Computer Recommendations

EternalTyro wrote on 10/29/2009, 1:40 AM
My motherboard died, I'd like to get a new machine as cheaply as possible. It seems that most of the cheaper computers use integrated graphics, which I've always heard to avoid with NLEs. Does anyone have any recommendations? My old system was:

Gateway P4 2.4
Intel MB, Intel Chipset
2 gig ram
2 80 gig 7200 hard drives
firewire on front of case (would really like this if possible)
nVidia video card no integrated graphics, not even to disable.
LG DVD-rw
160w power supply, probably why it fried. Lasted seven years, though.

This worked fine for me, using VMS for plain old DV, but some of my projects are 80 plus minutes long and use 200 to 400 clips.

Any recommendations would be very appreciated. Cheaper the better long as it works well with VMS.

Thanks,

Bob

Comments

acocq wrote on 10/29/2009, 4:29 AM
Hi Bob,
I'm not sure what you consider "cheap" (for me it's always a balance of cost / performance ... and for HD editing, I want SPEED ...) ... with that said, let me chime in from over here in Europe ... (since I'm looking for a new system myself):

Processor: a Quadcore (Intel i5 or i7) or an "older" Intel such as Q8600
RAM: 6 GB or more
Video: I've always used Nvidia (looking at 9600GTS) but ATi should work fine ... undecided on this item ...
Motherboard: MSI or Gigabyte or ASUS ... all with Firewire onboard & 8 - 12 USB ports
Harddrive: 2 x 1,5 TByte (Samsung) - one dedicated for video work
DVD : looking at a BlueRay burner (not sure because of the cost)
Case: CoolerMaster
Powersupply: 500w thermaltake or something similar
Operating System: Windows 7 (64-bit)

Backups are made to USB-drives (cheap) and NAS-drives.

That system should last for at least 5 years.

Cheers,
Andreas



dan-hedrick wrote on 10/29/2009, 5:26 AM
acocq
I am also in the market for a new computer. Are you looking at Windows 7?, 32 bit or 64 bit? Are you concerned about compatibility of the drivers (printer etc) with 64 bit?
What version of VMS are you using?

Thanks for any help you can provide...i"ve been researching the computer specs...and I'm getting dizzy.

lcdrdan
acocq wrote on 10/29/2009, 7:27 AM
@lcdrdan,

I'm considering Windows 7 professional (64-bit). But my time horizon will be near the end of the first quarter of 2010 ... by then, some corrections / patches for Windows 7 should be available ... because based on the last 20 years, I would never be the first in line to buy a new OS ...

From everything I've read, MicroSoft has gotten a (better) grip on the driver issue (the one reason I never considered Vista) ... but that's one reason I'm biding my time ...

I've just purchased VMS 9 Pro ... I had been using Pinnacle Studio and Liquid Edition (the latter one was discarded because it can't handle AVCHD files). I've not had any pressing reason to change to VMS, but I wanted to keep my options open and for the price, it was an "impulse purchase".

I've decided to go 64-bit not because of VMS (does it even offer a 64-bit version ????)), but because I do have some graphic software (Lightwave 3D) that is available in a 64-bit version ... and because I'm getting tired of seeing Windows 32-bit limited to effectively 3GB of RAM usage, while at the same time noticing that applications tend to use more and more RAM ...

I understand that it's easy to get dizzy with PC stuff these days ... new sockets, new processors etc. and every manufacturer always trying to tell you that you need their latest gadget ... but I've got a feeling that although my processor, RAM and hard disks are about 100-times faster than 15 years ago, my PC still needs exactly the same time to boot up ;-) ... "software always grows to fill up all available processor capacity"

Cheers,
Andreas
Sonata wrote on 10/29/2009, 1:44 PM
Some video editors rely on the processor and some rely on the videocard. Vegas Movie Studio uses the *processor*, not videocard, for all of its work, so get the most powerful processor you can if you are concerned about speed. Your graphics chip won't have any affect on how Vegas operates.

That being said, you may want a better-than-integrated graphics card for other uses you may have, including certain types of video playback, but that is independent from using Vegas for speed.
richard-amirault wrote on 10/29/2009, 2:50 PM
Video: I've always used Nvidia (looking at 9600GTS) but ATi should work fine ... undecided on this item ...

I just bought a new Dell i7 with 12 gig and a ATI card. All was fine until I purchased a second monitor for the card (for editing purposes) and started getting screen flashes with "your video driver has just re-set" messages.

That wasn't too bad unless it happend 3 or 4 times quickly in a row .. and then I got the Blue Screen of Death.

The last time I got the BSOD when I re-booted the computer came up *very* slow. When it did come up I started Task Manager and instead of seeing 8 processors and 12 gig ... I saw ONE processor with 256 meg!!! No wonder things took forever to do .. it was all that disk access for virtual memory.

I tried *everything* I could to fix it .. but nothing worked .. I finally called Dell and explained my problem .. she started to tell me to try something .. I stopped her and told her what I had already tried .. I had already done everything she was about to tell me to try.

Long story short ... I had to buy a second drive .. install Vista on that drive .. make it the boot drive .. before she could log-on and try to fix my original drive ... no luck.

The finally sent me a replacement drive with all the original software (my machine was less than a month old)

Before the s*%t hit the fan I checked the web and my problem was common with that video card .. but only when a second monitor was installed.

I've disconected the second monitor until I get another video card ... NOT an ATI!
EternalTyro wrote on 10/29/2009, 10:54 PM
Interesting and useful replies, thanks all. I have an early version of VMS, but will upgrade to the latest when I get a new (used, new to me) machine. No HD for me, and I will stick to XP, but perhaps the 64-bit version, if only for the <4MB ram issue. I just lost an eBay auction for an HP workstation. A lot of my machine choices come from reading videoguys.com, and they like HP workstations. Many have also told me just get an Intel MB and chipset and you''re probably good, which is what I did the first time around. Very interesting about VMS being a processor NLE. I think that the problems with integrated video are more than just speed issues, though. My old machine did not have any kind of integrated graphics on-board. Is anybody here running VMS well with integrated graphics, either by itself or turning off the integrated graphics and installing a video card? I could save a lot of money if I bought a new desktop with integrated graphics. Common ones are Intel GMA, Radeon 200 and 3200, nVidia GeForce 6150, 7050. Lots of good stuff around $400-$500. Even cheaper with recent used.

Someone mentioned getting dizzy. I got dizzy with motherboards and chipsets. Videoguys like ASUS, followed by Gigabyte, Tyan and MSI. Some desktop makers list Pegatron as the MB maker, and that apparently was or is an arm of ASUS. Foxconn is a big Taiwan company that makes a lot or possibly all of Intel's MBs. I'm still trying to sort this out. Some desktops are hard to find MB and chipset info for. HP has been the easiest for innards info, so far.

I haven't been keeping up with hardware since I bought my last machine in 2002, I had no idea 1394 can be had on-board. Thanks for that tip.

Bob
Birk Binnard wrote on 10/29/2009, 11:28 PM
Rendering is what stresses your system the most. Compared to rendering, editing is pretty simple. For rendering you want as much CPU power as you can get, since Vegas will use all it can, and as much RAM as you can afford. I'd recommend an Intel i7 processor (it has 8 CPUs and Vegas will use them all.) and 6GB RAM (or more.) With this much RAM you must have a 64-bit operating system. So be sure to read this thread about the Vegas bug when running on 64-bit systems:

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?MessageID=678854&Replies=4

My system is as described above and my render times (for full HD with 5.1 sound) is 4x real time. I've seen reports of render times of 10 - 15x real time with lesser systems. So you have to decide how important rendering is and how long you will be willing to wait for it.