Need help! Need capable PC for HD editing, CS5, dual monitor..there's a catch

[damian]

I need to do it for 3500.00.  HD monitors of course....

Possible?

What specs:

i7
Ram?
Nvidia ?

I've been researching for days and just can't get a clear answer.  Who's editing HD with CS5 and doing it well?  I need assistance.

[kwshaw1]

For $3500 you have a wide range of choices including both stock and custom-built computers (e.g. see "Guy Graphics" and comparable system integrators).

The official Adobe system requirements for CS5 are located here: http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/systemreqs/

Get a fast i7 processor, at least 4-8 GB RAM, maybe an SSD boot drive, a couple of large data drives, and so on. I'd guess you can get most of the hardware you need for under $2500, and use the rest for the monitors.

[HankCastello]

You don't need special monitors to edit hi-def.  Any reasonably priced widescreen lcd should do (22" or greater).  I'm using two Hanns-G Hi221D's.  About two years ago, I built an Intel Extreme Quad 3.0 gigahertz computer with three terrabytes of harddrive space for $3k and there's an article on here detailing everything.  Though those components are outdated today, this machine is still doing a great job of editing three tracks of hdv video and four to six audio tracks.

Today, for that same money, you can build a much better machine.   Enjoy!