About to order a new PC

[Michael Szalapski]

I agree with Dave; we will need a lot more info.
Exact specs of the machine, what software you intend to use, how fast of a turnaround you’ll need, and all the questions Dave asked.

I’m going to guess that, at the very least, you want to run AE since you’re posting this in the AE forum.
6GB of RAM is nowhere near enough for AE work anymore.
Also, unless you’re using a certain few third-party plugins, CUDA means nothing for AE use.

– The Great Szalam
(The ‘Great’ stands for ‘Not So Great, in fact, Extremely Humble’)

No trees were harmed in the creation of this message, but several thousand electrons were mildly inconvenienced.

[Marten Kopp]

Excuse me. Kind of dumb not to post any more info.

I am using After Effects everyday since I am a Motion graphic designer. I also use Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere Pro.

I want to buy Cinema 4d and Vue. So I pretty much need a system whitch can handle these applications.

My audiance is very different. But since I bought a 7D 2 weeks ago I am planning to deliver HD in the near future.

So my question is:
What does it take to create nice stuff in After Effects and put it in Premiere to edit inside an AVCHD envirement. Later on I need to add some Vue scenes with Cinema 4D models.

I can understand if you guys cant follow my story, my English isnt that good, sorry.

[Michael Szalapski]

If you’re planning to do HD video in Premiere than make sure your graphics card is one of the ones supported for the Mercury Playback Engine (list is on Adobe’s website). Also, consider getting a RAID setup.
If you’re planning to do 3d work, make sure your graphics card is supported by Cinema 4d. Also, get a powerful processor. I don’t have enough experience with Cinema 4d yet to make any sort of suggestions for processor or graphics card. I just started learning it recently.
If you’re planning to work in AE, get a lot more RAM. You want AT MINIMUM 2 GB per core of your processor – preferably more. Also, get a powerful processor.

– The Great Szalam
(The ‘Great’ stands for ‘Not So Great, in fact, Extremely Humble’)

No trees were harmed in the creation of this message, but several thousand electrons were mildly inconvenienced.

[Marten Kopp]

So your talking about a budget of 7500+. It actually is for paying costumers and my clientlist isn’t very small. Take V&D for example. Should be known in US.

The thing is, I am not a hardware expert. And the shop I went to also builds systems for companies that do some of the stuff I do.

The most important thing is that I can edit large amounts of clips shots with my 7D (I am doing a videoclip soon) and be able to create some good motion graphics. I am capable of doing that last thing with my own system but the render times kill the quality of my productions some how.

I think I can push my budget to about 5k so I would be able to get a good machine after all.

The guy in the store was talking about a rampage motherboard and solid state drives. How much impact do they have on a system compared to more regular hardware?

[Michael Szalapski]

I wouldn’t worry about a solid state drive. I would worry about getting an external RAID. Similar result (faster data), better execution for video. You can even get raids that are striped for security AND performance.

– The Great Szalam
(The ‘Great’ stands for ‘Not So Great, in fact, Extremely Humble’)

No trees were harmed in the creation of this message, but several thousand electrons were mildly inconvenienced.

[Walter Soyka]

[Marten Kopp] “The thing is, I am not a hardware expert. And the shop I went to also builds systems for companies that do some of the stuff I do… The guy in the store was talking about a rampage motherboard and solid state drives. How much impact do they have on a system compared to more regular hardware?”

Solid state drives are great for your boot disk, but the price-performance ratio is terrible for media drives. As Michael suggested, they should be recommending RAID-5 to you.

From what you’ve posted, I’m not sure that this vendor understands your needs. Have you gone over the work you’ll be doing and the software you’ll be using with them?

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Wes Koetje]

I hate to be that guy, but I suggest you dump the local guy and go with a vendor that knows his/her stuff and can actually speak to your needs not just build a supped up gaming machine with the latest specs. There are lots of advertisers on here that would love to build you a smokin fast machine that will serve you well… And make you lots of money with your faster turnaround ability. Good luck and God bless I hope you find what your looking for.

[Marten Kopp]

Well, you guys are probably right. The guy at the store claimed to work with after effects often. And I believe he does. But I need my machine to work flawless with HD. Next week I visit another store. It’s more dedicated to providing companies instead of home users. They also make some solid 3D and After Effects animations.

Thanks for all your help so far guys.