New Computer

Post all your general non-film related PC and Mac stuff here.

Moderators: Admin, Moderator Team

Post Reply
User avatar
Lee
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 146
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2003 5:20 pm
Location: East Midlands, England

New Computer

Post by Lee »

Hi all!

I'm getting a new computer soon and I have seen one I am interested in.
Here are the specifications:


Processor: Intel Pentium 4 Processor with HT Technology (3.00GHz, 1MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB)

Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Memory: 512MB Dual Channel DDR2 RAM

Monitor: 17" Analogue Flat Panel Monitor (17.0" v.i.s)

Hard Drive: 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)

Optical Drive: 16x DVD+/-RW Drive


I want to know if it is this is good and if it is suitable for home editing.

Lee
'Sod the candles, I'm in love.'
User avatar
jcdenton
Posting Freak
Posting Freak
Posts: 266
Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2005 9:46 pm
Location: Switzerland

RE: New Computer

Post by jcdenton »

That sounds pretty good. Although you may add some harddisks, 1*160 GB isn't a lot. you'll probably use the entire space for editing uncompressed material of one little project. (Also make sure the power supply has enough capacy: it will melt down with less than 150 Watts when you connect EG. 2 CD/DVD Drives plus 2 Harddisks). Best try to get one with 300 watts, so you can add a lot of devices.

I think maybe it's a good idea to buy a harddisk for each project, so in the end all you have to do is replace the harddisc, instead of burning a dozen of DVDs.

Depending on the Tools you are going to use 512 MB Ram is a bit tight. But it may be enough for most apps. I'd also recommend to use Tools that are known to be FAST.

you didn't say anything about your graphics card. The card may be important too, depending on the Software you are using. More and more Apps utilize the 3D Hardware power to process 2D tasks. EG: mixing, rotating and scaling images is lightning fast with the 3D hardware, it also won't waste any CPU power. I think Canopus is using it (?)

Then I want to mention: you SHOULD calibrate your LCD Monitor because they oftenly tend to have bad Gamma, Contrast and Brightness default settings. So you would edit something, just to find out that it looks horrible on a TV or on a Printer.
Last edited by jcdenton on Sun Mar 27, 2005 7:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Truggy
Forum Addict
Forum Addict
Posts: 886
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 12:49 pm
Location: GR Michigan
Contact:

RE: New Computer

Post by Truggy »

nah, i have a 120 gig drive, it does fine for my editing, i just sunk another fan into my tower, and overclocked to 3.2 ghz, its gr8, but one thing i suggest, is get 1 gig of ram, very good for editing / gaming.
[url=http://profile.xfire.com/xerojohny88][img]http://miniprofile.xfire.com/bg/bg/type/0/xerojohny88.png[/img][/url]
--
Dance Dance Revolution: Proving white people dont have rhythm since 1998
User avatar
Lee
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 146
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2003 5:20 pm
Location: East Midlands, England

RE: New Computer

Post by Lee »

Do any of you recommend USB Memory Flash Cards to up the memory?
'Sod the candles, I'm in love.'
Clarence
Posting Freak
Posting Freak
Posts: 453
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2005 2:15 am
Location: Boston, MA

RE: New Computer

Post by Clarence »

USB Flash Cards have limited space, up to 1GB , I think. I'd reccommend one of those Lacie External Storage drives, they aren't very expensive and they can hold tons of files. I'd use that to put all the movie stuff on, and the memory that came on the computer for everything else (word documents, pictures, music, etc.) I had 512 mb of memory; it may seem like a lot but uncompressed movie files are HUGE.
User avatar
Lee
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 146
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2003 5:20 pm
Location: East Midlands, England

RE: New Computer

Post by Lee »

I just kad a look at the LaCie UK website and I found these hard drives:

80Gb for £65.00
160Gb for £87.00
200Gb for £102.00
250Gb for £116.00
400Gb for £265.00

Which is the best to choose from considering that I have a small budget?
'Sod the candles, I'm in love.'
Clarence
Posting Freak
Posting Freak
Posts: 453
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2005 2:15 am
Location: Boston, MA

RE: New Computer

Post by Clarence »

Well, I'd go with the 160 GB...
UFProductions
Forum Veteran
Forum Veteran
Posts: 1479
Joined: Sun Apr 18, 2004 5:12 am
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

RE: New Computer

Post by UFProductions »

Yeah, 160 has been fine for me, unless you plan on doing feature length work it sholud work out cool. And a gig of RAM will make such a difference in just about every aspect of computing.
Losing consciousness,
in the arms of an angel,
I find only peace.
Grant
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 2982
Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2002 3:24 am
Location: Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Contact:

RE: New Computer

Post by Grant »

I would up the ram also
Post Reply