Please check out this configuration..?

keltoid · #1 (**permalink**) 12-02-2003, 05:43 PM

and tell me what you think. I want a gaming machine and video editing machine for my son. I want it affordable, and I want adequate. Screaming top rate is not necessary, but speedy editing/writing so not frustrating is.

Please tell me if this is a good configuration, please? And/or is it overkill? Thanks so much in advance! (and what do all these things mean??)

AMD Athlon XP Barton 3000 +2.167 GHz 333 Mhz BUS 512k
AMd approved socket a fan
ASUS A7V600 KT600, DDR400, 8XAGP, Sound, LAN, SATA, USB2.0
GeForce FX 5600 256MB DDR 8x AGP dual head w/tv out
512 mb PC 3200 DDR400
120. GB Seabgate Barracuda 7200rpm Serial ATA UDMA 150 (single, but two are possible)
No hard drive fan selected
OptoRite 52x24x52 CDRW Drive
NEC 1300A 4x DVD Recorder +R/RW-R/RW
1.44 floppy
AC 97 32 bit full duplex sound card onboard
hsp 56K v.92 modem pci
10/100 Network card adapter onboard
FireWire Adapter Card 3 port PCI
PowMax Mid Tower ATX CAse 400W
no case fan selected
Natural keyboard
mouse
180 w multimedia stereo speakers
no monitor (I have an extra)
no os ( I have plenty)

This for $984.00 What do you think? It sounds good to me, but have I duplicated the video input components with the FireWire? Also, I should have a fan here or there, right?
I am wondering how fast that DVD RW will write.

Thanks so much, - please give me your opinions on this configuration! I think its a good price, but want to make sure!

Marc Peters · #2 (**permalink**) 12-02-2003, 10:38 PM

Haven't got much time, but at first glance:

You'll have no analogue video inputs. At that price range you might want to go for a Radeon All-in-Wonder 9600 (or whatever the current version is!) - you'll also get a TV tuner to boot.

No point scrimping on the RAM. Get two sticks of 512. Take care with choosing DDR400 with your Mobo - you don't want to find out it's not supported. Might be wise to stick with PC3200).

Harddrive fan not needed. I'd go for a retail CPU to get a heat sink and fan as standard, and the case most likely comes with its own fan(s).

NEC1300A can be picked up cheaply for OEM and works well (I have one). CDRW not strictly speaking needed.

Right, I'm off to bed!

mrlipring · #3 (**permalink**) 12-03-2003, 11:32 PM

ddr400 is pc3200.

Marc Peters · #4 (**permalink**) 12-04-2003, 08:12 AM

Der. Need more sleep.

TheCause · #5 (**permalink**) 12-04-2003, 11:36 PM

Get a second HD and set them up in a RAID (either software of hardware). Video not only consumes alot of space, but takes alot of bandwidth. I consider HD performance to be very important. Seagate is a great company with a great product line as you seem to already know. You should be fine with a xp3000+. I suggest you look arround the motherboard forums for people having problems with that particular ASUS. I have a friend who bought a NForce2 based ASUS that turned out to be a really bad product even though ASUS is a good company. As far as ram goes, if this computer is going to be built for the sole purpose of making video you might as well get 1 gig. It'll help out almost as much as having the memory bandwidth especially when processing complex video and audio effects. You'll probably want two case fans, but harddrive fans aren't needed. GL and I hope your son enjoys his new computer!

mrlipring · #6 (**permalink**) 12-04-2003, 11:58 PM

you're probably better boucing video from drive to drive, rather than across drives on an array.

ideally you'd have 2 arrays to bounce between.

i do hope you're not talking about the a7n8x there, btw, it's a fantastic board.

keltoid · #7 (**permalink**) 12-05-2003, 05:16 PM

But I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about, 'bouncing across drives/arrays' - ? Two hard drives? Yeah, I guess I do know that, if thats what you mean - I'm just desperately trying to keep this under $1000.00 - as low as possible, and if it means upgrading a year later to more "stuff" than that's fine, but I just want him to be able to get started. Seriously, he's not going to do more than make short movies of his football highlights and snowboarding highlights put to music at this point, but he has an interest, and I want him to be able to develop it if he desires. BUT, if he loses interest, then we don't upgrade, you know?

Basically, I want him to be able to make short movies of his sports, we need the analog input as lots of his sports are on VHS and I still have an analog camcorder at this time - and then upgrade later if need be. Would 512 RAM be adequate or should I def go for the 1 GIG right away?

Thanks! Do I need the Firewire card? I figured that would be available for a storage upgrade in the future, (external hard drive type thingy?) but I may be wrong, don't hesitate to set me straight, please!
And if you don't get a DVD Rw, what does he write the movies to? Back to analog/VHS?

Thanks!!

Marc Peters · #8 (**permalink**) 12-05-2003, 05:29 PM

You should get a Firewire card and cable if you've got a DV camcorder.

mrlipring · #9 (**permalink**) 12-05-2003, 11:29 PM

if you don't have a dvd writer, you'll need to burn to vcd, svcd or xvid. PLEASE don't record back to any analogue media. it's a nightmare.

the bouncing business was more for TheCause, you don't want to be spending that kind of money at the mo

512 would do you for now, yeah. it'll be a bit slower, but quite a bit cheaper.

firewire would be to get video in off a dvcam. i really would go for internal hard drives unless you plan to be taking it about with you.

keltoid · #10 (**permalink**) 12-06-2003, 01:10 PM

Yes, thanks mrlipring, all the info is very useful to me. I am getting a good idea what I want/need/can afford, now if I can put it all together. It's important to me that it is expandable , just in case.

I'm not at all sure what "vcd, svcd or xvid" is, but I can look it up online when I get a min, or if you want to reply, I'll check it out!

THANKS AGAIN