Best Desktop Under $750 For Editing HD

[mb72378]

Before I start.....sorry for the long post......

I will be purchasing a computer for school here shortly - desktop. Funds are very strapped and $650 to $700 is all I have. I am looking for the best desktop that I can get for that much. Brand doesn't matter, and I don't have the time to purchase all of the parts to build it myself. I was looking at the intel quad core dell inspiron 530 and 519 both with 3 gb of ram. can someone please tell me the best desktop to purchase for that amount of moola and what sort of things I should look for that are important. :) Also, I only need the tower. I already have monitor, speaker etc. The final thing is that I need to be able to edit my HVX HD on it. What with the specs I was looking at earlier it didnt seem like a prob but I will let you guys be the judge. Please help!

[Shane Ross]

What software do you intend to use to edit this footage? This would determine a lot too. SOftware costs $$$ too.

[mb72378]

Oh, thanks. I just recently got the adobe production suite. Premiere, after effects, ect. (CS3)

[Aroon_Narayanan]

Don't neglect the video card. At the very least, get an external card (ATI, nVidia, NOT the Intel series--that's internal!), and if you can, get at least 256 MB on it. You probably won't be doing crazy graphics, but it'll help take the burden off your system memory when processing video, as all internal cards use the system RAM as video RAM.

[mb72378]

This is the computer I was looking at for $559

Dell Inspiron 530

- Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 (8MB L2 cache, 2.4 GHz, 1066FSB)
- 3 GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4DIMMs
- 500 GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM) w/DataBurstCache
- ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro 128MB
(UPGRADE TO ATI Radeon HD 3650 256MB is $40)

What do ya'll think?

check it out here.....
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?config_data=&c=us&cs=19&fb=1&l=en&oc=DDDEDA4&s=dhs&dgc=EM&cid=34495&lid=835972

I really appreciate the help.

[Aroon_Narayanan]

2 things:
1. Since it's only $40, definitely get the upgrade. It's a better card overall, and the extra RAM is worth it.
2. Don't get a large main drive. Your system will perform faster if you get a low-capacity, really fast drive (7200 to 10000 RPM) as the OS drive, and a separate, large-capacity drive for video files. It just does.

[mb72378]

I don't have an option to lower the hard drive size.

[Aroon_Narayanan]

OK...well, since it's 7200 RPM, it should be ok, just try and keep it clear of large files like videos, put them on a separate drive.

[mb72378]

What about everything else? Do you think I should be able to do 1080i stuff in after effects, premiere, etc. on it? Maybe a little gaming?

[Aroon_Narayanan]

It looks pretty good to me. However, I would upgrade to 4GB of RAM, and, if you can, get the $100 processor upgrade--you get more GHz and a faster FSB. Other than that, it looks like a pretty decent system. (Don't take my word for it--get some other opinions, too. I may be underestimating the stress CS3 puts on a system.)

[mb72378]

I was under the impression that unless you have a windows vista running on a 64 bit system, windows will not recognize anymore than 3 GM of ram.

[ProfessorU]

Gaming is all about the video card.

Editing HD is all about the processor speed and the HDD speed (but other components, like a nice OpenGL graphics card, help, too).

You should be able to use this for almost anything. It won't be blazingly fast if you're doing complex things in AE, but you can use it for what you're talking about. You'll definitely want some external storage, though. DV tapes will eat your drive at about 12GB an hour, and DVCProHD 1080 will eat your drive at 1GB a minute.

[mb72378]

Thanks a lot. I would still love to hear what everyone else thinks. Also, if you have any better ideas let me know.

[Justyn]

I think that 3 gigs of RAM would be fine... On my Mac, I never go above 2 gigs, even though the salesman got me to spring for 4 gigs, you should be fine on that. The other thing you might want to think about would be an esata card or something to control an external harrdrive raid or such.. unless you are going to keep it all internal. Also make sure that you have a decent heat synch and fans to accomodate the internal temps.

[Dodgesrtx]

Your system should do fine. I have an extremely similar configuration on an HP Desktop, and I used to play around with After Effects CS3 and it was pretty fast. I am running Vista as my main OS and then I put XP as a dual boot and the system was blazing fast, so maybe you should put XP on your system.... But overall that seems like it should be a good enough system to handle video from an HVX.

[Timothy Harry]

Thanks a lot. I would still love to hear what everyone else thinks. Also, if you have any better ideas let me know.

I think that if your smart you will put 2 hard drives in your machine. Both of them have an OS installed and you can choose to boot either. 1 drive is used for premiere etc and the other is used for your everyday stuff like gaming etc. THe easiest way to screw up your editing computer is to install something. YOu might not see it immediately, but little gremlins get into the system when you install other stuff. Having your computer crash on you in the middle of that all night edit for an 8 am deadline sucks, and if you can avoid it with a $100 Hard drive, then you should do it.

Just my .02

[Aroon_Narayanan]

I was under the impression that unless you have a windows vista running on a 64 bit system, windows will not recognize anymore than 3 GM of ram.
Vista can recognize up to 4 GB, as can XP. I'm running 4GB now.

[R.Lang]

Vista can recognize up to 4 GB, as can XP. I'm running 4GB now.

From HP.com

"A 64-bit Operating System is required to take full advantage of 4GB or greater memory. A 32-bit Operating System only recognizes up to 3GB memory. "

[mb72378]

Tim....I love that idea. Thanks a lot. I will prob. put XP on a separate HD and use just that for my editing. When u do that, can u still access the other hard drive? I.E. Edit/Finish video on one op sys HD then boot up the other. Can you work with the finished product (avi file etc) in the other boot op sys ? hope that makes sense.


R. Lang... that is what I was told too. This comp. that I will be buying doesn't sya whether or not it is 32 or 64, does that mean that it is 32? The only thing that makes me wonder is that they offer a 4gb ram upgrade. I heard that the 64bit vista cannot run many of our programs including CS3

[David Jimerson]

Gaming is all about the video card.

Editing HD is all about the processor speed and the HDD speed (but other components, like a nice OpenGL graphics card, help, too).

Except for the graphics card-based acceleration offered in Premiere Pro. It's a big help when editing HD.

[Aroon_Narayanan]

From HP.com

"A 64-bit Operating System is required to take full advantage of 4GB or greater memory. A 32-bit Operating System only recognizes up to 3GB memory. "
I didn't know that. Thanks!

[Dodgesrtx]

This comp. that I will be buying doesn't sya whether or not it is 32 or 64, does that mean that it is 32?

I am guessing that since the Dell website does not say anywhere that a 64 bit OS is required to use 4gb, that they just add it for you. Unlike on HP and many other websites..............

[R.Lang]

I don't know, I'm far from a computer guy,...that's just always what I've read. (32bit = 3 gig of ram)

And I've heard of people running CS3 on a 64 Vista with success. But then I've also heard it's not a good combo. What is the deal with that?

I have about 6-7 months before I'm getting a desktop, but I'm sorting this stuff out now.

[docrock]

Might not be a bad idea to check Craigslist in your area for a 1 year old iMac with the 24/2600 GPU and Core 2 Intel proc. Should be right around your budget and IMO, you won't have to deal with the software bloat of the new PC. 20 years of PCs, just switched to Mac a year ago. FCP and AE have been a delight. Whether my MBP iMac or Mac Pro.

Just a suggestion. I know it is the difference between new and used, but there is a reason that computer is $599:)

J

[Dodgesrtx]

Might not be a bad idea to check Craigslist in your area for a 1 year old iMac with the 24/2600 GPU and Core 2 Intel proc. Should be right around your budget and IMO, you won't have to deal with the software bloat of the new PC. 20 years of PCs, just switched to Mac a year ago. FCP and AE have been a delight. Whether my MBP iMac or Mac Pro.

Just a suggestion. I know it is the difference between new and used, but there is a reason that computer is $599:)

J

I thinks he only has Adobe CS3 for the PC..........But still a good suggestion.

[Jimmy Moss]

I work for Dell, once in the tech support Dept. and now in the sales dept.

I would recommend this sale, its pretty close to your budget. Go to our site and find the area to enter E-value codes, enter this one

DDDEDA4
DDDEDA4

Its valid now until the 4th of sept. Upgrade the processor to the Q9300, and the graphics to the ATI 2600 pro, and your set. Price is 799. Free shipping, tax will be ontop of that. I would expand your budget at least to that if you want to get a solid system.

As far as the memory goes, xp AND vista only use 3.x ram because there are limited memory addresses in a 32 bit system and computers are currently at the max. Your amount of ram will depend on what other components you have in the system that use memory addresses. Your unlikly to use more than 3GB.

Vista will show you 4GB in the system specs if you have the SP1 upgrade, but is still unable to utilize the full 4Gb and any one time due to the adrress limitations. Don't buy 64 bit yet, most stuff is not compatible.

Hope that helps.

[mjdorris]

if you can save up, this is a lot of computer for the money:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229046

[mb72378]

Jimmy, that code does not work for the dell e value code thing. AIt requires two sets of numbers and letters. If im in the wrong section, send me a link to the right one.

thanks

[Jimmy Moss]

My bad, I do it all day. I should explain myself better. Just type:

ref-DDDEDA4

So, ref in the first box and the code in the second. I've been using it all day so it should work but technically its only valid 9/2-9/4.