Motherboards

jefferson

jefferson

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I'm about to upgrade the motherboard & cpu on my pc so I can realistically edit footage from an hvx200. Any suggestions? I've been looking at some of the dual core setups from intel, but I'm not sure if I need special software to take advantage of something like that. I'm planning on using Final Cut Pro 2. Also, I know I need FireWire and PCIExpress, but are there any other features I need to look for?

What about AMD? My current motherboard is an Athlon, but I bought that years ago and it seems like they might have lost some ground since then.

Basically, I feel swamped by all the options. I can decipher tech-speak to an extent, but I'm five years out of date and Tom's Hardware just doesn't seem quite as intelligible as it used to. :confused:
 
Good grief my poor boy, Jefferson! You really are behind the times or just making a joke!

1. AMD has not lost any ground, if anything, they have the edge over Intel these days in performance. Intel still has the majority of sales though, thanks to pre-built computers from big companies like Dell and HP/Compaq and Sony.

2. Final Cut Pro 2 is REALLY old dude, may want to upgrade that thing.

3. As Oz has said, if you want FCP, you're going to have to go with an Apple Macintosh of some sort.

4. Dual cores are present in AMD's processor line as well and they perform MUCH better than Intel's dual cores do. Look into the Athlon FX 60 (the first AMD FX processor with dual cores) and the Athlon X2 series (ranging from dual core versions of 3800+ to 4800+).

5. No, you don't need special software to take advantage of dual cores. Windows XP works fine with them right off the bat.

6. In addition to PCI-Express and Firewire, you'll also want Serial ATA connections for current hard drives. Parallel ATA was the big IDE cable version of hard drive connections but now SATA is the new standard.

7. Since you're asking about PC's specifically, Final Cut Pro is out, so you may want to try looking into AVID, Edius, or Adobe Premiere Pro for PC editing. Otherwise, go with Macs and forget all this PC stuff.
 
For P2 editing, Avid and Edius is the only solutions (Except if you use raylight realtime converter to load them into premiere or other software).
I think Avid is the best choices for P2
 
P2metoo said:
I will add atleast 2GB DRAM in the pacakge.
Click to expand...

...But not more than 3GB unless you plan to run WOW64 or will be upgrading to WinVista in the very near future. ...Remember, WinXP 32bit = 32bit address space = 4GB maximum addressable RAM and that includes video memory, hardware addresses, etc...

Avid is OK for P2/MXF support, but Edius is waaay better. Edius also has a much better codec implementation for DVCPROHD and can run multiple streams in realtime just like FCP can. Avid can barely pull off a single 720p24n stream in realtime and 1080i or 720p60 at the full 100Mbps rate cluks along at about 6fps on a decent system. However, Avid has the better editor vs. Edius. Or use Vegas with Raylight (cheapest solution and performance equal to Avid with an awesome editor).

If you're thinking a new motherboard, which in reality means a new computer, just buy a G5 Mac and simplify your life. Unless you're on a seriously tight budget, that's the way to go right now for DVCPROHD. I'm a serious PC guy and I bought a G5 Quad... One of the best computer decisions I've made in the last couple years. The PC still rocks for overall power/performance, but PC video editing and DVD authoring software just sucks in comparison to Final Cut Studio.
 
Unfortunately, I wasn't making a joke. I really have been out of the loop for some time and I must have misinterpreted what I've heard re amd. As for Final Cut 2 on a pc, that's embarrassing, again I must have misheard my friend or gotten confused when he was offering to let me try out his nle. I think he was actually talking about Premiere Pro. I really am trying to do a lot of catchup here, trying to get into videography as my previous job was wiped out by a certain storm that everyone's sick of hearing about, and I apologize if I'm talking out of my league. Thanks for taking the time to set me straight.

As for AppliedVisual's suggestion about the Mac I think you're absolutely right, after doing some more research, I reached the same conclusion myself. I plan on getting on of the new intel macbooks, I'm really impressed with the performance gains they've gotten with the intel switch.

I may need to start a new topic for this question, but while I'm here, does anyone know whether a a laptop, specifically a macbook, needs to be open while capturing live video from the camera? Will the laptop automatically go to sleep when you close it, or can that be disabled in preferences or by simply diconnecting this switch that tells it it's closed? Do you have to mess with the computer every time you stop/start recording?

Reason I'm asking is I'd like to use my laptop as a sort of stop-gap substitute for a firestore or cineporter, basically keeping it in a back pack and running a long firewire to it. Is this feasible?

Thanks again for alleviating my ignorance.
 
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