Buying a new PC – your input requested

[Rick Wise]

There have been many, many posts on this topic. Try searching this forum in the “search” box top right.

Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
and part-time instructor lighting and camera
grad school, SF Academy of Art University/Film and Video
https://www.RickWiseDP.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rwise
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com

[Danny Hays]

I’ve had Vegas 9a running great on Windows 7 32 bit. The video preview refresh rate was much faster than on the same machine with XP. I had this laptop, 3.4 dual core, 2 gig ram set for dual boot, XP and Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit. Vegas 9a ran better on Windows 7. Hope this helps, Danny

[John Rofrano]

1) Windows 7 – we have a copy of the Ultimate version will that work OK with Vegas. 32 bit or 64 bit?

Windows 7 64-bit is definitely the way to go. It should be pointed out that Vegas Pro 8.0 is not “officially” supported in Windows 7 but it works.

2) Intel Core2 Quad or AMD Phenom II 820 Quad-Core (HP has some deals on the AMD but I’m not familiar with them at all) – anyone have an opinion?

Intel Core i7 is the way to go. The Core i7 920 is the “sweet spot” with regard to price/performance. AMD is unfortunately still catching up to Intel.

3) What should I definitely be looking at for editing HDV footage.

A Quad Core with 8GB of memory, and a separate 1TB drive for video projects is all you really need. Any video card will do (Vegas doesn’t use it) As Rick said, this gets discussed a lot so you can search for threads on the topic.

Also VideoGuys.com has an excellent DIY7 project that will show you all the parts that you need. Even if you buy a workstation from HP it will still give you a good idea of what to look for.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Danny Hays]

Hi John. We’re building a new i7 with Windows 7. Thought we had to upgrade to Vegas 9 from 8. Thanks for the tip. it loads normally or are there any tricks to getting 8 on Windows 7? Thanks Danny Hays Universal Orlando.

[John Rofrano]

Well you do have to upgrade if you want support from Sony. Vegas Pro 8.0 loads normal because it’s already Vista compatible and Windows 7 is just Vista with less bloat. If you don’t believe me type the DOS “ver” command on Vista and it returns [Version 6.0.6001]. Type the “ver” command on Windows 7 and it returns [Version 6.1.7600]. So Windows 7 is apparently version 6.1, (not 7). 😉 A repackaged Vista.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Shawn Miller]

-1) Windows 7 – we have a copy of the Ultimate version will that work OK with Vegas. 32 bit or 64 bit?

Definitely 64Bit. I know it’s not officially supported, but I’ve used Vegas 8c on WinXP 64 and Win7 64 without issue. Although (admittedly), not extensively because I use Premiere Pro CS4 a lot more than Vegas these days.

-2) Intel Core2 Quad or AMD Phenom II 820 Quad-Core (HP has some deals on the AMD but I’m not familiar with them at all) – anyone have an opinion?

I personally prefer dual Xeon processors to single CPU machines.

My favorite vender to date is still Bold Data Systems – we just ordered two more 8 core machines from them.

Great customer service, good quality components and VERY competitive prices.

https://www.boldata.com/prod.cfm/view/1/model_id/478

-3) What should I definitely be looking at for editing HDV footage.

Fast CPU(s) are certainly a plus. But don’t overlook the importance of a fast RAID array. It doesn’t matter how fast a processor can decompress a frame of video if the disk it’s being read from can’t supply bits fast enough keep a consistent frame rate. If it’s in your budget (and workflow), you might seriously consider getting an eSata RAID (0) array for a working disk and an eSata RAID (5) array for data backup. But that’s just my opinion, others may disagree.

Thanks,

Shawn

[Judy Handley]

Here’s what I purchased:

Dell Studio XPS 9000 – comes with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Intel Core i7 920
8 GB Memory
nVidia GeForce 310
750 GB HD
$1099

Now I have to go watch all my husbands VASST DVDs and play on his laptop.

Judy Handley
Handley Video Productions
Wichita, KS