Videoguys' DIY 5: Intel Core 2 Duo Strikes Back!

DIY 5 Update (04/07) - Build your own Dual Core computer for Digital Video As NAB2007 rolls around this April, we want to take the time and offer a DIY update article for you. Our DIY 4 and 5 machines are still an excellent recipe to follow. We still advise anyone planning on building a new machine (or having one built for them) to reference both these articles. We looked over the configs from those two articles and tweaked them a little, and then we re-priced them to reflect the most current pricing on the web. We ended up with 4 models all told. Click here for our DIY 5 NAB2007 Update

Welcome to the Videoguys DIY5 page. Just a few short months ago, in the testing room not far away from my office, we did our first ever head-to-head DIY article. In DIY4 we built and tested two different machines using the latest and greatest (at the time) dual-core processors. (For more information on dual-core processors and why they are important for NLE, please read our DIY4 article before continuing with this article) It was AMD vs Intel, winner takes all – and the winner was AMD. We were pretty surprised by this, AMD beat Intel across the board, in every test and benchmark. Although AMD was the clear winner, we knew even back then that Intel had a not-so-secret weapon on the horizon. A new killer CPU that would destroy all other benchmark tests and once again establish Intel as the dominant force in NLE workstations. DIY5 – Intel Core 2 Duo Strikes Back! Intel regains the top spot for NLE workstations

This summer Intel began shipping their new Core 2 Dual CPUs (code name Conroe). I’d been watching and following the leaks and reports about the new Conroe chips for months. All my favorite hardware websites – Tom’s Hardware, ExtremeTech, Anandtech and many others where posting articles on the remarkable performance of these chips. I knew I had to have one. I would make my own personal dream machine, to use in my new home editing suite. I called my dream machine the Vaporizer, and I could not wait to get it built.

Unfortunately a guy named Steve Jobs over at Apple was also very excited about these new chips, and he had practically cornered the market on them for use in his new Intel based Mac computers. So we had to wait over a month to get our backorder filled for the motherboard and chip. But some time in mid-September the parts finally started arriving.

Motherboard
First the CPU came in. But what about the motherboard? We had done a ton of research on which motherboard to use for this machine. Initially Intel was saying that existing dual core motherboards would work with the new chips, but we kept reading articles that said to take full advantage, we would need a motherboard using the new 975 chipset. I’ve been a big fan of Asus motherboards for our DIY articles. I really like the way they pack in all the latest and greatest features, and their included utilities are second to none. Since this was going to be my home machine, I knew I would be doing some overclocking* and also integrating it into my home network.

*We do not recommend overclocking your NLE workstation, unless you are an experienced DIYer. While overclocking can and will give you improved performance, it can also turn your CPU and motherboard into burnt toast.

So we narrowed our choice down to two Asus motherboards – the P5W DH Deluxe or the P5WDG2-WS Pro. I really liked both motherboards. The P5WDG2-WS Pro was a step up motherboard from the P5WD2 Premium we used in our DIY4 Intel machine. I knew it would get the job done for us, but at $350 it was a little too pricy. Not that the P5W DH Deluxe is a cheap alternative. At $270 it’s more expensive then we normally go, but this baby is so packed with features that I just had to have it. In hindsight it looks like we made a really good choice. Not only because of the results we’ve gotten here, but also the great reviews this motherboard is getting on my favorite tech sites. Maximum PC, one of my favorite tech magazines and one that we advertise in, gave it a 9 out of 10 rating. If it had been a little less expensive, I’m sure it would have received a 10.

Unfortunately the motherboard was even harder to actually get then the chips. We didn’t get it until the last week in September. It looks like both the motherboard and the Core 2 Duo chips are now more readily available, so you should be able to find them, and maybe even get a deal.

The Case
I’d first read about the Thermaltake Eureka case in an article I found on Anandtech. The article raved about the case, and I knew it would be perfect for this machine. I liked how the case looked, and I liked that it was big. I knew we would be installing the Matrox RT.X2 card into this system down the road. The RT.X2 is a BIG full sized card – so I wanted a case with plenty of room.

We also knew the motherboard had lots of built on RAID capabilities, and we were going to be putting in 3 or more hard drives, plus a DVD burner and down the road a Blu-Ray burner. So we needed a case that made adding and changing hard drives a breeze. This case has a really cool rack for the hard drives, which makes adding and installing them super easy. You just slide them straight into the rack. With a big fan right in front of the case blowing air across the drive rack we knew they would stay cool.

There are several other really nice features I really like about the Thermaltake Eureka case. The front panel door has a really nice solid feel to it, and it closes with magnetic posts. In the past we’ve gotten feedback from users that the cases we pick are a not rugged enough. This baby is SOLID! I also like that the FireWire/ USB / Audio jacks are mounted on the side of the case, next to front face. Nice, easy access. In conclusion this case is big and tough and cool looking – and whisper quiet. The perfect choice for the new Empire!

Graphics Card
For the graphics card we went with an ATI 1900 XTX card with 512 Megs of RAM. The reason we chose this card over an nVidia card is because we are planning on putting the RT.X2 in it. The other reason is that I’ve been toying with the idea of benchmarking Avid Liquid with Dual ATI cards running in crossfire mode. That is another one of the reasons why I went for the P5W DH Deluxe motherboard – it has crossfire support. For more information on picking the right graphics card for your DIY machine, check out our DIY-Graphics article.

Power Supply
In the past we’ve used power supplies that come packaged with the case we buy. This time I wanted to test one of the newer power supplies made for the latest motherboards and processors. The Thermaltake TWV500W looked perfect for us. Instead of the typical rats nest of cabling that’s standard on most power supples, it comes with Modularized Cable Management. You just plug in the power cables you need. This eliminates clutter and allows for better air circulation in the case. When we want to add the second crossfire graphics card, we’ll just add the additional power cabling. It’s that simple. It also comes with it’s own 5.25" Total Watts Viewer and Fan Speed Controller to read the power consumption and controls the power supply fan speed.


Storage
For our storage we went with 3 drives initially. A 250GB SATAII boot drive for our OS and then a striped pair of SATAII 250GB drives in a RAID-0 configuration, total storage 500GB for our video projects. Jon used the EZ RAID that is built on the motherboard to set up the RAID.

One of the coolest features of the Asus motherboard is the Asus EZ-Backup that lets you effortlessly set up a RAID-1 or RAID-0. You could use this to mirror your boot drive. No drivers or configuration required, just set the jumpers and plug the drives in. Very cool! We didn’t do it for this system, but we’ve gotten the request before from our customers.

We decided to use the EZ Backup RAID to set up our video storage. At first we ran into a little snag because we didn’t realize that the default RAID_SEL jumper setting was for RAID-1. Once we realized this and changed the jumper, then went into the BIOS and in the advanced menu under DH Feature set the EZ Backup RAID MODE to enabled. Now our RAID-0 configured flawlessly and automatically. After that it was just a matter of formatting the drive with WinXP’s Disk Administrator utility. By far and away the easiest RAID installation and set-up we have ever done.

The Empire Strikes Back!

Building this machine was a delight and we didn’t run into any issues at all. We loaded it up with The Adobe Production Studio, Sony Vegas 7+DVD, Avid Liquid, Avid Xpress Pro, Avid Media Composer, and a bunch of other plug-ins. Then we started editing with it. WOW!! This thing smokes. The fastest machine we have ever tested or used to date. We couldn’t wait to run some of the benchmarks.

• We blew the Premeire Pro test out of the water. Unbelievable. It ran circles around both the Intel & AMD machines. I can’t wait to put this machine on steroids by adding the RT.X2 hardware. I expect a level or real-time HDV editing performance beyond anything we’ve seen before.
• We were unable to run the Vegas test because the test needs to be updated for version 7. But we were very impressed with how Vegas 7 could handle the native HDV footage given all this processing power.
• Avid Liquid 7 – don’t even get me started. With the CPU power and the ATI 1900XL graphics card we sliced threw DV & HDV footage like a hot knife through butter.
• Avid Xpress Pro & Avid Media Composer run like a dream. We didn’t have our benchmark footage from the last article, but so far the editing has been smooth as silk. (Note: We substituted a PNY Quadro FX1500 graphics card for the ATI)

Overall we are seeing such great performance and responsiveness that there is no doubt in our minds this is the way to go for any and all NLE programs we sell.

Keep it under $2,000
When we first started this project back in the summer our goal was to keep it under $2,500, and we were right on target. As with all hi tech products and components, prices eventually started to fall. With current pricing you can build the same system we did for around $2,200. If you are willing to drop down to the E6600 processor you can save $200, and you will only take a slight dip in performance. We also went a little overboard on the case and the power supply. If you’re willing to go with a less expensive case that comes with a power supply for around a hundred bucks, you can build this machine for around $1,800!! This is simply amazing. Just a year ago you would have had to spend over $3,000 on an AMD Dual Opteron or $4,000 on Dual Xeons, and you would not have the same level of performance! This machine is by far and away the most BANG for the buck of any DIY machine we’ve ever built.

For those needing even more performance, Intel is now a shipping the Woodcrest Dual-Core Xeon platform. This means you’ll get a total of 4 cores of computing power. For now these chips and motherboards are pretty scarce, and you’ll have to pay a premium for them. By year end we expect prices to fall on these components as they become more widely available.

The Intel Empire is once again the best in the universe. Will the AMD rebels be able to come back? Quad Core chips have already been announced. Just how powerful and fast will computers become in the next years or two? We’ll have to see. For now, our DIY5 Core 2 Duo machine is the biggest and baddest single CPU machine in the universe. May the force be with you!

How about a 4 Cores! Xeon Core 2 Duo x 2!!