200 to upgrade a Media Center PC, need advice

[MrBob]

My brother just gave me 200 dollars, to help upgrade his computer.

He has a Sony Media Center PC that is P4 3.2 , 2 x 256 3200 ram, a 200 GB non sata HD, and 2 dvd burners. Plus a a pretty cool capture card and a FX 5200, and Audiagy Sound Card.

Anyway he wants to make the computer faster for Video editing not gaming.

He has an extra 2 slots for ram and I'm thinking of getting 2 x 512mb ram, Maybe these http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-220-037&depa=1

Or should I get him a Raptor HD?

Now he has a small cramped case and a generic 300 watt PSU. Should I take some of the money and get him a better PSU, or invest in some cooling options?

 

[EricB]

tell him to put in 200 more dollar and get a Mpeg 2 Hardware encoder card like a canopus or hollywood

the prices has came down on these card as they used to cost a grand or 2. you can get them for 400-500 dollars now

this is what the professional's (movie producers) has used for years and they are faster than any processor/ ram combo

 

[Apokalipse]

I would upgrade the video card to a Radeon 9800 Pro

 

[TheMajor]

Get the 1gig kit. You need a lot of RAM for video editing. Or google for more info on the hardware encoders EricB mentioned.

 

[Alex81388]

I agree, upgrade RAM

 

[grego]

I use Pinnacle Studio 9 to edit video at my work. I use a Sony Vaio 2.8ghz and when I went from 512 ram to 1024 I didn't really notice much of a difference in editing. I suppose if you were using Adobe Premiere it might come in handy as I hear it's a real memory hog. I don't know how much it uses, but I've never seen Studio use more than 250mb.

 

[ohGrFreak]

video card firstly, then when he has more moolah, get the ram.

 

[MrBob]

so would a new video card help speed up the editing process?

 

[TheMajor]

No.
I would get RAM or maybe the hardware encoders EricB was talking about.

 

[ThirtySixBelow]

The video card will work. The hardware encoder might be the best but will cost more.