Computer Recommendation

[droht]

I need/want to upgrade my PC. Currently have very modest Intel Core 2 [email protected] GHz; 2GB DDR.

I don't do much with this thing. Mostly a web browser and music playback device. But I am doing more photography-related stuff lately, and want to be able to easily edit HD video. I think that will be one thing I do that requires PC to have some additional power/speed.

I would also like to upgrade TV viewing. I currently have a built in tuner, which works fine, but is less than ideal on my 22" LG L226W analog display. Any good choices for HD tuner? Maybe I will need a 1080P monitor then as well?

Any thoughts or recommendations for base system? I'm looking to buy, not build. Budget is flexible, but I'm not looking to buy more than I need.

Thanks!

[django1]

I came across this:

Videoguys Budget NLE Workstation
DIY6 Core 2 Quad Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 or faster 4.0GB DDR2
(2 x 2GB) WinXP Pro or Vista 64 512GB+ ATI, nVidia or Quadro FX1700+ 250GB 7200 RPM 500GB (2x250)
SATA RAID 7200 RPM Dual 19"+ LCDs

Videoguys DIY7 Core i7
8-core Workstation Intel i7 920 or fafster 12.0GB DDR3
(6 x 2GB) Vista 64 or
Windows 7 64 bit 512GB+ ATI, nVidia or Quadro FX1800+ 1TB 7200 RPM 2TB (2x1000)
SATA RAID 7200 RPM Dual 20"+ LCDs

Videoguys "Ultimate" Dual Quad-Core Dream System Dual Quad-Core Xeon 12GB
(6 x 2GB) Vista 64 or
Windows 7 64 bit Quadro FX3800 1TB 7200 RPM 4TB (4x1000)
SATA RAID 7200 RPM Dual 20"+ LCDs


here: http://www.videoguys.com/Guide/E/Vid...ce243a6c6.aspx

Stereodude has the Q6600 and can probably comment on it .

[Stereodude]

I need/want to upgrade my PC. Currently have very modest Intel Core 2 [email protected] GHz; 2GB DDR.

I don't do much with this thing. Mostly a web browser and music playback device. But I am doing more photography-related stuff lately, and want to be able to easily edit HD video. I think that will be one thing I do that requires PC to have some additional power/speed.

I would also like to upgrade TV viewing. I currently have a built in tuner, which works fine, but is less than ideal on my 22" LG L226W analog display. Any good choices for HD tuner? Maybe I will need a 1080P monitor then as well?

I would suggest a HDHomeRun and keeping your current computer. Until you try editing HD video you won't know if it's powerful enough or not. My experience with video editing is that it's almost entirely limited by Hard Drive speed. The processor in the system is basically irrelevant.

If you're trying to transcode HD video from one format to another then processor speed matters, but transcoding video is a great way to degrade the image quality so that's not usually part of "video editing".

Back to my point... If your current system doesn't cut it you can see why. You'll find out if it's processor limited, or disk limited and can get a new PC that's much more specialized for the software you want to run and how you plan to use it.

[etcarroll]

droht -

I'd have to second Stereodude's post. I recently got the HDHR, it's nice, and pushes the tv out to your network, so you can watch across your network, if you have one. And I have the same cpu in my WHS box, it's ok if you're not going to do anything massively cpu intense.

Also, the quad 6600 isn't for sale anywhere, I just grabbed one on ebay to replace the C2D 6300, only to find my mobo didn't like it. So built a new client with it running Win7 x64 to play with, but I'll eventually go back to my WHS box and try again. Still, for now, the 6300 works fine.

[droht]

Thanks for the input guys. I will check out the HDHR products.

I think I should clarify a bit. My priority is editing HD vid in AVCHD format. Stuff I'm shooting on vid cam. Not talking Cameronesque movie making editing, just basic stuff of pulling out the best parts of clips and splicing them together. Using Adobe Premiere Elements 7 at the moment.

For SD video my machine just struggles. Very slow; with the occasional lock up. I have zero patience when it comes to staring at a display and waiting for something to happen, so even if I can get by with what I have hardware-wise I'd like it to be able to run through task a bunch quicker, if possible.