Your best PC for best bang

WildViper

Senior member
Feb 19, 2002
288
0
76
Hi,

I am going to build a computer and would like to know what you would buy that would provide: Good performance for the buck.

The use of the computer is going to be copying video from VHS tapes / DV tapes, pictures and music.

THe copied video will simply be used to burn onto DVDs. Editing is a maybe, but nothing hard core.

Budget is sub $1,200.

Here is what i have found from other posts.

Mobo:

Intel D975XBX2 I975X Express CrossFire Chipset LGA775 FSB1066 DDR2/800 Mainboard w/GbLAN,USB2.0,IEEE1394,&7.1Audio

or

Asus P5W DH Deluxe

VideoCard:

ATI 19xx / or X1650 XT

CPU:

E6600 / Intel's LGA775 Pentium 4

RAM:

At least 2gigs, possibly 4gigs.

PSU:
At least 500w..not sure which brand.

HD:

Satas...how many can I have internally? Can I add 4 drives internally?

Can someone please guide me to getting this right?

Thanx






 

Smartazz

Diamond Member
Dec 29, 2005
6,128
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76
You can have 4 internal SATA hard drives as long as your motherboard supports it.
 

stogez

Platinum Member
Oct 11, 2006
2,684
0
0
Why are you looking at Crossfire motherboards for a video editing/converting rig? Get any of the 965P based motherboards and 4GB RAM. Seasonic, PCP&P, Enermax PSUs are great quality.
Most 965P based motherboards will give you at least 6 SATA ports with some that have 8-9 including eSATA port.
I would look for a motherboard with Firewire ports though since thats much better for DV but you can always add a card so its not a huge deal.
Also, for a build that will be used to burn DVDs, you don't have a DVDRW listed ;)
 

WildViper

Senior member
Feb 19, 2002
288
0
76
well I was looking at Crossfire board just cause it was written about as being a good board. I am not even sure what crossfire is.

I just want a stable board that can take the current CPUs and possibly the quad cores.

Also, the reason I ddin't put a DVD writer is cause that is pretty much an easy one to get. Most of the them are pretty good now.

So what is the best CPU/Mobo/Video card combo these days then ?
 

MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
31,528
3
76
Stogez gave very good advice in his reply.

If you don't plan on overclocking or gaming too much, you don't need an "enthusiast" motherboard. Crossfire or SLI is a feature that lets you use two videocards together to improve gaming performance...which has nothing to do with what you want to do. ;)

Any of the new Socket 775/LGA775 boards will take a quad-core Intel CPU.

I'll make a suggestion for you. I have the Gigabyte DS3 motherboard. It's rock stable, very dependable and has 6 onboard SATA ports. It doesn't have SLI/Crossfire, wireless networking, bluetooth or any of the other "enthusiast" type features that drive up the price and you don't need anyway. It does not have Firewire on board, but you can get a FW card for $15.

Get that motherboard, 2 or 4 GB of RAM and however many SATA drives/size your budget will allow.

A good powersupply is a MUST; do not skimp on the PS. Any of the brands already recommended will do you just fine.

Any brand name DVD burner will be fine; they've pretty much gotten all the bugs worked out of burners these days. Samsung & NEC, etc...just stick with a brand name.

What I'm NOT sure about is which video/capture card you need. You want to convert VHS (analog signal) to digital....you need something with a "video in." Not sure on that; hopefully someone else will recommend you something. :)
 

mect

Platinum Member
Jan 5, 2004
2,424
1,636
136
As mentioned previously, you probably need a video capture card, unless you have an analogue to digital feed on your camcorder. I'd recommend just starting out with 2 gigs (single stick) and see how your performance goes and how much editing you want to do. If you find things too slow/are doing lots of editing, then buy the second stick. Of course, if you decide now that you're going to be doing a substantial amount of video editing, just spring for the 4 gigs right now. There's my 2 cents
 

ShellGuy

Golden Member
Mar 1, 2004
1,343
0
0
I built the rig in my sig, for about 800 you could add a higher processor & another hdd other than that it looks good..


Will G.
 

Zolty

Diamond Member
Feb 7, 2005
3,603
0
0
Just to put things into perspective, my gf does editing ona 2.8ghz celeron w/ 1gb of ram and onboard video, using permier pro. Some of her stuff is located at her businesses site.

We purchased the computer for 189.99 at best buy's day after thanksgiving day sale.
 

gsellis

Diamond Member
Dec 4, 2003
6,061
0
0
Since you are going lightweight on the video editing, look into Pinnacle Studio Moviebox or Movieboard. That gives you a BOB (Break Out Box) to feed in VHS. You use the firewire on the Mobo to do DV (Movieboard Plus has a firewire too).

Instead of getting 4GB of RAM, reallocate that extra money to get a seperate audio card. I have found the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Gamer package to be almost flawless. You want seperate audio from using the onboard as many of the out of synch issues during capture were because of onboard audio chipsets.

3 drives... 1 OS, 1 Source (Capture), 1 Render/Scratch. If you can swing it. You can do it on one, but it will fill up quick.

edit - if you do the Pinnacle route, ATI for the win. ATI is the best suited card for Pinnacle Studio 10.x. 256MB if you plan on doing HDV.
 

WildViper

Senior member
Feb 19, 2002
288
0
76
Ok, thanx for all the inputs.

After looking at everything here, I have come up with this list.

Please let me know what you think of this.

I do need to have the ability to go to QuadCore and have the Firewire built in as well as Raid capability.

NewEgg WIsh List

Thanx
 

mshan

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2004
7,868
0
71
How about an Apple iMac with aftermarket analog to MPEG2 converter?

(Mac OS 10.5 Leopard is going to be released in a couple months, along with iLife 07). You could probably score a nicely discounted price on a nice 20 inch Core2Duo iMac at that time.

:)
 

WildViper

Senior member
Feb 19, 2002
288
0
76
the problem with Macs is that, my friend has all PCs and needs to run specific corporate software on this. The sofware doesn't have a Mac counterpart since it is custom.

I am still looking for HardDrives to add, but some people are saying that SATA HDs are a pain. Is that true?

Thanx
 

mshan

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2004
7,868
0
71
You can use Windows on the Intel iMac, either with Boot Camp, or by buying the virtualization software Parallels.

Might want to wait for OS 10.5 Leopard to be released in a couple months because Boot Camp will be out of beta then.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/ (dual booting with XP Pro might work well for your friend)
http://www.parallels.com/ (I think there is a Parallels Convergence product in the works that is supposed to be really nice).
 

Eomer of Aldburg

Senior member
Jan 15, 2006
352
0
0
Originally posted by: WildViper
Ok, thanx for all the inputs.

After looking at everything here, I have come up with this list.

Please let me know what you think of this.

I do need to have the ability to go to QuadCore and have the Firewire built in as well as Raid capability.

NewEgg WIsh List

Thanx


Are you planning on Overclocking because that mb is a little pricey if your not. You could cut down 50-100 and get a HDD, my 2 cents.
 

stogez

Platinum Member
Oct 11, 2006
2,684
0
0
That case is up to you and get a different PSU. And what ^^ said, get a different mobo. Couple good ones have already been suggested. But if you got money to burn, go ahead.
You still need an OS and HSF (if overclocking or quieter one)
Not sure what problems you're talking about with SATA HDDs. Any new mobo only has 1 IDE port so you HAVE to get SATA drives.
What kind of RAID do you plan on running?
 

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,699
29
91
people may say sata is a pain if they are in their machine a lot as the connectors are rather loose compared to an ide cable, other than that i can't really see anything else. i am not trying to be a d!ck, but i would educate myself more if i were you - you will save yourself a lot of $$ by educating yourself and buying because of knowledge and not of what you have heard.

but here you go for a decent rig for your needs -
m/b - gigabyte 965p-s3 or 965p-ds3 (if the prices are close get the ds3)
cpu - i would go a 6400, or even a 4300 and save some $$$
gpu - 7600gt unless you game
memory - ddr2800 - something that is a good brand and decent price, 2GB, like the stuff Cheex recommended
hdd - as many as you need - why do you need/want raid - don't do raid0
psu - enhance, enermax, pc&p, seasonic, fsp 400-500W for future expansion
case - whatever your eyes desire ;)

depending on what program you are usig to edit they are usually not too ram hungry, so 2GB should be fine for some time
 

BladeVenom

Lifer
Jun 2, 2005
13,365
16
0
Originally posted by: mshan
You can use Windows on the Intel iMac, either with Boot Camp, or by buying the virtualization software Parallels.

Might want to wait for OS 10.5 Leopard to be released in a couple months because Boot Camp will be out of beta then.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/ (dual booting with XP Pro might work well for your friend)
http://www.parallels.com/ (I think there is a Parallels Convergence product in the works that is supposed to be really nice).

Give it up. The guy has enough common sense not to get an Imac. It's a stupid half useless computer that sacrifices function for form. How many hard drives can you fit into your Imac? How many expansion cards?
 

WildViper

Senior member
Feb 19, 2002
288
0
76
yeah, sorry...the guy doesn't want a Mac.

Anyways, I will look at the above recs. THanx for that.

Not planning to overclock. Just need a mobo that can take the future Quad Core. This maybe a possibility in the future for this guy.

I will downgrade the CPU as mentioned.

Not sure what RAID I will run...I still have to learn what the different options are and all. Basically he wants to make sure that all his data is mirrored and backed up at least twice.
 

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,699
29
91
Originally posted by: WildViper
yeah, sorry...the guy doesn't want a Mac.

Anyways, I will look at the above recs. THanx for that.

Not planning to overclock. Just need a mobo that can take the future Quad Core. This maybe a possibility in the future for this guy.

I will downgrade the CPU as mentioned.

Not sure what RAID I will run...I still have to learn what the different options are and all. Basically he wants to make sure that all his data is mirrored and backed up at least twice.

you do know that quad are available now - the qx6700 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115011 just still a bit pricey
 

WildViper

Senior member
Feb 19, 2002
288
0
76
yeah I know...but he is hoping the prices go down later on as time goes. THis gives him at least 1 year before he upgrades to that processor...maybe more.