Nest dualcore or quadcore config for SI2K origination and edit

[Bob Hart]

Title above should read "Best" not "Nest"


If anyone has the knowing, could they describe for me a computer setup for assembling and cutting SI2K origination at 2048 x 1152.

I have to re-construct my computer which has developed dementia and is sending me demented.

It was adequate for 2K playbacks and simple edits and after I did a clean re-install it was playing back files with looks applied.

Unfortunately a little knowledge is dangerous and the BIOS refuses to see any more than the CDROM and 4th Master IDE drive which is a SATA drive in a cloak. Other slave drives which previously worked are no longer found, or if they are, the CDROM is then sent away somewhere.

Currently the pieces all over the loungeroom floor are :-


Intel Dual Core 3.2Ghz.

ASUS P5LD2 SE motherboard.

ATI Radion G800XT video card.

2 x 2Gb memory (seen by XP as 3.5Gb or thereabouts)

3 x SATA drives - 200Gb Samsung.

LG or Sony DVD/CDROM burner.

Lynx One sound card (For DAT audio imports).

ATX-550W power supply.

Cheap Thai metal box with nice plastic front on it.


What is messing me up is the SATA data cables. They are next to useless - thick red plastic things which won't plug tidily into their sockets. Bad connections have plagued this re-install.

I don't want to use a RAID configuation although the system is apparently capable.

There are two Red SATA sockets, (Master) and two Black SATA sockets, (Slave).

There is also an IDE path for an IDE drive and CRDOM.


Any suggestions as to how best to configure this thing will be greatly appreciated. It has so far been the most troublefree system I have had except for most recently.

It used to be so - so for working 2K files but for a brief moment during a test after re-install, when all the stars aligned and the cat was soaking up all the static electricity and somebody was that moment walking under a ladder and drawing all the negative karma or whatever, it performed brilliantly by comparison, until it stopped. - SATA cable had a dry internal joint inside the plug.

I have not been able to repeat the miracle so I am now prostrate in genuflection before all you gurus out there who know all about computers and which plug and wire should go where.

Why not go to a computer shop and get it sorted? - The usual story - too cheap or too broke, = same thing, different motivation.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Jason Rodriguez]

Hi Bob,

Are you married to that setup, or are you looking for replacement parts/new system?

Also what is the model number on that 3.2Ghz "Dual-Core" Pentium? Is it a Pentium D 820 or 840? Or is it a later Core Duo or Core 2 Duo model?

It also sounds like your power-supply is a bit too low in total power output . . . I would get at least a 650W supply or better for working with the hotter dual-core chips and better GPU's, especially if your system tends to get hot which can then cause de-rating of the power-supply.

If you're looking for something on the cheap, I would try to get something with the i945 or P43 chipset, and a low-cost Core 2 Duo, say a 2.6 Ghz Pentium E5300. Then make sure you setup a dual-channel memory configuration by purchasing two mirrored RAM sticks and interleaving them on the motherboard by placing each one on their own respective memory bank.

For a video card, a low-end Geforce 8000 series should work just fine, or, if you prefer ATI, a lower end 4000 series or 3000 series.

Hope this helps,

Jason

[Bob Hart]

Jason.


Thanks again for your response and advice.

Married to the setup? Well not irrefutably but committed? Yes. The money side has very much to do with it.

The AU$ has gone leguprh relative to yours and the SI2K mini head is slipping out of reach, about AU$3,500.00 over my original calculation including our 10% GST. I failed math from grade 5 onwards so probably got something wrong in the reckoning somewhere.

Pentium (R) D CPU 3.00GHz is what comes up on the system information. It shows two of them. I shall have to pull the fan off to see what is writ upon its forehead.

Your comment on the power supply makes some sense. When the processors load up beyond about 30% all the fans slow down so that suggests a drop. I wonder if this is what was provoking stop errors.

[Jason Rodriguez]

IIRC, the Pentium D processors ran very, very hot, and very power-hungry . . . for instance the 830, which was on the 90nm process was 130W . . . the 930 on 65nm was 95W. Both of those parts are 3Ghz, so I can't tell which one you're running. But either way, I think you power-supply is woefully under-powered if you also have a bunch of hard-drives in there (each HDD sucks down around 20W just to spin-up), or at the very least could be old, and wearing out, and unable to consistently supply the current necessary to maintain a stable system.

[Richard Leadbetter]

Even a new low-end socket 775 motherboard provides oodles of capabilities these days. And with Intel selling a dual core 2.6GHz E5200 for next to nothing, I think an upgrade really would be a good idea.

We've been stiffed on the exchange rate in the UK too, but you should be able to get an E5200, a decent 775 motherboard plus 800MHz DDR2 RAM for less than £100. If you can afford a little more, look for a Q6600 CPU - absurd amounts of power for a very low price.

If you're handling 2K footage, the Pentium D is nowhere near good enough IMHO, and I'd be zeroing in on the Q6600 as a baseline.