Advice for upgrading system

[Hp61]

I first want to say that I love this community and tip my hat to all the members who have posted comments, question and advice.

I am new to video editing (but very keen) and own an AVCHD camcorder and Premiere Elements 8. My computer system needs to be updated and I have chosen to upgrade my system as opposed to staring from scratch.

Here is what I am starting with (BIOS and drivers are up to date):

CPU: AMD 64 3.0 GHz (dual core)
Motherboard: Asus M2N SLI Deluxe
Video Card: 2 - NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT OC 256MB — SLI’d

What I am adding:

RAM: 8 gigs
Hardrive: 2 x 1 TB SATA (RAID O) and 500 gig SATA internal (or external through an eSATA)

My question is; do I really need a quad core processor (for AVCHD editing)?
And which operating system works best with PE8?

I am looking at XP (which I have) or Vista (my video cards are not windows 7 compatible). Would you recommend a 32 bit or 64 bit OS? Is there problems running this program on a 64 bit OS?

Any other comments would be welcome, and thanks to all for taking the time to respond.

Shawn

[Bob]

Welcome Shawn!

I am looking at XP (which I have) or Vista (my video cards are not windows 7 compatible). Would you recommend a 32 bit or 64 bit OS? Is there problems running this program on a 64 bit OS?

You said you were adding 8GB RAM. You will need a 64 bit OS in order to use that much RAM. 32 bit systems can only address 4GB.

Don't install Windows XP 64 bit. That is a dead end that never gained much support and few vendors actually provided 64 bit drivers. Use either Vista 64 bit or Windows 7 64 bit. Windows 7 would be preferable. Why do you say your video card is not windows 7 compatible? Have you run the Windows 7 upgrade advisor?

I'm running Premiere Elements 7 on Windows 7 64-bit with no problems. Version 8 should be fine on either Vista or Windows 7. Version 8 has had some problems out of the starting gate, be sure to install the recent patch.

do I really need a quad core processor (for AVCHD editing)?

How patient are you? AVCHD takes considerable system resources to process. You don't absolutely need a quad, but your processing times will be very long and your performance will be a slug. You probably won't be happy. One effective workaround is to convert the avchd footage to a lossless intermediate codec that is far less taxing. Cineform Neoscene is often recommend.

[Paul LS]

A good suggestion from Bob to convert to an intermediate codec. You could convert your clips to HDV MPEG2 using PE7 it self and then re-import them for editing. PE7 handles HDV MPEG2 natively so no sluggishness when playing the timeline.

[Hp61]

Bob and Paul — Thanks for the feedback. I am going to run the Windows update advisor program to see. When I bought the second video card the guy who sold it to me told me that it wasn’t compatible with Windows 7. I assumed he new what he was saying, sigh. He probably never updated the drivers and is still using the ones on the original installation CD. You know what they say about when you assume, you make an ASS out of U and ME. But, if he is right I think that I will hunt down a version of Windows Vista 64. I will probably partition my hard drive and run two operating systems on it. XP and Vista 64 (or 7 64).
Also, I was never aware of Neoscene, thanks for the tip. It looks like an interesting program. I was afraid of converting files and losing the definition.

[Steve Grisetti]

Hi, Shawn! Glad you found your way to Muvipix! Didn't I tell you you'd find lots of great advice here?

As for converting your video -- you should not see any loss of quality in going from AVCHD to HDV -- But you should find HDV much easier to work with on your computer.

This month's Steve's Tips article just happens to be about converting video to more efficient formats. You'll find it among our abundance of February media, tutorials and other helps on the ever-growing Muvipix products page.
http://muvipix.com/products.php

[Chuck Engels]

Hi Shawn, Welcome to Muvipix

Just a thought but you might end up spending more upgrading your system than just purchasing a new quad core system out of the box. You can get a pretty nice computer for under $800 these days.

[Hp61]

Thanks Chuck - You are so right. I do like to "tinker" with computers and enjoy upgrading, but it can be cheaper to get it out of the box.

[roadsideron]

One of the most important things overlooked when considering a pre-built system as opposed to a home built system is the motherboard. Everything, and I mean everything is channeled through that motherboard. It's the most overworked and important piece of equipment in the system. Not all Quad core systems are created equal. I build systems all the time and I've taken out a Quad core cpu from one motherboard manufacturer and placed it in a different one and saw quite a bit of difference in motherboards. Most pre-built systems taunt the Quad aspect of the system, but never tell you what it's plugged into, and that could make a big difference on performance and stability. I'm not saying don't buy pre-built, just know that it could make or break a system.

[VernonRobinson]

Also, at the risk of starting a war, I would recommend that you stay with the Intel processors. They have a definite performance lead over the AMD offerings.

-Vernon

[George Tyndall]

You can get a pretty nice computer for under $800 these days.

For example (with a $200 rebate that expires soon, possibly today), for a penny under $800:

- Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
- Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-750 quad-core processor [2.66GHz, 1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache]
- FREE UPGRADE! 6GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [3 DIMMs] from 4GB
- FREE UPGRADE! 640GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive from 500GB
- 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4350 [DVI, HDMI, VGA adapter]
- LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
- Integrated 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) Ethernet, No wireless LAN
- 15-in-1 memory card reader, 1 USB, 1394, audio
- Integrated 7.1 channel sound with front audio ports
- HP multimedia keyboard and HP optical mouse
- Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
- Norton Internet Security(TM) 2010 - 15 month

[Hp61]

Guys - thanks so much and really appreciate all the advice. You have been giving me so much to think about. Why is it though when I purchase something new (i.e. a new camcorder) it ends up costing me more to up-grade/replace my computer to appreciate it? (LOL)

One last question - when editing your video's, is their any advantage to having 2 hard-drives in a RAID 0 (striped discs) configuration. Or does it matter at all?

[Chuck Engels]

RAID doesn't really do a lot for video editing. Disks are so large and fast now that it really doesn't add anything. In most cases I think you are better off with separate drives, one for programs and the OS and the other for media and projects.

If this was a database application and it was reading and especially writing to the drives constantly it would probably be an advantage. But most of the work is in rendering and that is a CPU intensive process more than anything. The best thing you can do for yourself is get the fastest processor (or two ) you can afford.

I have two Dual Core Xeons, can't imagine what two Quad Core processors would be like !!

[Bobby]

Hi Shawn - nice to meet you.

RAID 0 can give you a significant performance boost, but only in disk-bound applications. Video editing is processor bound - there isn't that much disk activity that goes on except during the fairly short and intense time when it is copying files.

The downside is that a RAID striped volume can't be read individually. If you had a Windows crash, for example, and wanted to read the drive in another PC it would be difficult.

For video, I recommend not using it. Odd to say that, as the PC I am typing this on now is RAID 0!

[Hp61]

Chuck and Bobby — Thanks for the response. I really appreciated your advice and recommendations. I am looking for ideas in maximizing my current system, … , until I build the dream machine.

Chuck- I had to laugh at your comment about running two quad-core processors. I think you could go back in time it would be so fast! With that said you guys might get a kick out of this. My buddy is an aerospace engineer and has done some work with NASA on various Shuttle and satellite projects. A year or two back, he was working on, something or other, for the Space Shuttle’s Canada Arm. Guess what processor they use to power the arm? ----- A “386”!!! When I was in university I had a “486” and that was blow your mind fast at the time. Anyway, he had to hire a summer student to try and buy as many old 386 computers that they could find (i.e. ebay, craigslist) in order to develop and test the program. Bobby, hang onto that TRS-80!!!

Anyway, thanks again for your help.

[Peru]

Guess what processor they use to power the arm? ----- A “386”!!! When I was in university I had a “486” and that was blow your mind fast at the time.

We still have a desktop here at work with a 486 that is in use. It's the most stable machine I've ever used.