Videoguys' System Recommendations
for Video Editing (April 2009 Update)

We get asked all the time, "What computer system should I use for Video Editing?"
So, we created this page to give you some basic guidelines. Every month computers get more powerful and less expensive, so the recommendations on this page could become outdated very quickly. We will try our best to keep it up to date but if you see something that doesn’t look right or if you’re configuring a system that may be somewhat different please e-mail (videoguy@videoguys.com) or call the Videoguys at 800-323-2325 and we’d be happy to review your plans. We want to help you make sure you have everything you need to edit & produce great videos.

This page is broken into several sections:

• What kind of computer you need and why? Note: This article is currently for PC recommendations only.
• General system recommendations
• Videoguy's recommendations on new technologies (ie. multi-core, 64 bit)
• Potential compatibility Issues.

Videoguy's DTV Tech Support Hotline (516) 759-1615

The minimum recommended system myth
Many computer software and hardware vendors will list a minimum system spec that is often not adequate. While you will have enough horse power to make them run, you may not get the full advertised performance and you will be disappointed. This is why we have chosen to post our own minimum recommended system for the latest new NLEs. We are confident that if you follow our guidelines you will be very happy with your new NLE purchase.

For best results Make it a Workstation
If you are going to be editing long format videos over an hour long or you want to add lots of 3D effects, filters and have multiple layers of video flying all over the screen, you want a workstation class machine. This will insure you get the stability and performance you demand from your NLE system. You basically have 3 options here:

1. Get an HP (or Dell) workstation or a Mac Pro. An HP workstation will cost you more, but in the long run it will be worth it. They use only the best components, and these workstations come optimized for digital content creation. We also recommend Dell Workstations - with a warning. We have found that Dell can be inconsistent and even sloppy in their driver installation and system set-up. If you get a Dell workstation, make sure you install and update all the drivers and then follow our Vista 64 or XP tweaks before you install any video editing software/hardware.
   
   
2. Get a turnkey NLE solution from an expert NLE integrator. You can follow this link to a list of turnkey providers recommended by the Videoguys. All of the companies featured on this page make excellent NLE workstations, fully loaded and optimized for long format video editing.
   
   
3. You can certainly build your own computer. You can and should use our DIY articles as a guideline. Make sure you have adequate power supply (minimum 500 Watts, 750 Watts is better) and plenty of cooling and airflow inside the box. Click here for our DIY page with links to our most recent machines. Keep in mind, we don’t sell these systems or many of the components but we’re happy to share the specs with you so you know what kind of machine the Videoguys build for themselves.

What brands we recommend and why
We've had good success with workstations and laptops from both Dell and HP. You may pay a little bit more to get a workstation from these vendors, but the advantage is that you also get outstanding service and support from them.

With NLE, the more speed the better. Faster machines mean no dropped frames, smooth playback and shorter rendering times. These companies build machines that are used everyday, 24/7 in the broadcast video post-production facilities all over the world. Keep in mind that these broadcast-level machines are typically top of the line workstation models, running dual Xeon processors. You do not need to invest in that level of machine. Most video editors will get all the power they need with a single multi-core CPU machine, built with top end components on a high performance motherboard.

If you would rather get a computer from your local dealer, try to find out if they have any experience installing video editing systems. If so, make sure they understand what your main system requirement is: 9+ megs per second sustained throughput for real-time NLE systems!! For HD editing you will need even more! Your system builder can't be sloppy with BIOS version, drivers or memory resources and the system must be optimally configured. If they follow one of our DIY recipes along with our system recommendations and tweaks, you should end up with a solid video editing machine.

Videoguy's Do-It-Yourself NLE Computer Guides
Over 5 years ago, back in February of 2004 we posted our first DIY article as a guidebook for digital videographers who wanted to build their own NLE computer on a tight budget. Since then our guides have become the defacto standard for affordable NLE configurations. Out latest DIY 7 machine based on the Intel Core i7 processor running Vista 64 is our best ever!!

The choices we make...
Whether you’re shopping for a pre-configured machine or having on built for you there are several choices to make along the way and here are some more recommendations to help:

• We highly recommend both Intel Core 2 Quad core and the new Intel Core i7 processors.
  In the past we would recommend Intel over AMD for compatibility reasons. Then when Dual Core processors first came out we gave the upper hand to AMD. With the Core 2 Duo processors Intel re-took the top spot for video editing and with Core i7 Intel’s lead has only gotten stronger. While AMD machines will work, we think Intel is definitely the way to go for video editing.
  
  
• Chipsets are as important as the CPUs.
  This is often overlooked, but in reality it is the single most important factor in the success of your computer for NLE. Picking the correct motherboard is critical. Any bottlenecks in the chipset can be a huge problem for NLEs. While you may not be able to find the specific motherboard you see referenced in one of our articles, choosing the latest version based on the same chipset is usually a safe bet.
  
  We recommend and using ASUS motherboards in our DIY machines because we have found that ASUS motherboards work great with our video editing hardware and software. We can also recommend Tyan, MSI & Gigabyte. The chipset used on the motherboard is actually more important then the brand. For more specific motherboard information check out our DIY articles.
  
  
• Specific NLE solutions may require specific motherboards
  We can't stress this enough. The guidelines on this page are GENERAL guidelines. Many times our vendors will recommend specific motherboards or chipsets for integrating their NLE solutions. If you have any specific questions about hardware and/or software you plan on purchasing from us, we urge you to give us a call at 800-323-2325 and review your planned configuration. This is especially important if you intend to edit HD footage.
  
  
• Picking the right graphics card for your NLE workstation
  One of the most often asked questions on our tech support and sales lines (as well as in emails, online forums and user groups) is "What is the best graphics card for NLE?" The answer is actually pretty simple, once you understand why. It all depends on the NLE software you plan on running, what kind of video work you do and if you are also going to be using any additional hardware in your system. Check out our DIY- GPU : Picking the right graphics card for your NLE workstation article.
  
  
• General system recommendations (Apr 2009):
  If you are starting from scratch, follow our DIY7 shopping list: Intel Core i7 processor, 6 GBs of Triple Channel RAM (3 x 2GB) , a 500+GB SATA drive and a 512+ meg ATI or nVidia based graphics card that supports dual monitors. Add in a second 500+ GB SATA drive for your storage - even better, set up a 1 TB RAID 0 striped set (2x500GB).

Memory Recommendations
You need Minimum 1GB of RAM just to run Windows XP efficiently, 2GB for Vista 64. For video editing you want at least 2GB (4GB on Vista 64)! Memory is still very cheap, and this is a great performance booster. While you can run with less, you will have a much more stable & better running system with more memory. Also, with the new chipsets, the new faster RAM is one of the biggest contributors to improved performance. By running less then 2GB you are actually throttling down your overall system's performance.

For best results get a motherboard that supports dual channel memory and make sure you use two 1GB ( or bigger) sticks of RAM (with triple channel use 3x1GB). We recommend getting the fastest memory possible DDR3 from top vendors like Corsair, Crucial or Kingston. Do not use cheap memory in your video editing workstation, the potential stability issues far outweigh the few dollars you could save.

Why we recommend a dual head graphics cards
It's all about real-estate. With two monitors you can stretch your timeline across the bottom of both screens and you can have more windows open at the same time. This means you spend less time opening and closing windows or scrolling through the timeline. As a result, you are more productive. Adobe, Avid & Sony all have optimized preset screen layouts for dual monitors.

We recommend nVidia Quadro based graphics cards for video editing because of their superb Open GL support. Adobe Premiere Pro, Photoshop & After FX, Avid Media Composer, Red Giant Magic Bullet & Boris FX all take advantage of Open GL. You will see more and more video editing software take advantage of Open GL GPU power as new versions of NLEs get released. This is the key the reason why we recommend Quadro cards over less expensive 3D gaming cards. While you can do fine with a 3D gaming card, Quadro cards are designed and engineered for this kind of work - and the NLE engineers are optimizing their applications to take advantage of this GPU Open GL power.

Always download and install the latest drivers from your graphics card vendor
This is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! Many of our current tech issues are graphics card related, but it's not the graphics card that is the issue. The problem is running it with the wrong drivers. The drivers that ship with your Windows OS will get your system to run, but they will not allow your graphics card to function to its full capabilities. We can't stress this one enough - before you install your NLE or DVD gear, go to the graphics card manufacturer’s website to download and install the latest drivers.

Get the biggest system drive you can afford
If the system comes with a 500GB drive, get it. You will use up the space. A big system drive is great for storing lower resolution/multimedia quality video clips.The last thing you want to do is have to open up a DTV system that's performing great just to add more storage for software.

Video Storage recommendations
With today's powerful processors, lightening fast memory, super 3D graphics cards and huge ATA hard drives you can capture, edit & playback single stream DV video with your system drive. That said, we still urge you to get a dedicated hard drive (7200 RPM or faster) for all your video clips. This will produce the best results - especially for video projects over 1 hour in length. If you are going to be using one of our Real-Time NLE solutions then we still recommend a dedicated SATA Raid or SCSI for best results.

We recommend Serial ATA (SATA) drives for NLE
While these drives do have a cost premium, the improved sustained data throughput is worth it. We also like the new cables which allow for better air flow inside your computer case. We have not yet had the chance to test any SATA Raid controllers, but we're confident that they will work great with our software based NLE solutions. RAIDs are great! For the best results set up a dedicated RAID 0 stripe for your video & media files. This will give you a huge capacity with the fastest possible sustained throughput for your editing.

RAID Warning!
We do NOT recommend setting up your computer with a single RAID 0 array as your boot drive and video storage. This will actually give you poor performance for video editing. The constant reading and writing of small bits of data to the boot drive works against the need to read & write large continuous video files. Add in the overhead of the RAID controller and you get potential bottlenecks. For video editing you always want to have a dedicated drive or RAID array for your video files.

Follow this link for our Videoguy's NLE Video Storage FAQ

Get a Blu-ray DVD burner!!
Blu-ray Burners are now very affordable. They are a must for HD. At 25GB pr disc they are also great for backing up and archiving. If you plan on copying and ripping, get both a Blu-ray Burner and a DVD-ROM drive.

Multimedia Peripherals
We recommend a step up audio system. While most of our cards come with audio capture built on, most digital videographers eventually find themselves doing some soundtrack manipulation and basic audio editing. Having a step up sound card will let you do a better job and as an added bonus, many of these cards come with some kind of audio recording utility and even basic audio mixing/editing tools. If you plan on making DVDs, you'll want a sound card and speakers for surround sound. That way you can listen to your video and DVD in full audio quality while you work.

Get a mid size or full tower
Trust me, you'll thank me for this one. Not only will the added space come in handy for adding in stuff, but the bigger case makes running cables and actually doing the install easier. Another big advantage of a tower is better air circulation, which keeps your system cooler.

NEW TECHNOLOGY NEWS! (April 2009)

Intel i7 is the way to go!
Back in the end of 2005 we realized that our first two DIY projects had gotten pretty long in the tooth. While they were pretty cutting edge at the time, we were seeing some very new and exciting technologies breaking out. The most exciting was dual core processors.

The advantages of Dual Core processors for video editing are significant.
The biggest is price / performance. Most video editing applications are now written to take advantage of dual processors, now with a single affordable chip, you can maximize this capability.

AMD vs. Intel
In our DIY4 dual-core article we actually had a face off between AMD & Intel, which AMD won as the best choice. Then Intel launched its Core 2 Duo processor, and regained the lead as the best choice for video editing. That lead has only grown bigger over the past couple for years. Videoguy's recommends Intel processors for NLE workstations.

Quad-Core – Even Better!
If dual core machines are great, then logic would tell us that a Quad-core should be even better! While we do agree with this from a pure CPU power point of view, we are finally starting to see our video editing applications take advantage of multiple cores. The cost premium for a Quad core processor is so small, we don’t see any reason why anyone would build a new system with only two cores.

Intel Core i7 – 8-cores of processing power
How do you make a Quad-Core CPU into 8-cores? Easy, sometimes you have to go back to the future. In this case it’s an old technology called Hyper-Threading. Hyper-Threading is when the processor splits itself into two virtual processors in order to share the workload it’s being asked to run. With the i7 you get 4 cores, each one Hyper-Threaded into 2 virtual CPUs. The result is 8-cores of unprecedented computer power for a phenomenal price! If you are going to be building or buying a new computer for video editing – Intel i7 is our top recommendation!

It's official – Videoguy's now recommends Windows Vista 64 for your video editing workstation!

We've been warning our customers to stay away from Vista for quite some time, and we still do not recommend the 32-bit version because the operating system requires a lot of RAM for reliable operation and that's one of the greatest advantages of Vista 64.

Based on the fantastic results we are able to achieve with our DIY7 Intel Core i7 based NLE workstation, we discovered that Vista 64 SP1 is very stable and provided us with excellent performance for our favorite video editing applications and hardware. Just follow the tips and tweaks below and you to can start taking advantage of Vista 64!!

VIDEOGUYS TIPS FOR USING WINDOWS VISTA 64 FOR VIDEO EDITING:

• For best results, put it on brand new system like the Videoguys' DIY7 with an Intel i7 processor and 6GB RAM or more. If not, a Quad-core or faster with at least 4GB of RAM would make an excellent machine.
  
  
• If you're going to try it on an older dual-core machine, then feed it more RAM (8GB) to make up for the less powerful processor.
  
  
• We do not recommend running Vista 64 on a single core processor or with less then 3GB of RAM. If your machine is that old, stick with Windows XP 32.
  
  
• Make sure all of your hardware and software supports Vista 64. Trying to run software and especially hardware without Vista 64 support will create lots of problems including but not limited to: instability, sluggish performance, crashing, lock-ups, and even failure to boot.

Tech Note: While the Videoguys now recommends Vista 64, we do not recommend the 32-bit version of Vista for video editing. To run Vista right you need the extra RAM, and that is the primary benefit right now of Vista 64. If you can't go 64-bit, stick with good old reliable Windows XP Professional 32-bit operating system.

Click here for Videoguy's Vista 64 Tips & Tweaks

Windows XP Professional is still the best choice for video editing on an older system.
We still run Windows XP Pro in our older machines and personal editing systems. While we now recommend Vista 64 for new systems, we do NOT recommend upgrading your existing NLE system to Vista 64, if XP is getting the job done – stick with it! We do recommend you take a look at our in depth Win XP tips and tweaks. You can definitely increase the performance of you system with just a few simple tips, or go all the way and tweak out every last drop of performance.

Videoguys' Windows XP Tips & Tricks for Video Editing

Apple Macs on Intel processors = AWESOME!!
That's right, the new generation of Apple computers are built on Intel Dual (and now Quad) core processors. While this may have caused some initial apprehension in loyal Mac users, the results are in and these systems are FANTASTIC! Best of all Mac users now have several great choices in Video Editing software they can choose from: Apple Final Cut Studio, Adobe Production Premium with Premiere Pro and Avid Media Composer.

While you can't build your own Mac for video editing, you can find Apple Certified Video VARs who can customize your Mac for you. Even cooler - Did you know you can use "Boot Camp" to run both Mac OSX and WinXP on the same computer. Thereby enabling Mac customers to finally be able to take advantage of software that is Windows only, and vice-versa!

Computer Models to Avoid (April 2009)
Right now we do not have any specific brands that we do not recommend. What is very important is that you make sure any machine you buy does NOT have:

• Integrated graphics on the motherboard - still our #1 tech support problem
  
  
• Cheap RAM - Always use premium quality memory - we like Corsair, Kingston and Crucial
  
  
• 5400 RPM drives (or even slower) - video editing requires 7200RPM drives
  
  
• Poor cooling. Make sure you've got adequate airflow inside the box and fans to cool your computer. Heat is the enemy of any computer, and when you are editing video, you're pushing all of the components.

Call our FREE DTV tech support line (516) 759-1615 for the best possible compatibility recommendation
Our techs will gladly take the time to make sure you get the video editing hardware and software that will best match your system. We offer our 30 day Money-back guarantee on every product we sell, so it is in our best interest to make sure you get the best match between our products and your computer. We look forward to talking to you and helping you get the best possible system for your needs and budget!!

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