Hardware advice for new computer
 

I'm having a new computer built soon- just have to decide what components to put in it and I would be grateful for advice. I'll be buying CS3 to edit footage from a Canon XH-A1, plus doing lots of Photoshopping on still images, plus using the machine for day to day surfing, emailing, games, etc.
Suggestions for video card, processor, motherboard, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I'm not going to be buying a turnkey type box- I'm having one built from scratch. Thanks for the link though, it gives me a rough idea of where to start.
At this point I'm looking at a motherboard that will accomodate a Quad Core processor but I think I'm going to put a Duo Core processor in there to save $200, with the ability to upgrade in the future. Other stuff: an EVGA 768mb video card, 4g ram and raid 5. Pricing things out anyway. Any thoughts on the Raid 5 or video card? My computer guy suggested them and I'd like to hear confirmation that it's the way to go.

I can tell you that you will want a video card that has Component outputs because you can't preview over firewire like you can with DV.

The NVidia Quadro FX-560 will do the job.

I like the way I arranged my hard drives.

http://www.stevengotz.com/pc.htm

Forgive my ignorance... lots to learn, RAID0 for your video (2 hd's), and a seperate drive for the scratch disc-- my question is about the scratch disc- is that not part of RAID? That confuses me.
Thanks for the tip re. the video card- hadn't looked to see if it had component out. I was under the assumption that I could use one of the two DVI outs for an external monitor- is that not correct?

Greg,

My suggestion is, no matter what you build, don't use your editing computer for email and surfing, it can mess them up really bad. Best to use another for that. You can put anti-virus and such on it, but then it tends to slow the computer down. A cheap computer will work just about as good for surfing and such because it will not be the computer that slows you down, it will be your internet connection.

Mike

Thanks Mike for the advice- I'm looking into the goods and the bads of that route right now.

OK, an explanation.

The fast drive for programs and memory swapping

The RAID0 for captured material only

The third drive for projects and the associated scratch files, previews, media cache, stc.

The previews are single streams. The captured material is often multiple streams. I avoid putting the projects and the captured material together. You want to be able to read from all drives at once when needed.

In Premiere Pro, you can set where you want the scratch disks to be. Each time you change projects you would have to change your settings. I put mine with the project. Changing projects automatically changes the scratch location to the appropriate directory. It keeps it all together and makes it easy to keep track of.

DVI to a monitor is OK. But it isn't as good as having Component out, in my opinion.

Thanks! Appreciated and understood.

I know these kinds of threads can be tedious for those of you who've been there done that... but for people building their first system hopefully this will be helpful.
Anyhow- I'm going to use this box just for editing now. Given that, it appears that the video card eVGA 8800 is overkill and added to that it doesn't have component video out. That narrows things down to these recommended cards: Nvidia Quadro 1500 ($600), Nvidia Quadro 560 ($275) or the Matrox Parhelia APVe ($320). I'm going with a Quad Core and 4g of ram, suitable power supply, SB X-FI sound card and I've got to decide on that video card. Anybody care to offer their opinion one way or another?

If you need a new monitor, you can't go wrong with the 24" Dell(two would be better). Iv'e been really impressed with it.

I can't seem to find the Nvidia Quadro 560 card that has component video out- can you point me to it?

Nevermind- found it on the PNY site:
NVIDIA Quadro® FX 560 PVE PCIE Part No. VCQFX560-PCIE-PB-V

http://www.nvidia.com/page/qfx_el.html

Look under features and benefits and you will find:

HD Component Out
Enables preview of video content in true color on a broadcast monitor or HDTV.
*Available on NVIDIA Quadro FX 560 and 540.

Thanks Steven- I've added that card to the cart, so to speak. Here's my list so far:
-Gigabyte Aurora full tower case
-Intel BOXD975XBX2KR or ASUS P5N32 motherboard. ASUS is quad core Intel isn't. Haven't made up my mind on that yet.
-Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 CPU
-4g ram
-Antec TruePower TRIO 650w power supply
-NVIDIA Quadro® FX 560 PVE PCIE video card
-Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme sound card (I don't plan on doing major sound work for a while yet).
-Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drives (4)
-Liteon LH-20A1P 20X Dual Layer DVD±RW Drive

Hi Greg........
 

Just my two cents worth on the graphics card..........

I'm currently running a Matrox APVe :- DVI to my Dell 24" and Component to my Sony 46" Bravia 1080 screen (the Sony refuses to play ball with a DVI to HDMI gender bender from the Matrox even tho' it will from my partners laptop).

One thing I think I can say with confidence is that I really wish the Matrox had HDMI out - footage played back from my HV20 (HDMI) certainly looks far superior to the same footage off the pc via Component.

If you go for a card that doesn't have an HDMI port with HDCP, it's not likely to be an add on at a later date, so you'll be stuck with Component 1080i for the life of the card.

(From my limited experience "most" HD telly's seem to only accept 1080i on the component port, 1080p/i on the HDMI port - tho' I wouldn't go so far as to say there aren't some out there that will accept 1080p on the Component)

That HDCP is important too as all sorts of weird things are happening with screens that should run HDMI but won't without HDCP, even tho' the content doesn't require it.

Hope this helps.

CS

Thanks Chris for your thoughts. I was planning on eventually getting a broadcast [crt] monitor as a third screen, hence the need for component out. I've got an hdtv at home so it'd be nice to see what I'm working on on a big screen... nothing's ever easy is it?
I wonder if your pc is doing something to the signal that the camera isn't, during playback-- or vice versa?

I think the price of video cards is low enough that one can be replaced with another. In fact, I am doing so. I have a new one on order.

Nope.............
 

It's definately an HDMI/ Component thing. If I play either my A1 or HV20 into the Sony screen via Component it looks identical to the Component off the PC. Switch to HDMI from the HV20 and hey presto, instantly sharper.

I've tried the DVI/Component test on the Dell as well, DVI wins hands down on the picture quality front (IMHO).

My suggestion wasn't to drop the Component port in favour of an HDMI, but find a card that will do Component, DVI and HDMI/ HDCP. You can never have too many different types of connection!

Good luck with the new system.

CS

Anybody know of a card that has all three outputs? Dvi(2), hdmi and component video out? I haven't seen any in my searchings the last couple days, but then I wasn't looking for hdmi specifically. My head is spinning <g>.

Hi again.......
 

Well, if there ain't, they've gotta be on their way. An alternative may be to go for two seperate cards, one that has HDMI/HDCP & DVI and another that has Component etc. The reason I say they must be on their way is that the "new" version of the Dell 24" screen has a DVI/HDCP (NOT HDMI, according to the NZ web site) connection.

I have yet to figure out what the difference is between a HDMI/HDCP port and a DVI/HDCP port (apart from the embedded audio, I guess).

If I could find a card that had the HDMI/DVI/HDCP/Component/ 3 screens options I'd ditch the Matrox in a flash - that HDMI is Sooo good on a "standard" 1080 telly.

More head spin!

CS

Thanks for the heads up on this Chris- for now though I'm going to live with the Quadro FX-560 and upgrade in the future if necessary.
I found out the cpu I chose wasn't compatible with the motherboard so... new list:
Intel Desktop Board DP35DPM
E6850 cpu
4g of ddr2 800mhz ram
Antec TruePower TRIO 650w ps
NVIDIA Quadro FX 560
Gigabyte full tower case
4 WD 250g hd's, two in a RAID0 for the captured video, one for os and programs and one for cache, media, etc.

Just so you know- I learned a ton reading this forum, and those "what computer should I buy" threads were invaluable. Or I should say, the contributions of knowledgeable folks were invaluable.

Thanks to everyone for the advice. Got the new computer home today, installed Premiere Pro CS3, connected the camera, captured the tape and was able to log everything. The hd video looks great and I am a very happy camper :)

Hey Greg..............
 

Congratulations. Enjoy!

CS

That's the way it should be! Congratulations.

Chris, If you are looking for a nice solution of an HDMI output to monitor your two cam's... check out the BlackMagic Intensity card...

That card has both HDMI input and output...

an added benefit of real time or tape HDMI caputure from your cam's.....



and you get to keep your video card seperate....

its a good card to have with the two cam choices you listed.....