Buying a new computer, suggestions..

[megaman]

Hi dvdrhelp.com, I might be doing some DVD authoring, video editing in the near future and I would like to know if these specs would be good enough to accomplish these tasks while occasionally getting into heavy video editing with a lot of scenes and effects.

Also, could I go with a smaller processor? How is the motherboard, HD, RAM, PSU, etc.? Could I go with a cheaper DVD burner?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Intel Pentium 4 2.4BGHz 512K 533MHz CPU Northwood P478 Processor

ASUS P4PE/R/L/SATA Motherboard for Intel P4 478 Retail w/ Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, SATA, Onboard LAN, Firewire IEEE1394, Serial ATA SoundMAX Digital Audio System

Maxtor 120GB 7200RPM Hard Drive 8MB OEM

512 MB Crucial DDR C2700 • CL=2.5 • Unbuffered • Non-parity • 6ns • 2.5V • 64Meg x 64

WD WESTERN DIGITAL 40GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL

ANTEC Performance PLUS Model PLUS1080AMG- with Antec Original TRUE 430W P4 Power Supply ATX12V

Sony DRU500A dvd burner

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 sound card

Canopus ADVC-100 video capture card (video card undecided)

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Thanks in advance..

[SaSi]

I suggest you buy a better CPU if the 2.67 or 2.8 don't have silly prices. Any MHz you get counts. Disk choices are excelent, however a third disk would be great. Many dubbing and converting tasks are accelerated when you read from one drive and write to the other.

You can get the Pioneer A-05 drive if price difference is significant. I have the SONY myself, and selected it because of the CD-R speed (x24) compared to the lower x16 of the Pioneer - Don't have space in the PC for both CD-RW, DVD-ROM & DVD-R.

I strongly suggest you verify the capture card can produce DVD-compatible streams before you buy it. Several cards (as well as capture programs) capture to MPEG but for real-time compression they sacrifice both compression factor AND sometimes compatibility with DVD standards. You don't want to pay too much for a card that doesn't provide you with a valid MPEG stream.

Finally, I personally think a fast processor and a VGA with Video In is a better choice. I have the ASUS 9180 Video system and it provides me with Dual VGA output (including digital out), plus composite and S-Video IN and OUTs. I capture to AVI (because I want to edit after capture) and MPEG is not so editable (is slow and can cause blocks to appear if encoding is not done in a specific way). All in All, capturing directly to MPEG is not for the home user who wants to edit the content.

[megaman]

SaSi, thanks for your advice. Could someone back SaSi up on some things?

I've heard Canopus is one of the best, but I'll keep asking around about it..It's getting more complex everyday with this computer purchase decision (although I don't want to buy one right now, until I find absolutely everything that I need to know...). One person even suggested I buy a pre-built one! :arrow:

[rhegedus]

The processor will be fine, and if you can cool it well, you should be able to overclock it to about 2.66 (I've got a 2.26 overclocked to 2.53 at the moment). But, you don't need the HT compatible motherboard as the 2.4B doesn't support HT.

The Canopus is an excellent choice, but make sure you have enough HD space - I'd seriously consider getting a 120G HD just for the captures alone and another one to store the encoded files afterwards.

If you're just using your PC for capture and editing, you don't need an expensive soud card - on board will do. Spend the money on another firewire card because one motherboard port may not be enough if you also have a DV camcorder too!

1 gig of RAM won't hurt either, but isn't essential.

What graphics card are you going to use?

Regards,

Rob

[LanEvo7]

If price is significant, you can go with an AMD 2400+. This way you can save on your cpu and the motherboard. It overclocks pretty well too. As for the video card, you probably want a Geforce 4 ti4200 or the Radeon 8500. Currently those two cards offer the best price performance ration. The Geforce is better but it also costs more. If you do plan to do some gaming you probably should go for the Radeon 9500Pro. Or get the 9500 128mb and overclock it to a 9700. If you want an all in one solution, you can get one of the ATI All in Wonders. I have the aiw8500dv and the quality is pretty good.

[megaman]

I've decided temporarily on a Radeon 8500 as it seems to be just what the system will need. The GForce is expensive yet powerful..Hmm. Well, I can't win 'em all I guess.

Is there an ASUS Intel MB that doesn't support hyperthreading, yet matches the P4PE with a firewire port? (There's an ASUS P4PE on newegg.com that has a firewire port and it's only 144 dollars! )

This may be another topic altogether - but what's the best AMD CPU/MB combo that ya'll are using these days? The AMD sound, um, well - exciting! (Even though I've always used Intel.)

[MikeV]

I am upgrading to an AMD XP2200 and the new Nforce2 motherboard from ASUS. Did alot of reading about the Nforce 2 and found that MSI and ASUS are the only motherboards that use the recommended glue chips for the Nforce2 chipset. I got the deluxe version that includes dual NIC, SATA controller, 6 USB2.0 ports, and other goodies. It also uses the capabilities of DDR memory(have to use two DDRs).
The Asus board is A7n8x deluxe and got it from Newegg for $148.00 the price has gone down now.

[Tiribulus]

[quote="LanEvo7"] The Geforce is better but it also costs more. quote]

I respectfully disagree with this statement, though I'm with you on the AMD part. If you're talking about gaming then yes the Ti4200 is faster, but for video work, especially playback, the Radeon 8500 is without peer in it's price range and significatnyly above. I'm currently Running a Voodoo3 3500, Geforce3 Ti500, Geforce 4Ti 4600, Radeon 8500 128 and Radeon 9700 Pro in various machines. The 8500 is in my daughters machine and DVD/Video playback is positively spectacular. I think he's made a good choice there especially since they can be had for peanuts now. Very underrated card especially now that the drivers are up to snuff.
Tiribulus

[SaSi]

A couple of points I would like to comment on:

1. For expert advice and reviews on hardware, visit http://www.tomshardware.com/ Best site and best insight.

2. I have a P4/2.67 and I sometimes overclock it up to 2.990 It works, but I some times get freezes or the PC reboots. I would not recommend overclocking while compressing (or DVD-Burning). You can get an extra 10% in performance (and your really get it by overclocking), but you may loose a lot more if the PC freezes midway while encoding.

3. The fastest VGA is not essential for compressing and video editing but only for games. However, one must have a fast VGA for capturing. AGPx8 is rather more helpful than multiple threads for polygon rendering. A slightly "outdated" VGA board is best value for money in every respect. I selected an ASUS motherboard that supports AGP X 8 and a VGA that does it (ASUS 9180 = nVidia GeForce4 MX440). The VGA board is certainly "crap" by today's standards, but I can capture full frame video at 25fps (PAL) and encode in DivX while de-interlacing, filtering and cropping, all with 30% CPU utilization and NO dropped frames. I occasionally play games (F1 2002 with a force feedback wheel @ 1280 x 1024 32-bit colour - full video features enabled) and it's fine. Could be better but then I'm not a games freak (but I am a video capture freak).

4. For anything involving capturing of audio, I would not use on-board audio. I have an ASUS P4S8X that has a five channel on-board codec. Rubbish for audio playback and recording. Too much noise and static, especially in low volume. I agree that an expensive audio card is not required. I use a Sound Blaster PCI-128 (3-4 years old) and it's more than fine. Has an excelent audio performance and I don't really need 5 channels on the PC (at least not yet).

5. With a fast processor (Athlon especially), 3 hard disks, and a modern VGA, cooling becomes an issue. Think about the box and the power supply and buy (if it doesn't come with the computer chasis) an extra fan to mount on the front panel, just in front of the HDs. You can easily reach "boiling" temperatures inside the PC otherwise. (Remember, an MPEG encoding PC must be as reliable as a server - endless hours on and not a chance in failing).

[rhegedus]

I've decided temporarily on a Radeon 8500 as it seems to be just what the system will need. The GForce is expensive yet powerful..Hmm. Well, I can't win 'em all I guess.

Is there an ASUS Intel MB that doesn't support hyperthreading, yet matches the P4PE with a firewire port? (There's an ASUS P4PE on newegg.com that has a firewire port and it's only 144 dollars! )

This may be another topic altogether - but what's the best AMD CPU/MB combo that ya'll are using these days? The AMD sound, um, well - exciting! (Even though I've always used Intel.)

Be careful, I've got a Hercules 8500LE - i think they use the same chipset. I can't get the card to work at 100% acceleration without severe distortion and stuttering frames.

Regards,

Rob

[megaman]

I am upgrading to an AMD XP2200 and the new Nforce2 motherboard from ASUS. Did alot of reading about the Nforce 2 and found that MSI and ASUS are the only motherboards that use the recommended glue chips for the Nforce2 chipset. I got the deluxe version that includes dual NIC, SATA controller, 6 USB2.0 ports, and other goodies. It also uses the capabilities of DDR memory(have to use two DDRs).
The Asus board is A7n8x deluxe and got it from Newegg for $148.00 the price has gone down now.

Can't find that Asus board.. That price is kind of the same when compared to the P4PE, I wonder if it would be worth getting in comparison? I like the idea of dual DDR, though, but does it really matter or is it just for overclocking?

A couple of points I would like to comment on:

1. For expert advice and reviews on hardware, visit http://www.tomshardware.com/ Best site and best insight.

Great site! It's hard to find stuff sometimes, but I gathered more of the information on my previous computer specs from there.

2. I have a P4/2.67 and I sometimes overclock it up to 2.990 It works, but I some times get freezes or the PC reboots. I would not recommend overclocking while compressing (or DVD-Burning). You can get an extra 10% in performance (and your really get it by overclocking), but you may loose a lot more if the PC freezes midway while encoding.

Wow - I kind of feel better about building a computer knowing that I won't have to worry about breaking a system because of overclocking. I'm not quite ready to overclock yet, and seeing that overclocking while compressing or anything that would cause the computer to lose focus on a task clears my mind a bit.

3. The fastest VGA is not essential for compressing and video editing but only for games. However, one must have a fast VGA for capturing. AGPx8 is rather more helpful than multiple threads for polygon rendering. A slightly "outdated" VGA board is best value for money in every respect. I selected an ASUS motherboard that supports AGP X 8 and a VGA that does it (ASUS 9180 = nVidia GeForce4 MX440). The VGA board is certainly "crap" by today's standards, but I can capture full frame video at 25fps (PAL) and encode in DivX while de-interlacing, filtering and cropping, all with 30% CPU utilization and NO dropped frames. I occasionally play games (F1 2002 with a force feedback wheel @ 1280 x 1024 32-bit colour - full video features enabled) and it's fine. Could be better but then I'm not a games freak (but I am a video capture freak).

A VGA board would capture better than a board like Canopus? I'm willing to accept this but somehow I feel swayed towards a standalone capture card. I can't find the nVidia GeForce4 MX440 anywhere with Vivo capabilities. I will be looking, though.

[MOVIEGEEK]

Overclock if you like replacing CPU's every year.
Get a ATI All-in-Wonder(video/capture/tv) for around $200USD.

[SaSi]

Overclock if you like replacing CPU's every year.
Get a ATI All-in-Wonder(video/capture/tv) for around $200USD.

You are absolutely right about overclocking. It eventually "burns" the CPU. Problem is, I replace CPU AND Motherboard almost every year. And I have a pile of "junk" I am planning to organize as a "museum" sometime in the future of PCs that have become too slow!!

I don't overclock while doing "useful" stuff. I do it just for the heck of it. Any mind you, overclocking the P4 by 10% increases system temperature by more than 10 degrees. One cold night, I had to close heating and open a window, because it was becoming too hot So, it just adds to increased system unreliability, something you don't really want out of your brand new PC

[LanEvo7]

Overclock if you like replacing CPU's every year.
Get a ATI All-in-Wonder(video/capture/tv) for around $200USD.

I really don't understand where you are getting this from. If you overclock with limits the lifespan of the cpu will be shortened by maybe 1-2 years. Which its an insignificant amount when it comes to computers. I had a 5 year old p1 200, does it still work, yes. Where is it right now, probably in some landfill. So if you have some sense in overclocking, you'll probably throw out your CPU before it burns out.

To the original poster, maybe you should get an ATI AIW 8500DV. It comes with two firewire ports and it will handle the capturing part and the graphics part. I have the card myself and its captures are pretty good. However, do not update the drivers, use the drivers that come with it and use another capturing program such as virtual dub to capture in AVI format if you want the best quality.
If you get an AMD, get a motherboard with the nforce2 chipset. The ASUS A7N8X is the most popular. I find the Asus to be priced higher than the competition though. The Epox EP-8RDA+ is a nice alternative. Dual DDR will help with capturing and encoding as it is memory intensive. If you do plan to overclock and money is a factor in your system, you probably should get the xp1700 tbred-b. MUST BE TBRED-B. People get pretty nice overclocks with this chip, some as high as 2.4ghz(almost a 50% increase). If you want to play it safe and not overclock, get the xp2400.
[/quote]

[musher70]

whats up with that 40 gig wd?

Youll just end up throwing it away...
unless you got to 40's to raid away...

got 2 120g's now, and still dont have enough room...
thinking of dropping cdrw or buying one of those
pci slot things to get another ide channel

wd 137$ at new egg for the 120/8m
maxtor at best buy $99 for the 120/2m

[rhegedus]

Mind you, overclocking the P4 by 10% increases system temperature by more than 10 degrees. One cold night, I had to close heating and open a window, because it was becoming too hot So, it just adds to increased system unreliability, something you don't really want out of your brand new PC

Erm, no. Get your heatsink/fan/ventilation sorted out! I've overclocked my 2.26 to 2.53 and the idle temp is 28C (same as before) and 100% load is now 49C after I put on a case fan (there wasn't one before).

Regards,

Rob