Which of these two systems for Video and Photo editing??

NickySix

Baseband Member
Messages
23
hello everyone. this is my first post here and i was hoping that i could get some info/opinions on what the best setup between the next two comps for editing video and photos. also, any ideas on stuff i should change would also be much appreciated. thank you guys for the time, and here are the systems i have planned out:

::Custom Built PC::
>> DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR ATX AMD Motherboard
>> Western Digital Caviar 400GB 7200 RPM ATA150 Hard Drive
>> OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Platinum System Memory
>> SAMSUNG 913V-Black 19" 12ms LCD Monitor
>> AMD Athlon 64 4000+ ClawHammer 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor

Of course there is alot more to the system (ALOT more hahah) but this is all that i think would really affect the editing power of the system. The whole system ends up being about 2075 dollars. i bit more than i originally wnated to pay, but if it is that much better, i could save up a bit more. heres the next one:

::iMac G5::
>> 2.1Ghz G5 processor
>> 1.5GB 533 DDR2 SDRAM
>> 250GB Serial ATA drive
>> 20" monitor

This one came out to be 1900 before shipping. I've heard alot of great things about the editing capabilities of the iMac, but over all it just looks worse than the above system, but that might just be because of my ignorance to the differences.

So, once again, any info/ opinions are very much welcome, and thanks for taking time to look. = ]
 
Since I don't really like Mac, I'd go for the Custom system, but not just because I don't like them, but also because it has alot of extra performance over the G5.

If you are that bothered about performance while editing though, go with a Pentium 4 EE computer instead of an AMD which has hyper Threading which some editing applications will take use of. Though this will be a tad bit more expensive, unless yu get a lower GHZ rating.

I think that Custom System will be more than fine though, and I don't think you'll suffer.

Plus, you do know you'll be using Windows on one machine, and a MAC operating system on the other right? Unable to switch? This will mean you'll be limiting youself to only a few programs too.

POWER MAC G5:

I have to agree though that the Dual CPU of 2.5GHZ on the PowerMac G5 would be welcome, but again, you'l be limiting yourself to only a few programs.

Final Cut Pro is probbaly the best one on the MAC though, and were learning it at the moment in University, actually on that computer. I wasn't really blown away by the difference.

A Windows machine has the same type of editing packages, and as long as you have alot of RAM (your 2GB will be fine) and a high performance Processor (That 4000+ will be more than fine), you'll have no issues, trust me. Plus that 400GB HD won't go amiss for rendering out the files :p

I hope this helps.
 
thanks for the help you guys. i also asked on another computer forum and even had someone help me build a system that would fit in my budget. i ended up with the following system::

NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3540A - Retail
Model #: ND-3540A BK RT
Item #: N82E16827152052
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$42.98 $42.98
ATX Computer Cases
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Thermaltake SOPRANO VB1000BWS Black Steel/Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Model #: VB1000BWS
Item #: N82E16811133145
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$79.00 $79.00
Internal Hard Drives
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: WD740GD
Item #: N82E16822144160
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$164.00 $328.00

Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3250823AS 250GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: ST3250823AS
Item #: N82E16822148065
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$101.50 $101.50
AMD-compatible Motherboards
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

MSI K8N Neo4-F Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: K8N Neo4-F
Item #: N82E16813130491
** This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only. what's this?
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$85.00 $85.00
Video Cards
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

eVGA 256-P2-N518 Geforce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Model #: 256-P2-N518
Item #: N82E16814130238
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$399.00 $399.00
Power Supplies
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Antec NeoPower NeoHE 550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: NEOHE 550
Item #: N82E16817103941
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$118.00 $118.00
Speakers
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Logitech X-530 70 Watts 5.1 Speaker - Retail
Model #: 970114-0403
Item #: N82E16836121118
** This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only. what's this?
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$53.99 $53.99
Add-On Cards
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Koutech PCI to 1394a Card Model IO-PFW310 - Retail
Model #: IO-PFW310
Item #: N82E16815104218
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$15.00 $15.00
CPU Thermal Paste / Grease
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
Model #: ARCTIC SILVER 5
Item #: N82E16835100007
** This item may only be returned for a replacement of the same make/model within 30 days only. what's this?
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$5.89 $5.89
Memory - System
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model VS2GBKIT400C3 - Retail
Model #: VS2GBKIT400C3
Item #: N82E16820145579
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$209.97 $209.97
Processors
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Toledo 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA4400CDBOX - Retail
Model #: ADA4400CDBOX
Item #: N82E16819103546
** This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only. what's this?
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$502.00 $502.00
Operating Systems
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Microsoft Windows XP Home Upgrade with SP2 - Retail
Model #: N09-00985
Item #: N82E16837116194
** Software delivered damaged and/or defective may be returned for an identical replacement. what's this?
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$99.99 $99.99

Subtotal: $2,040.32


personally, for the money, i think this system completly blows away any Mac computer in its price range, but i dont really know much about this aspect of computers lol, just the numbers look better! lol. = ]. so, what do you guys think of this system? anything i should change? thanks you guys once again for the help = ].
 
looks very good.
Though I don't like value ram, but 2gb of any ram will be good.
also if u want to spend $60 more u could get a 7800GTX instead of the 7800GT. But even a GT will do fine for a long time.
And I like winXp pro much more, but I think that it is also more expensive, so take the one that u think will be the best choise for u.
 
I like that listed system very much :) Very poweful, and yes, it definietly blows away the MAC :D

If your not going to be playing games though, you won't need that 7800GT (Its one of the newest set of cards to come out), though if you are, it'll last you a very long time.
The reason for this is, video editing uses mostly the CPU, and you don't need a very good graphics card to power it. Same goes for photo editing.

Because if you didn't play games, you could get better RAM and have programs running more efficently, for instance, which would help alot for video editing/photo editing.

May I ask if they are just values to you. On the other forum, did you get explanations of each part and why you should buy it?
 
Kage said:
I like that listed system very much :) Very poweful, and yes, it definietly blows away the MAC :D

If your not going to be playing games though, you won't need that 7800GT (Its one of the newest set of cards to come out), though if you are, it'll last you a very long time.
The reason for this is, video editing uses mostly the CPU, and you don't need a very good graphics card to power it. Same goes for photo editing.

Because if you didn't play games, you could get better RAM and have programs running more efficently, for instance, which would help alot for video editing/photo editing.

May I ask if they are just values to you. On the other forum, did you get explanations of each part and why you should buy it?

thats what i thought too!! the guy said i was wrong though! thats the best news i've heard (price wise) since i've started this hahah. no, i dont play games at all. actually, i play gunz online, and maplestory very very rarely, but whatever ancient video card i have in my computer currently seems to run it just fine = ].

and unfortunatly, i didnt get very much info on why i should get the parts they recommended, but i do know that it was a very video game oriented forum. some people did recommend getting the dual core for video editing over a single core so i went with that, and i know nothing about motherboards, so i went with the one they recommended, same with the harddrives.

so, what video card do you recommend i down grade too? the cheaper the better = ]. and what RAM should i buy? more quality or quantity? should i get a bigger hard drive than that 250GB for space? and lastly, will those speakers work with the motherboard, or do i need to get a sound card?

thank you guys soooooooooooo much. you've been so helpful and have saved me quite a bit of money = ].
 
NickySix said:
and unfortunatly, i didnt get very much info on why i should get the parts they recommended, but i do know that it was a very video game oriented forum. some people did recommend getting the dual core for video editing over a single core so i went with that, and i know nothing about motherboards, so i went with the one they recommended, same with the harddrives.

so, what video card do you recommend i down grade too? the cheaper the better = ]. and what RAM should i buy? more quality or quantity? should i get a bigger hard drive than that 250GB for space? and lastly, will those speakers work with the motherboard, or do i need to get a sound card?

thank you guys soooooooooooo much. you've been so helpful and have saved me quite a bit of money = ].


well I don't know how much the vid card affects video/photo editing, but I'd gues that u will be fine with a 6600GT. But like I said I'm not too sure how good vid card u should have.

Those harddrives are quite nice, that raptor is really fast (so install ur OS and software on it) but if u need more space then get either a bigger 2nd hdd or then get 2x 250gb (+ the raptor). And are u getting 2x raptor since in the list it says " $164.00 $328.00" for price and in everything else the 2 prices are the same? I'd only get 1 raptor since it will probably be enough space for the OS and the most important software. U can store all of the video stuff to the larger and slower hdds.

And for ram it depends on how much u can spend.
This looks like it is quite good and doesn't cost too much.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227056
then ofcourse if u are willing to spend lot's of money get some really nice ram, but I don't think that it's smart thing to do, some ram will cost u over $400 for 2GB.
 
mammikoura said:
well I don't know how much the vid card affects video/photo editing, but I'd gues that u will be fine with a 6600GT. But like I said I'm not too sure how good vid card u should have.

Those harddrives are quite nice, that raptor is really fast (so install ur OS and software on it) but if u need more space then get either a bigger 2nd hdd or then get 2x 250gb (+ the raptor). And are u getting 2x raptor since in the list it says " $164.00 $328.00" for price and in everything else the 2 prices are the same? I'd only get 1 raptor since it will probably be enough space for the OS and the most important software. U can store all of the video stuff to the larger and slower hdds.

And for ram it depends on how much u can spend.
This looks like it is quite good and doesn't cost too much.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227056
then ofcourse if u are willing to spend lot's of money get some really nice ram, but I don't think that it's smart thing to do, some ram will cost u over $400 for 2GB.

alright, i'll drop one of the raptors and upgrade the 250 to either a 320 or a 400, and i'll upgrade the RAM to OCZ's. let me go see how much money extra or less that'll cost. i'll also try that vid card you recommended.
 
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