Video Editing - New PC Required!!

I’m very much into editing videos I’ve recorded on different devices, however after buying Canon IXUS HS20 my Compaq 500B Microtower is struggling. Even though the footage isn’t exactly amazing quality, Sony Vegas is very much overwhelmed, it keeps crashing out and temporarily freezing.

Current PC info:
Windows 7 64bit
Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU E5400 @ 2.70GHz, 2700 Mhz
RAM: 4GB (which is the most this PC will take)

I understand memory is my problem and with my PC being at the top of is RAM Allowance I need a new machine and I need some advice.

I’d like to just edit videos around an hour in length with my new Canon and my iPhone 5, however want to buy something that could be a bit future proof should I upgrade my camera.

Could you suggest both ends of the spectrum for me please, the budget option and the if money were no object option. I just cleared my credit card so it definitely time to put it to use!
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Comments

  • d'@ved'@ve Posts: 45,452
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    No idea on prices you'll have to do some work yourself on that!

    Obviously a faster PC (quad core or more) with more memory than 4GB will help, but the first question to solve is, why is Vegas crashing or freezing? I can't find anything about your camera on Google but I assume it's full HD and that's what's giving you problems when you edit. You shouldn't be having problems with SD video (but see below if you are, and try shorter video lengths).

    In my experience, many consumer grade editing programs will handle only short lengths of HD video so your problem may simply be that shoving an hour of HD into Vegas (on any PC) is too much for it to handle. Powerdirector 11, for example, becomes excruciatingly slow with full HD video more than 15 minutes or so long, Vegas may be similar. If so, chop up the project in Vegas, edit each segment separately, join the finished projects at the end. There should be no need to chop up the original video files, I always load a complete HD video file but work on only one 15 minute segment at a time, splitting it in the timeline, then deleting from the timeline all but the segment I'm working on, saving each segment as a separate project until I'm ready to merge them all right at the end.

    Make sure you have virtual memory turned on, that it is system managed or is for a large fixed amount, and that the relevant hard drive has dozens of gigabytes of spare capacity. Run some tests with short lengths of HD video material as above to guage how much Vegas can take on your PC. A new PC may not take much more because of the editing software, though it will be faster.

    So before spending money on new expensive hardware, I'd try to find a satisfactory way of working with Vegas on your existing hardware first, then speed everything up with new hardware and then you will at least know you won't be needing better editing software as well.
  • noise747noise747 Posts: 30,692
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    it should not freeze on that spec, sure it is not top spec, but Vegas should cope ok. I don't know anything about the Canon, when I did a search for what you put, I got canon and fujifilm, very confusing.

    What is the resolution you are using? 4GB or ram should also be ok, what may slow Vegas down is a poor video card, if you are using pone built into the motherboard that may cause problems as it will also use up some of your ram.

    i have used Vegas on my laptop, 2Gb of memory, a 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo T5200 and a crappy intel video chip. but it worked ok, well on SD video.

    A mate of mine used Vegas 8 on a P4. what version of Vegas are you running?

    You don't really need to go mad on hardware for Vegas to be honest, i myself uses a AMD phenom quad cord 3.5Ghx, 6Gb of ram, but you can use less and a cheap Sapphire AMD HD6570 and before that I had a old Nvidia 9400 or something like that.
    The problem comes if you want to do multi-track Hi-def, , I can get away with 3 tracks at the most as long as there is not a lot of effects or transitions after that things start slowing down.

    The best way to get around that is to use proxy files, you edit with lower quality files and then replace those files with the HD versions before you render. Have a look on You tube for proxy editing in sony vegas.

    My computer cost me £700 3 years back, but that also included a case, a monitor, Blu-ray burner and a SDD unit. built it myself mind you. you don't have to go that high in price mind you. I built a replacement machine for my mate who owns the P4, it consisted of 2GB of ram and AMD Athlon dual core, cost about £200 I think if that. I gave him a old video card I had here. It works and he also do HD video with it.
  • neo_walesneo_wales Posts: 13,625
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    The CPU will struggle to be honest.
  • noise747noise747 Posts: 30,692
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    neo_wales wrote: »
    The CPU will struggle to be honest.

    With HD it will, but with just simple SD editing it should be fine. Vegas is pretty light to be honest. As i said,, i can't find any info for the camera, so I don't know if he is editing with HD or Sd.

    But saying all that, yes a faster computer is better, it makes things work better and sleeker, well as sleek as windows can be :). but for rendering a good video card have more power than many processors and if the OP is using the Vegas 11 or 12 that will now used GPU to render in all outputs.
  • rottweilerrottweiler Posts: 2,569
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    Get a Mac mini, it will be great and you can use your existing monitor etc

    Here
  • JeffG1JeffG1 Posts: 15,243
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    rottweiler wrote: »
    Get a Mac mini, it will be great and you can use your existing monitor etc
    Which has roughly the same spec as his existing PC for probably twice the price, and the need to buy new software as well.
  • EarakeEarake Posts: 1,808
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    noise747 wrote: »
    i can't find any info for the camera, so I don't know if he is editing with HD or Sd.

    I can only surmise that it's this one or similar in the range :

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-IXUS-220-HS-Optical/dp/B004M8S20Q
  • rottweilerrottweiler Posts: 2,569
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    Which has roughly the same spec as his existing PC for probably twice the price, and the need to buy new software as well.

    What !!!

    He has an old Pentium dual core, Mac mini has at least an i5 which is Superfast, also comes with plenty of software

    iMovie
    iPhoto
    Garage band

    These are great bits of software
  • TheBigMTheBigM Posts: 13,125
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    rottweiler wrote: »
    What !!!

    He has an old Pentium dual core, Mac mini has at least an i5 which is Superfast, also comes with plenty of software

    iMovie
    iPhoto
    Garage band

    These are great bits of software

    It has a mobile i5.

    For the same money as a Mac Mini, he could get quite a good desktop PC.

    Desktop CPUs and GPUs are significantly more powerful than their mobile equivalents.
  • MaxatoriaMaxatoria Posts: 17,980
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    But given with a pc you can slap in a good graphics card or 2 to really take the strain off the cpu which isn't possible for our fruity brethren
  • SchadenfreudSchadenfreud Posts: 1,382
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    rottweiler wrote: »
    Get a Mac mini, it will be great and you can use your existing monitor etc

    Here

    No, don't. Get a proper computer instead.

    I just built a PC for my lad, total cost was £800.

    i5 3.4ghz unlocked cpu
    8 Gb Corsair 1600mh Mem
    HD 7870 2 Gb GPU
    120 SSD/ 500WD HD

    Those are the basic specs and will handle what you want with ease.
  • d'@ved'@ve Posts: 45,452
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    I think I'll wait to see if the O/P returns to his thread before getting any further into this - he has quite a few questions to answer before we can help any further.

    I hope he doesn't just disappear, as he quickly did on his last PC video editing thread a couple of years ago.
  • noise747noise747 Posts: 30,692
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    Earake wrote: »
    I can only surmise that it's this one or similar in the range :

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-IXUS-220-HS-Optical/dp/B004M8S20Q

    So 1080P then according to the specs, so yes will need a bit of poke. as I said it can be done via proxy editing, but it is a pain.
  • noise747noise747 Posts: 30,692
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    rottweiler wrote: »
    What !!!

    He has an old Pentium dual core, Mac mini has at least an i5 which is Superfast, also comes with plenty of software

    iMovie
    iPhoto
    Garage band

    These are great bits of software

    I like the Apple Mac Mini and I was thinking of getting one at one point, the problem is that it is not really upgradable and Imovie is not that great to be honest. also if the Op have paid for Vegas, it is a fair bit of money to pay out and not use it again.
  • jonner101jonner101 Posts: 3,410
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    noise747 wrote: »
    I like the Apple Mac Mini and I was thinking of getting one at one point, the problem is that it is not really upgradable and Imovie is not that great to be honest. also if the Op have paid for Vegas, it is a fair bit of money to pay out and not use it again.

    I run a 2011 macbook pro that has final cut pro and it can edit 1080p 50p very well, especially after putting an SSD drive in.

    Having said that a good desktop rig, with a GPU that can help with rendering, plenty of RAM and the best cpu you can afford is the way to go, especially as you already have Sony Vegas

    Have at least one SSD ( preferably 250gig min ) and have another big capacity drive to archive stuff off to etc and preferably 1 or 2 external drives to back stuff up.

    When I put an SSD into my mac the performance increase was amazing and I think you would see something similar in a windows desktop PC as well.
  • neo_walesneo_wales Posts: 13,625
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    rottweiler wrote: »
    Get a Mac mini, it will be great and you can use your existing monitor etc

    Here

    Or a better and faster i7 PC for the same or less :rolleyes:
  • noise747noise747 Posts: 30,692
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    jonner101 wrote: »
    I run a 2011 macbook pro that has final cut pro and it can edit 1080p 50p very well, especially after putting an SSD drive in.

    Having said that a good desktop rig, with a GPU that can help with rendering, plenty of RAM and the best cpu you can afford is the way to go, especially as you already have Sony Vegas

    Have at least one SSD ( preferably 250gig min ) and have another big capacity drive to archive stuff off to etc and preferably 1 or 2 external drives to back stuff up.

    When I put an SSD into my mac the performance increase was amazing and I think you would see something similar in a windows desktop PC as well.

    It was not me asking, just in case you think it was :) I am happy with my Pc, it does what I want, ok I do need a larger hard drive, already got a SSD, a 128GB, it does the job, but i need a larger main drive as I only got a 500GB one, been waiting for drive prices to come down a bit.

    I am not fond of laptops myself to be honest, I don't know why, maybe it is the keyboard on most are naff or because if something goes wrong you are stuff, the same with any Macs to be honest.

    With a desktop if my video card goes belly up, then I just get a new video card, if my CPU goes belly up then I can get a new CPU or even put one of my older ones in to keep me going. Try doing that with a Intel machine these days.

    A SSD would do very little in editing video unless you store the clips on it and even then it would be minimal. My 500GB is a seagate hybrid, part spinny drive and part SSD, the only seagate I now got and will ever have. I store my video clips and temp directories on that, not sure if it makes a difference to be honest.
    I will get a 1TB drive at some point, the problem is that there are only two companies that produce them now, Seagate, which I said I will never buy another seagate and Weston digital, who makes ok drives, but the last time I got one was years ago and even then it seemed to be slower than others.
  • rottweilerrottweiler Posts: 2,569
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    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rottweiler
    Get a Mac mini, it will be great and you can use your existing monitor etc

    Here
    No, don't. Get a proper computer instead.

    I just built a PC for my lad, total cost was £800.

    i5 3.4ghz unlocked cpu
    8 Gb Corsair 1600mh Mem
    HD 7870 2 Gb GPU
    120 SSD/ 500WD HD

    Those are the basic specs and will handle what you want with ease.

    Power suppler
    Case
    Operating system
    Motherboard etc etc etc etc

    Come on !!!
  • TheBigMTheBigM Posts: 13,125
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    rottweiler wrote: »
    Power suppler
    Case
    Operating system
    Motherboard etc etc etc etc

    Come on !!!

    He said those are the basic specs (i.e. salient ones to know performance of the machine), he didn't say that's all you need to buy. He did all you need to buy was covered in the £800.

    I bought a similarly specced machine for £800 (including a 23" monitor, keyboard and mouse).

    Macbooks are competitive, but the truth is that Apple can't get anywhere the bang per buck of a desktop PC.
  • rottweilerrottweiler Posts: 2,569
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    Design and looks = money

    That's also factored into the price
  • TheBigMTheBigM Posts: 13,125
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    rottweiler wrote: »
    Design and looks = money

    That's also factored into the price

    Design of the mac mini? What design, it's just a little silver box!

    No-one in this thread has said a jot about caring about design and looks for this PC. We've been talking about buying/upgrading a PC to meet the video editing needs of the OP.

    It's a real shame where obsessives push their own product choices and biases for confirmation satisfaction rather than suggest the genuine best solution to an OP.
  • d'@ved'@ve Posts: 45,452
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    TheBigM wrote: »
    Design of the mac mini? What design, it's just a little silver box!

    No-one in this thread has said a jot about caring about design and looks for this PC. We've been talking about buying/upgrading a PC to meet the video editing needs of the OP.

    It's a real shame where obsessives push their own product choices and biases for confirmation satisfaction rather than suggest the genuine best solution to an OP.

    Doesn't matter anyway though, because the OP did a hit and run.
  • jonner101jonner101 Posts: 3,410
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    noise747 wrote: »
    It was not me asking, just in case you think it was :) I am happy with my Pc, it does what I want, ok I do need a larger hard drive, already got a SSD, a 128GB, it does the job, but i need a larger main drive as I only got a 500GB one, been waiting for drive prices to come down a bit.

    I am not fond of laptops myself to be honest, I don't know why, maybe it is the keyboard on most are naff or because if something goes wrong you are stuff, the same with any Macs to be honest.

    With a desktop if my video card goes belly up, then I just get a new video card, if my CPU goes belly up then I can get a new CPU or even put one of my older ones in to keep me going. Try doing that with a Intel machine these days.

    A SSD would do very little in editing video unless you store the clips on it and even then it would be minimal. My 500GB is a seagate hybrid, part spinny drive and part SSD, the only seagate I now got and will ever have. I store my video clips and temp directories on that, not sure if it makes a difference to be honest.
    I will get a 1TB drive at some point, the problem is that there are only two companies that produce them now, Seagate, which I said I will never buy another seagate and Weston digital, who makes ok drives, but the last time I got one was years ago and even then it seemed to be slower than others.

    Well using an SSD made a big difference for me.

    Obviously a laptop isn't the ideal solution if you're mainly going to use the computer to do video editing. All I was saying is that a 2011 macbook pro with and SSD boot and big external drive can handle HD video editing pretty well. And these are .MTS AVCHD 1080p 50 fps clips I edit in final cut pro + 1080p 30, and 24fps clips.

    For me the portability benefits outweigh the negatives. I just no longer require a desktop PC at home.

    In 'home work' mode for the odd bit of video editing, and iOS/Android developing and photo editing I just connect a nice big monitor, separate keyboard and mouse, and I love the fact that in general operation the macbook runs silent.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 625
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    Thanks all for your replies, this has helped me come to my decision.
    d'@ve wrote: »
    Vegas may be similar. If so, chop up the project in Vegas, edit each segment separately, join the finished projects at the end.

    Oh yes for many years I’ve been trying all the different tricks to keep me going including stitching projects together. I’m now at the point where I just need to EDIT, freely.
    noise747 wrote: »
    what version of Vegas are you running?

    Vegas 9 at the moment, but moving to 11.
    rottweiler wrote: »
    Get a Mac mini, it will be great

    No, it won’t.
    d'@ve wrote: »
    I think I'll wait to see if the O/P returns to his thread before getting any further into this. I hope he doesn't just disappear, as he quickly did on his last PC video editing thread a couple of years ago.

    Did I? Sorry, I’ll try and dig that out.

    Ok so I did allot of online research and kept finding pages like this which inspired me, http://www.custompcreview.com/computer-builds/best-photo-video-editing-pc-under-1400-january-2013/17122/

    I need to get a decent build, spend some money, and go for the SSD as it can make a huge difference. I decided to bite the bullet and pay for a meaty machine. I’ve gone with an online company: cyberpowersystem.co.uk, they will build the machine for me as I’m in a bit of a rush to get editing a particular video – They’ve allowed me to buy the machine and pay over 12 months interest free, so no need to use the credit card. I’ve spent just over £1100 on just the box and this is what I got for my money: (with no fancy case with extra lights, of no interest to me)

    Xion Predator 970 Gaming Series Mid Tower Case w/ 2 External Removable HDD Bays
    Intel Core i7-3770K
    16GB RAM - 16GB (4x4GB) PC12800 DDR3/1600mhz Dual Channel Memory
    SSD 128 – to run OS and Editing software - 128 GB Crucial M4 Series SATA III
    2TB SATA III Drive
    Bluray Burner - CD:Pioneer BDR-208DBK 15X BLU-RAY Burner & 16X DVD±R/±RW Drive
    Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-Z77-HD3 Intel Z77 Chipset, ATX Mainboard w/ 4 RAM slot, UEFI DualBIOS™ Technology, EZ Smart Response, Ultra Durable4 Classic, 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, 2 x Gen3 PCIe x16, 2xPCIe x1 & 2xPCI ***Overclockable S&S***
    750 Watts Power Supplies [+21] (Corsair 750 Watts CX750M Gaming Modular Power Supply, 80+)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 1GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
    Windows 8 64 bit – This was needed for them to fully test the machine before delivery, and as I said, I need it working, QUICK!
    WARRANTY:STANDARD WARRANTY: 3 Year Labour, 1 Year Parts, 1 Month Collect and Return plus Life-Time Technical Support

    Yes Yes I know I’ve gone completely overboard, but the next step will be buying a prober HD Camcorder soon and I want to future proof myself for a couple of editing years.

    Now let me hear you all pick the faults. 
  • TheBigMTheBigM Posts: 13,125
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    quinnyyy wrote: »
    Thanks all for your replies, this has helped me come to my decision.



    Oh yes for many years I’ve been trying all the different tricks to keep me going including stitching projects together. I’m now at the point where I just need to EDIT, freely.



    Vegas 9 at the moment, but moving to 11.



    No, it won’t.



    Did I? Sorry, I’ll try and dig that out.

    Ok so I did allot of online research and kept finding pages like this which inspired me, http://www.custompcreview.com/computer-builds/best-photo-video-editing-pc-under-1400-january-2013/17122/

    I need to get a decent build, spend some money, and go for the SSD as it can make a huge difference. I decided to bite the bullet and pay for a meaty machine. I’ve gone with an online company: cyberpowersystem.co.uk, they will build the machine for me as I’m in a bit of a rush to get editing a particular video – They’ve allowed me to buy the machine and pay over 12 months interest free, so no need to use the credit card. I’ve spent just over £1100 on just the box and this is what I got for my money: (with no fancy case with extra lights, of no interest to me)

    Xion Predator 970 Gaming Series Mid Tower Case w/ 2 External Removable HDD Bays
    Intel Core i7-3770K
    16GB RAM - 16GB (4x4GB) PC12800 DDR3/1600mhz Dual Channel Memory
    SSD 128 – to run OS and Editing software - 128 GB Crucial M4 Series SATA III
    2TB SATA III Drive
    Bluray Burner - CD:Pioneer BDR-208DBK 15X BLU-RAY Burner & 16X DVD±R/±RW Drive
    Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-Z77-HD3 Intel Z77 Chipset, ATX Mainboard w/ 4 RAM slot, UEFI DualBIOS™ Technology, EZ Smart Response, Ultra Durable4 Classic, 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, 2 x Gen3 PCIe x16, 2xPCIe x1 & 2xPCI ***Overclockable S&S***
    750 Watts Power Supplies [+21] (Corsair 750 Watts CX750M Gaming Modular Power Supply, 80+)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 1GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
    Windows 8 64 bit – This was needed for them to fully test the machine before delivery, and as I said, I need it working, QUICK!
    WARRANTY:STANDARD WARRANTY: 3 Year Labour, 1 Year Parts, 1 Month Collect and Return plus Life-Time Technical Support

    Yes Yes I know I’ve gone completely overboard, but the next step will be buying a prober HD Camcorder soon and I want to future proof myself for a couple of editing years.

    Now let me hear you all pick the faults. 

    That will be a highly capable machine. You are paying a lot of premium for that i7 over an overclocked i5. I would have saved the CPU premium money and put it towards an SSD with 256GB capacity and chosen a GFX card with 2GB RAM, and I'd have tried to pay less too.
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