New System for HVX and Adobe Premiere

M

Mavoz

Well-known member
Hi,

I'm currently planning to build a new PC for my equally new HVX.
My 3.5 year old P4 2.8 with Premiere Pro 2, & raylight is coping....but rendering time seems a little sluggish..and general arthritis seems to be setting in across the OS.

While some would say 'Just buy a Mac' I've been quite happy with Prem Pro 2 and the multitude of other PC software titles I aready own...don't want to have to buy an expensive bunch of new software+ spend time relearning new titles...(especially when film making is a part time hobby at present not a full time profession)

But I suppose I should at least consider moving to the other side of the force....

Even one of the more basic Dell packages seem to offer various improvements...over my current p4 2.8....


eg.

Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.8GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB
2GB (2X1GB) NECC Dual Channel DDR2 667MHz SDRAM Memory
Video Card 256MB PCIe(TM) x16 ATI Radeon(TM) X1300 Pro w/TV-Out, VGA and DVI
22" Entry Wide Screen Flat Panel LCD Monitor (Analog & DVI Only)
500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
16X DVD+/-RW with Dual Layer Write Capabilities
Integrated 7.1 Audio

Cost: 1399 Aussie Dollars

Would greatly value any words of wisdom from anyone re buying/building a system that finds a nice balance between performance and cost.....

Processor enough?
Is 2 gig RAM enough?Aim for 4?
Is Windows Vista an option...or is Windows XP Pro far more advisable?
SATA good enough or go with RAID HD's?
How grunty does the graphics card need to be?
What main thing should I look for in an LCD?

Thanks for any tips at all!
1,399.201
 
There doesn't look to be anything wrong with your specs. I would get the best video card you can afford, and the most amount of memory.

Just remember to factor in all the time it will take you to work out all the bugs if you run Vista. I would stick to XP. I used Premiere for years and years and used a PC for over 20 years, and switched to the Mac last year. I know you don't want this advice, but I will have to say, I will never use a PC for video editing ever again if I can help it. I've been using FCP for about 8 months now, and it has never crashed once. The suite of tools that come with Final Cut Studio 2 now, are so impressive, the $1300 price point is a bargain. Plus the HVX works great with it.
 
Last edited:
Mavoz said:
Hi,

I'm currently planning to build a new PC for my equally new HVX.
My 3.5 year old P4 2.8 with Premiere Pro 2, & raylight is coping....but rendering time seems a little sluggish..and general arthritis seems to be setting in across the OS.

While some would say 'Just buy a Mac' I've been quite happy with Prem Pro 2 and the multitude of other PC software titles I aready own...don't want to have to buy an expensive bunch of new software+ spend time relearning new titles...(especially when film making is a part time hobby at present not a full time profession)

But I suppose I should at least consider moving to the other side of the force....

Even one of the more basic Dell packages seem to offer various improvements...over my current p4 2.8....


eg.

Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.8GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB
2GB (2X1GB) NECC Dual Channel DDR2 667MHz SDRAM Memory
Video Card 256MB PCIe(TM) x16 ATI Radeon(TM) X1300 Pro w/TV-Out, VGA and DVI
22" Entry Wide Screen Flat Panel LCD Monitor (Analog & DVI Only)
500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
16X DVD+/-RW with Dual Layer Write Capabilities
Integrated 7.1 Audio

Cost: 1399 Aussie Dollars

Would greatly value any words of wisdom from anyone re buying/building a system that finds a nice balance between performance and cost.....

Processor enough?
Is 2 gig RAM enough?Aim for 4?
Is Windows Vista an option...or is Windows XP Pro far more advisable?
SATA good enough or go with RAID HD's?
How grunty does the graphics card need to be?
What main thing should I look for in an LCD?

Thanks for any tips at all!
1,399.201
Click to expand...

With the current pricing on Intel processors I would HIGHLY recommend a higher clock rate unit. I'd go for the E6600 processor and an upgraded fan.

FWIW, I'm running an overclocked E6600 (@3.5 GHz.) and can surf the web while PP is rendering. :cheesy:. I tried the Raptor drive but I found that RAID 0 with more modest $ drives are SIGNIFICANTLY faster. Rendering with PP is now a breeze.

I would stick with XP pro for now. Vista is probably a year "away", IMHO.

Regards
JohnG
 
I'm waiting for the quad-core duos to be released.

I think a dual quad-core machine would pump the video nicely.
 
The limit is 2GB per process in 32-bit versions of Windows unless the developers used the Intel PAE (Physical Address Extensions).
 
I also am looking at a new system for an HVX. I was looking at this guy http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...ategoryId=pcmcat103700050063&id=1179877268483 , but am not sure if it's a good way to go.

Quick specs:
Price: $1050
Processor Brand Intel® Core(TM)2 Quad
Processor Speed 2.4GHz
System Bus 1066MHz
Cache Memory 4MB + 4MB on die Level 2
System Memory (RAM) 2GB
System Memory (RAM) Expandable To 4GB
Type of Memory (RAM) PC2-5300 DDR2
Hard Drive Type SATA II (7200 rpm)
Hard Drive Size 500GB
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT
Video Memory 256MB

-DES
 
brokenjack said:
I know you don't want this advice, but I will have to say, I will never use a PC for video editing ever again if I can help it. I've been using FCP for about 8 months now, and it has never crashed once. The suite of tools that come with Final Cut Studio 2 now, are so impressive, the $1300 price point is a bargain. Plus the HVX works great with it.
Click to expand...


ar yes...to Mac or not to Mac that is the question!

Hmmm......

I did see one of those shiny new White Mac's in a store on Sunday and I must confess it did have a coolness factor that Windows could only dream about....

but on the other side of the argument I already own Premiere Pro 2 (+ the rest of that Adobe suite)...+ a bunch of PC software titles like Corel Draw...

Essentially with a new box, my existing Adobe suite and Raylight I could be up and editing merrily...+ able to use a raft of other software titles I've already got...

On the PC front it seems that the thing to go for is:

4 Gigs Ram
Fastest processor one can afford
Biggest Graphics card one can afford
Biggest LCD one can afford (actually maybe 24 inch is about the limit of a usable screen size)
Harddrives (possibly setup with Raid 0)

First thing I guess to work out is whether I should give FCP some serious thought....or even upgrade to the new Adobe suite and run it on the Mac...

or otherwise go the PC road again...and stick with Adobe and Raylight combo...

Thanks for all the feedback here, it is really helpful!
 
Don't forget, with a Mac and Bootcamp... you can run both Mac OS and XP natively on the same box!!!

But if you're looking for sheer horsepower, you'll get a better deal (in a cost to performance ratio) with a PC box running your traditional Premiere setup. But yes, I made the switch a few months ago to a MacBook Pro and I really haven't looked back except for running Cinema 4D on my PC box.

Kevin
 
Mavoz said:
Hi,

eg.

Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.8GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB
2GB (2X1GB) NECC Dual Channel DDR2 667MHz SDRAM Memory
Video Card 256MB PCIe(TM) x16 ATI Radeon(TM) X1300 Pro w/TV-Out, VGA and DVI
22" Entry Wide Screen Flat Panel LCD Monitor (Analog & DVI Only)
500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
16X DVD+/-RW with Dual Layer Write Capabilities
Integrated 7.1 Audio

Cost: 1399 Aussie Dollars

Would greatly value any words of wisdom from anyone re buying/building a system that finds a nice balance between performance and cost.....

Processor enough?
Is 2 gig RAM enough?Aim for 4?
Is Windows Vista an option...or is Windows XP Pro far more advisable?
SATA good enough or go with RAID HD's?
How grunty does the graphics card need to be?
What main thing should I look for in an LCD?

Thanks for any tips at all!
1,399.201
Click to expand...

I bought a laptop with similar specs as above. I too run Adobe Premiere ( Production Bundle ) with Vista. The new comp made a very significant improvement in workflow speed.

I say it is fast enough, but I am never content with speed. Will buy another setup when quad-core is the norm. But the CS3 edition will soon be here.

I prefer XP over Vista mainly because of program compatibility. Most application manufacturers don't offer a free VIsta upgrade, so I run legacy apps on XP and slower processors.

Don't go Mac.

My PC, although not bug free don't crash like most Mac people say it does.

Most of my problems occur when running apps wich use the same dll's or drivers. My advice is to just not load alot of junk-ware low budget apps. Also internet bugs were made to destroy Microsoft integrity

Window users suffer because of lack of knowledge. As Mac guys glory in their no brainer operating system.

- Isolate your workstation from the internet
- Disable anti-virus (Uninstall)
- Disabel firewall (Uninstall)
- Uninstall all of the bloat-ware
- Turn off unneccessary services
- Use a router to network computers

Doing all the above I guaranteee will increase performance. Perhaps may cure some of the crashing. Sorry its a PC not a Mac.

Some great applications are PC only platform so I hesitate to buy a Mac for its dual platform features.
 
Check out this round of CPU from Tom's Hardware:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/07/16/cpu_charts_2007/page25.html

The are some video related benchmarks, but I think you'll see the same processors (Intel Quads & Extremes) are consitantly the top performers. If you have the cash I would go with the quad core.

Also, from what I've heard on the Adobe online seminars is that CS3 will take advantage of the intel quad cores..

I too am using PPRO 2.0 (on Win XP Pro) and I've never had any problems with the application or my computer crashing... Like pinakbeth posted... keep the crap off your editing machine and you'll be a very, very happy camper..

btw - The rumors are that the Intel chips should be coming down in price here fairly soon.
 
got a quad 6600 for 289 on the way from Frys! upgrading from a dual core 4200+. can't wait to test this baby!
 
pinakbeth said:
Don't go Mac.

My PC, although not bug free don't crash like most Mac people say it does......

.....Some great applications are PC only platform so I hesitate to buy a Mac for its dual platform features.
Click to expand...

Thanks again for the feedback from you all.

I just did a price comparison between a Dell package and a Mac package: (If I was to 'upgrade' to a Mac system....and go with Final Cut instead of what I already have...Premiere Pro 2 + rest of that suite.)

(No doubt comparing Apples with Oranges here...but hopefully not Apples with lemons;)

Example PC System (Dell)
 4gb memory
Windows Vista Premium (Or yes XP Pro)
Cpu 2.4GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB
500gb HD
256 Mb Geforce 8600 Graphics
24” LCD
Raylight for HVX footage

$3,003 AUD ($2,557 US)

iMac
 4 gb memory
iMac Core 2 Duo 2.16 4MB Shared L2 Cache
250Gb HD
GeForce 7300GT w/ 128MB
24” LCD
Win XP Pro
Final Cut Studio 2

$4,967 ($4,229 US)

The PC does come with 250GB bigger HD + extra 128MB of Graphics (+ possibility for cheaper spec'ing up?)

Naturally the Mac system includes Final Cut Studio 2..and the Mac OS usability and 'reliability'....and the choice of Win XP as well.

So does Final Cut really blow the doors off Premiere Pro 2 and the rest of the Adobe suite?

Does the extra cost of a Mac really justify the move?

The Adobe software is doing the job for me as it is...and for someone not using this software day in day out..the time spent having to learn new software is a resource in itself.

I'm certainly open to making the move....But the extra money could also be used on equipment like better mics/lighting etc. That (and the quality of the story) may in the end make a bigger difference than the editing software.

Ar...decisions decisions!
 
Apple Imac

Apple Imac

Apple Imac + is on the verge of a facelift. Do you want to archive on Dual layer HD DVD? Wait and see what they offer. The old Imac will be reduced if $ is top concern.
Rumer is August we'll see.
 
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