hard drive type/speed for new PC build

[techgeek]

Hi,

I have been researching building a new PC. This new PC will be used as follows:
- convert 20+ analog 8mm video tapes and some VCR tapes onto computer, maybe do some simple editing and then burn to dvd.
- extract small clips from DVDs for occasional use in our church services,
- maybe mp3 serving via wireless to home sound system
- maybe some photoshop type editing,
- later DV video via firewire,
- No gaming ever anticipated

With regard to building the PC I have tried to read up on some of the suggestions in this forum and others and feel fairly comfortable with the exception of hard drive type/speed. For example I have read some things that have said it can be important to put OS on dedicated drive and video
on other drive (sometimes even video source and encoding separate drives?), ATA or SATA, etc.

My goal is to have a upgradeable computer but at the same time not shell out too much money for capabilities I may not need. If I end up needing more hopefully I can upgrade something if and when necessary.

Here is one possible build list:
Antec Plus 660AMG Case (includes 330 PS)
P4/2.8C, 800Mhz FSB
MSI 865PE Neo2-FIS2R mobo, has Glan, USB, Firewire, etc.
512k memory
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro 128Mb video card

Sony DRU-510A DVD RW/CDRW
Lite-On 52x/32x/52x CD-RW
Windows XP Pro

I am not listing any details on mouse, keyboard, etc.

The MSI motherboard supports SATA. I suppose my plan is to have a mobo that supports it but I dont know if I need to install SATA in the initial build or leave it as a later thing if needed?

I had someone tell me that I should get a WDC Raptor 37.6GB, 10000RPM SATA for OS and software but I am unclear if $122 for this little but fast drive space is really necessary for the type of video stuff I want to do. I can always do it later if it were really some kind of bottleneck?

I did find a interesting URL about hard drive type/speed for video if anyone is interested; was written before SATA but is interesting read:
http://www.maxtor.com/en/documentation/white_papers/ata_video_storage.pdf


Any suggestions on whether hard drive setup is that important for my type of video use?

Thanks

[pixel]

I, and most other people I am sure will suggest one drive for your OS and programs one one dedicated for capturing to.

7,200rpm is what you should buy, pretty standard. If you get 5,400rpm you risk getting out of sync audio or dropped frames on captures.

At the current time, there is no real difference between the speeds of 7,200rpm S-ATA drives and 7,200rpm IDE drives (there is only a real speed difference in the Western Digital 10,00rpm drive), so just buy an IDE if you wish because that will probably be cheapest.

You don't need the 10,000rpm drive because 7,200rpm is good enough for capturing, and the only bottle neck on encode speed is the speed of your processor, so having a slow hard drive won't decrease encode speeds with most processors. (The 10,000rpm drive is mainly meant for fast gaming and multi-tasking I think).

I don't know if you have put any thought into size of hard drives, but again this goes on whatever size you can afford. I have an 80GB dedicated capture drive and can comfortably capture a 2hr + movie on it comfortably using the HUFFYUV codec.

Hope this was of some help.

[phonomas]

One thing I would recommend for an upgradeable station would be 400+ power supply. Antec is a good brand - but I've found that as you upgrade hardware, invariably having plenty of power is a good thing. Good luck!

[gmatov]

You should pay attention more to what a Hard Drive Maker tells you, in this intance. That article clearly tells you that any drive made today is more than adequate to capture video without blaming the drive for dropped frames.

Too many want to jump right in with their "dream" setup, how, if they could afford it, they'd hook up 10 15,000 RPM SCSI drives.

Forget it. Buy either 2 large drives or, if money is an object, at least one very large one, plus a 40 or so for the OS drive. Better you should get a couple 160's or 200's,make an OS partition, and a couple more on for storage, or caps, whatever.

Partition the other without an OS sized partition or, to save your butt if your OS drive dies partition it at the same time with a 10 gig or so, and even go through with a full install. The time you spend installing twice now could save you mucho time in a real catastrophe. Like a bad virus, or simply the ddrive dies. Change the wires reboot, you're back in business.

If you have too much money, go for more processor.

Cheers, and Merry Christmas,

George