Need Some Recommendations for System Upgrade

elvindeath wrote on 7/28/2010, 7:27 PM
After 5+ years on my current desktop, I was thinking about working on another home video project (doing an HD version of a home video project I rendered 2 years ago in SD) and decided that it's time I retire the old P4 1.2 ghz desktop and upgrade to something flashier.

I'd like to do something from Best Buy, since I can get great financing there, or perhaps Dell, where I could also get financing. Exceptional deals elsewhere would be considered.

Anyone get a new desktop recently that they consider very serviceable for HD editing ?

I'm thinking something along the lines of a Dell Studio 9000 line desktop. Intel i7 920 processor, 8 GB DDR3 Memory, Nvidia 5450. OS will be Windows 7 Home Premium. I'll add a Blu-Ray burner separately. Any other manufacturers with similar systems, that would at a minimum include >2 expansion bays, upgradeable to at least 24 Gig and a serviceable power supply ?

Also, anyone think it is worth upgrading at this time to Vegas 9 Pro (from Vegas 7) ... or should maybe I wait on that until whenever a Vegas 10 comes out ?

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Comments

ushere wrote on 7/28/2010, 7:55 PM
i7 of some sort, 6gb ram, and the usual suspects....

i'm doing quite happily with the above (i920) editing commercially hdv, and the little avchd i've had isn't a problem - though for serious cc'ing and the like i transcode it to mxf.

9 is a significant step from 7 IF you're dealing with hd, otherwise.....

we'll see what 10 offers when it comes out - meanwhile i'm very happy with 9e.
john_dennis wrote on 7/28/2010, 9:06 PM
24 GB of memory is probably not in your future or necessary. I'm getting by handily with 6 GB on Windows 7. Renders are more processor intensive than memory intensive (once you have enough memory). Dell has a reputation for doing things "their way" which will leave you buying some parts from Dell. You say financing is part of the equation but I would look at a more open, white box manufacturer even if you buy it from Best Buy. I think Best Buy sells Velocity Micro or some such more "open" brand. Plan on multiple hard drives. From Vegas 7, 9.0e is a worthy upgrade, though you might have missed the best deals that were available when 9.0 first came out.
elvindeath wrote on 7/29/2010, 3:53 AM
Thanks for the input, all.

I agree about "missing the boat" ... which is partially why I think I might tough it out until version 10. The new release upgrade deals are usually so good that it would be worth waiting for. Since my video work is purely for home enjoyment (mostly to edit video from extended family vacations to Disney),

As for Dells not being open, I've never had a problem with that at all ... and I've been using Dell since they were called PCs Limited and used to be so cool they'd include a 5.25" floppy with some free games on it with every new PC purchase :) I'll check out the Velocity machines, though ... the instant gratification part of my brain wouldn't mind buying a box from a local store.

One other thing I'm considering is buying a 120 GB Solid State drive to house the OS for my machine. Anyone else doing that ? Any problems or benefits when it comes to running Vegas.
john_dennis wrote on 7/29/2010, 10:41 AM
"I'm considering is buying a 120 GB Solid State drive to house the OS for my machine."

Search this forum. Some are using SSDs. You really need to use it for the source video that is on the Vegas timeline. Otherwise, your apps start faster but editing doesn't go any faster. It is unlikely to affect rendering much unless you use uncompressed sources. In that case, the SSD might not be big enough to hold the video. The industry is maturing and the technology will likely become more cost effective in the future. Right now, you are competing for chips with the high performance server and storage industry and big business likely has more money than you and I do.
elvindeath wrote on 7/29/2010, 4:39 PM
I was thinking of an SSD to boot the system, rather than do the video work. Considering some of my projects deal with 30 gigs plus of clips, I need every bit of a 1.5 TB drive to house the clips and assets.

Current leading system is a Gateway FX6840-03E ... $1099, plus a coupon for $100 off good as of this weekend at BB. Gives me 8 Gigs, an i7-860, ATI Radeon 5770, Win 7 Home Premium, and a 1 TB drive. Adding a Pioneer BDR205 12x Blu-ray writer to it.

Compared to my current rig, this should be a dream. Farewell, P4 1.4. The longest lived processor I've had ... at least since my Apple ][.
dxdy wrote on 7/30/2010, 6:33 AM
I think I would try and get an NVIDIA GEFORCE graphics card instead of the ATI. Vegas Pro doesn't support GPUs, but the consumer version does a little, leading me to speculate that future Vegas Pro version(s) will use NVIDIA.
LReavis wrote on 7/30/2010, 9:55 AM
nVidia also has been preferred in the past by Google's free animation program, Sketchup, rather than ATI; seems that most of my animation programs tend toward nVidia - just a thought for those who seek maximum compatibility.

Incidentally, I just bought a cheap nVidia (by ECS) gt240 for U.S. $40 - significantly faster than my GSO9600, and it draws 30 watts less power and requires no separate power cable.