What kind of computer do I need?

[Robert M Wright]

It's been awhile since I've had Vegas installed on a computer, and that was an older version. You might want to look at the Vegas forum. I'd suggest downloading a trial version of Vegas, and also downloading a trial version of Edius as well. (Build the new computer first though.)

[Jonathan Grant]

Thanks! What is Edius?

[Graham Hickling]

If you type 'Edius' into Google this is the top link: EDIUS NLE Software

[Jonathan Grant]

Amazon.com: AMD HD985ZXAGHBOX Phenom Quad-Core 9850 2.5GHz 125W L2-2MB L3-2MB Socket AM2+ CPU - Black Edition: Electronics

Is this what you were talking about Robert?

Are any of these motherboard/CPU combos like what you were looking at? I'm really clueless about this stuff! lol The one on nestegg.com is expired and I'm just now at the point where I can buy it. :-/

OutletPC.com - Asus Phenom Quad Core Motherboard Combo - SALE PRICE: $279.98

PRICEWATCH :: Price Comparison Shopping Tool - Find the lowest prices on Motherboard Combos With Mem Phenom 9850 and more before you buy

BTW, it'd be nice to have 4 SATA drive connections instead of just 2. I bought a SATA Raid thing that's supposed to add 2 more, but it has never worked. :-/

[Robert M Wright]

This is a current combo deal from Newegg that looks pretty sweet:

Newegg.com - Phenom II and motherboard combo

That's a Phenom II 940 (3GHz) and motherboard (w/graphics) for a little under $200 (after a $20 rebate). There's six SATA connectors on the board.

The Phenom II 940 is a considerably more potent processor, than the 9850.

[Jonathan Grant]

Thanks! I just purchased it! :)

[Robert M Wright]

Congrats. That CPU and board should give you the guts for a decent machine. You really can't touch the price/performance ratio of that combo, building a system around an Intel quad. Essentially you have a CPU that's roughly on par, performance wise, with a Q9550, along with motherboard and graphics that are quite adequate for editing with Vegas, all for less than the cost of a Q9550 by itself.

Btw Jonathan, I tried to reply to the email you sent me through DVInfo.net, but my reply bounced back as undeliverable.

[Jonathan Grant]

My bad, there must be something wrong with my email. :) One last question. I need to buy some memory right? I have 3 gig right now, will those work? How much memory and what specific kind should I get? I just want to make sure I don't waste money buying the wrong thing!

[Robert M Wright]

I'm not sure what kind of memory you have there. This should work well (and only costs $34 after the rebate):

Newegg.com - Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PVS24G6400LLKN - Desktop Memory

[Jonathan Grant]

Thanks! :)

[Zsolt Gordos]

Originally Posted by Harm Millaard

And when you combine Apple and HD in the same sentence, the budget requirements rise dramatically.

Unless you build a Hackintosh, like I did. All PC parts, running Leopard on it, works like a charm and the price was 1/3 of a MacPro.
There is a physical device, called Efi-x V1 which does the trick, you just have to attach to the MOBO internal USB port and you can boot OSX or Vista, as you wish.
The system has been tested by a large number of users, if you follow the hardware compatibility recommendations, you cant go wrong with it.

[Zsolt Gordos]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Grant

I am needing to get a computer so I can edit HDV footage for TV ads we are shooting. I don't have too much money and I don't need the top of the line model. I just need a mac (or PC) that has FCP (or something as good or better) that can handle it. It's all I'll be using it for.

I'd like to get something used to keep price down, one that already has FCP on it. I'd search ebay but I don't know what I should search for or what I need to make sure and get.

Any help would be appreciated! :)

Jonathan, maybe this info finds you too late as you might have bought stuff already.
Anyways if you intend to use FCP (which only runs under OSX) and you have tight budget, why dont you build a Hackintosh from PC parts?

I did it, cost me 1/3 of a MacPro (all new machine here) and I can run OSX and Windows on the same machine. I boot whichever I want to use, so I am no longer limited to any of the worlds in terms of apps.

The trick lies in a hardware part called Efi-x which a physical booting device, all you have to do is connecting that to your MOBO internal USB port.
The only thing you have to watch out for is hardware compatibility - but if you build a system from scratch thats not an issue. Most PC parts are supported anyways.

cheers

[Terry Lee]

Zsolt - So you have built a MAC with PC parts? What parts are MAC and what parts are PC?