Immediate Need for New Computer

mjroddy wrote on 6/3/2006, 5:34 PM
If you needed a computer that will be dedicated to Vegas and Boris Red (and maybe Lightwave), where would you look?
I'd like the 'puter to be forward compatable for hardware upgrades (I've been reading here about the AMDs that can be forward compatable) and as fast as modest money can afford (say, less than $4K?) (I'm thinking of Duel AMD Opturons 4800???).
I do mostly HDV editing and don't REALLY forsee a reason for uncompressed, but ... maybe...
Where might you pros direct me?

Comments

Coursedesign wrote on 6/3/2006, 9:43 PM
I have always been favorably impressed with Boxxtech, at NAB and elsewhere.

A BoxxTech 7400 workstation with 2 Dual-Core Opteron 265 CPUs, 2GB ECC RAM, NVIDIA Quadro FX 560 Pro Video Edition workstation video card, 80GB system drive, etc., etc. goes for $2,929.00 (or $79.17/month).

From there you can spend more with an upgrade to 2 Dual-Core Opteron 270, 3GB RAM, an NVIDIA Quadro FX 1500 256MB PCI-E workstation graphics card, a 500GB Serial ATA RAID 0 Array, all of that would land you at a smidgen over $4K (~$110/month).

They build the system according to what you want, you can configure it yourself at the link above.

Classy company too, based on what I hear from others.

Other options include buying an HP workstation (not a regular PC). Very decent, but not in Boxx class, IMHO.

I trust you're not going to buy Lightwave from a systems vendor, that's a safe way to pay full price. E-mail me offline if you want to pursue good (legitimate) prices for this type of software (I don't have any commercial interest in them).

mjroddy wrote on 6/4/2006, 2:41 PM
Thanks very much!
I - just for a joke on myself - priced out what I might WANT - staying "fairly" conservative; $8500! YIKES! HAHAHA! I've always had expensive tastes.
Would you suggest Windows Pro or "64"?
johnmeyer wrote on 6/4/2006, 2:44 PM
Boxx or Polywell.
Jay Gladwell wrote on 6/4/2006, 3:17 PM

For the longest time, I've not had a need to upgrade my dedicated Vegas computer, but I am seriously beginning to entertain the thought.

Having a basic understanding of how Vegas works (internally) which components will have a significant, measurable impact on overall performance?

(Did I ask that correctly?)

fldave wrote on 6/4/2006, 3:29 PM
mjroddy:
I would stick with XP Pro. 64 drivers could still be "iffy", and vegas is still a 32 bit program. It might benefit by utilizing 64-bit windows components.

If you like to "tinker", go with 64. If you want to make money without thinking (much) about if your Vegas timeline will render, I'd go with XP Pro.
fldave wrote on 6/4/2006, 3:36 PM
Jay,

upgrading your computer:

CPU seems to be the most significant Vegas rendering impact. You then probably will need a new motherboard to run it/them. Then it probably takes newer memory. Now you're talking almost a whole computer. If you go that route, definitely consider dual core, or dual cpu. It really helps smooth out things if you multitask while rendering.

If you want to have a modest boost, get out your motherboard manual and see what CPUs it supports, you may have to check online for latest compatibility. Depending upon how old your machine is, you might be able to get a compatible CPU with higher speed for $100-$150.

Also, depending on how much RAM you have, additional memory may help a bit.
Jay Gladwell wrote on 6/4/2006, 3:52 PM

Thanks, Dave!

Yeah, I figured I was looking at a whole new system. Insofar as processors are concerend, I was looking at someting like the Dual Opteron Model 265 (Dual Core). Now I need to find out which MB (socket 940) will support it, and I'm only familiar with two--Intel and Asus. Any other quality names out there I'm not aware of?


Coursedesign wrote on 6/4/2006, 7:58 PM
XP Pro means no worry about drivers, etc.

XP x64 means better Lightwave performance for large models especially.

If you're just starting wiith Lightwave, don't bother with x64 right now.
mjroddy wrote on 6/4/2006, 11:55 PM
I'm a moderate Lightwave user - very moderate.
Really, all the new computer will do is:
Vegas/DVDA
Boris Red
Sound Forge
Ultra
Acid
Corel
and
Lightwave
Particle Illusion
Of course a few others like Nero, Namo and possibly Halo.
You know... The essentials :-)