The follow is my systems specs:

AMD Athlon XP 1800+
Epox 8K3A Mainboard
512mb pc2100 DDR Ram
Seagate ATA 133 7200rpm 120 gig HDD
ATI Radeon 7000 64mb AGP Video
Pioneer 16 x DVD Drive
LG 32x10x40 CD-RW Writer

is this sufficient for editing using either Avid DV, Vegas or Premiere?

I intend on also installing:
another 512mb 400 DDR Ram
an 80 gig Seagate 7200rpm HDD
and a firewire card (of course :P)

Any other reccomendations?

Also, are there any siginificant differences between firewire card brands? or are they basically all the same? Anybody have any brands that they can reccomend for me?

Any reccomendations that are made for improving my system would be greatly appreciated :)

cheers

-J

All though buying a generic firewire card is fine, it might be worth considering specific hardware for the program. That way you can benefit from more realtime capabilty, Analogue in and out (On some) and better support.

Brands to consider:
Matrox,
Canopus,
Pinnacle

Although this option is more expensive it could save you time and possibly money in the long run - You will not have to render so much.

To make sure whether they are compatible with your system check there web-site.

I once brought a seagate HD, and found that it was running underperformace for video editing. I normally stick with Maxtor or IBM - Mind you that was over a year.

All the best,

Ed

I think a standard firewire card will be sufficient as at the moment I am only learning and only intend on capturing digital footage at present - of course once I know more about non linear editing I will upgrade to a real time card with analogue I/O.

I have spent most of my time using Avid while editing, does Avid have any problems using AMD processors and VIA chipset mainboards - I have heard a few people complain about VIA. Does anybody have any experience with this?

cheers

J

anyone..?

Have you got in contact with Avid about this? If so waht did they say.

Since I don't use Avid express DV, I would not have a clue.

Cheers,

Ed

Avid only have Intel processor under the system requirements as I suspected..

they haven't replied to the email I sent them

there is a section for feedback, some people are using AMD processers but there is a mixed reaction as to whether they work well or not..

has anybody had any problems using AMD cpu or VIA mainboards with Vegas or Premiere? Just trying to find the overall opinion on this setup from you guys - not from the software creators

cheers,

J

J

The thing with using un-specified equipment will lead to more problems in the long run. After all If you have a problem with Avid the first thing they will say is that your system is un-supported therefore we will not give you any support - Or will give you support but say by the recommended system.

There is a reason for system requirements set by software manufactures.

Generally speaking though Intel chips are better for video processing work, that’s why they are slightly more expensive. AMD although good do not seem to work so well with some NLE systems.

All the best,

Ed Smith