[Eric Monroe]

Hey Pat,

Sorry about the typo….it is an ASUS P5N-E SLI.

I had the “N” and the “5” switched around. (My fingers arent working tonight)

I had this machine built in November of 2007 so it isn’t “brand new” I dont know about whether ASUS quality has dropped since then or not.

Other specs of this machine:

Windows 7 64-bit Operating System
Intel Q6600 2.4GHZ Quad-Core processor
4GB Corsair DDR2 RAM
NVidia Geforce 8800 Ultra (Graph. Card)
Qty. 2 250GB Western Digital 10,000 RPM SATA Hard Drives x2 mirror raid (Storage)

Qty. 2 150GB Western Digital 10,000 RPM SATA Hard Drives x2 mirror raid (C: Drive)

Black Magic Design DeckLink Studio I/O card
Lite-on 20X Dual Layer DVD RW Burner

I have been real happy with this machine for what I do.

My other machine which I had built in December of 2006 is as follows:

Windows 7 64-bit Operating System
EVGA NVidia nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4 GHZ processor
8GB Kingston DDR2 RAM
NVidia Geforce 8800 GTS (Graph. Card)
Qty. 4 Western Digital 7200 RPM SATA/2 (8mb cache) Hard Drives
Lite-on 18X Dual Layer DVD RW Burner

I have had great luck with my machines….I have honestly had no real issues. I work as director of video/broadcast for a huge church and also own a company of my own….some people that I know in the “large church video industry” run MAC and Final Cut Pro. They all bash me for being a PC guy and an Adobe editor. They all claim that they went to MAC because of the “blue screen of death” that they experienced with PC. I have NEVER had that….not once. I am not sure what kind of PC’s they were working on but mine never do that. They all get mad when I feed them the truth, that their precious MAC’s are darn near a “PC” anyhow…..they run Intel Processors, NVidia Graph Cards…..other than OS they are darn near the same thing. My machines were custom built and not purchased “off the shelf” so I think that definitely plays a part in performance and stability.

I guess at the end of the day all that matters is what the end product looks like….and I get the results I want from my equipment. (My boss at work is thrilled with what I am putting on the 40 foot screen in our worship center, and my clients have booked me for the next 3+ years in advance for shooting their productions)

I am gonna keep doin what i am doin :o)

If ya have any other questions feel free to ask….I am not a “certified expert” or anything…..I am learning everyday…but glad to help where I can.

Eric

[Eric Monroe]

Thanks Leo….I will hook up directly to the BMD Decklink outputs.

[Eric Monroe]

Hey Pat,

I run an Asus PN5E board in one of my editing machines, and an EVGA (Nvidia Nforce) in my other machine. Both of my machines are stable as could be. I have been running Adobe CS4 on the new Windows 7 64-bit OS since Dec 2008. I couldn’t be more happy! Windows 7 is absolutely fantastic….even though this is a beta version, I have yet to experience any problems. I shoot live productions using 4 cameras (usually approx. 2 hours in duration) and do alot of multi-cam editing in PPro CS4 and Windows 7 runs it without a glitch…in fact I can have PPro, Photoshop, Encore all open while rendering in Media Encoder in the background…on top of that Outlook and IE8 (gotta have pandora radio)running in the background. Which anwsers your other question….I run internet and email on both my editing machines and I run ZERO virus protection software. No problems to date. I am somewhat careful about where I go on the internet…and I dont open email if I am unsure of its origin….but other than that no issues.

The rumour is that they are trying to put Windows 7 on the market in its finished form by this fall to go onto the new laptops in time for “back-to-school” so we will see. So I guess my point is if you are going to look at new Operating Systems…definitely check out Win-7.

As far as older software, and older hardware….I put the 32-bit version of Win-7 on a Pentium 4 (built in early 2000) with only 1 gb of RAM and a 256mb graphics card, it actually runs better than it did with XP pro (in my humble opinion) I run PPro CS3 on that machine for capturing DV footage, and I can do minor tasks in Photoshop with it. So far the only software that I use that Win-7 has had a compatibility issue with is an older version of Nero. So time to upgrade to Nero 9.

Hope this long winded post helped in some way….good luck with building your new machine!

Eric

[Eric Monroe]

Hey All….just thought I would post on the subject of CS3 and Vista 64. I run CS3 on a Core 2 with an 8800 GTS graph card, Vista 64 and 8GB of RAM. I have yet to experience a problem with it. I work in PPro, Encore, PS, and AE every day of the week for my day job and also for my own business. I spend somewhere in the neighbrhood of 14+ hours a day just about every day working in CS3. No problems whatsoever. Maybe I am “lucky” but Vista 64 and CS3 get along wonderfully. I honestly couldnt be happier.

Also for giggles I tried running CS3 on my Quad core editing station at work after i just installed a fresh copy of the Windows 7 64-bit OS and it works fantastic! Even as a Beta, Windows 7 is running it very well. I am really enjoying Windows 7 so far…..I had ppro, ps and ae projects open and was working in and out of them without issue…..and my ppro projects are not small 5 min clips either. I shoot live productions that are usually 2 hours duration give or take, with 4 cameras. I multicam all 4 cameras in ppro’s multicamera editor and it doesnt even blink. Half the time I capture to a WD USB external drive and have had no problems there either. I am very pleased with CS3. and EXTREMELY pleased with Vista 64 and WIN 7 64.

Best of Luck.

Eric