what is bette? Mac or PC for edit video?

[oldandinthe way]

At Compusa.com

Apple iMac Desktop
Intel Core Duo 2 Processor, 2.16GHz, 1GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive, 8X DVD+/-RW SuperDrive, Built-in 24-inch LCD Monitor, Mac OS X Tiger v10.4
- Product Number: 341876
- Mfr. Part #: MA456LL/A
- Brand: Apple Desktop PCs « Visit their Showcase
Monitor not included unless otherwise specified.

- Rating: Read all 2 reviews $1,999.99

HP Pavilion m7680n TV Minitower
Intel Viiv Technology, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6400, 2.13GHz, 2GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, 16X DVD+/-RW and 16X DVD Drives, Windows XP Media Center 2005
- Product Number: 339557
- Mfr. Part #: RC647AA#ABA
- Brand: HP Desktop PCs « Visit their Showcase
Monitor not included unless otherwise specified.

- Rating: Read all 7 reviews Was: $1,229.99
$1,179.99

Not quite twice the price but if you factor in the HP has twice the memory, twice the hard disk, and twice the speed DVDwriter, looks like LordSmurf is right.

Oops I missed the monitor for the HP

HP w22 22-inch LCD Multimedia Monitor
- Product Number: 341925
- Mfr. Part #: RG556AA#ABA
- Brand: HP « Visit their Showcase

Be the first to write a review $429.99

Looks like Apple is 25% more for less hardware.

[RLT69]

Know your audience. These aren't all the Best Buy sale of the week lemmings. Many can and have built their home machines.

Yeah but the problem here is most people do not build their own systems. Most people buy a new system. They use it for 5 - 10 years and when it breaks or gets old move onto something new. The general population use computers as appliances, like a DVD player or TV.

Vista will be the thorn for the home builder. MS has back tracked from the install once thorn with the retail version but they are still unclear about how many times you can install Vista.

[edDV]

I think most here would be "blown away" with what can be done with a Core2Duo + motherboard + memory upgrade for well under $800. The Mac side is not as user upgrade friendly.

Here we go again

Please define "well under" and "blown away."

I just spec'd out a a system at newegg based on the Core2Duo and it came out to $617.50. NOT including the O.S., case, power supply, dvd drive, keyboard, mouse, or floppy. That's not what I would call well under $800. I have no doubt that the system could blow away the user, though i'm not sure what blown away means

Here's the deal on cost:

CPU is going to run approximately $200 - $183.50 for 1.8 GHz and 2M shared L2 cache
Motherboard minimum $100
HD minimum $100 for 320GB SATA 2
Video Card about $100 - yes you can get one for $50 but, blown away is at least $100.
RAM about $130 - $150 for 1GB DDR2 667 Mhz - no generics please.

So when is all and said and done, you are talking about $1 grand. Let's be real people a good PC is not cheap.

You haven't seen my "Pimp my Celeron to Core2 Duo" project, currently $448 out of pocket ($600 with new OS). Most here can recycle existing parts.
https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=311893


PS: what is the need for an expensive videocard or 667 MHz DDR2 RAM when 533MHz is enough?

[RLT69]

You haven't seen my "Pimp my Celeron" project, currently $448 out of pocket ($600 with new OS). Most here can recycle existing parts.
https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=311893&highlight=pimp

I stand corrected. Does it have racing stripes

[edDV]

You haven't seen my "Pimp my Celeron" project, currently $448 out of pocket ($600 with new OS). Most here can recycle existing parts.
https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=311893&highlight=pimp

I stand corrected. Does it have racing stripes

[edDV]

You are missing the point. The point is don't blow all your budget on Core2 Duo when Quadro will be here in January. Consider Core2Duo a transition project and keep your powder dry.

PS: what is the need for an expensive videocard or 667 MHz DDR2 RAM when 533MHz is enough?

[oldandinthe way]

Lets try this system for comparison a bit cheaper with a smaller moonitor than Apple - still more memory, HDD, TV-tuner and PVR, a printer/scanner and faster DVDwriter. 40% less if my arithmetic is correct.

HP E6400 Media Center with 17" Flat-Panel LCD Monitor & 3-in-1 Printer


Save $180 instantly on this premier Media Center PC package (m7674n, vs17e, C3180). Best Buy exclusive!

Thanks to a next-generation processor, Intel® Viiv™ technology and built-in TV tuner and wireless LAN, you can take your digital entertainment and games to the max!
Intel® Core™2 Duo processor E6400, 2GB PC2-4200 DDR2 SDRAM; Windows XP Media Center 2005, TV tuner/PVR, LightScribe-enabled DL DVD±RW/CD-RW drive, 400GB SATA hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce 7300 LE graphics, 15-in-1 media reader, wireless LAN
17" flat-panel LCD monitor with a slim, clean design and integrated speakers to reduce clutter; ultrafast 8 ms response time, 500:1 contrast ratio, antiglare screen and tilt control
Photosmart 3-in-1 printer, copier, scanner with auto paper-type sensor and built-in memory card slots for PC-free photo printing
Save $180! (Reg. price $1439.97 - $180 total bundle instant savings = $1259.97)

[TugBoat]

Yep,
http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2832&p=1

You can also upgrade the Mini's processors, not sure about the iMac. And no, you can't upgrade the Laptops... yet.
It's a whole new ballgame :P

[kelman4]

I do mostly video conversion... which is more important, the ram or the video card?

Neither. Invest your money in the CPU.

I don't really see that as an option for the laptops. The MacBook Pros basically come with a 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.

For the desktops I can choose from

Two 2.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon [Add $299]
Two 3.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon [Add $1098]

So am I to understand I'll see the most dramatic increase in the speed of video conversions with that 3GHz dual-core xeon regardless of how much ram I have?

The only thing is, I'm much more likely to buy a laptop than a desktop. Am I basically stuck with it's relatively mediocre video processing power? When I run 5 Adobe graphics programs at once on my current computer, I notice some lag.

[JohnnyMalaria]

A couple of points to consider:

The benefit of a quad system (i.e., 2 x duo) will depend greatly on the software and how well it has been written to make use of all the available CPUs.

As more and more graphics cards sport programmable GPUs, software solutions will gradually make use of that allowing intensive, repetitive calculations to be performed by the GPU instead of the CPU. In such circumstances, the choice of graphics card could start to be more of a deciding factor in video editing environments.

[RLT69]

PS: what is the need for an expensive videocard or 667 MHz DDR2 RAM when 533MHz is enough?

Now you didn't just say "533MHz is enough" did you. Let's discard the, "that's enough <insert spec here>" comments. Besides we are talking $5 dollars more.

$100 for a video card is not expensive when you are talking about spending $200 on a processor. Besides your point was a system that can blow you away.

If you want to save money go with AMD, their processors are cheaper and AMD has new multi processor boards coming out, their 4 x 4 platform. You can have two quad processors. Nice 8)

[jagabo]

AMD has new multi processor boards coming out, their 4 x 4 platform. You can have two quad processors. Nice 8)

AMD quad core processors won't be available until the spring. Intel will have quad core processors and dual CPU Xeon motherboards to put them in in a week.

[edDV]

PS: what is the need for an expensive videocard or 667 MHz DDR2 RAM when 533MHz is enough?

Now you didn't just say "533MHz is enough" did you. Let's discard the, "that's enough <insert spec here>" comments. Besides we are talking $5 dollars more.

$100 for a video card is not expensive when you are talking about spending $200 on a processor. Besides your point was a system that can blow you away.

If you want to save money go with AMD, their processors are cheaper and AMD has new multi processor boards coming out, their 4 x 4 platform. You can have two quad processors. Nice 8)

OK, we are debating as as means to learn more about Core2 Duo.

Core2Duo FSB is 1066 MHz. PC2-4200 (533MHz) DDR2 runs synchronous to Core2 FSB and Dual Mode gets 1066MHz.

Non sync PC-5300 (667MHz) won't run as fast according to some tests unless the FSB is overclocked in Dual Mode configuration which can be risky with current motherboards.
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core_2 "DDR2 Memory Modules"

PCIe video cards aren't ready for video prime time IMO so I want to spend as little as possible until full h.264 1080p hardware decoding is offered. Currently you need the ATI x1900 @$200 to have a shot at h.264 1080p and that with substantial CPU load.
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1916993,00.asp

Future cards will fully hardware decode MPeg4 AVC plus offer encoding assist for MPeg2 and MPeg4. I'm saving my money for one of those and living for now with an old ATI 9550 (AGP) or x1300 (PCIe)(both ~$45) for HDTV out.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125027

The x1300 is good for hardware (+ software assist) 480p H.264 decode.