Jerky DV playbk on old PC/Prem Pro - what PC part upgrade?

**rjamesd** · 07-07-2005, 12:01 PM

I'm getting jerky AVI playback on a friends PC running Premiere Pro - what is the minimum single upgrade I can do to make it smooth?

The spec is below:
XP Professional, Premiere Pro 1.5
IBM Aptiva
500MHz Pentium III
440BX motherboard chipset (I think) - 100MHz RAM and cpu bus
256Mb RAM (2x128Mb modules)
10Gb western digital hard disc drive - 5400rpm?
- model number is WDC WD100EB-00BHF0

I plan to upgrade the hard drive to a 80Gb+ 7200rpm - would that be the only upgrade I need?

I'm not looking for a perfect power workstation - just enough so he can playback clips in the project sequence, do simple cuts and play them back that's all.

I know where I can get faster CPUs, more RAM for this older PC too.

**mrlipring** · 07-07-2005, 02:57 PM

one purchase?

New pc.

tbh, any single piece of that pc won't do much good.

the hard drive, at least, will allow you to store more video. as it stands, i can't see that pc (plus OS etc) being able to store any more than 30 minutes of video, and you'll need space for temporary and uotput files too...

a hard drive is also the only thing that'll be any use if the pc gets replaced.

really though, in simple terms that's a dog of a pc, and for £300 you could build MUCH faster box.

**Mike Thorpe** · 07-07-2005, 03:48 PM

Mrlipring is correct - sell that lot as a complete system and buy a new one - even the lowest level CPU created these days would be fine. Just make sure you have at least 512MB RAM, and as much HD space as you can afford. At least 160GB, and that will be lightyears better than your current PC.

**rjamesd** · 07-08-2005, 10:09 AM

Thanks - but my friend cannot afford a 300 pound PC.
His budget is no more than 70 pounds.

So what could I do with that budget to stop the jerky playback?

What is the single most beneficial upgrade I could make?
I think a faster harddrive (30pounds for a 80g Hitachi 7200rpm deskstar)
2ndly possibly a CPU upgrade to 800 or 1000Mhz - 440BX chipset will support that.
3rdly 512Mb RAM
I can get these parts second hand, or spares websites or ebay fairly cheaply.

But if just one of them does the trick I wont bother with the rest - all we need is just good enough.

Background to this problem is in thread
http://www.videoforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=4643

This explains our situation more.

**SuViC** · 08-08-2005, 05:53 AM

is that computer from the late 80's? cuz damn, anyways just save your money man, seriously once you save for what you need you will be better off,should have saved the money instead of buying PP1.5 but at any rate you should save you money man, to run PP1.5 you will need a faster computer inorder to run it correctly and actually enjoy it.

**Marc Peters** · 08-08-2005, 07:25 AM

Originally Posted by SuViC

should have saved the money instead of buying PP1.5

I've a sneaky feeling that a certain someone didn't buy Premiere.

**irishmark** · 08-21-2005, 01:05 PM

Sorry to say this but if he cant afford a new pc and his budget is£70 then he shouldn't be editing. - It's a bit like asking for a magic stick.

**Marc Peters** · 08-21-2005, 02:40 PM

Originally Posted by irishmark

Sorry to say this but if he cant afford a new pc and his budget is£70 then he shouldn't be editing. - It's a bit like asking for a magic stick.

Can I have a magic stick? But seriously, you can edit on a piece of shit PC (I did many moons ago), you just have to have the patience of a God.

**irishmark** · 08-21-2005, 02:58 PM

this is true -sorry, i am an editing snob

**rjamesd** · 08-21-2005, 09:06 PM

Originally Posted by Marc Peters

Originally Posted by SuViC

should have saved the money instead of buying PP1.5

I've a sneaky feeling that a certain someone didn't buy Premiere.

WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!

I DID BUY Premiere Pro - from Digital Village, Southampton in September 2004 as part of a bundle with a Canopus ADVC100 and I AM REGISTERED with Adobe. Total cost 370 pounds. ALL LEGAL and a BARGAIN!
Also included Adobe Audition (Cool Edit Pro)

I am running Premiere Pro on a Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop and it works perfect.

The key point is:

Basically what I am trying to do is get a near-pennyless friend set up as cost effectively as possible with a Premiere Pro set up. I wanted to build him a cheap PC so he can edit our film when I am not available to bring the laptop over.

See my other thread for the story: http://www.videoforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=4643

Adobe say I can run 2 licenses of the software I bought so this arrangement should be fine.