Need help choosing card for new system.

[Meshugana]

I am planning on building a new computer as I am still using my old Celeron 300A and BH6. One thing I would like to be able to do is edit video from my mini-DV camcorder and burn to video CD. Is it better to go with the Radeon 8500DV or with GeForce3 and separate capture card? I admit I am a total newbie to digital editing so any suggestions are appreciated. My current plan for the rest of the system follows:

ABIT KR7A-RAID (may consider similar ASUS or MSI for USB 2.0)
Athlon XP 1700+ or 1800+
512MB Corsair CAS 222
2 X Maxtor 40GB 7200 RPM ATA133 (in RAID 0)
Plextor CDRW (16 or 24X)
Soundblaster Live Value (from old PC)
Either Lian-Li PC-60USB or my old PCNut Case (mid tower ATX)
Either Sparkle/Enermax 350W or greater power supply.

Thanks in advance for you suggestions.

 

[Zim Hosein]

Meshugana, since you want video editing features, I'd go w/ the AIW R 8500DV. Sometimes, when you mix and match h/w you runto s/w and/or h/w problems. Then when you contact tech support, they blame each other Not fun I must say. Detail spec's here: ALL-IN-WONDER RADEON 8500DV , hope my opinion helps.

 

[munki]

you could look for something with firewire. that would probably cut some corners. whether it be a gf3 or ati8500 with firewire, or a seperate video input card.

firewire = nice

 

[Meshugana]

Zim,

Thank you for the reply. I have a follow-up question however. According to ATI, the 8500DV captures at 30fps while some of the separate cards capture at 60fps. Would the higher fps yield higher quality? I hope to oneday burn home videos (kids, family, etc) to DVD when prices for DVD burners come down. I would give these to grandparents etc and use for superior long term storage and high quality would be important. Also, any comments on the system I am considering? Thanks again for the advice.

 

[Meshugana]

Munki,
You are right. Firewire seems to be a "must have." This is what drew me to the 8500DV in the first place. Do any of the Geforce cards come with firewire? I have not seen any, but would certainly be interested. The 8500DV has a TV tuner which I will probably not use, so whether the Geforce has this doesn't matter to me. Thanks for the pointer.