Please!

[accesscap]

I have a client looking for the following...Thoughts on the config would be GREATLY appreciated. He does super slomo video editing and needs lots of power.

WS DUAL XEON E5472 3.0GHz, 12MB cache, 1600 MHz FSB (Quad-Core)
4GB FBDIMM DDR2 800 REG ECC (2 - 2GB FBDIMMS)
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1700 512MB
RAID 0 Configuration
2 x 150GB 10,000rpm SATA 16MB Cache

4 x 1TB 7,200rpm SATA 32MB Cache

20X Dual Layer DVD–RW Writer


Thanks for advance for any and all input.

I apologize if this isn't the right section to post...I am a ****** to this forum

[drew and not u]

What sort of budget is he looking at. Is this an OEM configuration? That list looks good for a workstation setup, but it depends on his budget and needs.

[accesscap]

Wants the best "Bang for the buck" for around $7,000 (or less). He has a total budget of $10K...but $3K is software.

Thanks,
Chris

[Boy'nBlack]

An E5450 is an option, with the only difference being the 1333FSB vs. the 5472's 1600. There's also two 5472's with an E model with 80W each, the X with 120W. I'd really nudge for the E5472 as you're planning, but wanted to bring it up incase you ran across that in your search.

Kind of a tossup with boards, with the Asus DSEB-16 and the Tyan S5397AG2NRF. I'd probably lean toward the Asus because I wouldn't need that memory capacity on the Tyan, it's included ability of SAS with the LSI 1068 onboard...but basically still the same board. They're server boards obviously, so a lot of fluff is gone...no USB really, and sound is handled basically through an addon card.

I'm not sure about the Workstation video card though. Desktops can do graphical work really well these days. They're mainly for line programs and 3D modeling...not so much video editing. If doing line level drawings, DDC, or 3D Animation, it'd be worth stepping up to the FireGL 7600...handedly takes the Quadro's out where it counts. It falters when used as a photo editor by not being an OpenGL card, which many apps use. They're all damned loud too! So really ponder if he needs a workstation card for Video editing...I'd think Avivo on common desktop cards to be more desirable, but could be wrong.

Drives, get 6 Veliciraptors...300G 10K-RPM drives in two arrays (1 Matrix boot and 5 Raid5). That's still under a 1T working drive set, but hold the data off the computer until used. Storage of finished projects should be elsewhere for security, and really only see servers like this used to do the work. The speed of the vRaptors should outweigh their capacity in this aspect.

[Reloadron]

As to the board I will deviate from Chumly's fine suggestion. I would lean towards an Intel board or a Tyan board like the S5396 board. Why? Mainly because it has been my past experience when building higher end workstations I have had my best luck with Intel or Intel Qualified Server Boards. Simply because I feel more comfortable going that route.

My last higher end workstation builds were about 3 years ago with one for myself and one for the TV station the wife manages. Both were done on the now old Intel 7525 series boards. Both have worked fine for over 3 years now and seen plenty of use.

Both machines used a SATA controller card rather than onboard SATA and both used at the time the Intel SRCS15 card. That afforded 6 channels. So where am I going with this? I would consider a real good higher end controller card with onboard processing.

I also used a high end commercial GPU and that being a 3D Labs Realizm 800 card. Then 3D was bought and essentially beyond Windows XP there are no new drivers for the brick. At the time it was a $2K card with 648 MB of onboard memory. For video editing I would think commercial card and a good one. Two monitors are indespensible at this point.

With a $3K allocation for the software I am assuming something like Avid commercial software? I would make sure the software is going to take advantage of the processing power. That is essential for a good productive build on a commercial workstation.

Using the SRCS16 I configured two raptors for the OS and installed programs in RAID1 and 4 additional WD drives in a RAID5 configuration for my storage needs. You may want to consider a similar arrangement with a newer card and obviously the newer much higher capacity HDDs. Three years ago 250 GB was a big drive.

I also added a hot swap cage for the drives. All six drives are easily swapped if need arises.

Oh yeah, I also went with optional HSFs for the Xeons as well as a real sweet little fan for the RAM cooling. The Xeons were 3.6 GHz and about the best at the time of the build.

There you have a few basic things to consider as well as some of the logic and thought process I put into the build. Remember to consider how much advantage the software will take of the system.

Ron

[Boy'nBlack]

Ya, pretty tough to sway from Tyan's. They all really seem like similar builds (almost spot on with Intel's as a reference). I just saw some hard core perks on the Tyan/Intel that are traded a bit for the Asus (like 128G of memory, which is nuts)...I've never used Asus server boards, and not a big name for servers in general. Like their workstation boards, but oblivious in this arena.

I still think the Theater Avivo is amazing for video, and the HD decoding might be a nice perk (playback) compared to what Commercial cards are actually offering up these days. During proofing, the color reproduction is spot on. Quadros turn brights into dayglo, and you usually end up numbing the frames lower than they should be. Editing in frame, I don't think commercial cards do anything differently.

[stinger608]

Yea, Tyan is one of the best of the best high end server type boards!!!!

[theburan]

Mid-Range Workstation GPU Shootout : FireGL V5600 vs. QuadroFX 1700 vs. FireGL V3600 - HotHardware is a comparision of several workstation cards, including the fx 1700, and a pair of ati cards in the similar price range. Might be worth a look...