WOOHOO

At long last, the be all and end all list has finally been updated to modern times.

And some of the results are startling.

I'm currently looking at a AMD Athalon 3500+ 64Bit Newcastle processor and suitable 939 socket motherboard, and reading the specs for video, for one of the tests it effectively shaves a minute and a half off my processor, taking it from 4.12 down to 2.49. However, I've noticed that the top boy processor, those that cost three times the price of the one I'm looking at, only shave an extra 20 seconds off the DVD encoding time.

Amazing

And for this information, I am truly grateful to both Marc and Tom for the link and the work respectively.

Get the 3500 with the Winchestor Core...it is a 90 nm chip, which is superior tothe newcastle

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2.6b at 3.3
1 gig of OCZ Platinum Limited Edition PC3200(2-2-2)
Abit IC7
Seagate 80gb sata
Aspire X-Alien
460W Enermax
9800 Pro
SP-94 with Tornado
Panasonic GS200 on its way with:
3 DV Tapes, Tripod, Bag, Telephoto Lens, Lens Cleaning Kit

Used to be into OverClocking so we learned a bit on the way on computer stability and hardware. The P4-AMD-Mac and other platforms seem to be really good for doing video editing.

Memory prices on DDR is fast falling and other memory platforms, so memory prices now are cheaper than ever before. Good graphics acccelerator, Sata drives,Raid hard-drive options for multiple HD's etc.

But one thing I've found myself overlooking and its easy to do, is if you build your own rig is the Power Supply. Good quality supply is near a must as the P4's and AMD-Mac newest processors are a bit power hungry, especially using multiple DVD-CD writers, lighted fans(no longer use these) graphics cards & etc.

No need to over-clock (can overwork your hardware) in my older years as speeds passing 3.4Ghz is now the norm , but if your Puter starts have stabilty issues, having to re-boot to gain OS (Operating System) stability the power Supply may be one thing overlooked or your computer Case with inadequate cooling. The higher Ghz the more important heat dissapation is an issue.

The Thermal-Take case, Xaser III (many great cases out there) was on sale and has a solid chasis (aluminum offered) and multiple fans and temp via LCD, and fan controllers. Quiet enough to not wake up the spouse at night if editing mpegs late at night..Graphics Cards I give up on the end-less race for the fastest & latest and now wait till one's a year or so old, then save $$ on new purchase.

There's a lot of good options out there and prices continually drop, and become a more realistic & affordable option to the end users.

Many good cases and hardware but don't overlook your Power Supply..& thermal solutions. Mac's are looking to be an interesting platform as well.

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Life from an Inverted Prespective

Greetings,

One important point in your system build I would very strongly recommend buying the best Quality RAM strips you can get, Kingston etc.

Whilst working with a new Pentium 4 system and a cheaper brand of RAM it caused me months of problems and failed edits, crashes and other wonderous funky happenings like destroyed drives, PSU, graphics card etc.

Now I have a system that is both stable and excellent for video editing and is quite affordable too.

MB Asus A7N8X
Processor AMD Semperon 3000 running at 2GHz ( not its max speed)
RAM Kingston DDR 400 Mhz 2 x 512MB strips
Graphics NVIDIA Sparkle 256MB DDR
Sound On Board Legacy AC 97
DVD RW Pioneer 108
DVD Rom AOPEN 16x
CD RW Liteon 52x32x52
Expansion Ultra ATA 133 IDE RAID Card
HDD1 Sanyo 160GB ATA 133
HDD2 Maxtor SATA 120 GB (not Raid configured)
HDD3 Maxtor 160GB ATA 133
HDD4 Sanyo 160GB ATA 133
Capture Dazzle 150

The Sanyo hard drives are superb for the price. The two in my machine have turned out a good two years of heavy workload without a single problem. Access time is also pretty good and the whole lot has given me a great amount of good video quality turnout. The Maxtor drives I use as work drive on the SATA and storage on the other one.

Hope this info helps, if one person is saved from the trauma of bad Memory strips or incompatability then it is worth it.

AMD Only

just a few modifications to that list, and details. It is a good list though

Motherboards for A64 - DFI Lanparty, ASUS, BFG and ABIT ... the best motherboard makers around. http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...boards_68.html

Processor 3200 venice, overclocked can squeeze more than a 3800+ core can , cheaper than the 3400+ and faster.

Athlon
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/AMD_64_Bit.html

AMD Opteron 146 or above (server chips but run very well in desktops, i currently have one ), very good chips, capable of withstanding a lot of stress which is extremly good when you have demanding software open such as premier pro, cubase etc before clocking are the same speed as a FX 59 .... oooooo then after clocking fx 61 !!! these babys will clock to 3.0ghz on AIR (depending on the stepping CABYE CABNE CAB2E are the best for it)

Opteron
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...Athlon_MP.html

Ram

OCZ Dual Channel 2gb ram, the kings of ram, very good timings, dual channel = more speed very good buys.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...e_OCZ_144.html

PSU

Guys one thing you cannot forget about... not in this daynage, get the BEST psu money can buy, and not a cheap on ... 480 watts + good brand = very stable power flow, and happy pc components :- )

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...plies_123.html

antec
hiper (my chosen one )
enermax

they are the top makes at the minute

Graphics cards

graphics cards are important, so get the best money can buy. 7800gt's are quite cheap, but 6800ultra's perform almost as good and are less expenisive. im not really a fan of ati but i would go for the x1800 if you can, the rest just dont compare to nvidia range (my opinion)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal..._Video_56.html

Cooling Systems

Stock cooling is fine for systems that arent going to be overclocked but in todays market why buy expensive chips when a few steps down the chip can reach that expensive chip via over clocking. Water cooling is deffinatly recommended, although i dont have one myself i have made pc's that contain them and their temperatures stay well below maximum

http://www.water-cooling.com/ good site

For air cooling you want to go all out. Zalman's CNPS9500 LED CPU cooler makes an amazing addition to the fans and heatsinks you already have, it cuts temperatures by 10-20 degrees, which is great for air cooler. it can be bought from:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...alman_121.html

Sound Cards

DO NOT GET AUDIGY... well ok get audigy if you dont really want quality :P but i think you will which is why i have chosen 2 of the best external audio card/interfaces money can buy, pricey but OOOO so worth it :P
Edirol's FA-01 http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/s...roduct_id/3604

and

Focus rites Sapphire
http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/?page=...acturer_id=212
(i use both of these and i cant really tell any difference but its upto you to decide )

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Windows Xp professional
DFI Lanparty nF4 SLI-DR
Seagate 80gb SATA
AMD Opteron 146 San Deigo - CAB2E
Corsair 1024MB
Edirol 24bit Pro Audio external Soundcard/ Audio Interface
Nvidia XFX 6800Ultra 256mb

FWIW, although I have no personal experience with OCUK, there seem to be plenty of people that have had negative experiences with them.

See http://www.overcockers.com/

Like I said, I can't endorse any of the opinions either way, but a few people seem to have qualms with them. Obviously do your research before making your mind up.

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Redefining the concept of low budget filmmaking
Manchester Comedy Forum
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

thats weird i havent heard that stuff and ive used them a few times. other sites would be www.ebuyer.com and gladiatorcomputers.com, ebuyer i know for a fact is very reliable

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Windows Xp professional
DFI Lanparty nF4 SLI-DR
Seagate 80gb SATA
AMD Opteron 146 San Deigo - CAB2E
Corsair 1024MB
Edirol 24bit Pro Audio external Soundcard/ Audio Interface
Nvidia XFX 6800Ultra 256mb

i have a 600W PSU, and for wattage that high it's widely accepted that SeaSonic (my PSU, ah thank you very much guv'nor) are better than Antec, and after SeaSonic the best PSU you can get is PC Power and Cooling. PC Power and Cooling are hands down the best on the market. expensive, but are the best. Antec is like the AOL of brandnames - known everywhere, but for those that do their homework there are superior alternatives.

Seasonics are known for their low-noise/quietness, and that's key. who wants to here a plane engine in their PC?

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I think all this psu blather is hype. I have a 250 watt psu running a 3000xp, 6 hard drives, 2 big graphic cards and all my slots are full.

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I have one prejudice - I am anti HDV for consumer camcorders.

www.zaskarfilms.com You tube channel 'zaskarfilms'
JVC DV5001e (big cam), Sony PC6E (tiny cam), Vinten pro5, PAG light, SM58, Sony ECM50, Sony C-76, 0.5x convertors for sony, Rode video mic, Vegas 7.

:wtf:

That is ridiculous. :lol:

I bag on people who think they need a 600W PSU for a standard gaming setup, but wow... you're really pushing the limit of that PSU. :lol:

If it works... it works! Pretty much the worst that can happen is that it breaks from being overworked and you lose your unsaved work... *shrug*

If someone is going to get a new one though... definitely shy away from those $30 600-watt units. God only knows what's in those things. :lol: