Best CPU/Motherboard for editing/capture/rendering?

[MachineMan]

What is the strongest and fastest chipset and/or motherboard combination availible for video Capture, Editing, Encoding, and Rendering at a reasonable price. I currently have Win XP Pro/PIII 1Ghz/1Gb RAM/PC133. Im assuming that the fastest clock speed insn't nessasarily the best. Intel, AMD....???? I would like to reduce my Encoding and Rendering times.

[LanEvo7]

What is "reasonable" to you?

[MachineMan]

Less then $400 is reasonable.

[jdizzy40]

You are going to get alot of different answers to your question. The more horsepower the better. AMD processors are a better buy and do a great job. But a P4 is better all around for video work (my opinion). Look for track record when buying a motherboard. Stability is important. I have 5 MSI boards and haven't had any problems what so ever. One Gigabyte board also. So, without getting into a lot of suggestions, use this as your guide: Whichever board you get, make sure it will support future CPU increases, even if you can't afford the fasest chip now. If buying AMD, look for something in the XP 2000 - 2400 range, or else step up to their newer chips supporting faster bus speeds. If buying an Intel, something in the range of 2.4 or 2.5 based on the 533 bus speed would be nice. And as far as motherboard, AGP and at least 5 if not 6 PCI slots. On board Lan would be nice. All my boards have 5.1 audio but I always put in the latest sound card from Creative. You can find a good motherboard and cpu/fan for the money you mentioned. Good luck!

[LanEvo7]

$400? Your budget is really tight. List what you already have so maybe you can save some money.

[MachineMan]

All I really need is to upgrade the board and chip. I all ready have a running system with firewire card, Graphics card Nvidia TNT2 64M, (slightly old), USB2 card, Lan card, TDK CDR/W, etc............ No DVDR/W yet, still waiting for blank miedia price to drop some more and for fatser burners. Probably if I upgrade I will need to beef up the power supply also.

[LanEvo7]

AMD 2400+ Retail ~$110
Epox EP-8RDA+ ~$100
2x Corsair 256mb CAS 2.0 Memory ~$130
Enlight 420w PSU ~$60

This would be a pretty nice upgrade.

Your video card isn't slightly old, its dated. But if you don't really do anything that requires a fast gpu, stay with it.

[keithsebastian]

that's good config - though i'd recommend MSI Kt4 Ultra motherboard if u r going in for an Athlon.
Gives you the option to upgrade to DDR333 ram and 8x Agp if u want to.
Also has USB 2.0 onboard so u can sell off your addon card.

[LanEvo7]

Most Nforce2 boards have that. The the motherboard I recommended also has firewire ports and 6 channel onboard audio.

[jsnkc]

I agree the MSI KT4 Ultra board is great, I just put that board in my system with a Athlon XP 2400 and it works great.

[sumibas]

hi,

i just upgraded my system with the Following

p4 2.53 GHZ - 165 $(Yahoo auctions)
MSI MAX2 LRU - 62 $ (www.knowledgemicro.com)
this board comes with LAN/USB 2.0 5.1 audio, Raid
memory - 1GB (130$) two stick samsung from
www.knowledgemicro.com

[MachineMan]

What makes these latest chipsets/motherboards better at rendering and encoding then my current PIII 1GHz with 1Gb RAM? Faster is better? more onboard SRAM? Faster bus speed?? ....