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Recommend me a workstation
OK, so it’s looking like it’s time for me to upgrade my main work machine. Anyone have any recommendations for a good WinXP platform that they have used and are personally satisfied with? Most of the work on the system would be AE and Lightwave/Cinema4D, but I’m looking to possibly add a capture card/Avid Express to the system.
Thanks! Any suggestions would be appreciated, as I have been out of the technology loop for a couple of months.
Paul
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4 Replies
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As for AE work, any decent system now-a-days would have alot of ram (1.5gig or more) with 10/100/1000 (gigabit network support) and Open GL supported graphics as well as SATA drives. However ATA 7200rpm 133 drives are just fine in AE and 3D. For good systems pre-built I highly recommend Alienware and Boxx Technologies. There are some good HP systems, but from what I have noticed in the past ATI is their graphics card of choice.
Which is just fine for most programs, however you mentioned using Avid. So from my own personal experience I can only recommend using Nvidia based chipsets for graphics. I have used ATI before with Avid Xpress DV 3.5, but at times ran into some problems with the interface and overall performance so I have recently just ordered an Alienware MJ-12 7700 laptop (similar specs to what is recommended by Avid themselves) to use with Avid Xpress Pro HD.
https://www.alienware.com – excellent deals right now for the holiday weekend.
https://www.boxxtech.com – Very powerful systems and widely used.
HTH, good luck…
Tom -
IMO, definately go with a BOXX machine if you want professional quality. I find alienwares focus not to be on digital media but more on the gaming crowd.
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My 2 cents: I’m sure Boxx machines are good, but they’re quite pricey. You can usually get it cheaper if you build your own, but I was lazy and got me a pre-built system from Velocity Micro which I’m very happy with. It’s based on a P4 3.2GHz, just 1 Gig RAM (I’ll probably add more soon) and NVidia Quadro FX1100. Runs XSI and AE without a glitch, stable and reasonably fast.
In addition, I use a Dell M70 “workstation laptop”, also with NVidia and 2 Gigs of RAM. It also handles XSI and AE with no problem.
AA
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Hey Everyone,
Thanks for all your input! Currently, I’m using a home-built machine, but it’s about 2 yrs. old and getting a little long in the tooth. I checked out Boxx before, but they are a little too pricey. Let’s say there’s a $5000 limit on the amount of $$$ I can spend on a system . . . I was thinking about going through Cyberpower, but I am open to other options. I would build one myself, but I’m a little nervous to throw money that route, as I haven’t really kept up with the technology side.
Thanks!
Paul
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