 The "perfect compromise" Video Editing (and general use) PC -- please comment
The following machine is going to be both a vide editing machine and the general-purpose ‘family’ machine. This means that although I would love to spend most of my time editing video, it will mostly be used for web surfing, office utilities, etc. No one in the family is a gamer (yet), so it does not need to be optimized for gaming. I might hook it up to the entertainment system for the ‘digital home’ experience, but I’m not dead-set on that.
The one thing I do want it optimized for is video editing. For the past three years I have been using Pinnacle Studio (versions 8 and 9) on my dell x300 laptop to do my amateur video editing, so just about anything will be a huge upgrade. I will keep using this editing software for a while on the new machine, but ultimately I want to take the time to learn to use something a little more high-end. Since I haven’t decided which editor to go with when I do upgrade (Adobe, Avid, Vegas), I am getting a cheapish video card right now and upgrade later.
So, I need a decent, stable system that is capable of low-end (i.e Pinnacle Studio) video editing right now and can be upgraded in the near future.
The following set-up is just about the limit of what I can spend. As far as the alternate options go, I can probably add up to $100, but that is it (i.e All of the alternate options are not a possibility).
Processor:
Intel Core 2 Duo 6300
[alternate option: upgrade to 6400 – add $50]
MOBO:
Asus PW5 DH*
[alternate option: P5B Deluxe – save $20]
Memory: OCZ 2 X 512MB DDR2, 800MHz, PC2-6400
[alternate: Corsair 2X1GB DDR2 PC2-4200 533MHz Value Select 240-pin Unbuffered DIMM – add $80]**
HD:
Western Digital Caviar SATAII (WD2500KS) X 2 – one system drive, other dedicated to video editing
Video card***:
BFG /3D fuzion GeForce 7300 GS 256MB GDDR3 PCI-Express
[Alternate 1: XFX nVidia GeForce 7300GS Supporting 512MB DVI, TV-Out PCI E Video card – save $5]
[Alternate 2: Asus Extreme EAX550TD/128 Radeon X550 128MB DDR PCI-Express TV-Out – save $20]
Case:
Antec Sonata II (with 450W power supply)
[alternate: Antec P180 with Thermaltake W0009RUC PurePower 420-Watt Power Supply – add $80]
DVD burner:
LG dual layer with lightscribe
*Note #1: I have decided to go with top-of-the line Asus boards so that I have maximum stability, compatibility and options.
** Note #2: I have to decide whether to go with 1Gig of high quality memory or 2 Gigs of ‘value’ memory
*** Note #3: This will be upgraded when I decide which higher-end video editor I will go with.  |