Advice for mid-range video work PC

[Keyper]

Okay guys so currently have a Dell Dimension 8200 that it's just about to turn 10 years old. This thing is pretty pathetic but it's been a workhorse for me.

So what I'm trying to do is get the basics for a really solid video editing machine. You'll notice on my list there's no Graphics of sound card. At this point even the onboard stuff is going to be a step up from the standard issue Dell graphics from 10 years ago. I plan to get a good card later & bump the RAM up to 8gb.

I'm planning on running Vista based on most of what I have read about XP having limited ability to see RAM above 3gb. Is that true? For a Quad core is it going to be good idea for me to go with a 64bit version?

So here's my part list, any advice/alternatives are appreciated:


CPU: AMD Phenom X4 9550 Quad core
Phenom X4 9550

Motherboard: XFX nForce 750a
XFX nforce 750

RAM: Kingston PC6400 800MHz 4GB DDR2
Kingston RAM 4gb

HD: Seagate 1.5 TB
Seagate 1.5TB

Power Supply: Cooler Master 600W
Cooler Master 600w

CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Ruby Orb (It's pretty!)
Ruby Orb

Case: Cooler Master 690
Cooler Master 690

Thanks for your time guys! Please don't laugh at me too hard if I've made some mistakes here. I've built PCs before but only from bundles & kits. This is my first experience starting from scratch.

 

[xthekidx]

The case you chose is excellent...the rest not so much. Back to the drawing board.

So how much can you spend exactly? Here is what I would do I think:

HDD: WD1001FALS more reliable HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284&Tpk=wd1001fals

PSU: Antec Earthwatts EA650 much higher quality and a great deal right now with free shipping (saves you like $10 on top of the discount already)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015&Tpk=ea650

MB/CPU: Better onboard graphics, much more reliable and overclockable chipset, and MUCH better CPU than that 9550 you were looking at...old Phenoms are bad.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.183465

Ram: G skill 4gb DDR2-1066
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

CPU cooler (that cooler you picked is only good for low profile cases, yours is not. Get a real CPU cooler) Scythe Mugen 2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185093

 

[Keyper]

Awesome, this is exactly why I came here. I was looking at the newer phenoms but I got really frustrated trying to find a 125 watt mobo that had lots of expansion space for a good price.

The setup I listed above was going to run me about $670 & it looks like this will cost me about $650. I'm going to get the case from a local store so I won't have to pay shipping on that.

Thanks again for all your help! I'll be back with some updates.

Am I correct in my understanding that 64bit Vista is the way to go?

 

[xthekidx]

Yes Vista 64 FTW.

 

[Keyper]

So I read some of the reviews of the mobo on New Egg & it appears that there aren't 64 bit drivers for some of the onboard graphics features. The person who wrote the review suggested that with a PCIe graphics card everything works fine.

So my new question is, since I'm going to be doing video editing what price range should I be looking at for the video card? From what I understand the really high end cards are intended for gamers. Would there big a benefit for me to go with an expensive card or can I get away with something in the $75 range?

I was looking at Graphics card reviews here and I found the PNY Gforce 9500 for $60 at Newegg. It's listed at about a 3rd of the way down the hierarchy list in Graphic card article which seems pretty good to me. Would there be a noticable improvment if I paid about $10 more & went with the Radeon 4670 instead?

 

[xthekidx]

The 4830 gives you get best performance for the price right now, its about $10 more than the 4670 and has twice the shader processing cores (effectively twice the processing power).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102822

Although an Nvidia would probably be the best option for a GPU as they tend to be better at assisting in video editing. The gtx 260 is what I would aim for if you can fit it in your budget, the Nvidia GT200 processor is the best gpu for assisting in video editing.