buying a cheap system for V4

emmo2002 wrote on 4/20/2003, 4:51 AM
I am a teacher who wants to use v4 to make some feature length movies with some students. The problem is the school I work for is still in the stone age when it comes to technology. Here is my question: Can anyone suggest specs for a decent desktop that I can run v4 on that will cost me around $500-700? I don't need monitors/keboards, just the towers...any suggestions?

Emmo

Comments

Cheno wrote on 4/20/2003, 10:14 PM
talk to Earl Foote at PC Nirvana. www.pcnirvana.net
1-877-pcbytes

He may be able to provide some insight.

mike
Tyler.Durden wrote on 4/21/2003, 7:09 AM
Hi emmo,

Vegas can run on just about anything above a PIII 400... some primary considerations should be a known-good 1394 card: SIIG, Pyro, Unibrain; an additional drive for media: 7200 rpm, 8MB cache, >120GB; >512MB RAM.


I'm still running V4 on a PIII 750 sony Vaio laptop splendidly.


Perhaps some other users will share their success with "back of the pack runners" like e-machines, celeron based or such.


HTH, MPH
TheHappyFriar wrote on 4/21/2003, 8:09 AM
I build all my own computers (a pride thing. I even told my wife that no "pre-made" computers are entering my house. :) ) and I work great with a p3-667 and 512mb DDR ram. Stay away from Celeron chips. They aren't that great.
I'd price some out and build some for ya, but I don't know where you are. :) I agree with what MartyH said. I'd just include get DDR ram over SDRAM, don't use a Celeron, and stay away from older Via chipsets.
Jsnkc wrote on 4/21/2003, 9:51 AM
We just got a bunch of Dell Precision 350's at out work, I loaded up Vegas 4 on them and they work fine, a little slow on the rendering side, but other than that they work fine. They are P4, I think 1.7 They have 512MB of ram and 30Gb hard drives.
pike_bishop wrote on 4/21/2003, 10:10 AM
I run Vegas 4 on a PIII 450mhz, with 256MB (PC100 Ram), 12.6GB (5400 rpm) System drive with 16GB(also 5400rpm) for media. It all works, renders are pretty slow though!
flashlight wrote on 4/21/2003, 11:50 AM
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?sku=h27-f106%20p

$470 at Tigerdirect.com Plus $30 for a firewire card and you are good to go.
disastinator wrote on 4/21/2003, 12:04 PM
If your budget doesn't include the cost of software, video capture devices and if you're not afraid build the PC yourself you can build a pretty powerful machine for $700. I just built a DAW platform for a friend for about $700 (does not include the cost of the RME audio cards he intends to put in it). Our criteria: cost, stability, quiet operation.

Some specs: 2.4B GHz P4, 256MB DDR, dual-head Matrox video, 845PE chipset motherboard, 4U rackmount case, 60GB Seagate HD.

For an NLE platform you may want to balance the costs between CPU, memory, and storage. For example I might trade CPU power and the rackmount case for more DDR RAM and probably an extra HD, say 30GB (to hold the OS and apps, and keep the 60GB as the video projects drive). Do not be tempted to buy those motherboards that offer features that you probably will not use anyway (e.g. SATA, extra USB ports, IDE133, RAID).

If you're not inclined to 'roll your own' I would suggest to check out what Dell has to offer.
cdruiz wrote on 4/21/2003, 1:37 PM
I need to upgrade my machine!

I run Vegas 4 on an emachines PIII-550, 256 MB RAM, 20Gig system drive, 200Gig 8MB cache 7200RPM Hard Drive for captures, and Pinnacle Studio's firewire card.

It works, though the preview window suffers sometimes and the renders are sloooooow.
Ever since I stuck in that monster 200Gig HD, I have never had a dropped frame, even while surfing the web. Before that I was capturing on a 60Gig 5400RPM Hard drive.
Arks wrote on 4/22/2003, 11:53 AM
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?CS=04&kc=6W300&oc=dim23512a

heres one that will work... for $500...with a flatpanel monitor!! great for a beginner, or pro.
emmo2002 wrote on 5/6/2003, 4:40 AM
Arks that link did not work could you send me the specs again?

thanks, Emmo
TLT wrote on 5/6/2003, 5:06 AM
I just bought a Dell P4 2.2ghz with 17" Monitor for $470.00 for my son to take to college. It only has a 30 gb HD and 128 mg of ram but you can add another HD for about $100 and another 128 of ram for $20.00 later. That was with $150.00 rebate. They also gave free delivery. Kinda of hard to pass on that. Good luck with your choice.