Best computer for digital video editing.

[samifox]

Hi

first of all I've missed this forum.

I'm gonna buy a new computer. Could someone please
recommend a good choice in computers for running psp and 3d rendering? I dont gonna spend so much money so iMac and built-in system are out of my sight.

my intersts components are:

Mother board:

Proccessor & chach memory: (does it make any different if its slot 1 or not?)

Memorey Type and amount:

Video card (For two screens) :

Thats it i think!(Do i need addition thing?)

Thanks
Shay

 

[theKeeper]

Hi Shay...

Well most everything in your list is quite dependant on how much ya wanna spend. Honest. There are SO many options out now, that price range really does dictate choices.

Can you provide a ball-park figure at all? $500? $750? $1000?

I just upgraded my system by a lot, from what i previously had, and it costed about $650 Canadian to do it. If you're in the US, it would only cost you about half that amount.

I don't mind sharing this info, so here's a screenshot of my system specs.

 

[samifox]

hi

yes i can spend 500-600$. i have some componrnts all i need are mother board.memory and proccessor.

i can see the speed of your hardware btu not thir brand.

thanks

 

[Erik]

-Slot1 was only used for the first generation of PIII processors.
-Video needs a big hard disk, prefereably two
-3D needs a very strong processor that does the calculating directly without the help of a cache. ( a cache is, simply said, used to store temporarily data so the processor does not have to recalculate them).
-3D also needs a powerful video card with prefereably 128MB video ram, like Mark's or the ATI 9700Pro
-Even Intel has quitted RDRam or rambus as DDR, most certainly now with the double use, is much faster.
-AMD processors need more cooling, but, depending on where you live, they may be noticeably cheaper.

As you want to do "the big things" with your comp, I suppose you better try and save some more money first.
Using olderhardware is one of the reasons PC had a bad reputation. Use only quality parts, like brand RAM and a good mobo (Asus, Gygabyte are names that spring to mind).

 

[sfm]

100% correct and in agreement with you Erik

Sami...... I see that mark has a Gigabyte Mainboard......... AMD Athlon XP CPU and DDR ram........... generally when we order parts we don't have a "name" for the ram ...... well not on the price list any way ........ I personally have upgraded last year from a AMD Athlon XP1800 to a ........ P4 2.0 CPU so I have a Gigabyte Mainboard, Pentium CPU and DDR ram - oh and the same video card as Mark
sfm

 

[theKeeper]

Ya i'd agree with Erik's points also Samifox.

You can see the names of my hardware in that list i posted:

Mainboard is "GigaByte"
CPU is AMD Athlon (xp) 1700+
RAM is 512 DDR (didn't notice what name brand it is).

For 500-600 bucks though Samifox, you should be able to get some good hardware. I recommend the GigaByte board i have because it's capable of AGP8x and 400mhz bus. It's a board that's a bit ahead of what's out there right now. So you wouldn't have to upgrade it for awhile.

CPU will vary for you. But as Erik said... the Athlon chips are a couple hundred cheaper than the Pentiums. But just as fast if not faster in most tests; comparitively. Price it out, and if you can, i'd suggest an AMD Athlon (xp) 2200+/2400+.

DDR ram is pretty much a given these days. Get as much as you can afford! In fact, get the RAM last and spend whatever ya have left to get as much as possible. DDR ram costs a tad more but is faster overall.

Oh and so ya know too... you can find reviews anywhere on the Web for this hardware. Just type the product name in a search engine and away ya go!

 

[Erik]

Here in Europe, there is nearly no difference in price between Pentium and Athlon, and both have their users. Luckily.

The main advantage of the Gigabyte boards is the double BIOS. Whenever you flash one and it goes wrong (can only happen whet the current's cut whilst flashing), you still have the other one.

Also know that you need more power nowadays 350 watts is best for a strong new comp. So don't try to use an old case with only 250watts as you may well be in trouble.

 

[theKeeper]

Ya i forgot about the BIOS percs too. I also have this perc on my nVidia gCard.

And yes, more power definately. Which will usually mean a larger tower too. But you should be able to get both of those in one package for $20 US. We can get a new tower with a 350w power supply/fan preInstalled, for $40 CAD.

 

[Erik]

Huh??? A basic tower here costs some 100USDollars...
An AthlonXP2400 some 220US and a PIV 2,4 some 235US...

 

[sPECtre]

Erik, that's why our country got his name... btw, did you see, there is a comic book who's title is absurdia...

 

[Erik]

better have fun than starting to rant rant rant

Anarchie avec le "a" de amour.

 

[samifox]

Hi

I've found an article which is very fit to my needs. its look like Mark's system but he didnt mantion if its a doul proccessing.anyway
i wanna hear what you have to say about this offer guys:

Motherboard : Gigabyte GA-7DPXDW (220$)
Memory : 1GB RAM sticks . PC2100 ECC registered DDR DIMMs. (240$)
Proccessor : AMD Athlon MP 2000+ (160& only one)

I was wondering...can i run only one proccessor? can i/should i get only 512 Mb PC2100 ECC registered
DDR DIMMs and keep the money for the another proccessor so i have doul proccessing?

So i got reasonable price 620$ and an option of upgrade in the future. this article seems
to be a little bit old.what you think?

The Article :

http://www.mediaworkstation.com/2002/05_may/tutorials/cw_redmonster2.htm

Thanks

Shay

 

[samifox]

Hi

Upgrade option #1 :

Motherboard :
A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 AMD Athlon XP/Duron, Socket A, ATX, 3GB DDR-SDRAM, 333MHz FSB (129$)

Proccessor :
Athlon XP 2700+ (2.16GHZ, 256KB, 333MHz, Socket A) (287&)

Memory :
Kingston 512MB PC2700 SDRAM DIMM(83$)

Total : 499$

This offer makes good with my budged but does it makes good for video editing and 3d rendering?

Upgrade option 2:

Motherboard :
GA-8INXP (E7205) Pentium 4 HT, Socket 478, 4GB DDR-SDRAM, 533MHz FSB(233$)

Proccessor :
Pentium 4 (2.53GHz 512KB, 533MHz, Socket 478)(191$)

Memory :
Kingston 512MB PC2700 SDRAM DIMM(83$)

Total :507$

this setup is also good for my budged but i'll let you guys reccommand where to cut and where to add.

Thank in advance
Shay

 

[theKeeper]

Well both look ok, but i'd highly recommend you NOT go with the PC ram. It's getting old now and DDR is more appropriate for a modern system now.

The other choice is a matter of preference, whether you want AMD or Pentium. And as for a dual setup, i'm not real sure but i've heard tail that there are other things to consider with that. Not everything runs, or runs compatibaly with a dual CPU setup.

You'd have to check into that though because i'm not real hip to that kinda info myself. ;\

 

[samifox]

Thanks mark!

i didnt notice that not DDR.

Shay

 

[sfm]

mainboards such as the Gigabyte 8PE (P4 CPU's only) have the option to be set up so that you install 2 identical hard drives and set it to either speed...... where information is accessed from both hard drives or....... set for backup where all your information is the same on both drives and if one fails you get a message and the other takes over

I would suggest that you go for the first option rather than a dual setup

all new mainboards should only take DDR ram now....... of course there may still be some old stock out there that takes SD ram....... but like Mark said that is going backwards not forwards

we build a lot of computers and the top one is pretty much standard these days ......... the price difference between the XP and P4 works out at $200 tops and I know that I would rather spend that and get the P4
sfm

 

[Erik]

dual processors are only interesting for very large calculations like doing big posters in Photoshop and having them transformed etc, and doing this on a well paid and regular basis. And for complicated 3D.
You will not find these mobos and processors (they are different from the single ones) for the money you can spend.
Better invest in 1gig of ram and two hard drives.