where to cut costs?

Cosmin Rotaru · May 21st, 2003, 02:25 AM

I gues is enough.... It would do it for me!

Adi Head · May 21st, 2003, 07:34 AM

am i making a mistake avoiding amd? wouldn't geting an amd based system bring down the costs considerably?

Adi Head · May 21st, 2003, 07:38 AM

...and one more thing. what are the important features i should not compromise on as far as the choosing a case? fans? aluminum? front connections? space? true antec power vs. cheaper brands? etc...

Cosmin Rotaru · May 21st, 2003, 07:53 AM

I'm using an 1.8 Athlon XP with no problem. Maybe the P4 is faster.... I don't know.

About the case: take a BIG one. In size AND power. You'll have one or two HDD but in time you might get a third one (like I did). Also, if the temp monitoring soft shows you a HOT CPU you'll probably instal extra fans. So a 350W PSU is not to much! Don't go mad about the fans, though... You can see allot of fancy cooling systems over the net, but remember that those are for the OVERCLOCKING stuff. So, as long as you don't overclock the CPU, you don't need too much fans, peltier units or whatever!
I have a fan beninth the PSU that throws air INSIDE the case, because the CPU is right there, so is good to bring air from outside the case dirrectly to the CPU. Under the video card I have a fan that takes air outside the case. In front of the case, and down, I have another fan that blows air inside. Two HDDs are right down there, in the breeze! The third one is in a rack with its own cooling fans.
I have quite a few fans! I just realized this! :-)

Rob Lohman · May 21st, 2003, 07:53 AM

See if AMD will bring down the costs for you. I haven't had any
problems editing on AMD myself.

Personally I would go for more harddisk space than a faster
processor or more memory. You can edit with 256 mb. You
can always add another 256 mb or 512 when you have saved
some more in the near future. Harddisk space is a must since
having one hour of DV footage is already 13 GB. Reserve at
least 10 GB for your OS and applications. With some test
footage I already have 20 GB in use here, that is besides my
projects....

Keep in mind that a project usually has this:

- original footage files (for 10 minute short this will be at least 30 minutes)
- music files (lets say 500 mb for a 10 minute short)
- footage that is going down to a post application or mpeg encoder for example (10 minutes)
- output to DV or mpeg2 (10 minutes)

This is already 10 gigabytes for one little short....

Your 40 + 80 might be enough, that depends on you. I'm just
pointing out how fast it can go...

Andrew Petrie · May 21st, 2003, 08:23 AM

My system:
Athlon XP 1900 @ 1700mhz
1 GB pc2700 ram
20 GB IBM Deskstar for OS and apps
two 120 GB WD 8meg cache drives for DV (the large cache size has been notably faster if I have to move large files around)
Radeon 9700 (games :P and the dual monitor capability has come in handy for editing)

I've been with AMD for years now, and I'll continue to support them. The price/performance is excellent, and the money I save avoiding Intel I can put into better parts elsewhere.

If you decide to go AMD, pick up the newer Barton chips. The extra on-die cache will help with the rendering.

Yi Fong Yu · October 1st, 2003, 11:35 AM

http://www.pricewatch.com/
this will take care of business =D

Jon Kamps · October 1st, 2003, 09:53 PM

go amd and save your self a lot of money. you could proubly get a AMD XP 2500+ Barton core processor for under a 100 thier. and get a good asus or abit Nforce 2 chipset motherboard. for around 125ish-150ish. this is the best way to go. a 2500 amd is everybit as fast as a non hyper threaded 2.53 p4.

Adi Head · October 2nd, 2003, 09:26 AM

thanks guys, but this thread started a while ago and has since become unrelevent. i have already gone and bought my pc and am happy with it so far. thanks again.

May 21st, 2003, 07:53 AM	#20
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	See if AMD will bring down the costs for you. I haven't had any problems editing on AMD myself. Personally I would go for more harddisk space than a faster processor or more memory. You can edit with 256 mb. You can always add another 256 mb or 512 when you have saved some more in the near future. Harddisk space is a must since having one hour of DV footage is already 13 GB. Reserve at least 10 GB for your OS and applications. With some test footage I already have 20 GB in use here, that is besides my projects.... Keep in mind that a project usually has this: - original footage files (for 10 minute short this will be at least 30 minutes) - music files (lets say 500 mb for a 10 minute short) - footage that is going down to a post application or mpeg encoder for example (10 minutes) - output to DV or mpeg2 (10 minutes) This is already 10 gigabytes for one little short.... Your 40 + 80 might be enough, that depends on you. I'm just pointing out how fast it can go... __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

May 21st, 2003, 08:23 AM	#21
Andrew Petrie Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 484	My system: Athlon XP 1900 @ 1700mhz 1 GB pc2700 ram 20 GB IBM Deskstar for OS and apps two 120 GB WD 8meg cache drives for DV (the large cache size has been notably faster if I have to move large files around) Radeon 9700 (games :P and the dual monitor capability has come in handy for editing) I've been with AMD for years now, and I'll continue to support them. The price/performance is excellent, and the money I save avoiding Intel I can put into better parts elsewhere. If you decide to go AMD, pick up the newer Barton chips. The extra on-die cache will help with the rendering. __________________ Andrew \| Canon XL1s, ME66, Vinten Vision 3, GlideCam V16 (for sale!)

October 1st, 2003, 11:35 AM	#22
Yi Fong Yu Trustee Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Vulcan Posts: 1,564	http://www.pricewatch.com/ this will take care of business =D __________________ bow wow wow

May 21st, 2003, 02:25 AM	#16
Cosmin Rotaru Major Player Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Romania, Timisoara Posts: 453	I gues is enough.... It would do it for me!

May 21st, 2003, 07:34 AM	#17
Adi Head Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 642	am i making a mistake avoiding amd? wouldn't geting an amd based system bring down the costs considerably?

May 21st, 2003, 07:38 AM	#18
Adi Head Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 642	...and one more thing. what are the important features i should not compromise on as far as the choosing a case? fans? aluminum? front connections? space? true antec power vs. cheaper brands? etc...

October 1st, 2003, 09:53 PM	#23
Jon Kamps Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 56	go amd and save your self a lot of money. you could proubly get a AMD XP 2500+ Barton core processor for under a 100 thier. and get a good asus or abit Nforce 2 chipset motherboard. for around 125ish-150ish. this is the best way to go. a 2500 amd is everybit as fast as a non hyper threaded 2.53 p4.

October 2nd, 2003, 09:26 AM	#24
Adi Head Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 642	thanks guys, but this thread started a while ago and has since become unrelevent. i have already gone and bought my pc and am happy with it so far. thanks again.