Okay, So I am an apsiring 14 year old skateboard filmer trying to upgrade my computer setup for editing.

Right now I have a Dell Dimension 2400.

This one the older version.

Here are the specs.


(sorry I can't work with paint that well, it says Intel (R) Celeron (R) CPU 2.40 GHz 2.39 GHz, 512mb of ram.

I want to upgrade as much as possible to make an ideal editing machine out of this computer.

I am not too worried about money because I want to have the ideal set-up.
Thanks so much.

Hi Aptosfilmer,

I am only new to the forum and the wide world of computers. With your computer you may have to do a bit of research as to whether or not it is worthwhile to upgrade it to support video editing - it also depends on the editing software you are going to use. I recently upgraded mine and it cost around A$1300 which they provided another 320 Gb hardrive providing me with a total of 960 Gb; this also included upgrading the processor and the RAM this allows the machine to operate faster. Computer hardware is becoming cheaper, I have been quoted about A$3K to buy a new PC with all the equipment expected to support my new venture.

I am sure one of the other gurus will provide with a more accurate solution. I hope this helps in the interim

The four items I would get right away are:

At least an Intel Pentium 4 processor (or better still a Core 2 Duo running slightly faster than the speed of your current Celeron)

2GB RAM (Running at a minimum speed of 667Mhz)

A second hard disk (SATA - 7,200 rpm) unless you already have a second hard disk. The largest capacity you can afford and put all your video work onto it and nothing else.

A firewire socket if you intend to use Mini DV.

Use the Disk Defragmentation utility much more on the second hard disk to keep it up to speed.

__________________
Better than a poke in the eye with a pointy stick any day...

It all depends on the motherboard in your PC. That is the be-all and end-all of limitations.

You cannot take any old CPU and slap it in any motherboard.

If you change motherboard, you may have to change memory and/or graphics card too.

You basically need to find out if the motherboard in the PC supports dual core CPUs, then work from there.

If you can tell me the Dell Service Tag (Sticker on PC) I can probably tell you this info.

I'm in the same boat, but instead of upgrading I'm thinking a new computer. For you experts, I'm looking at Circuit City and the HP m8430n, Take a look and tell me what you may think. I would like to add that I will eventually get an exteral hard drive, but plan on using this machine strictly for photo/video work. I do mostly underwater video and will use U-Lead 11.5 Plus.

From what I understand the ram size, quad core and 750 Gb etc looks pretty good, although I couldn't tell if it came with a monitor or DVD burner which brings another question to mind does it have a useable firewire, it didn't mention this in the spec's.
Food for thought

Yep, it has a cd/dvd burner w/Litespeed. 4 USB2 ports and 2 Firewire ports (a must). The graphics is an Nvidia 8500 if I recall right. No monitor, but I''ll end up with a 22" LCD eventually. Till then I just might plug it into my 40" widescreen so I see exactly what will be on TV during playback. I'll also eventually end up with a 500gig external hard drive.

For what it's worth I already have an external DVD burner w/litespeed capabilites.

Now what?

With all that selected I don't think there is anything you have missed, unless one of the other guru's can think of anything, then the next step would be to take the plunge and enjoy your new toy.

have fun !

Thanks. I was mainly wondering whether it's worth it to get a quad processor, but on second thought I'll probably need it one of these days anyway. And YES, prying the wallet open is hard for me sometimes, but you know what they always say about a mans toys.

Ya got to understand something. All this video stuff is for doing underwater video and that stuff isn't cheap either. It's real easy to drop 10K on a camcorder, housing and lights, plus the computer. And this isn't top-o-the-line stuff. Just kind of mid range.

Yes Quad core processor is worth it, don't go any less.
I know exactly what you are talking about. I am trying to find another camcorder and it seems that everytime I buy one, typical practise a far better one comes up.

How often do you video. If it is not too full on maybe hire in the interim, it may work out cheaper, and give you a feel of what is out there.