going to buy my new computer at DVinfo.net

Dylan Couper · June 23rd, 2002, 01:45 PM

I'm going to buy my new system this week, and I'd like some opinions on what hardware to get. I've decided that for what I'm doing, I don't need real time gear. I'm probably going to use Premiere as there is lots of support for it and plug-ins readily available. And also because people say it's the most intuitive and easiest of the higher-end NLE's to learn.

I'm trying to go fairly cheap, so I can get a set of Lowel lights AND try and squeeze in an extra miniDV camcorder (to use as a deck) into my budget.

So, here are my questions.

CPU-RAM
How much difference will the processor and RAM make in rendering times? I'm not doing any huge effects. Is 256MB of RAM enough for this? Will 512MB make it go much faster?
Dual processors, for the extra expense vs. speed Yay or Nay?

AMD vs. Intel
Compatibility issues in the future if I am using Avid, or buy a Canopus DV Storm or similar board? Is it a better idea just to get a slightly slower P4 and not have to worry about it?

Capture card: As long as it is OHCI compliant, and besides software that they come with, is there much difference between these?

Video card. Matrox Dual head?

Hard Drive. I'm thinking 40GB system drive and 80GB storage drive. SCSI is not in my budget. What's the fastest I can get?

Sound. I'm not big on integrated sound so I'm thinking a cheap SB Live Value card.

And W2k vs. WinXP, the debate ended with W2K winning, right?

Thanks!
As always, all info is appreciated!
You guys ROCK!

Dylan Couper · June 23rd, 2002, 02:07 PM

Also, does anyone from Vancouver know a place that specializes in video editing systems?

Andrew Leigh · June 23rd, 2002, 03:32 PM

Hi Dylan,

My personal thoughts only, I am no PC guru.

I think it was on a Canopus forum that I read a response to someone "boasting" about his new dual system with 1gig odd of Ram. It was claimed by the respondent that Windows and Premiere were unable to fully utililise the resources he had and consequently the dual CPU's were "tapping fingers" waiting for the slower Ram to feed through a slow bus. He went on to claim that 385Meg ram was all that was required, anything more than that was under utilised. I would go 512Meg. The tone was not sarcastic but he was merely ponting out that at time we buy unwisely. He was not taken to task to either he was right or no one wanted to take him on. WOULD BE INTERESTING TO HEAR WHAT THE GUYS WHO REALLY KNOW AND UNDERSTAND PC'S HAVE TO SAY.

HD's
Don't worry about SCSI, IDE is more than fast enough. It is an advantage to get ones that spin at 7200rpm and not the 5400rpm models.

VIDEO CARD
I am not familiar with the Matrox but have read good reports. I do wish my Voodoo 3 3000 was a bit faster and with more Ram. Don't scrimp on this one.

SCREEN
You did not mention but you would also do well in going to at least 17". Get something decent as you will spend a lot of time staring at it. Rather than having two monitors I use a small portable 13" TV as the other monitor. This to me is a cheaper way of getting a good idea of what the final product will look like.

THE ONE THING I DO KNOW IS THAT SOME MOBO'S HAVE CHIPSETS THAT ARE FUSSY, AND IN SOME INSTANCES DOWNRIGHT UNCOOPERATIVE. IT IS MORE CRITICAL, FROM WHAT I HAVE SEEN, TO MATCH ALL THE COMPONENTS THAN TO GO FOR THE FASTEST / BIGGEST POSSIBLE ON EVERYTHING. MOBO'S HAVE DIFFERING SLOT CONFIGURATIONS, ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU WANT.

If you choose a Canopus product check their webpage, they have compatibility pages that will let you know exactly what will work with the Storm. Also sometimes it is better to spend a bit more and have someone build the system, according to your spec's, for you. In that way you could avoid costly mistakes.

I cloned my system when at the point of purchase like you. I kept a close eye on the systems as used by DVRaptor users on the Canopus forums. I found one that was within my budget and duplicated it almost exactly but for the HD's. I went for WD rather than Maxtors as these are not supported in South Africa.

I am sure that for each reply you get you may get as many opinions. Whatever you do ensure that all components in your system "match".

My 0.02$ worth.
Good Luck
Andrew

K. Forman · June 23rd, 2002, 05:13 PM

Instead of telling you to buy this, or buy that, I will tell you what I have.
AMD 1800+, because I like the fact I can have a fast chip for a lot less. AMDs have always been faithful to me.

Abit KG7 Raid, because it ISN'T Asus. Besides, I have read nothing but good reports on it, and it has the built in raid. It will support at least 2 gig of ram. Once I updated the bios and drivers, it has been rock solid.

GeForce 3 video, because, at heart, I am a gamer and that part demanded a killer card for play time. It's a weakness :)

Canopus DV Storm plus, because it is a card with a great rep, and a breakout box with connections in the front. A big time plus. Besides, the Pinnacle Pro One didn't support Win 2K, and I wasn't about to wait and see.

512 meg of ram, because any less is really not productive for all of the apps I run.

If you can run a second monitor, by all means, do it. With all of the menus Adobe has, you need a second monitor just for them. There are times I can't see what I'm doing without rearranging.
Just my thoughts-
Keith

Dylan Couper · June 23rd, 2002, 08:11 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Andrew Leigh : Hi Dylan,

SCREEN
You did not mention but you would also do well in going to at least 17". Get something decent as you will spend a lot of time staring at it. Rather than having two monitors I use a small portable 13" TV as the other monitor. This to me is a cheaper way of getting a good idea of what the final product will look like.

Andrew -->>>

I've got a 27" monitor. :D
I was going to pick up a 17" to use as my second monitor, but I like your point about a TV as well.

I have no plans on building it myself. I think it's well worth the money to have a pro do it and have it be reliable.

Capt Quirk, at heart I'm a hardcore gamer too, but I've quit PC gaming and will not be installing any games on this system. Not even solitare or freecell. I'll never get any work done if I do. :)

K. Forman · June 24th, 2002, 05:40 AM

When it starts going badly, and it will ( I love Premiere, but...), it helps to blow off a little steam. Set a 15 minute time limit, and consider it a well needed break. Kill some baddies, then go back feeling much better!

Besides, the video card also helps the playback play smoother, which is a cause of glitches when recording to tape.
Keith

Dylan Couper · June 25th, 2002, 02:17 PM

Any other thoughts on where to spend money, where to save?

June 23rd, 2002, 01:45 PM	#1
Dylan Couper Wrangler Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia Posts: 8,314	going to buy my new computer I'm going to buy my new system this week, and I'd like some opinions on what hardware to get. I've decided that for what I'm doing, I don't need real time gear. I'm probably going to use Premiere as there is lots of support for it and plug-ins readily available. And also because people say it's the most intuitive and easiest of the higher-end NLE's to learn. I'm trying to go fairly cheap, so I can get a set of Lowel lights AND try and squeeze in an extra miniDV camcorder (to use as a deck) into my budget. So, here are my questions. CPU-RAM How much difference will the processor and RAM make in rendering times? I'm not doing any huge effects. Is 256MB of RAM enough for this? Will 512MB make it go much faster? Dual processors, for the extra expense vs. speed Yay or Nay? AMD vs. Intel Compatibility issues in the future if I am using Avid, or buy a Canopus DV Storm or similar board? Is it a better idea just to get a slightly slower P4 and not have to worry about it? Capture card: As long as it is OHCI compliant, and besides software that they come with, is there much difference between these? Video card. Matrox Dual head? Hard Drive. I'm thinking 40GB system drive and 80GB storage drive. SCSI is not in my budget. What's the fastest I can get? Sound. I'm not big on integrated sound so I'm thinking a cheap SB Live Value card. And W2k vs. WinXP, the debate ended with W2K winning, right? Thanks! As always, all info is appreciated! You guys ROCK!

June 23rd, 2002, 03:32 PM	#3
Andrew Leigh Major Player Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Johannesburg, South Africa Posts: 220	Hi Dylan, My personal thoughts only, I am no PC guru. I think it was on a Canopus forum that I read a response to someone "boasting" about his new dual system with 1gig odd of Ram. It was claimed by the respondent that Windows and Premiere were unable to fully utililise the resources he had and consequently the dual CPU's were "tapping fingers" waiting for the slower Ram to feed through a slow bus. He went on to claim that 385Meg ram was all that was required, anything more than that was under utilised. I would go 512Meg. The tone was not sarcastic but he was merely ponting out that at time we buy unwisely. He was not taken to task to either he was right or no one wanted to take him on. WOULD BE INTERESTING TO HEAR WHAT THE GUYS WHO REALLY KNOW AND UNDERSTAND PC'S HAVE TO SAY. HD's Don't worry about SCSI, IDE is more than fast enough. It is an advantage to get ones that spin at 7200rpm and not the 5400rpm models. VIDEO CARD I am not familiar with the Matrox but have read good reports. I do wish my Voodoo 3 3000 was a bit faster and with more Ram. Don't scrimp on this one. SCREEN You did not mention but you would also do well in going to at least 17". Get something decent as you will spend a lot of time staring at it. Rather than having two monitors I use a small portable 13" TV as the other monitor. This to me is a cheaper way of getting a good idea of what the final product will look like. THE ONE THING I DO KNOW IS THAT SOME MOBO'S HAVE CHIPSETS THAT ARE FUSSY, AND IN SOME INSTANCES DOWNRIGHT UNCOOPERATIVE. IT IS MORE CRITICAL, FROM WHAT I HAVE SEEN, TO MATCH ALL THE COMPONENTS THAN TO GO FOR THE FASTEST / BIGGEST POSSIBLE ON EVERYTHING. MOBO'S HAVE DIFFERING SLOT CONFIGURATIONS, ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU WANT. If you choose a Canopus product check their webpage, they have compatibility pages that will let you know exactly what will work with the Storm. Also sometimes it is better to spend a bit more and have someone build the system, according to your spec's, for you. In that way you could avoid costly mistakes. I cloned my system when at the point of purchase like you. I kept a close eye on the systems as used by DVRaptor users on the Canopus forums. I found one that was within my budget and duplicated it almost exactly but for the HD's. I went for WD rather than Maxtors as these are not supported in South Africa. I am sure that for each reply you get you may get as many opinions. Whatever you do ensure that all components in your system "match". My 0.02$ worth. Good Luck Andrew __________________ PAL XL-1, DV Raptor, Premiere TOTAL AMATEUR - DOING IT FOR THE FUN

June 23rd, 2002, 02:07 PM	#2
Dylan Couper Wrangler Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia Posts: 8,314	Also, does anyone from Vancouver know a place that specializes in video editing systems?

June 23rd, 2002, 05:13 PM	#4
K. Forman Capt. Quirk Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Middle of the woods in Georgia Posts: 3,596	Instead of telling you to buy this, or buy that, I will tell you what I have. AMD 1800+, because I like the fact I can have a fast chip for a lot less. AMDs have always been faithful to me. Abit KG7 Raid, because it ISN'T Asus. Besides, I have read nothing but good reports on it, and it has the built in raid. It will support at least 2 gig of ram. Once I updated the bios and drivers, it has been rock solid. GeForce 3 video, because, at heart, I am a gamer and that part demanded a killer card for play time. It's a weakness :) Canopus DV Storm plus, because it is a card with a great rep, and a breakout box with connections in the front. A big time plus. Besides, the Pinnacle Pro One didn't support Win 2K, and I wasn't about to wait and see. 512 meg of ram, because any less is really not productive for all of the apps I run. If you can run a second monitor, by all means, do it. With all of the menus Adobe has, you need a second monitor just for them. There are times I can't see what I'm doing without rearranging. Just my thoughts- Keith

June 23rd, 2002, 08:11 PM	#5
Dylan Couper Wrangler Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia Posts: 8,314	<<<-- Originally posted by Andrew Leigh : Hi Dylan, SCREEN You did not mention but you would also do well in going to at least 17". Get something decent as you will spend a lot of time staring at it. Rather than having two monitors I use a small portable 13" TV as the other monitor. This to me is a cheaper way of getting a good idea of what the final product will look like. Andrew -->>> I've got a 27" monitor. :D I was going to pick up a 17" to use as my second monitor, but I like your point about a TV as well. I have no plans on building it myself. I think it's well worth the money to have a pro do it and have it be reliable. Capt Quirk, at heart I'm a hardcore gamer too, but I've quit PC gaming and will not be installing any games on this system. Not even solitare or freecell. I'll never get any work done if I do. :)

June 24th, 2002, 05:40 AM	#6
K. Forman Capt. Quirk Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Middle of the woods in Georgia Posts: 3,596	When it starts going badly, and it will ( I love Premiere, but...), it helps to blow off a little steam. Set a 15 minute time limit, and consider it a well needed break. Kill some baddies, then go back feeling much better! Besides, the video card also helps the playback play smoother, which is a cause of glitches when recording to tape. Keith

June 25th, 2002, 02:17 PM	#7
Dylan Couper Wrangler Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia Posts: 8,314	Any other thoughts on where to spend money, where to save?