PC Advice

[david3103]

My desktop is exhibiting signs of aging and it has been suggested that we use some of it's components in a new build.

I want to be able to edit video effectively and to burn DVDs from the final result.

What do I need to focus on in the spec of the new PC?

The suggested options are

_*Option 1:*_

New Case (Smaller than old one)
AMD Dual Core CPU
2GB RAM
Transfer all CD/DVD and Hard Drives Over As well as install and transfer operating system and files

*£165*
_
*Option 2:*_

New Case (Smaller than old one)
AMD Quad Core CPU
2GB RAM
Transfer all CD/DVD and Hard Drives Over As well as install and transfer operating system and files

*£190


*Both systems come with a motherboard with on-board graphics, sound etc but if you wanted to add a graphics card to either system, then it would be an extra £21.99 for a 256mb Graphics Card, or £29.99 for a 512mb Graphics Card.

Is the graphics card important?

What's the difference between Dual Core and Quad Core?

Prices ok?

[cia260895]

My desktop is exhibiting signs of aging and it has been suggested that we use some of it's components in a new build.

I want to be able to edit video effectively and to burn DVDs from the final result.

What do I need to focus on in the spec of the new PC?

The suggested options are

_*Option 1:*_

New Case (Smaller than old one)
AMD Dual Core CPU
2GB RAM
Transfer all CD/DVD and Hard Drives Over As well as install and transfer operating system and files

*£165*
_
*Option 2:*_

New Case (Smaller than old one)
AMD Quad Core CPU
2GB RAM
Transfer all CD/DVD and Hard Drives Over As well as install and transfer operating system and files

*£190


*Both systems come with a motherboard with on-board graphics, sound etc but if you wanted to add a graphics card to either system, then it would be an extra £21.99 for a 256mb Graphics Card, or £29.99 for a 512mb Graphics Card.

Is the graphics card important?

What's the difference between Dual Core and Quad Core?

Prices ok?

2

[rex008]

Multiple cores on a processor is nearly the same as having multiple processors. You can have more than one thing being executed at the same time. However, this is only of benefit if you're running lots of applications, or the main application you're running is properly multi-threaded. Video editing applications might fall under this category, but it probably depends which one. Anyway, if you're on a budget, I doubt 4 cores is worth it over 2.

So your shopping list is case, motherboard, CPU, RAM? If you current machine is quite old, you should probably add a new PSU to that list, unless the new case comes with one. Old PSUs, apart from being the main point of failure on any PC, might not be up to the job of powering newer kit, and may even not have the required power connectors for a new motherboard.

If you're editing video, a dedicated graphics card might be worth it - most applications can use graphics hardware for rendering, etc, which will almost always be faster on a dedicated card rather than built-on graphics. And the built-on graphics will steal some of your 2Gb memory as well.

Oh, and the prices look fairly reasonable if that is case, MB, CPU, RAM.

[lazaroonie]

how old are the hard drives you currently use ? If you are buying a new super fast mb and cpu then there is a lot to be said for getting at least 1 new hard drive for the operating system and installed software.

also if you are going serious video editing i would go for 4gb ram and a decent graphics card.

[Dino]

It never ends  If you go for a decent graphics card and 4g ram you really need a 64 bit operating system to use it all.

[david3103]

sigh

decisions decisions

I only want to be able to convert family video on small tapes to video on DVD with a bit of editing to remove the dull bits. I'm expecting to be able to do it in Windows Movie Maker?

Why a new harddrive? are they that much faster now?

Oh, and Intel or AMD?


What colour case?

[gatso]

please make sure your new pc has a munter filter on the graphics card. thx

[david3103]

please make sure your new pc has a munter filter on the graphics card. thx

Laugh? I nearly did.

One picture of Sharon Davis and all I get is grief!

[rex008]

sigh

decisions decisions

I only want to be able to convert family video on small tapes to video on DVD with a bit of editing to remove the dull bits. I'm expecting to be able to do it in Windows Movie Maker?

Should be ok. Not used it myself much - I've got Pinnacle Studio, but you have to pay for that. Movie Maker should be sufficient for simple editing. How are you getting the original films into the PC? Capture card of some variety?

Why a new harddrive? are they that much faster now?

Depends how old your old one is. Newish SATA drives are 2-3 time speed of older IDE drives. Cheap too. I've just bought 500Gb for £35, and you can get 1Tb for <£50 now. But not vitally necessary. Video editing is very space intensive though, 12Gb/hour for full quality video, more for HD.

Oh, and Intel or AMD?

AMD, if you're on a budget. Performance/price ratio is generally agreed to be better.

What colour case?

Whatever colour makes you happiest.

[david3103]

sigh

decisions decisions

I only want to be able to convert family video on small tapes to video on DVD with a bit of editing to remove the dull bits. I'm expecting to be able to do it in Windows Movie Maker?

Should be ok. Not used it myself much - I've got Pinnacle Studio, but you have to pay for that. Movie Maker should be sufficient for simple editing. How are you getting the original films into the PC? Capture card of some variety?

Why a new harddrive? are they that much faster now?

Depends how old your old one is. Newish SATA drives are 2-3 time speed of older IDE drives. Cheap too. I've just bought 500Gb for £35, and you can get 1Tb for <£50 now. But not vitally necessary. Video editing is very space intensive though, 12Gb/hour for full quality video, more for HD.

Oh, and Intel or AMD?

AMD, if you're on a budget. Performance/price ratio is generally agreed to be better.

What colour case?

Whatever colour makes you happiest.

Thanks for the advice so far.

I've got a firewire connection to get the video uploaded straight from the camera.

All other comments noted and I am looking at the issue of a new hard drive.

One last thing though....

Dino said I need a 64bit OS? That means Vista I guess? Is it worth it?

[Dino]

If you go for lots of ram you ideally need a 64bit os.
Both vista and xp come in 32bit and 64bit,the only problem with the 32 bit is that it only accesses 4gb of memory,but that is all the memory in the computer including the graphics card.In my case only 3.1gb of my 4gb is actually usable.

[rex008]

If you go for lots of ram you ideally need a 64bit os.
Both vista and xp come in 32bit and 64bit,the only problem with the 32 bit is that it only accesses 4gb of memory,but that is all the memory in the computer including the graphics card.In my case only 3.1gb of my 4gb is actually usable.

3.1Gb is visible because that is the limit in 32bit, not 4Gb.

But yes, if you want to use more than 3, no point having a 32bit OS. However, for video editing on a budget, I'd suggest that's not necessary.

Both XP and Vista come in 64bit flavours. As does Windows 7.

I'd suggest sticking with what you're used to, to be honest. Movie Maker comes with XP and Vista, I think (the Home Premium versions anyway). IMHO, Vista is not as bad as its reputation, and Windows 7 is not as good as all the hype says it is (it's Vista, with a bit of spit and polish). Stick with XP .

As long as your hard disk can keep up with a captured video stream, then it should be sufficient. Processing the result with obviously depend on speed of all components, but if you don't mind waiting a few extra minutes for video to render (or hours, if you're doing fancy stuff), then it's not worth spending money on extra power.