Video Machine

[chixwithtrix]

Looking for some info on where to start for a Mini DV video editing machine that will support Adobe Premier 1.5/2.0. I know basics about computers, but know little about what all the numbers mean - especially in RAM.

I went and looked at Fry's with my boyfriend and was bombarded with lots of things that looked good. Another note is that I cannot buy top of the line stuff as it would cost a fortune. I'm looking for 2-3 gigs of RAM, possibly a RAID setup HDs only 7200rpm, Intel dual processors above 2.4 gig, a good motherboard that will support firewire. As for video card, I have no idea what I want/need, alI know is that I want it to be a dual out.

I have searched around for good video machines and what ppl have done, and a lot are single processors or machines that I can't lay my hands on. My boyfriend says that I might be able to pull it off for around 1000 if we build it ourselves....but I don't know really if that is very accurate. Mostly what I want in the beginning is good RAM, good Processor...the other stuff I can get int the future what it goes down in price.

Any suggestions could help

 

[tiraides]

(Edited my original configuration to include suggestions made in other posts...)

AMS black steel ATX mid-tower case - $39.99
Antec TruePower II 550W PSU - $89.99
Intel Pentium D 930 processor - $186.99
Intel BOXD945GNTLKR motherboard - $118.99
Two sticks G.SKILL 1GB DDR2 667 system memory - $149.98 (@ $74.99 each)
Lite-On black DL DVD burner - $34.99
WD Caviar 80GB SATA 300 hard drive (for OS and programs) - $43.99
WD Caviar 250GB SATA 300 hard drive (for storage) - $79.99
HIS Hightech Radeon X700 256MB graphics card - $124.99
Windows XP w/ SP2 OEM - $137.99

Total (not including shipping and/or taxes): $984.89


Is the $1000 budget just for the computer itself, or does it have to have everything with it? Also, do the monitors that you planning on using have the analog VGA ports or the digital DVI ports?

[EDIT: One problem that I've noticed is that none of the video cards that I've looked at supports dual monitors very well (I may have limited myself by trying to keep it under budget, but it seems like all cards at the "plain" Radeon X1600 or GeForce 6600/7600 level and below suck in some way, shape, or form.) I'll keep looking, but I suggest that you raise your budget level about $100 to $200 more -- so you could get a better (mid-grade) card and another hard drive (if you really want to use a RAID configuration for your system, though in that case, I would suggest that you get another 250GB "storage" drive and put the storage drives in a RAID 0 configuration).]

 

[Badger]

Don't forget the operating system

And I recommend dual DVI out if you have LCD's with DVI or think you may get some in the future... it makes a big difference.

 

[tiraides]

Don't forget the operating system

And I recommend dual DVI out if you have LCD's with DVI or think you may get some in the future... it makes a big difference.

Done and done....

... But I noticed that none of the video cards that I looked at can handle two monitors very well. (I was looking at the low end cards, just so that I could stay within budget, but it seems that anything at or below the level of a Radeon X1600 or GeForce 7600 simply sucks for that purpose....) You (the OP) might have to break your budget a bit if you want to use two monitors with your rig (... or break it a lot if you need other things -- like a monitor or two, speakers, and/or a KB/mouse combo) -- I can't really configure this thing (based on what you want out of it right away) without making some performance cuts somewhere along the line.

 

[Badger]

Hmm.. I have the XFX 6800NU with dual DVI that is great for dual 19" monitors. I imagine it would be good enough for Adobe work. Mine is the AGP flavor though... I don't even know if they still make these, let alone for PCIx but if they do the price must be cheap.

 

[valve1138]

Since this PC is for video editing, get a seperate hard drive for the OS. It's a must for this type of thing. If you have both the video files and the OS on the same drive you're asking for trouble. Get something like an 80 gig drive for Windows, and a 250 or 300 for your video.


Otherwise everything else looks good.

 

[tiraides]

Since this PC is for video editing, get a seperate hard drive for the OS. It's a must for this type of thing. If you have both the video files and the OS on the same drive you're asking for trouble. Get something like an 80 gig drive for Windows, and a 250 or 300 for your video.

Took your suggestion and edited my first post to reflect it... don't know how much of a difference 8MB of cache will make into what the OP wanted to do with this rig (vs. the 16MB cache that I had in my previous selection).