G5 or PC

[dtb1980]

I am a new videomaker - looking at spending around £3000 on a machine capable of editing at professional quality.

Lots of reviews state the G5 is best but i was hoping some people could give me an idea of the spec i should be aiming for (PC or MAC).

I would be ideally using Premier Pro or Final Cut Pro, the only dilemma is i need a 3d card in their for visual effects.

Let the spec writing commence!

Cheers

[Marc Peters]

I have absolutely no experience of Macs, so really shouldn't comment here. However, if you're thinking of spending £3k on a PC, be careful - it seems system builders use the term "video editing pc" as a licence to print money.

You can build a FANTASTIC machine for that money, but the profit margins seem to get higher the higher the system cost. In fact, the higher the specs, the more financially sensible the self build option becomes.

But I understand this isn't always an option for Joe Anybody! So, take my advice, if you're getting a system builder to build a PC, make sure you know EXACTLY what components they are using and you get a bloody good on-site warranty. Check the prices of the components to see what kind of mark-up their making - and ask on the forums whether the components are up to scrath.

Going the PC route also gives far more support from forums such as this!

[dtb1980]

It is a possibility for me to build myself but what on earth should the components be, ive looked at many options. Pentium 4, Dual Xeon and 64bit processing AMD. But nothing seems to just say "we are best for video editing and effects".

I need help with a spec - someone help me decide what to go for in terms of pc spec.

Cheers

[Poweroid]

Can I post a URL here? If it's not OK please remove it Marc. This page I wrote addresses some of the mac vs pc issues:
http://www.poweroid-video-editing.co.../Mac_vs_PC.asp

[Marc Peters]

I've been looking at upgrading my video editing rig recently and have quickly realised things have come a long way since I built my system just about a year ago.

Anyways, current benchmarks aimed at video editing/encoding point towards the high end P4s as the way to go. (The new Athlon 64s seem to have the edge in terms of games). So if you're building a system now, build one around a Pentium 4 http://www.intel.com/products/deskto...w_prod_031103&

Don't believe me? Check out the benchmarks: http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/2004...escott-14.html

I couldn't find a 3.4 EE, So it seems the P4 3.4GHZ is the CPU you want at around £300 (I don't think the extra £300 for a few seconds is really worth it).

For the motheboard, I'd go for an ASUS P4C800-E DELUXE (at around £130) combined with 2x512MB 184Pin DIMM PC3200 DDR RAM Non-Parity CL2 Corsair RAM at around £200). You've only spent £630 and you've got a pretty hot base for a PC.

Next you hard drives. I'd go for a Western Digital Raptor 10000RPM 36.7GB as a boot drive and combine this with a large Hitachi DeskStar 7K250. These should set you back around £280 and give you around 1GB per pound .

Now we need optical drives. I'd go for a DVD/CDRW drive and a Multi-format DVD writer. The DVD/CD combo should give better CD writing speed for VCDs/Xvid discs, but also the option of copying Master DVDs on the fly. Haven't really looked into this much recently to be honest.

And then the rest is just filler - cooling, case, PSU etc. I'm sure there's people better equiped to give you some advice

[dtb1980]

Thanks for the replies - i have one last question, what Video Editing card should i use?

I was looking at a Radeon 9800xt 256mb card or a fx9850 Ultra 256mb. But i dont even know whether these cards are any good for the edit!

Cheers

[Marc Peters]

They're not video editing cards per se, but graphics cards. Check out the offerings from Canopus, Avid and Pinnacle for semi-pro editing cards.

[dtb1980]

Thanks for your help - ive decided to get all the spec you've mentioned along with the fx ultra graphics card and a canopus DVStorm 2 editing card.

It should work out to about £2500, but as i was gonna spend £1k more on the mac its a snip.

Cheers

[RyanD]

I have used both for video editing and I would by far go with a mac they are more expensive but they are so much better and are really user friendly.

[Alan Mills]

With a rig like that I'm assuming you're taking this at least half seriously so don't forget to save some of that juicy wonga (££££) for the software!