Computer purchase help.

Jeff Harper · December 4th, 2007, 10:35 AM

Quad-core processors are inexpensive now, and I suspect will only drop further after Christmas. I have nothing to back that up but it seems logical to me.

just found this http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/st...:CG71:CL161746

Mike Brennan · December 4th, 2007, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kenneth Johnson

Stuart
Thanks for the reply. I have never worked with vegas and only know premiere pro and fcp. I am curious how much your system cost you. I did look at a good editing pc but decided to try the mac. i am very happy with it,, might also be just the change from windows. I have found it more stable than windows but at this point I only edit photos and video on it. Maybe in another year I will start to have problems as I have heard other mac users have had but for now it is a clean machine. I did put an investment into it over 4k plus monitor but just wanted to purchase one machine for the next several years and it seems to be reliable at this point.

thanks ken

Hi Ken.

Not to turn this into a Mac/PC debate, but I use Vegas at home on a PC
and Premier on a Mac at work. I HATE the Mac and Premier !

I have more crashes and glitches on that Mac than on any PC, ever.
I am also not a fan of Premier. I can work much faster and easier in Vegas.

I never worked in FCP, but next week my primary worlplace will be installing
a new top of the line Mac with the full FCP suite. ( I didn't have a say in it )
Once I get my feet wet with that system, I'll chime back in and let you know how it compares to Vegas.

But with that being said.... I just upgraded to Vegas 8, and I'm also looking for a new PC. IMHO, you can't match the performance, price, and ease of use of Vegas running on a good PC.

JMHO,
Mike.

Jeff Harper · December 4th, 2007, 10:04 PM

Please do get back with us. I would be extremely interested to know an experienced Vegas user's opinion of the new FCP.

Miguel Avila · December 4th, 2007, 10:37 PM

I'm not much of a builder, and was recently in the market for a new system, so after reading a bit on the videoguys.com website, I decided to purchase an HP workstation. I didn't have the budget to invest in a new system so I went to the outlet and purchased a refurbished unit... it came out to be shy of $1,400usd incluiding tax, shipping and a free 19" lcd HP monitor...

It has 2 Dual Xeon Processors @ 2.00GHz, 2 gigs of memory, XP Pro... (dont get vista!!!) and 80gigs Hard drive... no raid, I just use externals... the video card, from what I read at Videoguys.com, does not have to be super powerful is a simple nvidia Quadro NVS 285 with 128mb of memory... so that's my setup... it's a really fast computer and it cut my render times dramatically. My previous setup was a dell dimension 5100 Pentium 4, 3ghz, 1.5 gigs of memory.. so yes, it was a big upgrade, and I think I got a good deal.

Jeff Harper · December 4th, 2007, 10:40 PM

Glad your happy with your purchase. I looked at the Xeon's, but went with Q6600. I'm sure your system is MUCH faster than your old one.

Simon Denny · December 5th, 2007, 12:31 AM

Hi Mike,
I would love to see a comparision between the two NLE.

Things I would be interested are.
Time line, work flow approach,
Is it better having an extra preview screen to edit,cut.
Adding color,efx's
The audio time line, compressing,repairs,noise reduction.
How easy is it to do things that Vegas does?
Rendering.

Anything else I have forgot please add.

Cheers
Simon

Alastair Brown · December 5th, 2007, 12:40 AM

HP Pavilion PC system A6150 Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2GB 320GB +80GB pocket media drive GF 8400 DVD RW card reader Vista Home Premium

For anyone thats in the UK, the above system can be had for £448 at the mo which is an INCREDIBLE deal. The full spec of this PC is really good for the money. YES, you could upgrade it even further but, as a base, it's a corker.

If you just Google the detials above, the deal I'm talking about comes up at the top.

Simon Denny · December 5th, 2007, 12:52 AM

Looks good Alastair,
Wish they had something in Australia that cheap... oh well.

Cheers
Simon

Lee Brennan · December 15th, 2007, 04:06 PM

Hi,
I am currently using a Compaq Presario with Vegas 6 and Particle Illusion 3. Needless to say it is really slow -particularly using PI3 in Vegas. I was recently offered a used Alienware Aurora 7500 computer with a dual core AMD processer. I looked on the Alienware site and that particular computer seems very fast and powerful but they mostly talk about using those computers for gaming. Would a computer for gaming work well for video? Does anyone use or have any info on them? Thanks for any help.

Jeff Harper · December 15th, 2007, 04:16 PM

That was a fine computer in 2005, and still isn't bad, but you can purchase a Quad processor system for less than $1000, which would likely be twice as fast.

Yes it would work fine, but be sure to not overpay for a dated processor. The seller is likely selling it to upgrade to a faster processor, and since the primary tasks of Vegas depend upon your processor, I would just be careful. You can (as you may or may not know) purchase external HDs (500Gb for $100) so if the Alienware has nice hard drive that needn't be a reason to buy it either.

You also do not benefit much from a killer video card, as I just replaced a fairly high end card with a cheap one (not TOO cheap mind you) and see NO difference. Vegas just can't benefit from high end graphics.

Jeff Harper · December 16th, 2007, 05:01 AM

I would like to add a hardware suggestion for those building a new workstation or who would like to lower the number of drives their data is spread across.

Samsung has come out with their new 1TB Spinpoint internal HD. Tom's Hardware tests show it to run extremely cool and while access times are average, transfer rates smoke and are close to a raptor. Excellent purchase for those of us needing lots of storage space. I have ordered one and if I like it will order another for backup for my backup. Two of these babies will replace four 500MB drives and will certainly simplify life, even if only temporarily.

If you need faster access times, the Barracuda equivalent of this drive would be a better choice.

Joe Sirbak · December 16th, 2007, 05:37 AM

I just noticed that the quad-core I bought for $650 after mail-in-rebate is now being offered for $600 after mail-in-rebate from Office Depot! I've been using it for a month now, and it seems to be a very capable system - particularly the Q6600 for quick renders on Vegas.

Jeff Harper · December 16th, 2007, 07:59 AM

I paid under $2k for mine only months ago and thought I was getting a great deal!

Jonathan Gentry · December 17th, 2007, 10:01 PM

Hey all

I just did alot of research for a new system. Value/performance being the object. here is what I came up with...

Run the Q6600 ($275) with Corsair XMS 800 memory.
Get a GA-P35C-DS3R gigabyte motherboard and overclock the processor from 2.4 to 3.0 ghz. Very easy and no heat issues even with the stock processor fan. Perfectly stable (see tomshardware.com for more info.)

Get an inexpensive nvidia card like 8800GT (if i recall.)

Use a good power supply. 650W

Once you get everything snapped together run the torture test in a program called prime95 but download the new beta version that will test all 4 processors on a quad core at the same time. Run it overnight. Temps of the processor should max at 65 celcius.

-Jonathan

Jeff Harper · December 17th, 2007, 10:21 PM

Overclocking is nice, but not always reliable for rendering in my limited experience with overclocking, heat issues aside.

I'm NOT knocking overclocking or saying it wont work for rendering, just be careful not to invest in a Build Your Own and to expect overclocking to make it worth the extra work only to find out it doesn't work out. I must admit I was not an experienced overclocker when I overclocked my Pentium D, and while it worked at lower settings, I couldn't finish a render at the highest speeds, and the overclocked speeds that did work made so little difference it didn't matter.

I have found V8 buggy, and can't even imagine running it overclocked though if I had the ability I sure would try! My MOBO won't do it (Dell OEM).

December 4th, 2007, 10:37 PM	#34
Miguel Avila New Boot Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 18	HP Workstation 6400 I'm not much of a builder, and was recently in the market for a new system, so after reading a bit on the videoguys.com website, I decided to purchase an HP workstation. I didn't have the budget to invest in a new system so I went to the outlet and purchased a refurbished unit... it came out to be shy of $1,400usd incluiding tax, shipping and a free 19" lcd HP monitor... It has 2 Dual Xeon Processors @ 2.00GHz, 2 gigs of memory, XP Pro... (dont get vista!!!) and 80gigs Hard drive... no raid, I just use externals... the video card, from what I read at Videoguys.com, does not have to be super powerful is a simple nvidia Quadro NVS 285 with 128mb of memory... so that's my setup... it's a really fast computer and it cut my render times dramatically. My previous setup was a dell dimension 5100 Pentium 4, 3ghz, 1.5 gigs of memory.. so yes, it was a big upgrade, and I think I got a good deal.

December 15th, 2007, 04:06 PM	#39
Lee Brennan New Boot Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Linden, Virginia Posts: 5	Computer purchase info Hi, I am currently using a Compaq Presario with Vegas 6 and Particle Illusion 3. Needless to say it is really slow -particularly using PI3 in Vegas. I was recently offered a used Alienware Aurora 7500 computer with a dual core AMD processer. I looked on the Alienware site and that particular computer seems very fast and powerful but they mostly talk about using those computers for gaming. Would a computer for gaming work well for video? Does anyone use or have any info on them? Thanks for any help.

December 17th, 2007, 10:01 PM	#44
Jonathan Gentry Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 183	Hey all I just did alot of research for a new system. Value/performance being the object. here is what I came up with... Run the Q6600 ($275) with Corsair XMS 800 memory. Get a GA-P35C-DS3R gigabyte motherboard and overclock the processor from 2.4 to 3.0 ghz. Very easy and no heat issues even with the stock processor fan. Perfectly stable (see tomshardware.com for more info.) Get an inexpensive nvidia card like 8800GT (if i recall.) Use a good power supply. 650W Once you get everything snapped together run the torture test in a program called prime95 but download the new beta version that will test all 4 processors on a quad core at the same time. Run it overnight. Temps of the processor should max at 65 celcius. -Jonathan Last edited by Jonathan Gentry; December 17th, 2007 at 11:42 PM.

December 4th, 2007, 10:35 AM	#31
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Quad-core processors are inexpensive now, and I suspect will only drop further after Christmas. I have nothing to back that up but it seems logical to me. just found this http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/st...:CG71:CL161746

December 4th, 2007, 10:04 PM	#33
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Please do get back with us. I would be extremely interested to know an experienced Vegas user's opinion of the new FCP.

December 4th, 2007, 10:40 PM	#35
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Glad your happy with your purchase. I looked at the Xeon's, but went with Q6600. I'm sure your system is MUCH faster than your old one.

December 5th, 2007, 12:31 AM	#36
Simon Denny Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,409	Hi Mike, I would love to see a comparision between the two NLE. Things I would be interested are. Time line, work flow approach, Is it better having an extra preview screen to edit,cut. Adding color,efx's The audio time line, compressing,repairs,noise reduction. How easy is it to do things that Vegas does? Rendering. Anything else I have forgot please add. Cheers Simon

December 5th, 2007, 12:40 AM	#37
Alastair Brown Major Player Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Glasgow/Scotland Posts: 626	HP Pavilion PC system A6150 Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2GB 320GB +80GB pocket media drive GF 8400 DVD RW card reader Vista Home Premium For anyone thats in the UK, the above system can be had for £448 at the mo which is an INCREDIBLE deal. The full spec of this PC is really good for the money. YES, you could upgrade it even further but, as a base, it's a corker. If you just Google the detials above, the deal I'm talking about comes up at the top.

December 5th, 2007, 12:52 AM	#38
Simon Denny Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,409	Looks good Alastair, Wish they had something in Australia that cheap... oh well. Cheers Simon

December 15th, 2007, 04:16 PM	#40
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	That was a fine computer in 2005, and still isn't bad, but you can purchase a Quad processor system for less than $1000, which would likely be twice as fast. Yes it would work fine, but be sure to not overpay for a dated processor. The seller is likely selling it to upgrade to a faster processor, and since the primary tasks of Vegas depend upon your processor, I would just be careful. You can (as you may or may not know) purchase external HDs (500Gb for $100) so if the Alienware has nice hard drive that needn't be a reason to buy it either. You also do not benefit much from a killer video card, as I just replaced a fairly high end card with a cheap one (not TOO cheap mind you) and see NO difference. Vegas just can't benefit from high end graphics.

December 16th, 2007, 05:01 AM	#41
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	I would like to add a hardware suggestion for those building a new workstation or who would like to lower the number of drives their data is spread across. Samsung has come out with their new 1TB Spinpoint internal HD. Tom's Hardware tests show it to run extremely cool and while access times are average, transfer rates smoke and are close to a raptor. Excellent purchase for those of us needing lots of storage space. I have ordered one and if I like it will order another for backup for my backup. Two of these babies will replace four 500MB drives and will certainly simplify life, even if only temporarily. If you need faster access times, the Barracuda equivalent of this drive would be a better choice.

December 16th, 2007, 05:37 AM	#42
Joe Sirbak New Boot Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 7	I just noticed that the quad-core I bought for $650 after mail-in-rebate is now being offered for $600 after mail-in-rebate from Office Depot! I've been using it for a month now, and it seems to be a very capable system - particularly the Q6600 for quick renders on Vegas.

December 16th, 2007, 07:59 AM	#43
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	I paid under $2k for mine only months ago and thought I was getting a great deal!

December 17th, 2007, 10:21 PM	#45
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Overclocking is nice, but not always reliable for rendering in my limited experience with overclocking, heat issues aside. I'm NOT knocking overclocking or saying it wont work for rendering, just be careful not to invest in a Build Your Own and to expect overclocking to make it worth the extra work only to find out it doesn't work out. I must admit I was not an experienced overclocker when I overclocked my Pentium D, and while it worked at lower settings, I couldn't finish a render at the highest speeds, and the overclocked speeds that did work made so little difference it didn't matter. I have found V8 buggy, and can't even imagine running it overclocked though if I had the ability I sure would try! My MOBO won't do it (Dell OEM).