Do I need to upgrade?

[agentx]

hello folks!

I need some advice please.

I have an Asus A7N266-VM mobo
I have 256 mb DDR Ram
I have a poxy HDD
I have an Athlon 1800 XP processor

If I get a Maxtor 120 gig HDD with an 8mb cache, 1 gig of ram and the biggest processor I can use on the board (not sure what this is, maybe 2200-2400 ghz) will it meed the demands of video editing on Premiere Pro, or would it be better to build a new system?

Thanks.

[saphalline]

Well your processor and RAM would certainly be powerful enough, but what about your video system? What video card do you have? Also, what OS are you running?

Just curious, but what is a "poxy" hard drive?? :confused:

[agentx]

Thanks for the reply,

I am using windows XP and have a 128 DDR Asus GForce 4 video card.
I have used the earlier Premiere versions, but the latest version recommends a gig of ram and a 3000 ghz processor so I'm unsure what to do.

By the way "poxy" is not a tech. term, it is just a good old British slang word meaning not very good.

Thanks again mate!!

[saphalline]

the latest version recommends a gig of ram and a 3000 ghz processor!!:eek: Whoa! Good luck running that! :D :p

Yeah, a gig of RAM is very affordable these days so it really can't hurt. And most of the time extra RAM is the cheapest upgrade you can make to a computer. As for the raw CPU power, that AthlonXP 1800+ of yours is no slouch, but an upgrade to a 2400+ would only be about $80 so...

I have a GF4, too, but mine is a Ti series (the good version :p). The cheap GF4 is the MX. Which do you have? Not that it really matters all that much (photo/video editing apps don't even touch a video card's real potential).

[agentx]

My video card is the Ti version I think.

A friend of mine has just had the Asus A7N8X Delux with an Athlon 2.8 ghz processor, but apparently it only runs at about 2.1 ghz, which to me seems a bit pointless. He also has the dual DDR memory etc...

So final word, would you bang the ram in and upgrade the processor, or would you go for the new board and hardware?

[sleddog]

I'd upgrade the RAM to whatever you can afford (1gb would be nice) and install a new, high-end second harddrive. Use the second hard drive for all your video-editing files and leave Windows and applications on the original harddrive. Having a fast, dedicated drive for video-editing files can really improve performance.

Really serious video-editing people usually swear by SCSI harddrives, though new EIDE harddrives perform pretty darn good. My current favourite is the latest Seagate Barracuda (http://www.seagate.com/cda/products/discsales/marketing/detail/0,1081,580,00.html), 7200rpm, 8mb cache (second plug for it in a few minutes!)

Then try it out! If editing performance still isn't good enough for you, then consider upgrading the processor and motherboard.

[Whyzman]

Whoa sled...that's a mighty fine looking Seagate...and a 3 year warranty to boot...pretty sweet! :cool:

How many pesos??

[sleddog]

I purchased a 120gb here (http://www.pccanada.com/inventory.asp?cat=harddrives) for Canadian $140, that's about US $104. You can probably find a big US distributor selling for less.

[Whyzman]

I've been contemplating one of those for my All-in-Wonder "Tivo" recorders...

I need to take a closer look at the set up though, because I think it limits me as to how much harddrive space I can record to...

If I picked up a second harddrive and could allocate it just for recording that would be sweet...

[sleddog]

Originally posted by Whyzman
I've been contemplating one of those for my All-in-Wonder "Tivo" recorders...

I need to take a closer look at the set up though, because I think it limits me as to how much harddrive space I can record to...

If I picked up a second harddrive and could allocate it just for recording that would be sweet...

I hope you get one today as a present... Happy Birthday Whyzman!!!

[Whyzman]

Thanks sled! :D

[saphalline]

A friend of mine has just had the Asus A7N8X Delux with an Athlon 2.8 ghz processor, but apparently it only runs at about 2.1 ghz, which to me seems a bit pointless.I'm sorry, but I gotta comment about this. ;)

Many people seem to think that CPU clock speed alone determines performance. This couldn't be further from the truth! Yes, the AthlonXP "Barton" 2800+ is really only 2.1GHz in speed. This is a fact. However, if you pit this 2.1GHz processor against a P4 at 2.1GHz, the AthlonXP will wipe the floor with the P4!!

In terms of clock speed, the P4 sucks! It just can't perform as many calculations per clock as the AthlonXP, which is why AMD has those darn "model numbers" (like 2800+) instead of advertising their actual speed.

I have to admit it can be a little confusing and misleading, but does anyone have a better idea for AMD? What do you when your 2GHz CPU performs better than your competitor's 2.6GHz CPU?

[Budfred]

The Seagate hard drive that sleddog recommends is on sale this week at BestBuy for $80 after rebate....

[Grumper]

Now you have me started-----I just finished building an ASUS A7N8X Deluxe machine ATI 9800 AIW --- 80 MB Maxtor --- 512 Crucial Ram
This MOBO has SATA 1 & 2 available

Question is the most I push a computer is on gaming, mostly multi/player with a cable connection,

The Maxtor seems OK but would I be better served with a new "Seagate Barracuda [ as a non OS drive] orrrrrrrr should I get a SATA 10K HDD to install my games on.

I dont act as a server, I connect to servers is there any up side to the thought or just stay with the Maxtor.

Thanks

[cyber_surfer]

The seagate 120GB drive is $96 at New Egg OEM Free shipping
I just put one from them in a new build this week - works great

If you are one of those that doesn't like rebates ($70 in this case from Bestbuy) this is an alternative at only $16 more than Bestbuy after the rebate.

I'm a fan of rebates and do quite a few. Most work great the first time but a few do cause frustration that some folks can't deal with regardless of the savings.

It is nice to have choices.

[saphalline]

The Maxtor seems OK but would I be better served with a new "Seagate Barracuda [ as a non OS drive] orrrrrrrr should I get a SATA 10K HDD to install my games on.That depends on how much space you need for your games. :D I partitioned my 80GB WD into 20GB for the OS & games, the rest for storage. Problem is, I need more space now! Doh! :rolleyes:

Of course the 10K rpm SATA from WD is 36GB which would probably be fine for me, and I've definitely been thinking about it lately. I too use my PC mostly for games and I've heard the Raptor excels at that (because a sequential game level load is very close to the server duties the Raptor was designed for).

In the long run, and since we have SATA ;), I think the 10K rpm Raptor would be a good idea. Much faster than any 7200rpm drive, even if has less space.