Will my computer be alright for editing HD videoÉ at DVinfo.net

Robert James · March 12th, 2011, 06:49 PM

I have been reading online at other forums that you need a high end computer for editing HD vids without any hiccups. I am unsure if my Compaq fits the bill.

Here are some specs:

Compaq Presario CQ70 Notebook PC
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CUP T5800 @ 2.00GHz
3.00GB Memory
32-bit OS

* * *

If this is not up to snuff I am open to computer suggestions for my editing.

Thanks.

Peter Manojlovic · March 12th, 2011, 10:03 PM

Sorry Robert, but without anymore information, it's impossible to answer this...

What software, what OS, what kind of HD, and what are you exporting to??

Robert James · March 12th, 2011, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Manojlovic

Sorry Robert, but without anymore information, it's impossible to answer this...

What software, what OS, what kind of HD, and what are you exporting to??

Software: Sony Vegas Studio HD Platinum 10
OS: Windows Vista
HD: 1080p from a Canon T2i

As for the exporting question...that I don't quite understand. Can you explain?

Thanks.

Randall Leong · March 13th, 2011, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert James

Software: Sony Vegas Studio HD Platinum 10
OS: Windows Vista
HD: 1080p from a Canon T2i

As for the exporting question...that I don't quite understand. Can you explain?

Thanks.

First of all, your laptop is too weak to edit AVC-encoded DSLR video natively. You will need to export the unedited video to a lossless or uncompressed video format (which will require a much larger hard drive than what's installed in your laptop), and then perform your editing on the larger but easier-to-work-with file. (Some examples of lossless or near-lossless formats include Cineform and Lagarith AVI.)

Speaking of export formats, in addition to the uncompressed, lossless and near-lossless formats descrived in the above paragraph, other formats include MPEG-2 DVD, AVC Blu-ray and other compressed video formats.

Robert James · March 14th, 2011, 08:55 PM

Alrighty, so I need a new computer. I went to Best Buy this eve and the guy said they don't sell the type of computer I am looking for for HD editing.

Strike One.

So, where do I need to start looking and, oy vey, what the heck am I looking for?

Peter Manojlovic · March 14th, 2011, 09:59 PM

Wherabouts you located, and what's your budget??
Are you limited to laptops??

There's a list of sponsers.
Hamilton Video and sound, and Videoguys would be my first choice to look and learn...

Phone them up directly and tell them your needs. It will give you a rough estimate of cost and hardware.

If you're serious about editing, then you'll be sorry you bought from a box store..
There's another place i'd link you to, but these are official sponsers of DVInfo, so they deserve first credit..

Take care.

Robert James · March 14th, 2011, 10:56 PM

I am in Kingston. No, actually, I would prefer a desktop.

I'd before something tolerable between $700-1000 CDN. I suppose, base, is a computer that will not be slow when editing HD and doesn't take a day to render a video. I should also be able to have a good two or three programs going at a time without any slowdown.

Monitor should show HD, of course.

That's really all I need.

Peter Manojlovic · March 14th, 2011, 11:33 PM

Well, you'll be hard pressed to find anything that will edit your Canon in its' native format for that kind of money..Try using a third party codec like Neoscene to let your computer playback efficiently, and makeup for lost horsepower.
Otherwise, find the closest Wintronics dealer ( or any other corner store ), and let him try and get the best bang for your buck..You'll definately need at least 2 hard drives and as much RAM as possible. Don't go crazy on a video card. Many people make the mistake of dropping money on 3d rendering cards, but for your use, it's not necessary...

Good luck.

Robert James · March 15th, 2011, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Manojlovic

Well, you'll be hard pressed to find anything that will edit your Canon in its' native format for that kind of money..Try using a third party codec like Neoscene to let your computer playback efficiently, and makeup for lost horsepower.
Otherwise, find the closest Wintronics dealer ( or any other corner store ), and let him try and get the best bang for your buck..You'll definately need at least 2 hard drives and as much RAM as possible. Don't go crazy on a video card. Many people make the mistake of dropping money on 3d rendering cards, but for your use, it's not necessary...

Good luck.

Thanks for the headsup on Neoscene. Never heard of it.

Looks like I need to go with a build from scratch but really can't afford anything over $1000 at the moment. I just wish there was a nice alternative in the big box stores which is what I am used too. :p

I basically just want my wedding vids and short films to look as good as some of the ones I have seen on Vimo. I will basically be transfering the vids over to DVD for customers and such. I also hate choppy previews and my computer going batty when I run more then one program.

Peter Manojlovic · March 15th, 2011, 05:40 PM

Oh, they'll look good...
Just as long as you know what you're doing...

I just shot some test footage with a 7D for the first time...
Rather than editing native h.264, I uncompressed it to a usable codec...The uncompression took 2.5 hours for 20 minutes of footage.
Of course, once i used my 3rd party codec, i chopped, sliced and diced, and exported to web pretty quickly..

If this is a hobby, with one or two weddings, you might be able to get by with $1000 (you'll need Neoscene)...But if you start bottlenecking on your workflow, and losing time on slow playback/renders, then you'll quickly learn if the savings have paid off...

Take care...

Robert James · March 16th, 2011, 08:43 PM

Thanks Peter,
So, I've visited two computer shops in the area. I guess I have upped my budget by $500 because finding anything managable for under $1000 seems impossible. Anyway, these are two different systems. Obviously, I am leaning towards the one that is $1500ish as opposed to closer to 2 grand. Of course, I don't know what any of this stuff means. :p

* * *

*Intel Core i7 Quad-Core Socket LGA1366, 3.06 GHZ, 4.8GT/s FSB, 8MB L3 Cache, 45nm
*Antec Three Hundred Gaming Case ATX 3.0/(6) 2xUSB Audio No PS
*LG GH24NS50 Black Sata DVD-Writer 24xDVD+R/-R
*Western Digital Caviar Black (WD1002FAEX) 1TB SATA3 7200RPM 64MB Cache (OEM)
*Gigabyte GA-X581-UF5 Socket 1366 Intel X58 Chipset Dual Channel DDR3 2200/1333/1066/800MHYz 4x PCI Express x16 Slots GigaLAN 8-Ch HD Audio 2xSata 3Gb/s+6x SATA 3Gb/s 2x USB 3.0+10x USB 2.0 ATX
*Windows 7 Home
*Samsung E2320X 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor, VGA, DVI-D 1920X1080, 5ms
*Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 High Performance 750w power supply
*G.Skill Ripjaws Series DDR3 1600MHz (PC3-12800) 12 GB (3x4GB) Triple Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9T-12GBRL)
*EVGA GeForce GTX 460 SE 1024MB GDDR5 (01G-P3-1367-TR) nVidia GeForce GTX 460 SE Chipset (720Mhz) 1GB (3600Mhz) DDR5 Dual Display DVI-I/Mini-HDMI PCI Express 2.0 Graphics Card
TOTAL COST: $1,541.27

OR

*Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz 8MB LGA1366
*Asus SKT.1366 Intel X58 DDR3 ATX
*Kingston DDR3 PC3-12800 6GB Triple Channel Kit
*Asus GrForce GTX 460 DirectCU 1Gb GDDR5 256-bit PCI-E
*WD Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
*LG 10x Blu-Ray Burner / DVD-RW Sata w/Lightscribe Black
*Corsair HX Series 750w Power Supply
*Microsoft Windows 7 Home Prem 64 bit
*Antec VSK-2000 Mid-Tower
*LG E2340T-PN Black 23" LED 1920x1080 5Ms
TOTAL COST: $1,749.05

Peter Manojlovic · March 17th, 2011, 09:30 PM

Hey James...

Find out from Vegas users, what kind of issues they might have with their setups..Perhaps they have a dedicated forum for computer related issues.
The first computer leads me to believe you've got two video cards...Definately a no-no. SLI bridged does nothing. Only if you're a gamer.
Again, not sure about Vegas, but i'm pretty sure everything's going 64 bit, so watch out on your OS...I believe the Home version won't recognize anything over 8gigs of ram or something like that...

I've lost my technical edge a while back (who the hell can keep up anymore)...
So take it with a grain of salt.
The good news, is that there's tons of info. out their to guide you...

Good luck!!!

Randall Leong · March 18th, 2011, 01:08 AM

Actually, James, neither of those two systems is ideal.

First off, each of those systems comes with only one hard drive. A properly functioning video editing system requires at least two (or better, three or more) internal hard drives.

The first system comes with a crippled version of the GTX 460 1GB: The GTX 460 SE has only 224 CUDA cores versus 336 CUDA cores in the full-fledged GTX 460 in the second system. However, the second system with the "faster" GPU has only 6GB of RAM (the first system has 12GB of RAM). Worse, the second system is housed in a case with potentially poorer airflow than the first system because the VSK-2000 can only accommodate three 120mm fans (versus five or more 120mm to 140mm fans in the Three Hundred case). In that second system, that leaves you with only the stock rear 120mm fan (the two front fans are optional, and are not included with the case) to exhaust all of that hot air out of that case (I do not count power supply fans as case cooling because they are barely powerful enough to cool their own innards off).

And as I mentioned in other threads, Windows 7 Home Premium is not the best choice for a video editing system: Its maximum total RAM support is limited to 16GB. Many of the better-performing systems have 24GB of RAM, which requires Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate in order to make full use of all that installed RAM.

With that said, the first build is preferred despite the somewhat inferior GPU because it has twice the installed RAM as the second build. Just add one or two additional hard drives to that system before you start your video editing work for real.

Sareesh Sudhakaran · March 18th, 2011, 09:31 AM

Another take on things if you don't want to spend a lot of money:

1. Install a 64-bit Windows OS (Doesn't matter which)
2. Install a few more GB or RAM (as many as you can or want)
3. Buy three 7200 rpm drives -
HDD A. For all the native DSLR HD H.264 footage (size should be at least 1.3x total footage size)
HDD B. Cache Drive (read the Sony NLE manual for ideal cache size)
HDD C. Converted footage (Your proxy drive).
4. Get Cineform. If you can't afford it, you don't need it. Use the encoder that comes with your NLE. Convert all your footage to either:
a. Full HD files in AVI or Image sequences (I don't recommend this step)
b. DV format at 16:9 as proxy files (I recommend this). This goes to drive C.
5. Make sure you name your proxy files similarly to your native files. This is important.
6. Edit with your 'refurbished' laptop using the proxy files.
7. When you're done, and it's final, then point all the proxy footage to the native footage (read the manual).
8. Render full HD.

Downsides:
More rendering time for creating proxy/HD files
A little more complicated workflow (not really if you know what you're doing)

Upside:
You save $1,000 dollars
The only part you can't use in the future is the RAM, which is an acceptable loss. Both the OS and the HDDs can be used with a newer system when the time comes.
You look like a star, and you feel like one too.

Hope this helps.

Robert James · March 18th, 2011, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randall Leong

Actually, James, neither of those two systems is ideal.

First off, each of those systems comes with only one hard drive. A properly functioning video editing system requires at least two (or better, three or more) internal hard drives.

The first system comes with a crippled version of the GTX 460 1GB: The GTX 460 SE has only 224 CUDA cores versus 336 CUDA cores in the full-fledged GTX 460 in the second system. However, the second system with the "faster" GPU has only 6GB of RAM (the first system has 12GB of RAM). Worse, the second system is housed in a case with potentially poorer airflow than the first system because the VSK-2000 can only accommodate three 120mm fans (versus five or more 120mm to 140mm fans in the Three Hundred case). In that second system, that leaves you with only the stock rear 120mm fan (the two front fans are optional, and are not included with the case) to exhaust all of that hot air out of that case (I do not count power supply fans as case cooling because they are barely powerful enough to cool their own innards off).

And as I mentioned in other threads, Windows 7 Home Premium is not the best choice for a video editing system: Its maximum total RAM support is limited to 16GB. Many of the better-performing systems have 24GB of RAM, which requires Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate in order to make full use of all that installed RAM.

With that said, the first build is preferred despite the somewhat inferior GPU because it has twice the installed RAM as the second build. Just add one or two additional hard drives to that system before you start your video editing work for real.

Randall: With my budget originally being $1,000 I pushed it to 1,500 but at this time can't go much higher to include the 2 extra hard drives. However, and correct me if I am wrong, these are things I can upgrade to in the future, right? And assuming it, too, isn't an arm and a leg I can upgrade that 460GX to the one you are mentioning that would work better. Can you see it on this page: Computer Parts, Hardware & Accessories | Canada Computers ?

Also, would this be better. It is on sale now: Asus ENGTX470/2DI/1280MD5 nVidia GeForce GTX 470 Chipset (607Mhz) 1280MB (3348Mhz) GDDR5 Dual Dual-Link DVI-I/HDMI Display PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card

I do have EXTERNAL hard-drives at the moment but thank you for your input.

___________________________________

Peter: I think it is only one card. At least, that's what I asked for. The OS is Windows Home 64-bit Premium which says (Windows 7 Home Premium
Limit on X64: 16 GB)

____________________________

I also recently got THIS quote from yet another store:
-Intel BOXDH55HC Intel H55 LGA 1156 DDR3 1333 PCI-Express 2.0x16 Audio ATX Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813121396)
-Intel CPU Core i7-870 2.93GHz 8MB LGA 1156 Retail
-Kingston KVR 1333D3N9K2/8G 8gb Kit 2X4GB 1333MHZ DDR3 Non ECC Cl9 DIMM (http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/conf...R1333D3N9K2/8G)
-LG GH22Ns50 LG GH22Ns50 Sata 22x/22xDVD-RW Drive, BLACK, INTERNAL (http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12600DR0061)
-Antec VSK2000CN Antex VSK-2000 New SOLUTION ATX Mid Tower 3 1 (6) BAYS USB
-Antec EA-750 750w power supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371026)
-Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 - Hard Drive - 1TB - internal - 3.5" - SATA-300 (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16822148433)
-Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit
-Asus Video Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX470 1280MB DDR5 320bit PCI-Express 2.0 2DVI/HDMI Retail

_________________________

A few questions:
1) how important is it to have a Blu-Ray drive? I know I can cut down on my costs with the regular drives
2) None of these systems included a card reader input. Do I need one?
3) Monitor recommendations?

March 12th, 2011, 06:49 PM	#1
Robert James Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Canada Posts: 137	Will my computer be alright for editing HD videoÉ I have been reading online at other forums that you need a high end computer for editing HD vids without any hiccups. I am unsure if my Compaq fits the bill. Here are some specs: Compaq Presario CQ70 Notebook PC Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CUP T5800 @ 2.00GHz 3.00GB Memory 32-bit OS * * * If this is not up to snuff I am open to computer suggestions for my editing. Thanks.

March 12th, 2011, 10:03 PM	#2
Peter Manojlovic Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Hamilton Ontario Posts: 769	Re: Will my computer be alright for editing HD videoÉ Sorry Robert, but without anymore information, it's impossible to answer this... What software, what OS, what kind of HD, and what are you exporting to??

March 14th, 2011, 08:55 PM	#5
Robert James Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Canada Posts: 137	Re: Will my computer be alright for editing HD video Alrighty, so I need a new computer. I went to Best Buy this eve and the guy said they don't sell the type of computer I am looking for for HD editing. Strike One. So, where do I need to start looking and, oy vey, what the heck am I looking for?

March 14th, 2011, 09:59 PM	#6
Peter Manojlovic Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Hamilton Ontario Posts: 769	Re: Will my computer be alright for editing HD videoÉ Wherabouts you located, and what's your budget?? Are you limited to laptops?? There's a list of sponsers. Hamilton Video and sound, and Videoguys would be my first choice to look and learn... Phone them up directly and tell them your needs. It will give you a rough estimate of cost and hardware. If you're serious about editing, then you'll be sorry you bought from a box store.. There's another place i'd link you to, but these are official sponsers of DVInfo, so they deserve first credit.. Take care.

March 14th, 2011, 10:56 PM	#7
Robert James Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Canada Posts: 137	Re: Will my computer be alright for editing HD videoÉ I am in Kingston. No, actually, I would prefer a desktop. I'd before something tolerable between $700-1000 CDN. I suppose, base, is a computer that will not be slow when editing HD and doesn't take a day to render a video. I should also be able to have a good two or three programs going at a time without any slowdown. Monitor should show HD, of course. That's really all I need.

March 14th, 2011, 11:33 PM	#8
Peter Manojlovic Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Hamilton Ontario Posts: 769	Re: Will my computer be alright for editing HD videoÉ Well, you'll be hard pressed to find anything that will edit your Canon in its' native format for that kind of money..Try using a third party codec like Neoscene to let your computer playback efficiently, and makeup for lost horsepower. Otherwise, find the closest Wintronics dealer ( or any other corner store ), and let him try and get the best bang for your buck..You'll definately need at least 2 hard drives and as much RAM as possible. Don't go crazy on a video card. Many people make the mistake of dropping money on 3d rendering cards, but for your use, it's not necessary... Good luck.

March 15th, 2011, 05:40 PM	#10
Peter Manojlovic Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Hamilton Ontario Posts: 769	Re: Will my computer be alright for editing HD videoÉ Oh, they'll look good... Just as long as you know what you're doing... I just shot some test footage with a 7D for the first time... Rather than editing native h.264, I uncompressed it to a usable codec...The uncompression took 2.5 hours for 20 minutes of footage. Of course, once i used my 3rd party codec, i chopped, sliced and diced, and exported to web pretty quickly.. If this is a hobby, with one or two weddings, you might be able to get by with $1000 (you'll need Neoscene)...But if you start bottlenecking on your workflow, and losing time on slow playback/renders, then you'll quickly learn if the savings have paid off... Take care...

March 16th, 2011, 08:43 PM	#11
Robert James Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Canada Posts: 137	Re: Will my computer be alright for editing HD videoÉ Thanks Peter, So, I've visited two computer shops in the area. I guess I have upped my budget by $500 because finding anything managable for under $1000 seems impossible. Anyway, these are two different systems. Obviously, I am leaning towards the one that is $1500ish as opposed to closer to 2 grand. Of course, I don't know what any of this stuff means. :p * * * Intel Core i7 Quad-Core Socket LGA1366, 3.06 GHZ, 4.8GT/s FSB, 8MB L3 Cache, 45nm Antec Three Hundred Gaming Case ATX 3.0/(6) 2xUSB Audio No PS LG GH24NS50 Black Sata DVD-Writer 24xDVD+R/-R Western Digital Caviar Black (WD1002FAEX) 1TB SATA3 7200RPM 64MB Cache (OEM) Gigabyte GA-X581-UF5 Socket 1366 Intel X58 Chipset Dual Channel DDR3 2200/1333/1066/800MHYz 4x PCI Express x16 Slots GigaLAN 8-Ch HD Audio 2xSata 3Gb/s+6x SATA 3Gb/s 2x USB 3.0+10x USB 2.0 ATX Windows 7 Home Samsung E2320X 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor, VGA, DVI-D 1920X1080, 5ms Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 High Performance 750w power supply G.Skill Ripjaws Series DDR3 1600MHz (PC3-12800) 12 GB (3x4GB) Triple Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9T-12GBRL) EVGA GeForce GTX 460 SE 1024MB GDDR5 (01G-P3-1367-TR) nVidia GeForce GTX 460 SE Chipset (720Mhz) 1GB (3600Mhz) DDR5 Dual Display DVI-I/Mini-HDMI PCI Express 2.0 Graphics Card TOTAL COST: $1,541.27 OR Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz 8MB LGA1366 Asus SKT.1366 Intel X58 DDR3 ATX Kingston DDR3 PC3-12800 6GB Triple Channel Kit Asus GrForce GTX 460 DirectCU 1Gb GDDR5 256-bit PCI-E WD Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive LG 10x Blu-Ray Burner / DVD-RW Sata w/Lightscribe Black Corsair HX Series 750w Power Supply Microsoft Windows 7 Home Prem 64 bit Antec VSK-2000 Mid-Tower LG E2340T-PN Black 23" LED 1920x1080 5Ms TOTAL COST: $1,749.05

March 17th, 2011, 09:30 PM	#12
Peter Manojlovic Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Hamilton Ontario Posts: 769	Re: Will my computer be alright for editing HD videoÉ Hey James... Find out from Vegas users, what kind of issues they might have with their setups..Perhaps they have a dedicated forum for computer related issues. The first computer leads me to believe you've got two video cards...Definately a no-no. SLI bridged does nothing. Only if you're a gamer. Again, not sure about Vegas, but i'm pretty sure everything's going 64 bit, so watch out on your OS...I believe the Home version won't recognize anything over 8gigs of ram or something like that... I've lost my technical edge a while back (who the hell can keep up anymore)... So take it with a grain of salt. The good news, is that there's tons of info. out their to guide you... Good luck!!!

March 18th, 2011, 01:08 AM	#13
Randall Leong Major Player Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Melrose Park, Illinois, USA Posts: 936	Re: Will my computer be alright for editing HD videoÉ Actually, James, neither of those two systems is ideal. First off, each of those systems comes with only one hard drive. A properly functioning video editing system requires at least two (or better, three or more) internal hard drives. The first system comes with a crippled version of the GTX 460 1GB: The GTX 460 SE has only 224 CUDA cores versus 336 CUDA cores in the full-fledged GTX 460 in the second system. However, the second system with the "faster" GPU has only 6GB of RAM (the first system has 12GB of RAM). Worse, the second system is housed in a case with potentially poorer airflow than the first system because the VSK-2000 can only accommodate three 120mm fans (versus five or more 120mm to 140mm fans in the Three Hundred case). In that second system, that leaves you with only the stock rear 120mm fan (the two front fans are optional, and are not included with the case) to exhaust all of that hot air out of that case (I do not count power supply fans as case cooling because they are barely powerful enough to cool their own innards off). And as I mentioned in other threads, Windows 7 Home Premium is not the best choice for a video editing system: Its maximum total RAM support is limited to 16GB. Many of the better-performing systems have 24GB of RAM, which requires Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate in order to make full use of all that installed RAM. With that said, the first build is preferred despite the somewhat inferior GPU because it has twice the installed RAM as the second build. Just add one or two additional hard drives to that system before you start your video editing work for real.

March 18th, 2011, 09:31 AM	#14
Sareesh Sudhakaran Trustee Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Mumbai, India Posts: 1,385	Re: Will my computer be alright for editing HD videoÉ Another take on things if you don't want to spend a lot of money: 1. Install a 64-bit Windows OS (Doesn't matter which) 2. Install a few more GB or RAM (as many as you can or want) 3. Buy three 7200 rpm drives - HDD A. For all the native DSLR HD H.264 footage (size should be at least 1.3x total footage size) HDD B. Cache Drive (read the Sony NLE manual for ideal cache size) HDD C. Converted footage (Your proxy drive). 4. Get Cineform. If you can't afford it, you don't need it. Use the encoder that comes with your NLE. Convert all your footage to either: a. Full HD files in AVI or Image sequences (I don't recommend this step) b. DV format at 16:9 as proxy files (I recommend this). This goes to drive C. 5. Make sure you name your proxy files similarly to your native files. This is important. 6. Edit with your 'refurbished' laptop using the proxy files. 7. When you're done, and it's final, then point all the proxy footage to the native footage (read the manual). 8. Render full HD. Downsides: More rendering time for creating proxy/HD files A little more complicated workflow (not really if you know what you're doing) Upside: You save $1,000 dollars The only part you can't use in the future is the RAM, which is an acceptable loss. Both the OS and the HDDs can be used with a newer system when the time comes. You look like a star, and you feel like one too. Hope this helps. __________________ Get the Free Comprehensive Guide to Rigging ANY Camera - one guide to rig them all - DSLRs to the Arri Alexa.