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Pick my hardware for me...

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Cyric, 29 Dec 2004.

  1. Cyric

    Cyric What's a Dremel?

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    So my wife hooked me up with a capture card for x-mas, now I need some good hardware for video editing. I can salvage most of the stuff from my current pc, but I need the following:

    Processor
    Mainboard
    Video Card
    Powersupply

    My budget is around $300 - $400, and I'm more concerned about futreproofing, then bleeding edge. Righ now I'm using a P3 1.0GHz with onboard video, so anything will feel like a Ferrari to me.

    I will be using this mostly for video editing, but some gaming isn't out of the question.

    TIA
     
  2. Guest-16

    Guest-16 Guest

    $300-$400, hmm, toughy.

    P4 LGA, 2.8 (or whatever cheapest non cele is)
    Asus i915 board with HD Audio sound (as reviewed here, although you dont need the premium version) Asus 915 board kicks ass, and HD sound gives you the edge on the audio without needing a good soundcard = save $$. You get AC3 spdif out with it too.
    PC4300 DDR2, 2x512meg sticks, Corsair, Ultra or Ballistix if you can afford it otherwise some bog standard Crucial.
    PCIe graphics card, whatever fits the budget.
    PSU: Tagan 480W? Enermax? Again whatever fits the budget.

    P4s perform better in video editing and are generally smoother cause of hyperthreading in windows, but, if you dont really care, and just want a faster computer something A64 will probably more fit the budget:

    Socket 939, 3000+ish
    Gig of DDR PC3200, loads avaliable
    Nforce 3 Ultra, Epox? DFI? Asus?
    9800pro AGP8x or similar, depending on budget,
    PSU as above.
     
  3. Cyric

    Cyric What's a Dremel?

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    "P4 LGA, 2.8 (or whatever cheapest non cele is)" - This is a good socket for futureproofing? Intel Pentium 4 505 2.66 GHz LGA 775 ($145)

    "Asus i915 board with HD Audio sound" - ASUS "P5GDC Deluxe" i915P ($155)

    "PC4300 DDR2, 2x512meg sticks" - I do have a stick of Corsair PC3200 512meg, and will get another stick somtime soon, but not as part of my initial build.

    "PCIe graphics card, whatever fits the budget." - This is one of my biggest uncertianties, I see a lot of talk about the highend stuff, but have no clue what is a good choice in the budget price range. ($100)

    "PSU: Tagan 480W? Enermax? Again whatever fits the budget." - "Tagan" Series 480W Power Supply, Model "TG-480" ($77)

    = $477

    Is there any room for triming?
     
  4. KoolDrew

    KoolDrew What's a Dremel?

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    When you say some gaming what games will you be playing? I was about to just recommend a X300 SE just for videa editing but then realized you might game with it which would suck.
     
  5. Cyric

    Cyric What's a Dremel?

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    KoolDrew...

    Honestly, I don't know. My POS can't play any of the DirectX 9.0 games, so I've been out of the loop for some time. I would like something that if I see a game on the shelf and turn it over to look at the requirements, I don't have to put it back down right away.
     
  6. Guest-16

    Guest-16 Guest


    Go for an Athlon 64 setup then, socket 939. For what its worth you will NOT notice the difference between a P4 and AMD considering you are already only using a 1ghz P3 machine. And as you already have a stick of PC3200 you can just buy another and use two in dual channel. You will NEED 1gig of ram for proper video editing unless you want to wait for it to pagefile to the harddisk (how long does your coffee take to make?).
    Id also recommend a nice, fast 36/74gig Raptor (what size video on average?) for video caching - software like premiere uses it and the faster the drive the better.
    Also, you can pick up a cheaper and more widely avaliable AGP card for it too. Nforce 3 Ultra or K8T800pro based board ;)

    http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-181&depa=1

    http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-499&depa=1
     
    Last edited by a moderator: 29 Dec 2004
  7. TMM

    TMM Modder

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    Athlon64 skt939 3000+
    $175
    http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-501&depa=0
    -full retail as you will need the HSF that comes with it


    Abit AV8
    $111
    http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-181&depa=0

    -your stick of 512 pc3200 will be fine, you can buy another 512 stick for some dual channel goodness later on ;).

    ATI 9600pro (sapphire)
    $102
    http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-471&depa=0

    Antec 400w ("SL400") PSU
    $56
    http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-912&depa=0
    - I've got one of these in one of my comps atm and its awesome (for the price). Easily stays within 3% +/- on all rails under load, near 1% +/- idle.

    TOTAL = $444

    You may be able to get the price down a little more by choosing a cheaper graphics card, but personally i wouldn't go anything lower then a 9600pro; it'll play nearly all newish games at low-medium settings with a playable framerate at 1024x768.

    You may also want to splash out on a fast HDD such as a raptor.
     
  8. Cyric

    Cyric What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks guys!

    I think I'll go with the AMD, but just in case, is there a PCI-e card that is close to the 9600pro (in performance and price)? With the Antec 400w PSU, the P4 set up is only $9 more, if I can get a PCI-e Video Card in the same price range. I'm concerned that AGP will go the way of PCI, and I will once again be locked in to budget cards (like I am now with my non-AGP motherbord).
     
  9. whypick1

    whypick1 The über-Pick

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    X600XT would be the closest PCI-E match to the 9600 Pro. For nVidia, probably the PCX5900, depending on the situation (in OpenGL games, nVidia wins; in DirectX games, ATI wins).
     
  10. Firehed

    Firehed Why not? I own a domain to match.

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  11. Cyric

    Cyric What's a Dremel?

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    How is onboard video these days? I've had problems in the past with the onboard conflicting with PCI Video when I tried to upgrade.
     
  12. TMM

    TMM Modder

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    onboard pretty much gets a picture on your screen and thats about it. You may be able to play some games on ultra low settings.
    It gets disabled automatically if there is a graphics card (agp, pci-e or pci ) present ;)

    I've not heard of any conflicts with modern onboard gfx, as it gets completely disabled, the OS doesn't even see it.
     
  13. silentphoenix

    silentphoenix What's a Dremel?

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    TBH, the way to go would be getting a s939 mobo, absolute cheapest CPU (a sempron if they make them for 939), 512 3200 to match you own and make a gig, and a decentish PSU.

    As for a GFX card, id try to pick up a second hand geforce4 or ATi Radeon 9700 to cut back on costs. If not a 9600pro would be the next best thing for games, but if your not too fussed a 9200 would be alright (similar in performance to a geforce3 / ATi 8500).

    If your doing video editing you cannot forget about getting a large HDD :)
     
  14. 1st time modder

    1st time modder What's a Dremel?

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    When i built my father's machine, i looked into what he needed the graphics card for rather than just game playing wise. After seeing what he needed it for i decided that an PCX5200 graphics card was perfect. it cost 80$ and was perfect for what he needed + it provided plenty of upgradablity. It is PCI-express, and has 128mb of Ram + 2 outputs for display +S-video port. It's not that bad for 80$
     

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