Motherboard upgrade for HD vid editing

[how900]

Hi guys, I looking for some advice, i have an Evesham micros media center, its not dual core, its about 5 years old and I wanted to start editing HD video, its only for one video so not an everyday use. My PC had 2gb of ram and 2x160gb of hard drive so i was wondering if it might be possible to do this type of upgrade and upgrade the Motherboard and processor to dual core instead of replacing the whole thing. I guess i might need a graphics board too.

One reason for this is living in Grenada if I bring big a new PC in they will hit me for 76% duty as they will likely see it. a motherboard is less likely to get spotted if you know what i mean.

If you need to know any specs of the PC let me know what you need and where i should look to find the info and I get it right away.

Thanks for any help

[minus-sign]

WinXP: Start-->Run
or
WinVista: Start-->Accessories-->Run
type dxdiag into the box that appears. this will start the DirectX diagnostic tool, which can give us some info on your system. We need the info in the system tab and the Display tab. We also need the editing tools you plan to use. Thats a start anyway.

[how900]

It wont boot up at all, just get the HD indicator light coming on (but it stays on, normally it would flash as it reads the drive) the processor fan and both cooling fans come on but the screen never comes off stand-by mode, Normally you know how the PC checks all the drives and the indicator lights on the floppy and CD drives etc flash as it checks them, well I get none of that, just the HD light staying on and no attempt to boot up.
I checked all connection to the Motherboard and drives, removed all the cards plugged into the MBoard and refitted. Then checked the processor fitted ok, still no joy. I'm thinking the motherboard or Processor are fu****......I mean ..no longer serviceable. Its running XP Media center

[how900]

Not too sure about the editing software, I had read some good ok things about Sony Vegas but am open to suggestions if you have any experience, I've done some stuff with mini DV and Windows movie maker and a little with Pinnacle in the past but HD is new to me, I'm aware it takes a bunch of speed and processor power to do these thngs, i don't need it to be fast just....... to get the job done.

[how900]

Think it is an intel P 4 about 2.8ghz

[how900]

Also do you know how they transfer HD vid from the camcorder to the pc, is it normally usb2, firewire or something else

[minus-sign]

Take this with a grain of salt or ignore until someone with more experience hops in.

Most of what I know about HD video revolves around my inability to see the difference between it and well rendered digital. I know lots of people swear by iMovies for video editing. Its one of the things macs are most famous for.

usb vs firewire depends on the camcorder; all (I've ever seen) have a port for USB or firewire.

Of course, this is all moot. Sounds like your PC is not worth the effort of a repair, from what you've said. If the mobo decided to kamikaze itself it could have easily taken you CPU with it...and a 2.8 wouldn't be a trial of patience for HD video editing; it'd be a nightmare.

HD video requires a pretty powerful PC, fast processor, Vcard and considerable RAM (and hard drive space if this becomes a "more than once" thing). That means at least a dual core, 4 gigs RAM (8 would be better) on a board that can dish out good speed without letting the magic smoke out. You're looking at a minimum $300 on hardware if you don't need a monitor, PSU and case (I'd bet you do; bump that minimum up to 500--estimate assumes homebuild; purchase of the system prebuilt will balloon) before we even talk software (iLife 09 is $80 by itself; Mac OS X $130). You could get a Linux distro and try to convert it over with something like m2tstoavi and save some money there but you're still in for a rebuild no matter how I see it. And this is the minimum I'd suggest.

[how900]

OK thanks for your advice, i'll start looking for a new dual core system, do you think some thing like a 2.5ghz processor will be enough.

[minus-sign]

I've heard of people suffering through with as weak as a 2.2. A 2.5 will probably get the job done.

Your first look should be toward 64bit Operating Systems for the extra RAM requirements, RAM speed (nothing less than 1066; anything higher is better) on a board with a good fast hard drive and Vcard. I'd suggest an AMD AM2 build for a budget purchase. An Athlon would do you, a Phenom II would do you better.

[how900]

Hi thanks a lot, i been having a poke about on the internet to see what i'm looking at, if you happen to come across anything you think might be suitable, and wanted to post a link to it that would be great. It a bit of a minefield out there. Any help would be much appreciated.

[how900]

OK so now i've decided to go for a new PC I'm looking something to last me for a while, so I'm looking at 2.4-2.6ghz Intel quad core, 4gb ram, 1gb graphics card and 2 x sata HD's, 600watt psu, my question is relating to HD video capture,
Is there a special type of Graphics card or video card designed for capturing HD video or will any card be ok, my budget is approx 150pounds/200US, (unless there is something which is worth spending more) should I be using a dedicated card for the job or just use a good gaming type card.
Cheers
How900