Anyone building a monster editing computer?

I'm on my way to building a serious editing computer, like those gaming computers that the
serious gamers build; where the mother boards can hold up to four 3D HD video graphics cards
and 24 gigs of RAM (with huge power supplies). The first thing to get is the large and wide
computer casing for everything that is going to be dumped into it. In this age of HD editing,
you need all the power you can get out of a computer. Anyone else here building one specifically
to edit your films (or for gaming), or have you already built one and your experiences -
let's here your specs!

 

Working editor here. I have an iMac with the standard-issue graphics card and 8 GB of RAM. It has served me perfectly well for all manner of HD content, including a feature. I don't plan to upgrade for at least a few years.

If you're doing a lot of graphics/effects/animation stuff that needs a lot of render power, go ahead and pump a computer up, I guess. But editing, you know, all you're ultimately doing is playing video in different order.

I do have to buy a lot of external HDs though.


Rick McCallum loves you!

 

I'm currently building a Hackintosh to serve as my main system. I haven't finished it yet, so I can't say how it functions. When it's all done though, it should be a pretty decent machine.

 

This is my monster editing machine:
[image=http://www.physics.arizona.edu/~leone/ua/ua_spring_2008/frankenstein_lab.png]
The hardware build was a bit of a jolt but the "software kit" acquisition was downright robbery. You know.....a piece here, a piece there.Still gotta optimize the renders.

Happy Halloween

 

Oh, good, I approve of this thread. Someone tell me what computer to make.

Additionally, if someone wants to do all that work for me, I'll pay you for the parts and a hundred bucks for the assembly.

 

That's a deal, Fig. Email me.

(andy@andyfilms.net)


(or just to talk)

 

I could do it too. You'd have to pay for me to ship the completed rig, though. Free tech support on it though, which amounts to me telling you what should work then you looking on in amusement as I break down into hysterics because it's not working the way it's supposed it.

Anyway, what Bertocci said - something moderately powerful but what you've got is overboard unless you're also doing really extensive effects. In my computer I've got a 2.9 GHz quad core AMD processor, 1 GB video card, and 4 GB of DDR3 RAM on a Windows XP machine. I keep forgetting that I need to order Windows 7 licenses for me and my fiancee, at which point I'll be dumping in some more RAM now that the operating system will actually be able to handle it. If I get more intensive with effects, then (when I get a bigger case) I may double my video card as well. Probably not though, I've got a small 1GB card in there that's really cheap but it'll work as a second monitor (something I don't have currently but when I was working on a project for someone else on his computer I found the extra two monitors he had to be very useful).

That is, of course, for a Windows-based system. A lot of post-production work, especially professionally, is done on Macs, and I have incredibly little experience with them.

 

I know I think I have 7 external hard drives, two of which are 3 Tera bytes. I've been editing HD and the system I have is fine for now, until I build the monster computer. Currently I'm running on the ATI HD video graphics card 6770, AMD Athlon II (quad core) and with 16 gigs of RAM. I know people think I'm nuts with 16 gigs of RAM, but after editing an HD feature documentary the render time is killing me even with what I have. And I've been talking to a few gamers I know who have doped up their computers to ridiculous heights to speed up their games. So I'm thinking "gaming" for HD editing, and cut down on render time tremendously.


Anyway, what Bertocci said - something moderately powerful but what you've got is overboard unless you're also doing really extensive effects. In my computer I've got a 2.9 GHz quad core AMD processor, 1 GB video card, and 4 GB of DDR3 RAM on a Windows XP machine.

That sounds like a very good system; yes I've been doing stuff in after effects, and keying. Glad to be among the HD video editing wizards. Thanks for the responses, guys. It's going to be fun building my first computer, let alone a monster one. It will be a pet project.