PC upgrade path for HD - what makes the most sense??

[Greg Peters]

Current PC
AMD 4000+ 2X 64
2 gig of ram
WD Raptor SATA drives for OS and programs
7200 SATA drives for storage


I am looking into replacing my GL2 with something HD.

What would make the most sense for a simple PC upgrade, I really don't want to swap the motherboard

I can up the CPU to 5200+ My current 2.1ghz would then be 2.6ghz
I am not sure if adding more ram would help, I am running XP Pro
I do have a RAID card. I could double up harddrives for better performance when I edit? Then store it off the raid?

Any suggestions?

[Greg Peters]

Looks like my current CPU Cache is 512k
A new CPU will make it 1024k

I cannot upgrade to a quad core.
But I can get a faster dual core 2.8ghz

I have 2 gig of ram and 2 open slots.
I could upgrade to 4 gig of ram...

[Chris Soucy]

Think the way to go here is suck it and see.

It sounds like anything you fiddle with is going to be a lot of bucks for not a lot of bang.

Why not just fire some HDV at it and see how it runs. I can see no reason your current config can't do the job.

The old addage "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" springs to mind.


CS

[Greg Peters]

I should have checked prices before I bothered to post.
The upgrade cost $210
2 more gigs of ram for 4 total
4000+ chip to 6400+
2.4ghz 512 cache
3.2ghz 1024 cache

The 4000+ sells for about $40 used..

So my total upgrade will be $170

[Greg Peters]

I am going to need a larger harddrive anyway..
So I thought a new larger one for backup
and then raid together the two smaller ones.
I would raid for performance... and I already have a SATA raid card.

I would use the performance drives to edit the video, then store on the back-up drives.
I currently have 2 back-up drives, both SATA and one is external.

[Michael Wisniewski]

I agree with Chris, keep using your current system, save the money and buy a proper quad-core when you're ready. Then you'll have the old PC for backup and workflow purposes. I put off upgrading my old P4 2.4Ghz / 1GB RAM and put the money into a new quad-core. Turns out I'm still happily editing HDV on my old P4 and use the quad for capturing and rendering.

In the end, I think that will be more bang for your buck.

One thing I do recommend is buying some good eSata drive cases, that way your video storage isn't tied to any one machine. I like Wiebetech because you can swap out the drives. They have internal & external swappable bays.

[Greg Peters]

$170 for the latest is not bad for an upgrade.
It will probably be years before I go with a quad chip...

Since a Quad chip will require an entire new PC...

[Chris Soucy]

I think sorting your hard drive arrangements makes a lot of sense, and one that is relevant no matter what you edit.

My disinclination to endorse the rest of your proposed changes is that the upgraded chips (your system can't use any more than 3 gig anyhow) may well not be able to deliver their promissed improvements owing to bottlenecks on the MoBo that can only be ameliorated by upping to a newer chipset and board.

As you specifically ruled out such a board upgrade at this time, I really do think the money would be better spent elsewhere.

My comment about ""bang" and "buck" were not made lightly.


CS

[Greg Peters]

I plan on running WinXP 64bit soon.. just didn't want to install until I have the harddrives figured out.
So the 3gb limit does not apply

So a faster CPU will make no difference?? You are not making sense.

$170 upgrade vs over $1000 for a new PC....

[Chris Soucy]

I didn't say "no difference". I said "may well not etc".

Without knowing the intimate details of your boards architecture, Bus arrangement and speed, age and a host of other things, I simply would not say "no difference".

My point was that spending money on the disc system would, in all likelyhood, provide better real world advantages and returns than that gained from the same expenditure on chips.

It is, however, your money.


CS

[Robin Hall]

Sounds like a reasonable upgrade to me for the price, your current machine will most likely do just fine. I have a X2 4200 with 2 GB ram that does mild HDV editing just fine, but it sure doesn't even come close to my Quad core machine.. P.S. Haveing run both I would load on Vista 64bit anyday over 64 bit XP the native driver support in Vista 64 is much better then XP64 bit and I have found it to be pretty stable overall, although not 100% mature, almost all 32 bit apps less the 3years old will load and run just fine on Vista 64bit but you wont get factory support for any problems in most cases, but thats pretty much the same with XP64 bit as well.

Raid is nice to have (I do on both My HDV Machines) but not absolutely necessary as long as you have a seperate system /capture drive setup you should be OK. As far as performance improvement with the extra ram & CPU Iam thinking you will likely see about a 10 % improvement in rendering times. Don't Know what you are using as A video card but an upgrade to
a more recent card might be advantageous as well, the difference between an X850 class to a 2600 class card is quite good for the cost especially if you do a lot of 3D effect rendering.

[Greg Peters]

I don't do much 3D work at all.
My card should be enough, it is a crossfire type card, I could always add another if there is a problem.

So far I have the 6000+ CPU and the 4gig of ram.
I am also running WinXP 64 - no driver or software problems at all.

I am waiting on my 3rd WD raptor to arrive.
Then I will have a RAID 0 setup for video editing.

I have triple back-up drives for redundant storage and archive.

I do not have my HD camera yet, but I worked through some digital photos this weekend.

This is a big difference, loading in a large batch of raw files and letting the PC chug through them. I would say 30-40% increase performance. Probably from the RAM.