Hi my name is Bryn,

I've been editing on my home computer for about a year now using programs such as Pinnacle Studio DV, Video Wave 5 and AlamDV2. After starting college in September (04). When I started I was shown new programs such as Adobe Premiere, After Effects, photoshop and audition.

Anyway the computer I have at the moment is about 5 years old and is very slow and has very little mempry (the last time I tried to use it for editing I had a film about 2 minutes long and the computer was struggling to do anything). I've recently been looking to buy a new computer specificaly for editing, animation, photo editing and gaming. The only problem is is that I don't know much at all about the tech side of computers and am left to rely on what other people tell me. One friend told me to look at Alienware computers because they're great for both editing,animation etc and gaming but I've read in many forums that they are very pricey for what they are. My budget is about £1900, I want to get the best computer I possibly can (just cpu, no extras such as moniters etc) but really need help. I will also be running programmes such as Alias Maya, Poser, animation master and Stop mo pro. Please help me, thanks in advance to anyone that does.

~Bryn~

P.S.I have a configuration and a price for an Alienware Aurora 5550 that a friend made for me if anybody would like to see that at all if would help I'd be more than happy to post it on here or to email it to you.

I forgot to say this in my first post but I will also need to use two monitors so this means a certain type of graphics card (according to my tutor).

Alienware are way overpriced. They're great systems, but you can get identical hardware for hundreds less. How do you feel about building your own PC from seperate components?

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Redefining the concept of low budget filmmaking
Manchester Comedy Forum
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You mentioned them in passing but didn't say whether you needed to source all that Adobe s/w in your budget. There're ways of getting them cheaper (and I don't mean ripping them off) but you'll be lucky to get the Adobe s/w mentioned for your budget let alone a PC to run them on.

As to the PC itself, Pretty much any new decent PC will likely do the job unless you have specific marks to hit. but I'm not a h/w guy and there are people in this forum much better equipped to help you with that.

Oh, and dual head graphics cards a easy enough and cheap enough to come by. Just mention you need one when you spec up the machine.

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I'm not young enough to know everything!

Hi thanks for the replies.

I don't feel very confident about building my own system from scratch but it would be possible for me to buy all the componenets seperatly and give them to my cousin to assemble. Maybe I would feel comfortable with it if there was a good book on the market that I could buy.

I already have all the software that I listed in my first post. The only software I will be buying with the computer will be an anit virus programme and Half Life 2. Even thought above I mentioned I would want to use my computer for gaming the editing/animation side of it is much more important.

I went to a shop today where they repaired my old computer (which had over 1000+ virus' on it!!!!!!!!!!!!) and asked them about a custom built pc that would mainly be used for computer editing and they told me a Pentium 4 would be a good option to have but I've been told by many people that Athlons are better. Are Athlons seen as being better for gamers or on a whole?

Also with the duel head graphics card, I would like to get a really great graphics card but I always have this thought in my head that because duel head graphics cards aren't that mainstream yet (in the sense that everybody has them as standard) that they wont be as high quality as other cards. Am I way off?

Thanks a lot for your help, and I'm sorry for bombing you nice people with questions :P

~Bryn~

Right.

If all you need is a base unit, i've put together this. THis is a very rough guide, and i've actually rounded up prices where there's been some discussion. All teh part i've got quotes from microdirect.co.uk apart from The ram which is from crucial.com/uk

The motherboard is quite important, stick witha good brand. i've used Asus here, but Abit boards are equally as good.

Dual Head video cards are fine, there's generally no problems with them at all. Some games don't support dual head vid cards, but it's not like it causes a problem.

Athlon 64 4000 – 498
Asus A8n-SLI deluxe motherboard (PCI-X, firewire, 7.1, Dual Channel ddr400) - £117
2GB dual channel DDR – for decent RAM, anywhere between £250-£300
2x300 GB SATA 16mb cache Maxtor - £255
ATI Radeon x800XT PCI express AGP card (dual head)- £300
Pioneer 16x DL DVDRW - £55
Thermaltake tsnunami black aluminium - £78
Antec neopower quiet 48W PSU - £84
Floppy drive - £5
XP home - £64

£1756

Like I said, prices have been rounded up, so if you shop around, no doubt you'll get the components cheaper. If you have a budget that high though, i really wouldn't scrimp on the components, motherboard and RAM especially.

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Redefining the concept of low budget filmmaking
Manchester Comedy Forum
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as for AMD64 versus P4, at the moment the Athlon 64 seems to be a favourite with the majority of gamers, though to be honest, with specs that high, you'd be hard pushed to see a visible difference anyway.

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Redefining the concept of low budget filmmaking
Manchester Comedy Forum
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Hi,

thanks for all the help Mike. I've decided I probably wont get an alienware but I'll still be getting a custom from a nearby shop in my area. The guy that works there that builds the computers has had experience in the past in making computer editing computers so that should prove a great help. thanks again

~Bryn~