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Need Some Hardware purchasing Advice

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by Scott Smith, 2007/12/31.

  1. 2007/12/31
    Scott Smith

    Scott Smith Inactive Alumni Thread Starter

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    Well it's been a few years and it's time to get some new hardware.

    I want to build a bone crusher.
    Intel Platform
    I don't game, but I edit video with Pinnacle Studio, RIP CDs, surf ect.
    And, I want it to eat Vista for Breakfast

    Current Machine:
    Asus P4P800E Deluxe

    Thermaltake case and PSU

    1 gig ram (512 x 2)

    P4 3.2 W/ 800 FSB

    2 SATA Hard drives on RAID 0

    Radeon 9500 Video

    2 Plextor PX-715AL DVD RW

    Microsoft Elite Blutooth Multimedia Keyboard and Mouse
    Dell 2001 FP 20" monitor connected DVI

    As you can see I try not to own any junk. I just have been out of the Hardware loop for a while so I need some guidance on the newer architecture.
     
    Scott Smith,
    #1
  2. 2008/01/01
    TonyT

    TonyT SuperGeek Staff

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    Start by looking for:
    Intel quad core cpu.
    At least 3 GB RAM to "eat Vista for breakfast ".
    Sata II.
    512 dedicated video memory PCI-E card, preferably nVidia over ATI. (ATI has been sluggish in their advancements compared to nVidia in the last year)
     
    TonyT,
    #2


  3. to hide this advert.

  4. 2008/01/01
    sparrow

    sparrow Inactive

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    Make sure you can run the 64bit OS on a 128bit wide bus, and do so. It's a new world, on a PC.
     
    sparrow,
    #3
  5. 2008/01/03
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    Just a point I might make.

    If video editing will be important, it is HDD intensive. I have read at Pinnacle in the past, suggestions for using two HDDs, one to read the starting file and another to write the edited file. I think you might find suggestions in the Pinnacle Studio manual.

    I see you are using RAID 0, but I expect you know it's major limitation. RAID 0 should give you added speed, but for editing you will still be trying read and write at the same time (rather than a flow of one HDD reading, the CPU doing the editing, then another HDD writing the data).

    The other tasks you mention cannot be improved, but I think you can improve video editing. You may not really want or need a "monster" of a machine just to surf the internet, so look at concentrating on any areas that are of specific interest.

    Most of Windows is loaded into RAM at startup, so RAID 0 won't help much with Windows apart from at startup. Look at any "major" programs you may want to run (eg. games are graphics intensive, editing is HDD intensive, imaging like 3D (Autocad) is RAM intensive).

    Matt
     
    mattman,
    #4
  6. 2008/01/03
    TonyT

    TonyT SuperGeek Staff

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    To add to the idea of 2 drives:

    Image editing is also drive intensive if use a decent graphics editor. Most better quality editors use their own "scratch file ". This is similar to page file where a section of the disk is reserved for image edits, but only while the graphics editor is loaded & being used. It's best to have a separate drive for this scratch file, which can usually be set via the editor's preferences. Paint Shop pro, Photoshop, the GIMP, all use a scratch file, as do many others.
     
    TonyT,
    #5
  7. 2008/01/03
    Dennis L Lifetime Subscription

    Dennis L Inactive Alumni

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    Would be nice to see some "real-world" use of a SSD (Solid-state drive) in this build. Any chance one of the mfg would like some "free air time" in a very popular forum? Vista and SSD, fast boot, faster app's .... Billy G, are you listening? One would think / hope he would be pleased to gift a SSD to have a MVP show case Vista.
     
    Dennis L,
    #6
  8. 2008/01/04
    Scott Smith

    Scott Smith Inactive Alumni Thread Starter

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    Scott Smith,
    #7
  9. 2008/01/05
    Dennis L Lifetime Subscription

    Dennis L Inactive Alumni

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    Ouch is right!! That's why I was hoping we could find a mfg. sponsor. The 16GB / 32GB SSD's are within reach. Would be nice to test advantage / disadvantage between OS loads and intensive graphics read/write tasks (Photoshop or video rendering).
     
    Dennis L,
    #8
  10. 2008/01/05
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    I've have one of these little critters for a year or so...Pretty nice.

    Gigabyte i-RAM

    The card's concept is simple, use standard memory modules available today to build a so-called RAM disk. (4 gigs)
     
    Steve R Jones,
    #9

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