Best Systen Configuration: New Computer Sales

[Lileman]

I am looking to purchase a new computer but as i am not technical by nature i request the advice of this forum to help me find the best configuration.
I am not a professional movie developer, i encode, i transfer and create my own DVD projects for simple production. I wish to do this as a higher quality then my current CPU ( 8 years old, Pentium 4 1.70 Ghz 1.60 Ghz and 512 of Ram)

What configuration would best suit my needs, what speeds, system would be best for simple to advanced movie making. What would advance the effects and quality of Premier and others.

I am interested in an HP primarily because of Lightscribe technology for DVD labeling.

HP has a section for desktops dedicated to Entertainment . The link is http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/series_can.do?storeName=computer_store&land...t%20powerhouse

From these where should i be looking and what customized options should i be making. What do you guys suggest i look at?

The Dells are attractive to me because i have has a Dell for 8 years, also There packages include a monitor.
http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/desktops_great_deals?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

From this what should i be interested in.

From my readings, graphics card and Ram make the biggest impact on quality.

I want to upgrade my capabilities and produce quality film

Thank You Forum.

[Nelson37]

You are greatly mistaken in your assumption.

The speed of the PC will have ABSOLUTLEY NO effect on quality whatsoever. All that will happen is that your encoding times will be reduced.

Graphics card affects display only. HDCP for Blu-Ray playback is about the only consideration in play here.

Personally, I would get a good, well-ventilated tower case, but don't spend much there. Two large hard drives at least, Though the OS drive can be a bit smaller. Raptors are nice. Dual or quad-core on an Asus, Abit, or Gigabit motherboard, possibly an Intel board. Lightscribe drives are dirt cheap, any brand EXCEPT an HP. 2 to 4 GB of RAM, 800Mhz or better. 450W Power supply, or higher. 4 RAM slots on the mobo.

Digital sound is optional, motherboard HDMI might be a good choice if you're not a gamer.

Go to Newegg.com and price out some parts. Set your budget and put most of the extra into the CPU. Ram can be added, you can start with one or two GB and add more later.

If you can put together your kids tricycle for Christmas, you can handle building your own PC. Gives you more options for later.

Do some price checking, you will see where the best values are. You can put $200 or over a grand into the CPU alone, there's a point of diminishing returns.

[Soopafresh]

Anything is going to be better than your current system.

[stiltman]

HP xw8600 Workstation

[Soopafresh]

Get a Q6600 Intel CPU
Get at least 2GB RAM
Get 2 Hard Drives
An expensive video card is NOT needed. An Nvidia 9600 for $250 is even overkill.
Get 2 flat screen wide monitors if you can afford it. This will let you move your video editing application controls to 1 monitor and you can preview on the other one.

[stiltman]

An expensive video card is NOT needed.

Not always true. It depends on what your software requirements.
With my software, I have to use Quadro FX cards, and they aren't cheap.
This is because the software was optimized to run on Nvidia's OpenGL standard.

Through in a ATI or other common cards, heck even a good gaming card and the software will choke on them

[Lileman]

Thanks for the help. I looked at a Dell,, im looking at this configuration

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Processor Q9450 (12MB Cache,2.66GHz,1333FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium w/ Digital Cable Support SP1
MEMORY 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 DIMMs
HARD DRIVE 1TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 32MB Cache
OPTICAL DRIVE Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
MONITORS 24 inch E248WFP Entry Widescreen Digital Flat Panel Monitor
VIDEO CARD ATI Radeon HD3870 512MB GDDR4
SOUND CARD Integrated Sound Blaster®Audigy™ HD Software Edition
SPEAKERS No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
KEYBOARD Dell USB Keyboard
MOUSE Dell Optical USB Mouse
FLOPPY & MEDIA READER No Floppy Drive or Media Reader Included
MODEM No Modem Requested
WIRELESS Dell 1505 Wireless-N PCIe Card
My Software & Accessories
ANTI-VIRUS & SECURITY McAfee SecurityCenter 15-months
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft Works 9.0


ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
Labels Windows Vista™ Premium
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 9.0 Multi-Language
Optional Support Services Dimension XPS, Specialized Support
System Details 375 W Power Supply


my worries are the 375W Power Supply

Before i purchase it , i need to make sure it has Firewire Ports because my camcorder is a firewire...
Also If i can add another HD if i need to
and add a Lightscribe DVD burner...
any suggestions/comments.


Thanks again for the help

[stiltman]

All XPS versions come with Firewire

Also Dell power supplies may seem small, but they usually can handle much more than what original comes in the case.

My 300w has no problems with 2 extra HDDs and 1 extra DVD I added.

[Soopafresh]

I'd get an Nvidia card because of the newer CUBA technology, where certain video apps will utilize the video card for faster decoding/encoding. It's not a deal breaker, however.

[lacywest]

About putting one together yourself ... it really is easy ... a phillips screwdriver is just about all you need. Hopefully one you have used a lot and has become magnetized over the years to pick up the screw that has fallen onto the mobo.

An Abit mobo will most likely be used ... I have a bunch of Abit AN-M2 mobos but the company ABIT ... had finance problems and closed their doors a few years ago. The website is still around but ... no more new products.

Nvidia video cards are what I use ... the HDTV video output ... is ready to connect to your HDTV the moment you attach the wires and turn your HDTV on.

The hard drive inside your tower does not need to be huge ... I use a 80GB and have a bunch of external USB drives sitting around my tower. My games ... Crysis 2 ... Crysis ... Crysis Warhead ... and ... etc ... etc ... and other huge 7 GB games [Blacksite Area 51 is 11 gigs] ... play just fine installed on one of my external 500 GB USB drives.

Your mobo may have only 2 slots for 2 sticks of ram ... no biggy ... just get two sticks of 2 gigs each = 4 Gigs of ram. That is what I do with my Micro ATX MSI mobos.

My ABIT mobos ... they do have 4 slots for system ram.

[lacywest]

Try to see whether the Dell PC you are looking at can be easily upgraded ... and is not proprietary.

I have had a few customers bring me a Compaq PC that were bad ... swollen capacitors ... but I fixed them by just taking the mobo out and replacing it with a new mobo that easily fit right inside and the customer went home with a 2010 PC.

About your PC you have currently ... it could be possible ... you could do the same thing ... just take the mobo out and replace it.

A MSI K9A2GM version 2 mother board ... handles AM3 CPUs and could take care of your needs for quite awhile.

The power supply will most likely need to be updated ... upgraded.

Firewire cards are about 12 bucks on Ebay.

Anti Virus Program ... just use Microsoft Security Essentials ... its free from Microsoft.

The system your looking at ... is the ATI video card built in ... or is it an actual video card as a separate hardware device ?? The Game ... Crysis 2 ... would be happier with a faster video card

[handyguy]

Look at some ZT Affinity desktop computers on Costco.com. There was a 16gig & 2T for $800:

ZT Affinity AMD Phenom II Six-Core Processor 1055 2.8GHz
Lifetime 24/7 Toll-Free Support
19-in-1 Multimedia Card Reader
22x DVD±RW Drive
ATI Radeon™ HD 3000 Graphics