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Another computer for Vegas
Hi,
I’m getting help and am also trying to learn how to build my own computer. The choices out there are mind boggeling to me at this time. The programs I use the most are Vegas 6.0, Excalibur and DVDA, also Photoshop.
So far it seems AMD, dual core are best. But now am getting into trouble with choices of AMD 939 socket or AMD AM2 socket. Then ASUS mobo appropriate to socket or MSI or What? RAM Memory?? size, mfgr??
Hard drive size .. mfgr? Case with tooless build with good cooling?One who has offered to help me learn to put it together is an Intel person, but I saw a comparison that Videoguys had done between and Intel Pentium D and and AMD 939 socket, AMD setup won with some kind of Killer render supplied by VASST.
Thank you for any help offered.
Margie
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9 Replies
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The socket 939 is being discontinued and AM2 is the “new” one. So if not expecting to upgrade the processor in the same motherboard, 939 is fine. With an AM2 motherboard there is hope, but things might move on before one upgrades anyway — so it might not matter.
Until a week or so ago, AMD won performance comparisons. Intel just released a new desktop processor that was codenamed “Conroe” and is now officially called “Core 2 Duo” or something like that. Intel’s new chip is dual core and significantly faster than AMD’s current set of chips. And Intel priced them low as well. AMD just dropped their chip prices so it should be rippling to retail soon. buy.com is offering the AMD X2 5000+ for $309 or so (but doesn’t have any :-).
Intel’s new chips will take a while to become available. Those currently being shipped are being taken by the majors (Dell, etc) first. So with AMD’s price drops they probably are good performance for the price, albeit not at the top end where Intel can have the highest throughput with their top-of-the-line models.
Note also that a AMD motherboard will be a little cheaper than an Intel one (memory controller is in their CPU chip, while Intel’s will be on the motherboard). Etc.
Which case you like can be quite personal as well as tradeoffs for noise. I recently built a PC for my wife that had an inexpensive case but had surprising good cooling and low noise (and was tool-less as well). It had precise tolerances and was built more like a case of several times it’s price. Only if I remembered it’s name. 🙂 Something like “In Win”. I think it was this one: https://tinyurl.com/g8t7h . Good for something modest (not too many drives).
It was incredibly easy to install things into (I’ve built maybe a dozen or two over the years). For my own I now use a Thermaltake Tsunami case. Has a fan blowing the drives (I’ve 5) with filtered air. Didn’t like the clear window in the side, but have gotten
used to seeing whizzing blue lights on the fan, etc. Case is aluminum so it’s lighter. -
AMD is much faster than the Pentium D, but the Core Duo is faster again. Either is a good choice. AM2 socket is more future-proof than the 939 socket. Asus MOBO is good, I would recommend against the A8R-MVP motherboard. RAM 1G is good, 2G is better. Manufacturer – don’t go cheap. Hard drive, you need two, more is better, no less than 250G each in my opinion. Don’t buy Western Digital. Tool-less case is not that important, cooling is.
Go to https://www.newegg.com/ to get your stuff. Each product has customer reviews. Fast. Cheap. Reliable.
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Terje A. Bergesen -
Yes, forgot to mention drives. For Vegas or video in general, it’d be a good idea to have at least pairs. Most motherboards provide RAID-0 support where multiple drives act together as one, but faster. Two drives RAID-0’d look like a single drive of double the size of one. But faster, which is particularly good for capturing video from one’s camera (or whatever) and for burning DVD’s at high speeds.
I currently favor Seagate which has the longest warantee (5 years). Their new drives using new technology are interesting. Single 750Gb drive for about $400. 🙂 RAID-0 a pair of those…
Newegg is a good place to order, and is my main ordering place for computer components (and why the link I provided pointed there). Sometimes one can get things a tiny bit cheaper elsewhere, but with Newegg one gets good info from their site, quick shipping, and seems to be a reliable company with a long track record. There is or was a website with a photo tour of one of their warehouses. Very impressive (and wasn’t one of their newest higher-tech ones).
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I get about all my computer stuff from NewEgg. They are absolutely great if you have trouble with an item. Just my opinion, but for me I would stick with Intel chipsets on the motherboard. Corsair memory is very good. I have several sticks in my machines. I would definately go with 2 gig. You can buy them in “matched pairs” but they are a little more expensive. I bought two single 1 gig sticks and they work perfect, have for over three years.
The ppl are right too about the cooling. I’m just running a P4 2.8 w/HT and still have three extra case fans in my case…plus the duel fan PS. I also have HD cooler fans on each HD.
NewEgg had a sale on a Seagate (I think) 320G SATA HD…somewhere around $120. Might still be on sale. -
I don’t know where to reply to thank all of you for your help!! I posted yesterday before leaving for work and had to wait until now to be able to post this back. Will check out newegg and hope the hds are still on sale, good price and not WD :).
Another confusion has come up. Vegas runs on 32 bit Win XP, not on Win XP 64 bit. Is there any point to go with the 64 X 2 AM2 chip and mobo? I understand trying to future proof. Does the 64 X 2 perform better than say the 939 even with just Win XP Prof 32 bit version?
Margie
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ALL the new chips have 64-bit mode available. AMD came up with “compatible 64-bit mode” and a year or two later Intel copied it (although they don’t call it “AMD compatible”, they did clone AMD’s mode). It’s not something that matters unless you’re using the 64-bit version of Windows. So, you get 64-bit capable processors whether or not you use that feature. Practically speaking it’s unavoidable. Has nothing to do with socket or for that matter model of processor (if it’s relatively new). Even motherboard/processors older than the 939 can run 64-bit.
What’s important is the “X2” (or “Core 2 Duo”) in that the chip has two processors in it. Vegas can take advantage of it.
Other difference with AM2 is that it changes to DDR2 memory. Not any faster than DDR that’s in 939 and older sockets (DDR2 has a faster clock but longer latencies so it roughly comes out even). Prices are nearly even, but if you’re upgrading and have memory sticks that you want to move into the new machine, then that would be a concern. Not sure why they switched other than it being the “trendy” thing to do, and being version 2 customers probably think it’s better and therefore want it — so it may be that they’re being forced to for marketting reasons (and Intel uses it).
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Hi Margie,
Looking for a new computer, check out Tastycomputers.com. Russell has built mind and I’m very happy with it. Check out the 3D Aurora series, AMD Athlon64 X2 4800 Dual Core 2.4GHz, Socket 939, 2MB L2 Cache.
This AMD set me Free.
Good Luck!Ralph Hajik
Westmont, IL
Vegas6
DVD Architect3
Excalibur -
[Ralph Hajik] “Looking for a new computer, check out Tastycomputers.com. Russell has built mind and I’m very happy with it. Check out the 3D Aurora series, AMD Athlon64 X2 4800 Dual Core 2.4GHz, Socket 939, 2MB L2 Cache.
This AMD set me Free.
Good Luck!Ralph Hajik”
Hello All,
Just registered for this forum. Although not an expert with Vegas, I am a system hardware expert and decided to join the forum after noticing referal log entries from Vegas Forum posts. I sincerely thank Ralph and other forum users for trusting us in the past to build their new systems.
As Ralph and others have stated, a dual core AMD processor system is a great Vegas performer…
but Intel’s new Core 2 Duo processor line, along with a 1066Mhz bus and DDR2-800 memory is the new performance champ. We’ll be offering new Core 2 Duo-based systems next week (Dell bought up all the new CPUs available in the distribution channels; us little guys had to wait an extra 1-2 weeks to receive product.)Russell Sullivan, Owner
Tastycomputers.com
https://tastycomputers.com -
My next computer is going to be a Intel Mac with Boot Camp (the ability to run both windows and apple OS). It the best of both worlds – Avid, FCP and Vegas on the SAME machine.
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