System struggling with HD video in Premiere

[kcseb]

Hi guys

I'm a video editor in London and am finding that my current system struggles with HD projects. It's a Dell running Premiere CS4, specs are:

Intel Core2 Quad 2.33GHz (Q8200)
Dell 0M017G motherboard
3GB memory (DDR2, PC2-6400)
Vista Home Premium 32-bit
ATI Radeon HD 3650 256MB graphics card
1x WD Caviar 500 GB hard drive (SATA, 16MB Cache, 7200 RPM - Model: WD5000AAKS)

Can anyone recommend some targeted upgrades that'll improve performance? I'm thinking 2 or 3 things that'll make a big difference with stuttery playback and general sluggishness.

Many Thanks

Kevin

 

[tecmo34]

Current System
■CPU: Upgrade to the Q9550, if motherboard supports it
■RAM: Max out the RAM your MOBO supports (8GB roughly?)
■Windows 7 64-bit OS - Allow you to utilize more than 3GB of RAM, which your programs is very helpful
■HDD: Upgrade to the Samsung Spinpoint F3 or Seagate 7200.12 500GB hard drives - New and Faster. Or you could add a SSD drive to your current HDD.

Best Performance - New Platform
■CPU: Intel Core i7 930
■MOBO: ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 - One of the Best X58 motherboards
■RAM: G.SKILL PI Series 12GB (6x2GB) DDR3 1600 Cas7 RAM. - Plenty of RAM to help you out!!
■Windows 7 64-bit OS - Allow you to utilize more than 3GB of RAM, which your programs is very helpful

 

[kcseb]

Hi

Thanks, am planning a dual boot with Windows 7 64-bit and more RAM. Ditto a 2nd drive, will add a good SATA one.

A couple more things...

- the mobo will take something faster than my current Quad but the faster CPUs look pricey...will the cost of a new chip be worth it, or will the perfomance increase be slight?

- GFX card: got the ATI Radeon 3650...seems ok but might an nvidia with more RAM improve things, or not? ?I've heard video editing not so dependent on GFX card

Thanks

Kevin

 

[obsidian86]

dual boot with what ?

 

[tecmo34]

- Here is a comparison between the Q9550 (my recommended upgrade on a LGA 775 socket) and the Core i7 920 (don't have the i7 930 listed)...
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/50?vs=47

Does that justify the cost increase is up to you or not. All around the i7 is better but does a few minutes here or there make a difference for the cost increase to you?

For you Comparision: Q8200 vs i7 920 and Q8200 vs Q9550


- Nvidia cards utilize CUDA, which is helpful in programs like CS4. You should seen a slight improvement going with for example a GT 240

 

[kcseb]

Hi, thanks for the reply...

Dual boot is so I can still run Vista with my old apps, in case of compatibility issues

Re CPU, looking at the figures I can't see that the extra 20% performance is worth the cost at this stage.

Thanks again