Help me with a new system list for video editing and home use please

[Dash1]

After 5 years, next month I will be getting a new rig that will be used [no games] mostly
for Home Video editing [DV and old VHS] some picture edit too and general home use.
I was thinking of an XP with the new Adobe Elements 4 + 6
which may be upgraded later on to the Pro line.

$1500 was my street budget inc. the screen [without the softs ]
I dont think I will need any OC or 2 graphic cards...but I wanted to
connect it to the net through a router.Is it safe ??
[b]Please comment on this list and ???.:


Mother Board name Good quality P35 with 1394 ???
CPU - most likely Q6600
Memory (2GB) 1GB 240pin DDR2 PC2 6400 (x2) which brand ?
Seagate OR WD System Drive 120G SATAII
2 SATAII Video Storage WD2500KS 250GB- 500 SATAII
Case +Power Supply 500W ???
Graphics Card [ATI Radeon X1950PRO 256MB Or 8600 GT/GTS ???] Good also for HD on 22"
DVD dual Burner - Pioneer ?
Stereo speakers 2.1 JBL or Logitec???
Logitec Keyboard and lazer cordless {?} Mouse
2 x19" regular LCD's or one 22 WIDE [and which] ???
thank you

[ozymango]

Good luck on the new PC! I'm too lazy to go through every item on your list but off the top of my head, I'd recommend the following MB and CPU to start with, from newegg.com (dunno if they ship to Israel):

ASUS P5W DH DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel 975X mb - $179
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - $279

So that's $460, leaving your over $1K for the rest, shouldn't be too hard. As for RAM, I'm not too picky myself so I'll let somebody else recommend what works best (I always get mine from friends who are upgrading to incompatible systems and thus I've saved a lot of $$$ on memory!), but I only use Seagate drives so anything by Seagate gets my vote. For drives, that is.

Video card, I've got a ATI Radeon 8500 All-In-Wonder that was given to me (free!) and it works great, mostly, but frankly I think ATI's "Catalyst" software blows chunks, it likes to reset the screen size every other day or so ... but maybe I just got a bum (free!) card. Looks good when it's up, though!

My monitor is a 22" Samsung widescreen LCD which I absolutely love, my eyes can stare at it for hours. So there's that. I wouldn't mind have dual monitors, but I think you'd save a bit by going to one very good 22" screen, I used to run dual 17" CRTs which were fine but I don't miss the screen real estate with the 22" widescreen, it's pretty sweet. But I definitely recommend looking at a local place for the monitor, you just don't know what your eyes will prefer.

Hope that helps!

EDIT: I've got several computers at home on a switch, connected to the internet via wireless router, and I'm happy and haven't been hacked yet!

[Dash1]

I still dont see if I need the ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
OR the Deluxe model [$70 extra} Or The plain P5K ???

and which of the graphics for video edit on 22" LCD ?

[classfour]

It all looks like decent gear. As long as you have enough PCI slots to get the job done, it should work.

Me, I went with a cheap Dell - and it gets the job done for me.

[Video Head]

Windows XP has a sweet spot at 1GB of memory. 2GB of memory can cause grief in some XP rigs and you save some $'s to use elsewhere.

I would go with LG or Liteon for the DVD burner and save some more $'s. Burners are comodity these days.

The one thing I don't see is how you are planning to capture your VHS. Pass through a DV-cam? Otherwise you will need a capture device.

Either video card would work very well with a 22" monitor. Both can easily handle HD out. You stated that you are building this system primarily for video editing and that you play no games. Both of these cards are designed for the gamer market. Keep in mind that video editing happens in the processor, not the video card. The card does nothing but control the display of information on the monitor. Yes, you still need a card capable of displaying quality video but this might be overkill. You might want to look at some lower end cards that meet your needs but cost half as much. You could use the $'s you save to get a faster processor or a higher end monitor...much more usefull for video editing.

[Krispy Kritter]

The video card is no big deal. Any of the last couple generations is more than enough for a Windows machine. The only reason to consider anything faster is if you are gamer. All you are looking for is a card capable of 1680x1050 resolution (standard 22" LCD native resolution) with DVI outputs.

As pointed out above, you will need a capture card of some sort to input video (for VHS captures).

Choosing a MB boils down to which options you want/need. There is usually multiple versions of each board, but if all you need is the basic options on the base model, then there is no reason to waste money on options you don't need and likely won't ever use. The main thing to watch here is the number of SATA ports, especially since you already have plans to use four (counting the DVD burner).

Video encoding is ALL CPU speed, so this is where you don't want to try and save money. Get the fastest that you can afford (within reason of course).

I would stick with 2GB of RAM, especially at todays prices. XP doesn't waste or have issues until you go over 3GB.

As for HDD's, there is no particular reason to limit your choice to SATAII drives. Real world testing shows only a marginal improvement (only noticable in benchmarking...not everyday use). Stick with a name brand (Seagate or WD) and look for OEM versions to save some money. A 160 GB will set you back about $50 and a 500GB about $110.

DVD burners, for an IDE the Pioneer 112 or SATA the Samsung.

Case is mostly personal preference (I like the Cooler Master cases...the model 330 is pretty nice). Just ensure you get a case with enough HDD slots.

For power supplies, it is more than just the rating (ie 500). Watch for PS's with multiple 12 volt circuits and the supplied Amps (higher is better) for each.