Getting a new PC any Basic Suggestions?

[Jeff_NJ]

Right now, my main tools for video are Vegas 7 and DVD Architect. I also do music production. So I'm looking for a PC that will be able to handle both pretty well.

I'm figuring RAM is key. I'll look for a minimum of 2 GB. I also have read that I should have two hard drives. One dedicated for video and one for all installations.

Is there a particular brand people have had good experiences with? Right now I'm looking at Dell and Gateway. I would love to upgrade to a new Vaio, but cant justify the crazy prices on the Sonys.

Thanks for any advice.

Jeff

[neomaine]

Jeff_NJ,

Actually, I'd recommend three drives. One for OS, two for audio/video. One av drive used for input, the other for output. Basic idea is to keep only one drive reading OR writing at a time. If you have to keep it to only two drives, you could always setup two partitions on the first drive, one for OS and the other for av. The idea is to keep your OS drive, which is relatively static, free from the constant file create and delete going on with your av processes. Minimizes the amount of defrag needed and maximizes the contiguous allocating of space your av work needs.

There are a number of threads here at videohelp on this very subject. A quick search should turn up a number of basic and number of in depth configuration considerations.

If I was doing this today, I would:

CPU:
I'm an AMD kinda person so I'd get the best CPU I could get for $150-$200. Seems to be the sweet spot for price/performance. I'd only worry about dual-core (AMD or Intel) if your apps can utilize them.

MEM:
Your 2gb seems high to me but at the prices right now, I don't see why not. I don't know your apps so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

DRIVES:
OS - 80-120gb, all apps, pagefiles and temp areas.
VID1 - 250-500gb, video/audio source
VID2 - 250-500gb, video/audio destination
(The whole idea is to read from one drive and write to another to avoid thrashing. If a process needs more than one pass, then VID1 in -> VID2 out -> VID2 in -> VID1 out...you get the idea.)

VIDEO:
Other than PCI-E you don't list anything that's THAT much in need of a higher end video card. Cards with 512mb of memory seem to be at pretty good price point now.

OS:
I don't trust Vista yet, simply too many horror stories. I stay with Win200 prod or XP pro. Unless the you buy a prebuilt Vista system WITH all the apps you use pre-installed...

PSU:
I wouldn't go with anything less than a 450watt power supply at this point. Probably 500...

Oh well, just wanted to give you some highlights. Have fun with whatever you get!

[thecoalman]

Is there a particular brand people have had good experiences with?

You may want to look around and compare some of the smaller manufacturers for high end machines. I haven't compared in about 3 years but I purchased my last pre built machine from ABS computers, their prices were significanly lower than the high end machines offered by Gateway or Dell. Going through a smaller assembler like them is not much different than buildng it yourself.

[MJA]

check and bookmark this site for online discounts

http://www.techbargains.com/index.cfm

[mikel]

A good place for info.....

http://www.videoguys.com/DIY.html

[Eyedoctor2]

I have decided that I am going to buy my next computer from this outfit, as their prices seem fair and they have a very high customer satisfaction rating on ebay (99.9% Positive).

http://stores.ebay.com/MICRO-ONE-COMPUTERS_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZQ2d33QQftidZ2QQtZkm

I like being able to select all my own components but have somebody else deal with putting it all together.

[Soopafresh]

Some great advice here, I bookmarked some of the sites mentioned.

If I built/bought one today, I'd get an Intel E6600 CPU, Lower end (7600 series) Nvidia video, and an HDTV capture Card - All surprisingly affordable.

2 Hard Drives is a good idea. Make the data one big - 500GB if you can afford it.

[Eyedoctor2]

If you are leaning towards Intel for a processor you may want to wait just a tiny bit longer as it appears that more price cuts are on the way:

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=6484

[Dubber]

My 0.02 - latest Intel CPUs beat AMD ones in performance and if you do encoding and such, you need a faster CPU. Also, 2GB of RAM is a good idea and I'd even suggest 4GB for Vista.
Check out anandtech.com guides as far as CPU perf/price offerings and general ideas.

[Jeff_NJ]

Thanks for the advice! I will take it all into consideration and will take a look at those links.

Jeff

[Eyedoctor2]

More on April price cuts:

Intel, AMD ready steep price cuts- http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198700900