A while back and I believe it was Mark’s response to a posting regarding the configuration for an ideal computer devoted strictly for video editing and rendering suggested the drive(s) rotate at a speed of 10,000 rpm.

I have looked but cannot find this aforementioned posting so I have to ask the question of why 10K rpm, instead of a slower drive speed; I assume it is because of the rendering quality is greater with the 10K, as opposed to a slower speed, but I’d like to know for sure if this is correct or there’s another reason.

Any replies regarding this nagging question is appreciated – Thanks for your time.

Yes, you can definitely purchase 10,000rpm disks for video editing but for SD video capture and editing a drive running at 7,200rpm SATA will do just fine. I think the 10,000rpm drives are either SCSI or SCSI RAID (correct me if I'm wrong) and you need to get this set up in your computer when it is being built or before you purchase it, or if you are good at setting one up in a computer yourself then it shouldn't be a problem.

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May well have been me - I am always banging on about fast this or better that.

Imost specifically WOULD NOT reccomend a 10000 rpm drive for media - no need as niko says. I would always say go for the fastest drive you can for the c drive - this makes the computer sooo much smoother.

I have fitted fast c drives in my last 3 pcs and people often remark on how fast the d top is.

The drives to go for are western digital raptors 10,000rpm. Available in 70 and 150gig I think - expect to pay 2 to 3 x the price of a 7200rpm drive. Suprisingly they are not scsi - ordinary sata.

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Niko & Mark – Thanks for your quick and informative responses, things have became a bit out of control here and it’s time for a new PC, so as long as I have to bite the bullet (cost) I want it to be tailored around my video applications. I’ve read through the threads fairly careful and received a wealth of ideas and opinions, but as mentioned, I remembered reading a posting (Mark, I sure it was yours) but had forgotten the reasoning behind the 10k drives.

You’re also very correct, 10k drives are exponentially higher in cost and Western Digital seems to offer the best drive for value.

Guys again “Thanks” for the time and knowledgeable responses.

As you say the 10k drives are much much more expensive than the 7,200rpm versions and if you can capture, edit and run off finished movies using the 7,200rpm then go for them instead. The question I've always wanted to ask is, does it matter if the drive has a 4Mb or 8Mb cache or can you get bigger than 8Mb now? Or does it really matter if you are using SATA set to it's highest data transfer rate.

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Better than a poke in the eye with a pointy stick any day...