Computer for editing

P

pld

Member
Hi!

I shall buy a new computer and have looked at HP xw4400.

The program I will use on the computer is:
Avid Xpress Pro
Adobe After Effects
Music Maker ( later Pro Tools or Cubase)

I have got two offer:

Offer 1

  • Win XP Pro
  • Processor: core 2 duo 2,4 GhzMemory: 4GB (4x1GB)
  • Graphic card: Nvidia Quadro FX1500
  • Hard drive: 160+250+250GB
  • Optical drive: DVD +/- R/RW
  • Pyro Firewire card
Offer 2

  • Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Pro 32-bit OS
  • Processor Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 2.67 4MB/1066 CPU
  • System Memory HP 3GB (2x512+2x1GB)DDR2-667 ECC RAM
  • Graphics Card NVIDIA Quadro FX1500 256MB PCIe Graphics
  • Hard Drive 1 HP 250GB SATA 3Gb/s NCQ 7200 1st HDD
  • Hard Drive 2 HP 500GB SATA 3Gb/s NCQ 7200 2nd HDD
  • Hard Drive 3 HP 500GB SATA 3Gb/s NCQ 7200 3rd HDD
  • RAID HP RAID 0 Data Array Configuration
  • Keyboard HP PS/2 Standard Keyboard
  • Mouse HP USB Optical Scroll Mouse
  • Floppy Disk Drive HP 1.44MB Floppy Disk Drive
  • Optical Device 1 HP 16X DVD+/-RW DL LightScribe
  • Audio Realtek ALC262
  • LAN Broadcom 5755
Which one should you buy?

Which monitor shall I buy? Is one 24" monitor or 2x20" monitors best?

Should I buy something like this:
http://www.senfu.com.tw/senfu/product/20170/images/watermark_350_st5610b.jpg

/Jesper
 
Are you going through an Avid Certified Reseller? Those deals are generally more expensive, but you are virtually guaranteed to have a well functioning system.

Offer 1 looks to have a more powerful mobo setup. 4GB of RAM is def perferrable to 3GB, especially if you are editing HD video. The only advantage I see in Offer 2 is the Hard Drive setup, but you can easily buy an extra TB of external hard drives for a few hundred bucks.

Check out Avid's website and make sure all of your video cards and firewire cards etc. are compatible with Avid Xpress Pro (you're getting a Quadro, so you should have no problem, but check anyway).

Also, I'd recommend a dual monitor setup for sure. It gives you tons of space to work with, which is very convenient. I edit Xpress Pro on 2 20" monitors, and I never feel like I'm squeezing stuff in. I keep my audio levels, timeline, and preview/program feeds on the left monitor and stick my project window, superbin, etc. on the right monitor. It works great!
 
Thanks for the answer!

Yes, the both of them is from shops who sells Avid products. I have asked them to give me an example on a computer for Xpress Pro.

I think that I will buy offer 2 but ask them but change somethings on the computer.

I'm with you, I buy two monitors.


/Jesper
 
alexberman said:
4 gb memory wont all be available on a win32 system.
Click to expand...

Right, but with 4GB youll have Windows running its stuff on the extra gig, while Avid takes the rest. You can also let your comp use the full 4 gigs by changing a setting or two in the BIOS as I understand. I heard it in passing, I forget where.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top