HP vs Custom for Platform

[gordonzo]

Up until a few hours ago I was convinced I was going to get a G5 and FCP. But after ready the Vegas forum for a few hours I think I'm ready to go that route.

But, from the easy decision of buying a G5 I'm now stuck tryin to figure out what kind of PC to get. Yes, I've read through the posts here, but most people seem to point to custom jobs. I went to ABS and tried to put one together that matched what was being talked about and my price (no monitors) ended up at $2164. Details on this posted below.

I then went to HP and customized a m7300e and came up with a price of $1490 (which includes a rebate).

I plan on editing feature length documentaries from DVX. No HD. Yet. But, ya never know...

So, here are the two systems I built online. I know this first one isn't too easy on the eyes. But any thoughts?

ABS:

>CASE THERMALTAKE|VA3000BWA BLK RT (Item#ABS11133132)
>Microsoft Windows XP Home with Service Pack 2 DVD Version (Item#ABS37110039)
>POWER SUPPLY ANTEC TP2-550 EPS12V (Item#ABS17103932)
>MBASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe NF4SLI 939% (Item#ABS13131005)
>AMD Athlon 64 4600+ X2 2.4GHz, 512KBx2 L2 Cache 939-Pin 64-bit Dual Core
Processor – OEM (Item#ABS19103541)
>CPU FAN| AMD64 K450 CL-P0075 TT RT (Item#ABS35106055)
>MEM 1Gx2|COR TWINX2048-3200 184P R (Item#ABS20145486)
>VGA EVGA 6800GS 256-P2-N386-AX (Item#ABS14130267)
>HD 160G|WD 7K 8M SATA2 WD1600JS % (Item#ABS22144415)
>HD 300G|ST 7K 16M SATA2 ST3300622AS (Item#ABS22148110)
>RAID 0 Striped for SATA Hard Drives - Increase Performance (Item#ABS88101211)
>HD 200G|WD 7K 8M SATA2 WD2000JS % (Item#ABS22144416)
>DVD-ROM SONY 16X DDU1615/B2s BK % (Item#ABS27101131)
>DVD+/-RW NEC ND-3550A BK % (Item#ABS27152058)
>FD 1.44MB|SONY MPF920 Black % (Item#ABS21103116)


HP:

Windows(R) XP Media Center Edition

AMD Athlon(TM) 64 X2 4200+ dual-core - 2.2GHz, 1MB

2GB DDR-400MHz dual channel SDRAM (2x1024)

Hard Drive SAVE $40! 250GB 7200 rpm SATA Hard Drive

HP Personal Media Drives 300 GB 7200 rpm HP Personal Media Drive

Primary CD/DVD Drive SAVE $30! LightScribe 16X DVD+/-R/RW drive

Front Productivity Ports 9-in-1 memory card reader, 2 USB 2.0, 1 IEEE 1394

TV & Entertainment Experience Single NTSC TV Tuner with PVR and FM Tuner

Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce 6200se

Sound Card Integrated 5.1 Sound with front audio ports

 

[David Jimerson]

Either one would be fine. But in your position, I'd go with the HP. It's got everything you need for hundreds less, and I've had good dealings with their support.

You don't need a RAID, and you don't need terabytes' worth of HDD space for working in DV.

The only thing I'd say about HPs is that they're pretty cramped inside, and don't lend themselves well to customization. And, I'm not so big on onboard sound cards.

 

[Rextilleon]

Vegas should run well on either----I have one terabyte worth of drives crammed into my home made computer-----I do long form documentaries and believe it or not, it does come in handy. As David said, you dont need a Raid------and believe it or not, you can get buy with a real inexpensive video card---Until recently I was using the Matrox 550 to run duel monitors----I think I paid something like 99 bucks for it a couple of years ago---the video card plays little to no role in Vegas editing. Oh one last thing--whether you have yours built or buy an existing machine, go over to videoguys.com and look at the optimization of XP for video editing article by David La Borde---its very usefull.