New Computer for video

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  • longman

    What would be the idle spec for a computer using after affects adobe premiere etc etc

    I need it to be able to do real time editing (basically a beast)

    cost is not too much of an issue but be sensible

  • Bozilla0

    Cooler Master Centurion 5 Mid-Tower Case
    [link: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewpr… ]
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    ASUS "P4C800-E DELUXE" i875P Motherboard
    [link: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewpr… ]
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    ATI All-in-Wonder RADEON 9600XT 128
    [link: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewpr… ]
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    Antec 430W Power Supply
    [link: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewpr… ]
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    Intel Pentium 4/ 3.4C GHz 800MHz
    [link: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewpr… ]
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    Corsair XMS Extreme Memory (2x1Gb modules) DDR400
    [link: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewpr… ]
    ===
    WD Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM
    [link: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewpr… ]
    ===
    Seagate 160GB 7200RPM SATA
    [link: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewpr… ]
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    MS Wireless Optical Desktop Pro
    [link: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewpr… ]
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    Asus Black 16X DVD-ROM
    [link: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewpr… ]
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    NEC 8X Black Dual Layer DVD+/-RW
    [link: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewpr… ]
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    TOTAL: $ 2,102.99
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    Now a few comments:

    This machine is if you're building it yourself. This is not a gamer machine, although you can play today's games pretty good, it's not a top game performer. If you're not into gaming at all and are building a workstation with dual LCD displays, I would recommend this card instead (ATI FireGL 9500 Dual DVI [link: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewpr… ] ). This card has Dual DVI outputs which gives the best display on 2 LCDs. Other non-workstation cards have only 1 DVI and 1 analog which makes a bit difference in the quality of picture on 2 same LCDs.
    Also, I did not include a monitor because, that's best for you to decide on, however I would suggest, without any doubt (Samsung 213T - $1000), a 21.3" Samsung LCD or Dell Ultrasharp FP2001 (20" excellent LCD $850 ). Dell is around $200 cheaper, than Samsung but Samsung has a much better quality of picture. If you're going for dual display (2x17" Samsung LCDs are ok), but if on budget go for 2xNEC 930SB 19" CRTs (great, bulky and both are $600). I chose PIV 3.4 because it's the best price/performance CPU currently, especially for what you need it and works much smoother with multitasking than AMD.
    I'm actually building this machine for myself (I have Radeon 9800XT for myself, but I run 2 above mentioned CRTs so DVI is not that important for me), so I thought to customize it a bit for your needs.

    Now, if you're not building the computer yourself, I would highly suggest HP Workstations. They are not that expensive, run very smooth and their HP 20" LCD is also up there with quality. You can get everything through HP financing with great deals (I think 12 months no payments no interest, not 100% sure). This is of course if you are into branded computers. Dell also recently introduced their top of the line Video Editing/Graphic Design workstations that I heard good things about. You can check it out here: http://www1.us.dell.com/content/… . XPS System from Dell is also not bad at all. THe price is great, it's a gaming PC, but today these systems are made so they can handle everything. It's your choice. I personally think Alienware, Voodoo and Falcon NW are highly overpriced systems, so save your money, they don't offer anything special.

    Ok, now, there's another thing to consider. I heard VERY good things about the new R-Series from Sony. It's still not available to purchase, but let me tell you these systems feel awesome. If you can wait, they should be available in a month or so. [link: http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/… ]. Let me tell you Sony always made good video editing systems, and I think this one will look and feel incredible. I saw it a few months ago on Sony Japan (link: http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Produ… ).

    Well it's your decision bro. I gave you a few advices here, but it's really up to you.

    Cheers.

  • Ohood0

    yep. what he said.

    A P4 with HT (Hyper threading) is the way to go.

    works magic with encoding and stuff.

  • ********
    0

    Powermac Dual G5 is pretty fast with the Adobe software.. Don´t know if they updated after effects so it supports G5 thou!

  • Bozilla0

    Oh yes, and I forgot to mention Macs. But, this is why I have big problems with G5s these days. I'm not a Mac basher or anything, but I feel things are not going that good for Apple as far as software support. Dual G5 2.0 packs a punch and the whole system looks and feels incredible but a lot of software simply doesn't work right on it. As long as you're using Photoshop and Final Cut Pro you would be fine, but for me it wasn't a choice simply because Web app support sucks, Whole Studio MX 2004 simply doesn't work right, Flash is still not fixed and runs like crap and a few other things. I just felt like paying a big price and not getting a fully functional machine. Again, that's me, I do 3D, web development on PHP but on MS platforms as well, use Studio MX 2004 and Flash to the max and Adobe feels a bit behind (I don't know if they started taking PCs more seriously and started neglecting Macs). The only things that work flawlessly are the ones made by Apple for Apple. So, if you can live with Final Cut and Avid stuff then I say go for it. Oh yeah and price is a bit higher then PC variants (around $5k with 23" Cinema display).

    Boz out.

  • longman0

    cheers people

  • -_MU_-0

    Far as I know, Adobe are discontinuing Apple support on video products. The new version of Premiere Pro (1.5 - crazy i know) definately does not run on Macs. If you go down the Mac route, apple have loads of kewl software for video nuts. Prolly gonna be more expensive than what Bozilla suggested tho.

    Whoa Bozilla, u really know ur shit! I'm gonna forward that text to a mate of mine who needs to upgrade his DV workstation. his pinnacle DV1000 capture card has given him nothing but grief.

    Oh yeh, I'd avoid pinnacle if i wuz u...

  • -_MU_-0

    Hey Boz, I'm intrested in your experience with MX2004 on mac. I use it on PC at home. Flash is odd - lotsa lil bugs but nothing that wreks the workflow.. My office is think of upgrading our web/print workflow to OS X + G5s. What kind of MX2004 probs have you had?

  • Bozilla0

    Well it's like this _MU_:

    Studio MX 2004 is a complete wreck. I agree about the bugs on PCs as well, but on Mac is even worse. I actually tried working on G5 for 2 days with my current projects and it was just impossible. Dreamweaver was freezing my G5, once I try to detach the toolbars they would appear to be duplicated on screen, one would still be attached to the right and the same one would be floating on the screen. Oh, and I tried this on another G5, to make sure that the one I was working on was not screwed up, :( same thing. Btw, you can't move the other one and when you try than everything blocks. This also happened on 7.01 update. The coding has improved over MX now, but it still pretty much unsuable for some advanced usage. I'm not talking about writing simple HTML code and doing some CSS, I'm talking about organizing sites, DB connectivity and so on. DW really has some great tools 90% people never used. Flash is even worse than on PC, crashes, still slow (now it's more acceptable, but I mean come on, I need a dual G5 2 to get half-ass acceptable authoring environment). At least on PC, it crashes, but when it works it works and I get the job done. Fireworks I did not try out, but I heard it also has speed issues. Of course, Flash Player still sucks, but I guess I can test everything on some cheap-ass PC, so that's no biggie.

    A few other things, that were not so important for my decision, but still count, are that I don't have 3DS Max, AE will cease to exist (or it already did) don't know and I lose nice MS IDE like VS .NET and so on. Unfortunately, didn't have a copy of Director MX 2004, so I can't tell you about that. So all in all, it is a bad idea to get something that will require me to spend a lot of time (read money) adopting. My clients don't give a shit if I work on Macs or PCs as long as I hit the deadline and deliver.

    Currently, the only justifiable reason for someone to switch to Mac is if you're in Video editing and are used to working with Avid products or Maya and for Print designers/DTP because all of those applications work perfect.

  • frask0

    I work on a Dual G5 and it works great as far as i been using it. What can be a little problematic in the MX2004 family is Dreamweaver MX but for now Flash's been great.

  • Luckypp0

    I have been all mac since day one, and I have never had a problem with Macromedia products, and I BETA test for them on my macs.

  • ********
    0

    Flash has been working fine for me, I find it buggy on both sides. Dreamweaver is a bloated headache anyway in my opinion-
    it's just easy to do things be hand for me than to rely an that piece of poop.

    Adobe is scraping Premiere on the Mac because of it's strong competition with Final Cut, Motion, and Avid. The Apple applications are solid solutions- if Apple would open these apps up to PC users Premiere would suffer. The only thing I think Premiere has going for it is the Adobe interface.

    If you are familar with Premiere go with the good PC.