?s on Building a PC

slackergirl · Post by **slackergirl** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 1:15 am

So I'm sick of my P3-450 dinosaur. I recently started video editing, and it's too slow, and I know the MB won't be able to handle the upgrades I would like. I got the PC 5 years ago, and have upgraded a few things in it (RAM, HD, drives, etc.), but it's maxed out. I would like to try my hand at building my own system, and have a friend of the family who will help with technical aspects, but he doesn't know much about what components are good for media applications (he was more of a systems manager). So I defer to all you computer gurus for my component concerns. I know you've all answered this before, but things change so fast.

I've combed the boards and have pretty much decided to go with the AMD (so no CPU wars this time). My biggest concern is future expandability; I would like this thing to last 5 years as well. As this is the case, I think I should go with an Athlon 64, I'm thinking the 3000+ is reasonable at ~$175. (I can't justify the $$$ for the 64FX.) Is this stupid, since for around the same $ I can get a top-line Athlon XP? Or will I be kicking myself that I didn't spend a little extra on the processor for the 3200+, or is the difference moot at this point?

Also the motherboard is giving me agita. I realize I'm limited by the CPU, but I've heard certain brands and chipsets should be avoided. ASUS seems to be recommended a lot, though. (And what exactly is a chipset, anyway?) I've done a few web searches and am a little overwhelmed.

The next stupid issue is the case. It doesn't need to be pretty, just have lots of bays and hold crap inside. But what wattage should the power supply be? Can I have too much and make things run too hot? If I go with a higher wattage do I need an extra fan or something?

Of course I'll need a HD (my current WD80GB has never given me a problem). One will do for now, but I would eventually like a 2nd. Also DVD-RW drive and 2nd plain DVD-Rom, a floppy drive too (you never know when you might need one). I'm looking to spend no more than $1000 for all components (including cables). Can you think of anything else really needed for video editing? I have an LCD monitor, and an old mouse and keyboard around somewhere (I'm not proud). No bells and whistles for now, but I want to be able to add them later. Thanks for any advice, and sorry for the length!

Wheee_It's_Me! · Post by **Wheee_It's_Me!** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 2:12 am

Rather than tell you what you should buy I'm just going to list my system specs, a machine that I built SPECIFICALLY for video editing, encoding and rendering. The total base cost is under $2,000.

MSI E7505 Dual Xeon server workstation board
~$250

Two 2.4Ghz Intel Xeon processors
~$175 x 2

Two 250GB, 7200rpm, 8mb cache, Maxtor HDs
~$150 each

2GB of Infinion dual channel, ECC, PC-3200 400MHz memory
~$400

Radeon 9800 all in wonder video card
~$300

Toshiba DVD-RW drive
~$75

Antec True550 EPS 550W Dual Xeon Power Supply
~$100

Rough Total Estimate - $1,775

Optional Components
==============
A sweet lookin mobile rack:
http://www.pcdirect.com/product.asp?Sku=MR999SILVER

4 additional 250GB drives for use in the rack, one for anime, one for movies, one for TV shows, one for cartoons.

A silver CaseMaxx case:
http://www.coolerguys.com/840556004103.html

Various red cable sleves, red lighting, acoustic absorption mats etc, etc

A graphics tablet

An aerogateII temprature controller

A Yamaha PSR292 keyboard

Various other sorts of equipment. Oh yeah, in case you didn't notice I went with a primarily silver with red interior and red lighting. Some of the stuff had to be painted by me and some of the leds needed to be replaced (mostly the green ones). I also gave my system a name, Hikaru Sen.

TaranT · Post by **TaranT** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 3:24 am

Geez, you're gonna scare off the young 'uns showing stuff like that.

******

The problem with your question, slackergirl, is that editing isn't that demanding on your system, at least not at the amateur level. Any machine you buy off the shelf at Best Buy or CompUSA will do the job. A gig of RAM, maybe 100+ GB of hard disk, a 2 to 3 gig processor, and a DVD writer...any extra money should go into the largest monitor you can afford. And a quality mouse wouldn't hurt.

Beyond the parts, stability is also an issue, meaning all the parts you collect should play well together. To be safe, you could just copy what someone else has done (Wheee_It's_Me! has a good point here). Or you could go half way with what's called a "barebones" system. These come with most of the core items in one tested package, to which you add your choice of processor and drives.

I've been using barebone systems by Shuttle and they've worked out just fine. Unless I'm mistaken they're also using Shuttles in this year's Iron Chef AMV contests. That's probably as good a system workout as any.

Wheee_It's_Me! · Post by **Wheee_It's_Me!** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 3:34 am

I should also add, DO NOT skimp on the memory. In other words don't buy OEM or non name brand memory. It'll probably cost twice as much but it'll be the difference between having a stable system and being a n00b job cursing Windows for every hicup and system crash (when really the OS has nothing at all to do with it).

Also try not to buy other OEM, non name brand, or "lower grade" equipment (like Celeron processors) cause you get what you pay for...which isn't much.

Kalium · Post by **Kalium** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 3:35 am

Wouldn't that be good justification for a pari of AMDs over Intels, seeing as how they tend to do better?

TaranT · Post by **TaranT** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 3:43 am

Wheee_It's_Me! wrote:I should also add, DO NOT skimp on the memory. In other words don't buy OEM or non name brand memory. It'll probably cost twice as much but it'll be the difference between having a stable system and being a n00b job cursing Windows for every hicup and system crash (when really the OS has nothing at all to do with it).

Very good point. I rebuilt my older Shuttle a couple of weeks ago. It was crashing (seemed like) every five minutes. I pulled out the stick of Seitek DDR and replaced it with a Kingston that I had. Haven't a single problem since then.

Even the "value" RAM from names like Kingston and Corsair is better than the no-name stuff.

Wheee_It's_Me! · Post by **Wheee_It's_Me!** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 3:47 am

Kalium wrote:Wouldn't that be good justification for a pari of AMDs over Intels, seeing as how they tend to do better?

Depends entirely on what it is that you're doing and what "AMDs" and "Intels" you're refering to and their specifics as far as speed. Trying to compare equipment like that is kinda silly since one is ALWAYS outdoing the other. This week Intel will have the "faster" processor, next week it'll be AMD, don't hold yer breath.

As far as Intels you've got Celerons, P3s, P4s, Xeons, Itaniums and for AMDs you've got Opteron, Athlon, Duron. And it even gets more complicated than that cause you've got Athlon XPs, Athlon 64s, Athlon MPs, etc, etc, etc...

I went with Xeon processors primarily for how they handle with rendering applications and it's also important for video editing since most software titles are pushing more and more towards 3D editing and rendering effects.

Kalium · Post by **Kalium** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 3:49 am

Good points, but I'm going on a price comparison here.

I don't think I even have to mention a clock speed comparison, because the leader there is obvious.

Wheee_It's_Me! · Post by **Wheee_It's_Me!** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 3:51 am

TaranT wrote:
Wheee_It's_Me! wrote:I should also add, DO NOT skimp on the memory. In other words don't buy OEM or non name brand memory. It'll probably cost twice as much but it'll be the difference between having a stable system and being a n00b job cursing Windows for every hicup and system crash (when really the OS has nothing at all to do with it).
Very good point. I rebuilt my older Shuttle a couple of weeks ago. It was crashing (seemed like) every five minutes. I pulled out the stick of Seitek DDR and replaced it with a Kingston that I had. Haven't a single problem since then.

Even the "value" RAM from names like Kingston and Corsair is better than the no-name stuff.

Indeed. Kingston and Corsair are both real good brands, Infineon might be a lil over kill on quality. Also NEVER buy used memory, I don't care what brand it is, if they're sellin it on like eBay and it's a "pull", don't buy it. o_O

Wheee_It's_Me! · Post by **Wheee_It's_Me!** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 3:58 am

Kalium wrote:Good points, but I'm going on a price comparison here.

I don't think I even have to mention a clock speed comparison, because the leader there is obvious.

Right now Xeon's are kinda king (but like I say, give it 6 months, it plays back and forth).

An AMD Opteron 150 is ~$600, it operates at 2.4Ghz and a 1mb cache.

Where as you can get an Intel Xeon 3.2Ghz processor with a 1mb cache for ~$500.

*shrugs*

But then, like I was also saying, what you're doing with it also matters. In some application environments the Opteron will beat the crap out of the Xeon as far as "speed" even though the Xeon is technically "faster".