Building Computer for Video Editing

[MN-Man]

I am starting to build a computer for converting my home movies into DVDs, and plus my current system is ancient. I don't want to spend a lot of money, but want a quality system. Here is a list of what I am purchasing so far. Any suggestions for a video card.

ASUS nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU, Model "A7N8X-E

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - Retail

Canopus ADVC-100 (for capture, per DVDRheld.com)

Thanks in advance

[tgxiii]

From what others have told me, the video card does not really play a big role when you're capturing video. You just need a good video CAPTURE card.

I know it costs more, but would it be possible for you to get an Intel CPU? P4s are better than Athlons when doing capturing and rendering.

[sfw1960]

AIW Radeon 9600 Pro , is THAT good enough quality??
hehehe .......

[Redwolf]

Also, get LOTS of hard drive space! And I mean LOTS! Like at least 100GB. It's not all that expensive anymore though.

Then you need Windows 2000 or Windows XP. Windows 98 will absolutely NOT work, since you will be working with files over 2 GB large. Linux could technically work, but most of the video editing programs are written specifically for windows.

I would suggest getting a serparate video card and capture card.

I'd also suggest along w/ Redwolf's recommendation, that you get HDD's w/ 8MB cache for you video editing. Not necessarily the one the holds the OS, just the video files. I'd also do a RAID0 setup for them.

[teengeek88]

make sure u have 1 GB of ram... i do a little editing on 512 and it works but lags a little....if its specifically made for video editing id get 1 gb for sure

Go with the Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe cause i believe that come with firewire as well, which is good for video editing with a DV camcorder

[smurffart]

besides lots of ram, a couple of these in a raid array would be nice for working with video files....

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...alog=14&depa=0

[HeadBand]

i would second the p4 if you can afford it a 2.8C is probobly the best bang for your buck on a p4 or mabey a 2.8e if you want to OC

also you can get a 160 gig hd for like $120 just make sure to get an 8mb cache

[teengeek88]

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...116-174&DEPA=0

check it out.... good price!!

[Virus]

What you really need is a good VCR. I had a friend who was going to start a business of converting home movies to VCD/SVCD/DVDs. He started out with a consumer level VCR and had problems with the audio falling behind the video (or was it the other way around). He had to get a VCR that could keep the audio and video in sync. I forget the exact name for the feature. His other problem was finding a HD that could maintain 32Mb/s (don't quote me on this value) transfers across the whole drive. His 40Gb maxtor couldn't cut it and he had to get a SCSI drive and controller. Now days the larger IDEs drives should be fast enough. Check out StorageReview.com to see which drives can achieve that with ease.

The VIA chipsets may still have a problem with PCI transfer speeds. So I would stay away from them. The nforce chipsets should be good, but their SW IDE driver is still a little buggy. Everyone I know in audio/video editing swears by SIS chipset.

As for video capture cards. You can spend $50 - $5,000 on a capture card. It all depends on the quality and features you want. If you aren't a gamer that upgrades your card every year, then the ATI and Sapphire AIW cards should be good enough for your needs. The general rules are stay away from USB based capture devices and Power Color cards.