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Computer Suggestions??
Hi,
I am currently looking to purchase a new computer to run Vegas 8 and DVD Architect. I realize the importance of having a large hard drive as well as much RAM that one can get. My question to you experienced editors/users out there is; what are you using for a computer that’s held up rock solid for you? Which System do you feel is better; Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista? Also, what would you suggest for a video card?I currently have Windows XP Pro SP2. It can be either a desk top or a laptop. I do use an external 500 GB hard drive other than the hard drive on my computer when editing.
I know it’s a lot of questions, but your suggestions would be most appreciated. Thanks, Ray -
13 Replies
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Ray, here’s the specs for my (now 1 yr. old) quad core.
I’m still VERY happy with it.
BTW, if you can hold off for another 2 weeks, Intel is supposed to be dropping the price of this CPU by half!!Case: Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black
Power Supply: SeaSonic M12-600 (600w) ATX12V (low-noise, SLI-Certified)
MoBo: Intel D975XBX2 Extreme Series
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme (QX6700 QuadCore)
CPU Cooling: ZALMAN CNPS9700 NT LED 92mm Heatsink
Memory: CORSAIR XMS2 2 GB.
Hard Drive 1: Seagate SATA 250 GB.
Hard Drive 2 & 3: Seagate SATA 500 GB.
Graphics Card: MSI Geforce 6800GT 256MB
DVD burner: Plextor PX-755A
Sound card: M-Audio Revolution 5.1
OS: XP Pro SP2
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Here’s the link to the Intel price drop I was talking about.
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Hi Mike,
Thanks for the quick response! I was looking at the Dell Precision 6300 Workstation with the Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme Edition Processor. With your experiance I may just go with your system. Could you tell me if Antec builds their computers for you or do you need to buy the parts and do it yourself? Also, if you was to upgrade your current system, what would you change? Thanks for all your help, Ray -
I gave the specs to a local PC shop and had them build it for me.
My machine’s specs were based on John Rofrano’s system who based his on John Cline’s system.
I forgot to mention that the package also included a 24″ Dell monitor.
If I was going to change anything, I’d add a 2nd 24″ monitor.
You can never have too much screen real estate 🙂
My hard drives are only SATAs and I believe eSATA is the latest “flavour” of them.
If you’re going into HDV/AVCHD, you might want to consider a RAID system of some kind. My needs are not extreme so I decided against it. -
Hi Mike,
I want to thank you again for all your help and info. I never built my own computer before either, therefore I would need to find a shop as you did. There was one in my area but they closed a couple years ago. Hopefully I can find one around with a good reputation. Thanks again, Ray -
eSATA is just the external version of SATA. A lot of people use those Western Digital MyBook external enclosures, which have models that include usb 2.0/firewire400, and usb2.0/eSATA. The eSATA models are actually cheaper so if you’re looking for external storage I’d recommend it.
However Mike has the right idea with his setup having a 250gig system drive to run programs from and separate 500gig drives to put media on. Quad processors are great for rendering times, but just last night I was assembling my new home PC with the dual core intel e8400. I haven’t even installed Vegas yet but from the benchmarks I’ve seen it should do pretty well. Also that piano black finish is a nice choice if you’re meeting with clients. Who says only macs can have fancy cases!
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“eSATA is just the external version of SATA”
Thanks for the correction David.
Too many buzzwords to remember these days 🙂 -
I have built 2 systems over the past 6 months that are very similar to Mike’s. You really don’t want to skimp on motherboard capabilities, power supply and cooling. These issues can comeback to haunt you later. I am currently assembling parts for a 3rd system. Like the others, it will have a Sata system drive and a Raid drive consisting of (2) Internal Satas. Last time I used (2)Western Digital 500s but will go with larger units this time as the price/capacity ratio keeps improving. Setting up an internal raid system in both Win XP and Vista is very easy. I installed both XP and Vista as a Dual Boot setup in these systems, but have found Vista to be perfectly stable and really never boot to XP. Will install Vista only on the new system. Sony will be showing their 64bit version of Vegas at the NAB show in Las Vegas next week – another tie-in with a fast, 64bit capable system. A Quadcore processor will let you multi-task better than a Core 2Duo. That Intel price drop is exactly what I am waiting on. Some of the newer motherboards will have multiple PC Express slots, external Sata ports and soon, USB 3 ports. Laptops are handy, but you will not match the performance/pricepoint of a desktop. Good Luck.
John D. Frey
25 Year owner/operator of two California-based production studios.Digital West Video Productions of San Luis Obispo and Inland Images of Lake Elsinore
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Hi again,
I was at the Dell site looking at the Dell Precision T7400. I found in their configuration area that they offer two differant types of hard drives, one being SATA with the other being SAS. Here is their explanation of SAS;SAS(Serial Attached SCSI) unifies compelling elements of the SCSI and SATA worlds in a single efficient design. SAS is an excellent standard for workstation environments requiring extremely high performance and reliability. It supports the traditional SCSI command structure so it can work with SCSI software tools. And like SATA 3.0Gb/s and SATA 10K, SAS’s raw data transfer rate is up to 3.0 Gbits/sec.
SAS, however, is a bi-directional bus, meaning data can be routed in both directions, yielding a higher number of simultaneous data transfers to and from multiple devices than SATA 3.0Gb/s or SATA 10K.What’s your opinion? Thanks, Ray
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[Mike Kujbida] “My machine’s specs were based on John Rofrano’s system who based his on John Cline’s system.
I forgot to mention that the package also included a 24” Dell monitor.If you don’t mind me asking, how spendy is a system like that? Right now I’m using an off the rack HP but it will be time to upgrade soon.
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