How long do you guys use your NLE before upgrading???
 

I bought a system from BOXX (PC) about 4 years ago. It runs like crap. Would this be from age? I re-formatted it about 2 months ago and started a new project but it crashes on me and freezes up all the time. I'm running Premiere CS4 and AE 7 as well as the CS2 creative suite (graphic design).

If I upgrade does anyone have any advice? Would switching to MAC be a bad idea? I've never really used one... How is windows 7???

I don't know what to do - it's really frustrating.

Well one option would be to get a NEW hard drive rather than re-formatting. If it is 4-years old, it's probably time to replace it. Just use it as a back-up drive (you should have 2 backup drives). Also you could add some more ram, that's always fun!!!

As far as dated technology, after 1 year, your computer was officially outdated. So don't worry about that. Windows 7 I haven't used personally, but basically this is the OS that they SHOULD have come out with instead of this Vista crap. Research will get you some quick answers there.

The whole mac vs pc thing is just preference. Personally, I have been a PC user my entire life, but next year I will be working off my first Macbook Pro. I will still have my desktop PC. The nice thing about macs is that if you purhcase the Apple Care Protection, then you get up to four years of in-store replacement. Anything from replacing a part to replacing the entire system. Also, they only use the best, latest [most expensive] technology. If you buy a great mac, or a great pc, I don't think you will be dissapointed. If you can have both, more power to you!

Hope that helps,

JS

It's a raid 5 system and I've already replace 3 of the drives because of failure.

System info:

AMD Opteron Dual Core Processors
NVIDIA Nforce Professional 2200
AMD 8131 PCI-X Tunnel
2 gs of RAM
(I can't find the ram card online anywhere)

Has it always run poorly? My indirect experience with RAID5 is that it is very slow. It takes a lot of calculations to work the RAID across all those drives. I would prefer simple mirroring on the fastest hard drives available.