Quiet/Powerful/HighRes system (pref notebook) needed for making Youtube music videos

[Ron Stoppable]

Hello!

For a few months, I've been reading these forums and comparing configurations without posting here. As I'm still undecided about what to get, it's time to ask for some bespoke advice.

Usage & Needs
In short, making YouTube videos of multitrack acapella music:
Recording music - quietness
Editing music - power
Editing video - power and high-resolution

PC vs Notebook
I'd prefer a notebook (because that's what I'm used to), but if a PC build would be quieter, more powerful and significantly cheaper (inc monitor/keyboard/mouse), then I'm all for it.

Budget
£1000
I've already got recording devices and A-V software, so don't need to budget for them. I don't think I need a fancy soundcard as my mic handles that stuff onboard. And I'm not sure if I really need a graphics card if the CPU-based Intel HD3000 with QuickSync can handle editing/encoding HD video...

PCMarkVantage Scores = Performance?
I've got an Asus Eee 1000H netbook (PCMarkVantage ~1,500), which can barely handle audio encoding. Recently, I've been borrowing my girlfriend's Acer notebook (PCMarkVantage ~4,000) to make music, but want to get my own system to make music and accompanying videos, without off-putting processing times. The Optimus II (W150HRM) reviewed by NotebookCheck got ~10,000 with the base i5 (dual-core) mobile processor, 4gb ram and an Intel 320 (3gbps) SSD, so I don't know if I'll even need an i7 quad-core CPU...

Please advise me what to get. :walkman:

 

[mantadog]

If you don't need the portability i would say get a desktop. Even with a monitor etc i think it would be the better option vs a £1k laptop. Infact just playing with a spec here im not surre you need the full £1k.

Going by what you posted above this should handle all you mention above with ease.

Case
COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Free Item
FREE Battlefield 3 with 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ Processor-K
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V LX: USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI®CrossFireX
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED INTEL HD GRAPHICS (HDMI, DVI, 1920 X 1200)
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Monitor
IIYAMA E2273HDS 22" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D 1920x1080 (£139)
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE DVI-D CABLE (£5)
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® MK250 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO (£21)
Speakers
LOGITECH Z323 2.1 SPEAKERS - 30W RMS with 360 Degree Sound (£44)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £901.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-sandy-bridge-pc/

As far as i know quicksync now beats GPU based encoding, i picked the k variant for the HD3000 onboard graphics but i don't really think you need it. That system should be very quiet, and should eat up video audio and video editing all day long.

 

[Wozza63]

would get a faster hard drive such as caviar black, and im not 100% sure on this but i think graphics cards improve encoding so id stick whatever card you can afford on the above spec

 

[mantadog]

Caviar blacks can be a bit noisey, one of his needs is for the computer to be nice and quiet for music production.

As far as i know quicksync makes GPU encoding a thing of the past. I also ready somewhere a long time ago that if you have a dedicated GPU it turns off the onboard graphics and that means no more quicksync. That may be a thing of the past now with the ability to turn off dedicated cards and revert to onboard graphics.

Thats about all i know on the subject, if anyone knows differently then i would be happy to learn more on the subject myself.

 

[Wozza63]

ive never really heard people say they are LOUD, only if you put your head near it would you hear it, the fan is always the main rason for high sound, that and the disc drive

 

[mantadog]

Well i have one, and from personal experiance the noise can get quite loud if you are working it hard. Not a problem for your average user, but i would steer clear if it's to be used for music recording. The greens are not that bad, probably adds 30 seconds or so onto windows load times.

 

[Nemesis]

Well i have one, and from personal experiance the noise can get quite loud if you are working it hard. Not a problem for your average user, but i would steer clear if it's to be used for music recording. The greens are not that bad, probably adds 30 seconds or so onto windows load times.

I believe that is an exaggeration (the adding 30 seconds bit) as a user of a PC with a Caviar green the startups are no where near as bad as what some people say. (I guess its down to what your upgrading from) but it wont be that much slower.

 

[mantadog]

It all depends wha you run at startup, I would say 30 seconds would be worst case. Greens are still 'performance' so by no means slow, sorry if Confused things a little. I also think these drives get a bad rep

 

[Ron Stoppable]

Thanks for the detailed spec mantadog!

If I use the mainstream-sandy-bridge-pc page instead of the intel-sandy-bridge-pc you linked to, the motherboard seems to be the only change, only supporting USB 2.0 - not 3.0 - but it's considerably cheaper. As there are no USB 3.0 ports on this system, is it worth downgrading the motherboard to save £44?

I tweaked a few bits = £934 / £890 with lesser mobo
Increase RAM to 16gb, for Adobe CS5 (+£34)
Add Wifi card (PCIe) (+£16)
Add Firewire PCI card, for recorded video transfers (+£9)
Change Wireless keyboard+mouse combo to wired (-£6)
Remove Office and antivirus trials
Change weekday to Saturday delivery (+£19)

Well i have one, and from personal experiance the noise can get quite loud if you are working it hard. Not a problem for your average user, but i would steer clear if it's to be used for music recording. The greens are not that bad, probably adds 30 seconds or so onto windows load times.

How about an SSD drive for windows+apps? Would it make any obvious difference whether it's 3 or 6 Gbps?

 

[mantadog]

Well if you will be using firewire and not usb3 then you can get away with the mobo downgrade.

I see no problems with the tweaks you list but 16gb is alot of ram indeed, its not that much more money tho so if you think you need it then get it by all means.

A SSD for windows + applications is getting very common now. I would get the kingston 120GB version myself, as it is a 6gb drive and cosst the same as the intel 3gb drive.

 

[Ron Stoppable]

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics

Just realised - if I'm not overclocking (don't know how, and don't know if it's any use for recording/editing), then should I just get the 2600 instead of the 2600k?

 

[Wozza63]

yeh, unless you want bf3 for free

 

[Ron Stoppable]

BF3: Not wanted really; not a gamer besides Fifa/FM. Is there seriously no other difference?

Power Supply: How do I know if 450w is sufficient? I'm hoping an error message will come up if I select components with too much power for it...

 

[Wozza63]

an error message would appear if you go over it or could get a cheaper one, do you know the wattage of your system

 

[Ron Stoppable]

Not a clue about wattage. How do I work that out?

 

[Wozza63]

choose a different PSU and it should come up when you choose proceed

 

[Ron Stoppable]

Wireless Card: Which is better - PCIe or PCI? I've googled this and PCIe seems newer and theoretically faster, but I'm on a standard broadband connection so I don't know which (a) is better, or (b) will even work.

 

[Wozza63]

either one wont effect speed of your internet or signal, its just the card is bigger and yes, older

 

[Ron Stoppable]

Wattage vs Quietness

choose a different PSU and it should come up when you choose proceed

Checked against the lowest watt PSU = no problem.

Therefore would it be quieter to get the "350W Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan" or the one with more power but labelled as quiet, "450W Quiet 80 Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan"?

I thought extra power = more heat = more noise...

 

[Wozza63]

not necessarily, the computer wont constantly use 450w, it will use whatever it needs, which will be the same on either PSU, but te 450w would probably be quieter