Opinion Needed - Comp. Tech

mb72378

mb72378

Well-known member
I do all of my editing on a Macbook Pro and Imac. My secondary home use computer is a Dell XPS 420 I got back in 2009. It's starting to get to the point where I hate using it because it's slow. BUT I think the specs are good still compared to new stuff. So I'm wanting to know from my computer techie friends out there if the Dell is worth putting the money into or if I should just use the money I would spend on parts and buy a new lower end model. Either way I can only spend max like $400. So.....

Here are the Dell specs as it is right now:
Vista 32 bit
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 @ 2.66 GHz
4 GB ram
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+

Here's what I'm thinking...Small SSD just for Windows and Programs ($100 or less). Use one of my existing HD's just for storage of media. Upgrade to windows 8. More memory. Should be able to do that for less that $250. (I'll need a new monitor so that where I got $400 from originally. What do you think?

If you have suggestions for SSD hard drives or memory and where to get them let me know.
 
I would recommend not getting Windows 8. I found that a lot of software wasn't compatible yet. This was the dealbreaker for me since that included Avid. If you want to upgrade, get W7.

I'd say get a 128GB SSD. Your RAM is fine - you have a 32 bit machine and that probably won't change. Not worth putting money into this machine that you won't be able to transfer to your next one.

I'm still working on a PC from 2007. It's not quite as fast as my brand new laptop with an i5, graphics card, 64 bit, and SSD, but still does a fine job.
 
Im actually thinking about building one now. I think that if I can squeeze up $600 I should be able to build something a lot better than purchasing a new one at $600. I'm comfortable with intermediate computer installation sstuff but have never built one from scratch. I saw this online.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSNz6VVpWI8

What do you think of that? I might upgrade the processor a step.
 
jghenderson said:
Forgive me if this comes off as pretentious, but what are the advantages of editing on a PC? Every professional editor i've ever been around uses Macs
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They're just tools to use. I'm a PC guy, but I see the merits of Macs. The end result is what matters. People get too hung up on this.
 
Well jghenderson, there are a few things wrong with your post....if I may say so without coming off as pretentious :happy: Firstly, I mentioned in the OP that I use both a MacBook Pro and an Imac for my video editing and that my pc related questions were for my general home computer. Thus this is posted in the OffTopic section. Secondly, I have a few friends working as professional editors in medium sized production houses working on high end PC's editing on the Adobe CS6 Production Premium software. Right now you can build a VERY HIGH END PC that will smoke a mac while using the Adobe products for 75% of the cost of a mac. Macs are limited to the type of hardware you can upgrade them with. So....without rambling on about the limited possibilities of PC editing (even though I am a Mac guy).....I'm just asking for info about which way I should go from someone with more knowledge than myself regarding all of the new PC computer hardware out there. Thanks for your input.

Lets get back to the point at hand. I don't want my thread reduced to mumbo jumbo and end up with it being forceably closed by those awesome DVXuser mods.


On another note.....Has anyone looked at that link I posted above? Seems like a decent build for $600. I might upgrade the CPU but....Any opinions on this? Have you seen any other DIY gaming like PC builds $700 or less that are worth the money over just buying one new?
 
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You absolutely want to go 64-bit and increase your RAM. I had a previous system with the same processor, nearly the same GPU, and going to W7 64 and doubling the RAM made it much, much faster.

This will increase your performance better than an SSD will. An SSD will surely help, but it won't be the bigger boost.
 
Your processor is 64 bit. You could massively improve the machine's performance if you ramp up your RAM to 16G (assuming your motherboard supports it). The SSD isn't going to buy you a ton of improvement if it's just for the OS. It will boot faster but not really impact your editing. Also replace the graphic card with a higher end nVidia card. I run Windows 8 with CS6 Cloud and it's 100% compatible and for some tasks faster than Windows 7 was. But for $400 you can get a new fast i5 or entry-level i7 and motherboard but then you'll need to buy new RAM since your old stuff won't be supported.
 
Thanks guys. I mean....if I'm going to invest like $400 in this thing I might as well just build a new one right? One that I can upgrade as time goes on? I'd like to know more about all of the parts in my PC anyways. To upgrade the old one...Im looking at like $60 for memory, $70 for windows upgrade, I need a couple new fans $50, and then an SSD.
 
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I use the Adobe products and there are some video card compatibilities which need to be accounted for, as Premiere will use features of the cards for faster play back during editing.

I also concur with the 'more ram', and I'd consider a mother board upgrade as well.

I've pretty much gone all laptop as Apple has not really put out a 'new' tower. The Wife recently started looking at the new iMacs. So she may go that route for her upgrade. She mainly does Photoshop, and does tend to get up into the 4-8 GB file sizes... so we may add a lot more disk/memory for her.
 
It will cost a more than $400 to do a full upgrade if you're talking about at least a fast i5 processor to start with by the time you add the SSD, bigger Power supply, etc. You'll probably be a few hundred over your target.
 
For sure Chris....my thinking is if I'm going to spend $400 to upgrade a 4 year old computer....why not just scramble up $200 more and build a new one.

j1clark. I have a late 2011 model macbook pro. Upgraded hybrid ssd/hdd hard drive and 16 GB of ram. I like it a lot however I'll never go laptop for my main editing machine again. The heat is just plain bad on the maccbook pro when you use it all the time for heavy editing. Mine sits elevated on a laptop cooler on a desk and it still just doesnt get great circulation since there is only one exhaust port below the LCD. If I got mac again Ill just buy a Mac pro and upgrade it. The imacs are awesome! I edited on one for 4 years. But they suffer from heat problems as well. The screens cause a lot of heat and can cause some pieces of hardware to fail easily...like the CD drive. Not to mention they're not upgradable.
 
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Here's what you can do:

First, SSD drive. I find about 240GB to be the sweet spot. I have a 130GB Velociraptor drive now and it's way too cramped (going to upgrade eventually).

Second, buy yourself a nice CPU cooler (I recommend Cooler Master). Find the best one you can at the maximum price you could see yourself ever spending on a CPU cooler and overclock your CPU to 3.2GHz. I have the exact same CPU you do and have been overclocked for years at 3.2GHz, and it's rock solid. If you get a good cooler, you can overclock and have the same CPU temps as the stock Intel fan at stock speed.

Don't bother with Windows 8. Get Windows 7x64 and upgrade to 8GB of RAM. 16GB would be even better, but it starts to get pricey, which is a shame. I can go to 32GB on DDR3 RAM for way less than what it would cost to go from 8GB to 16GB of DDR2. I don't feel like I really need 16GB yet on this machine, so I'd take the cheaper route and just double what you have. Best bet is if you can get the exact same RAM you currently have if you have enough open slots to just add to it instead of replacing entirely.

If at all possible, swap out the 9800GTX+ with a GTX285. You should be able to find those cards for around $100 or less on eBay. They work very well in Premiere. Only get the 1GB version.

Also, if you can find a second spinning disk drive like your primary hard drive, you could use both and RAID them together for even better access times on your data. It's a bit riskier, but if you keep everything properly backed up, you should be fine. Check to see if your motherboard has a RAID selection for disks to set this up (I have an ASUS P5K Deluxe Wi-Fi which gives me the option to do a RAID 0).

I have that desktop and a MacBook Pro i7 2.2GHz from 2011 and I find the performance to be comparable.
 
Building a new PC for $600 will get you a much bigger performance boost than upgrading your old one.
 
eric thats what i think too. i find it hard to believe that spending $600 on building new computer wouldnt wield better results than upgrading a 4 year old one. can someone look at the link i posted earlier? whats the consensus on that build? its only about $600.
 
I don't follow processor technology that much since I stopped selling hardware several years ago, but it seems the key improvement in computer tech has to do with better parallelization rather than raw speed, thereby more efficiently processing a set of instructions. There were OS upgrades that helped in that regard, such as Mountain Lion on Mac IIRC. I would take another approach to answering your question. I think the suggestions to change graphics, increase RAM, and upgrade to 64 bit OS sounded reasonable. But have you assessed the risk associated with continued use of your existing system, post upgrades? The probability of a system failure from a non-upgrade component would appear to be there. Could this result in an inability to deliver a project on a deadline? The cost might be much higher than $600 in that case. Only you could answer that, but worth pondering if the system is used for work. Also, HP has some great deals on refurb workstations that aren't much over your $600 target and might be worth looking into.
 
mb72378 said:
i find it hard to believe that spending $600 on building new computer wouldnt wield better results than upgrading a 4 year old one.
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For me to bother upgrading, I currently have it priced out at about $1000. Frankly, if you're going to spend the money, you should get an i7 Ivy Bridge. Of course, any upgrade necessitates a new motherboard and all new RAM as well. And are you budgeting for a graphics card? The biggest difference in Premiere use will be upgrading your graphics card for the Mercury Engine.

Rmember that I found my over clock Core 2 Quad workstation performed on a similar level to my 2011 Sandy Bridge MacBook in everyday use.

can someone look at the link i posted earlier? whats the consensus on that build? its only about $600.
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I can't watch YouTube links at the moment.
 
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