Building a Non-Linear Editor

[WiReTaP]

Hey guys, I'm building a non linear editor for my old high school's TV Productions class. I would like to know if this system will work out and have no compadibility issues.

Tyan S2875ANRF Dual Opteron Socket 940 Motherboard - $235
Dual AMD Opteron 248 Processors (2.2GHz each) Socket 940 (64bit) $440x2 - $880
2x 1GB Corsair XMS DDR400 ECC Memory - $300x2 - $600
Geforce 6800 Ultra 256MB DDR3 8x AGP with Dual-DVI Graphics - $376
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Platinum Sound Card - $149
80GB Western Digital 7200RPM for Windows Drive - $29
Sony Dual Layer 16x DVD+RW - $88
Sony 16x DVD-ROM - $25
Antec 550W Power Supply - $120
Floppy Drive - $9
Giga-Byte 3D Rocket Cooler-Pro Fan $45x2 - $90
Aspire X-SuperAlien Mid-Tower Blue Case - $100

Storage Option:
2x 250GB Serial ATA Western Digital 7200RPM (500GB Storage)- $112x2 - $224

Capture Card:
Canopus DVStorm2 Pro (Firewire, SVID/Composite in&out, component out) - $849

Monitors:
Dual 19" LCD ViewSonic VX910 1280x1024 15ms DVI - 400x2 - $800
DVI Monitor Cables - $50x2 - $100

Total: $4674

Sorry about the prices still being in there, but I just copied and pasted from my ordering list for parts. It is quite expensive but I have a budget of almost 20k dollars to use for the entire year. I left the rest of the money for repairs or other equipment I need to buy.

I just need help or experience if anyone has used that Canopus DVStorm2 Pro capture card in a Dual AMD Opteron setup with that motherboard. When I built two other non linear editors last year, I used an AMD Athlon XP 3000 processor with a VIA chipset and it didn't work with our Matrox RTX100 capture cards, so I had to switch to a Pentium 4 with a different chipset.
Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

[WiReTaP]

bump.. anyone?

[non-linear]

If I were building a non-linear system, I'd be going with a Final Cut Pro system:
http://www.apple.com/education/hed/filmandvideo/purchasing.html

I don't know how much a full G5 system with this would end up costing, but Final Cut is a hightly regarded system.

But that's just me.

[WiReTaP]

I've used the Final Cut Pro system on a Dual Processor G4.. it was a nightmare. I ran into nothing but crashes. The guy that brought in the demo G4 system that cost over 10k dollars was really embarrased and took it back after a week.
On the current two non-linear systems I'm running with P4's and Adobe Premiere 6.5, I've had nothing but solid performance. Only about 1 crash a week. I do online studio captures and bring in footage from DV, composite, and Svid 6hrs a day, 5 days a week.

[WiReTaP]

bump.. nobody else knows about the Canopus DVStorm2 Pro paired with Dual AMD Opteron 64bit processors?

[WiReTaP]

bump

[WiReTaP]

bump.. please anyone. maybe even with a similar system such as Athlon 64 and the DVStorm2 card?

[gadgetguy]

Over all I don't see a problem with the hardware you've described. I personally wouldn't use AMD processors, but that's a personal preference. I don't know of any complaints using AMD for video. I'm not sure what software you plan on using, but dual processors are only desirable if the software you are using can take advantage of them, otherwise it's a waste. (One of my systems has dual processors, but one of them is almost always idle because I don't have anything on it that can take advantage of it except the OS.)
I have experienced problems capturing and processing on SATA drives, but others say they have had no problems, so being newer hardware than mine, you probably won't either.

Of course, since this is my tax dollars at work, I'm horrified by the pricetag.

[WiReTaP]

Thank you very much for the reply. Yea, I will be using Adobe Premiere 6.5 or Premiere Pro which takes advantage of dual processors. I desprately need dual processors because with all the students of the TV production class editing/capturing on it, it creates alot of stress on a single processor machine.
Oh, incase you were worried, the money is coming from a court case we won because a cable company bailed out on us while we were broadcasting a TV program. We won the case and got 20k a year for 10yrs. (or something like that..don't know the specifics..)

BTW, what part of michigan u from?

[gadgetguy]

BTW, what part of michigan u from?

Grand Rapids area.
How 'bout you?

[aaronrus]

yeah, just aleviate the problmes ahead of time..switch to intel system..intel motherboards and intel chips is always the failsafe way to go.. since you are building this sytem for a school, they need reliablity and warranty... which intel provides in abundance, not to mention most software isn't optimized for AMD chips, especially not 64 bit processors.

as to your video storage drives, i would use seagate barracuda II SATA drives with NCQ+ technology, they have 5 year warranties, larger buffers, and are overall about 25% faster than western digital SATA drives, and that is from experience. theya re worth the extra few bucks..

go to www.newegg.com and check them out.. i buy ALl my hardware fromthat site because they have near rock bottom prices, killer shipping deals, and excellent customer service. fedex saver shipping is standard on that site, and nothing has ever taken more than 3 days to get to me from california, and I live in FLorida.

[dcsos]

Adobe 6.5 runs better on the INTEL platform.
Don't waste your money on the AMD dual processors.
With the money you save using a p4 HYPER THREADER, you can get the CANOPUS EXTERNAL BOX with component in from BETACAM, etc