How am i looking? PC editing machine

[Ryan Wachter]

480w power supply
motherboard-intel up to 3.2 ASROCK p4s61
Processor-Pentium IV 3.0
Memory-1024MB 400MHZ DDR
HD-80GB 7200
Sound-Sound blaster 5.1
Video-ATI 128mb w/ tv+
Windows XP

Now this is from PC store right now. They seemed to have the best deals when it came to creating your own PC. I just wanted to see how this stood up...im not purchasing real soon or anything.
Thanks
Ryan

[Cliff Hepburn]

Sounds good, I'd add a couple 200GB HDs, though. Is it going to double as a gaming machine too.

[Steven Davis]

This would probably void your warrantee, but I would make sure I have enough vents in there, video software is really hard on machines, especially if your doing marathon rendering. I have 6 fans in my machine. If you have a computer savey friend, you might think of building your own machine. You'll probably fill that 80 gig up on the first wedding or descent size event you do. I build my own stuff, so if you have any questions just let me know.

[Richard Alvarez]

Extra ventillation, extra hard drives for media storage... otherwise, looks okay to go.

[Ryan Wachter]

Yes I plan to use external hard drives for the events. The 80 gig will be strictly for the OS and Adobe programs, Priemere, Audtion....etc. Im getting that package through
ADS which will include a firewire card so I will be set there as well.

Wont 6 fans get pretty noisy? I am hoping to go direct to disk at many events so I will need the machine there with me. Any other cooling accessories I should look in to?
Thanks
Ryan
LastWachter Films

[Richard Alvarez]

Six fans will make it sound like a 747. I know, I'm sitting next to them now. Using a desktop on location for capturing is a bit awkward. Even in a studio setting, a desktop cpu is usually isolated in a soundproof cabinet, or another room.

You don't want to skimp on ventillation. Fans can be had for ten or fifteen bucks a pop. Considering the cost of replacing your cpu or OS disk, pretty cheap.

[Steven Davis]

Well, Including the massive fan I have on my heat sink, my machine is not that noisy. The key is to get good fans.

[Ryan Wachter]

Ive seen advertisements for nearly silent machines...what is it they are doing to make it that way?

[Steven Davis]

If my memory serves me correct at this ripe old age, they use insulation inside the machine.

[Glenn Chan]

In my opinion, the idea of adding extra ventilation is a bad one as:
A- Sometimes adding fans does nothing. Lots of overclockers modify their cases to improve cooling, but they find out that adding fans does not always improve case temperatues.
B- Video editing is not that taxing on your system. Gaming is a lot more taxing as you have a video card going too.
C- I haven't heard of anyone having problems with insufficient case ventilation. One case fan is enough.

Except case cooling might help if your CPU fans. If you have enough case ventilation, it may be good enough that your machine keeps on chugging along (this will need to be some pretty serious cooling with today's Pentium processors). In this scenario however, it doesn't make sense to get extra case fans. Your CPU fan doesn't fail that often and you probably wouldn't get enough cooling with case fans anyways.

---
If you somehow do find you want good case ventilation, go with a well-designed case to begin with. Look for 120mm case fan (larger fans have better airflow/noise ratio) and a fan for the hard drives (if you plan on multiple hard drives). The Antec cases have this (i.e. 3700BQE), although you may have to add the right size fan for the hard drives (right diameter and depth- some of their case designs do not take the thicker fans).

Panaflo fans are some of the quietest fans you can get... they're a little pricier though, and you need to get the right tailing/connector for them (or solder your own).

If you want to carry your computer around, I recommend a case like the Antec LANBoy or Super LANBoy. They have lots of expansion for hard drives (compared to small form factor cases) and they are light. The LANBoy comes with a quality 350W PSU (can get loud if hot), while the super version ends up more expensive since it does not.

motherboard-intel up to 3.2 ASROCK p4s61

You might want to go with something with a little more expansion. Having only 2 IDE channels means it'll cost you more if you want to add drives.

I would stick with internal hard drives as they are cheaper, faster, and more reliable (less likely to get dropped frames). Get a motherboard with more hard drive channels. For example, the Abit AS8 is a fairly standard motherboard with 2 SATA channels and 2 IDE/ATA connectors (6 devices total). It also has a firewire port.

If you want a board with 2 more IDE/ATA connectors, look at boards like the Asus P4P800 deluxe (ignore the VIA RAID features on it).

Sound: If you are getting random BSODs/reboots, uninstall the sound blaster (the sound blaster lives have this problem). You should setup your computer to show you BSODs (blue screen of death) instead of automatically rebooting (ask for instructions... too lazy to type em out).

I'd update to the latest sound card drivers when you install your computer. If you haven't purchased this card, I'd look at something along the lines of a M-audio revolution instead. It won't cause BSODs and will ahve better quality audio.

Video-ATI 128mb w/ tv+

Nvidia cards have better drivers that allow you to quasi-calibrate your monitor to NTSC color bars. They also have better dual monitor software, although you can get the shareware program Ultramon which I recommend anyways if you want dual monitors.

With ATI cards, you cannot get Premiere Pro running dual monitor unless you get Ultramon.

You might also want to look at DVI outputs if you plan on running LCDs that have DVI in.

2- You can also check prices on monarchcomputer.com
They might be cheaper.

[Glenn Chan]

Ive seen advertisements for nearly silent machines...what is it they are doing to make it that way?

Some of them are just using advertising hyperbole when they claim a machine is nearly silent.

Regardless, you can find out about the quietest computers available at
http://www.silentpcreview.com

The usual methods of getting a quieter PC are:

bigger fans.
quieter fans (i.e. Panaflos... there are other good fans too)
parts that produce less noise (i.e. quieter hard drives)
parts that consume less electricity (processor, video cards, higher efficiency power supply)
turning AAM on for your hard drives, undervolting CPU
putting hard drive in hard drive suspension

sound absorption material on inside
putting PC in an sound absorbing enclosure/case
putting sound-absorbing material behind the power supply to absorb noise
alternative cooling schemes (i.e. water cooling with radiator with no fan on it like the Zalman one)

[John Hartney]

My current editing box is built in an Antec Sonata case, which is designed for quiet operation..

Intel 875 board, 2 gigs dual channel ram, P4 3.0 processor.... It has a 500gb sata raid for editing and lots of large storage disks... quiet and cool.. As a black case, it is unobtrusive under the editing dest, too.

Oh yeah, when I set it up last spring, the folks at pcsilentreview were a good referance source.