Specifications recommendations

[silentheart]

Thanks for the pointers. Much appreciated.

For the Megahertz issue, got the point! From the CPU prices I have, it looks like the law of diminishing returns so E6600 looks to the the cutoff point.

I was going to have a separate data drive from C: drive (for which I put all the OS and programs). I got a bit bogged down with the jargon. Basically, a three hard drive setup is highly advantageous. Either the setup is one drive for OS and 2nd for Cache, 3rd for data drive...OR one drive for OS, 2nd for source and 3rd for output ...OR..2nd and 3rd drive in RAID. Have I got this right? (and this is the support for your recommendation of x2 80Gb drives and the 500Gb data drive)

For the videocard issue, somebody told me the 8600 supports DX10 which is what VISTA uses. The lower cards support DX9 which VISTA doesn't use. Did I get it mixed up somewhere?

Very interesting stuff and thanks for helping me become more informed. I might end up asking some questions twice because I might not have understood the first time round.

FYI, for video editing, stay a way from Vista. DX10 is only needed for Aero interface which takes up to 10% of your resource. Window Vista does use DX9, you just notice see it. Also, the driver are good for those older card. The newer card are still having driver problem. Here is what I will suggest, since you are building a new system and using c2d. the MB will have raid option. For best performance is actually go with 4 drives config (it is more complicated because you need to load 3rd party raid drive during install). Get 2 identical small SATA drives (ie 2X80GB or 2X100GB). Install OS on the raid drive. Get 2 big HD (ie 1X500GB for source and 1X500GB for target). If video editing is important to you, I actually will go with dual boot option. With 2 smaller HD, you can install OS X with 1 drive and Window in the other. By the way, OS X is much faster for video editing if you use Adobe Premier. Also make sure you get 2GB of RAM. Xp will max out at 2 GB and Vista will be fine with 2 GB.

[silentheart]

how did you come to that conclusion??

but the answer is... not yet.

What are you going to do with the old lenses?

[Neil Nicholls]

Have a look at
http://radified.com/index2.html in general
http://radified.com/DV_NLE/dv_nle_1.htm for video editing
http://partition.radified.com/ partitioning strategies
http://ghost.radified.com/ backup strategy

[Marc E]

With photo/video editing nothing is really fast enough so it's all about reducing the bottlenecks, which means paying attention to bus speeds as well as processor speeds.
I would definately go for the E6600 cpu over the E6320 if you can afford it. (Though a Q6600 would be niiice ) Both have a 1Ghz front bus.
Worth remembering that unless a program is written to use both cores it will only use one, so the processor speed will make a difference.
SATA is quicker then PATA but it's the transfer rate of the HD that's the limit in both cases, so do your homework before buying. I'm not up to date with HDs so can't advise but the bigger the cache memory the better.
Last i heard DDR2 8500 was the fastest affordable RAM you could get but i know DDR3 is out, likely to be expensive though. 2Gb is the minimum you should be aiming for but configure it to allow for an upgrade. For example, if you have to slots and get 2x1Gb chips there's no room for expansion, to go to 4Gb you'd have to upgrade both chips which would mean buying 2 x 2Gb chips. If you start with 1x2Gb chip it's slightly more expensive than 2x1Gb but it leaves one slot free, so to go to 4Gb you only have to buy 1 more 2Gb chip, as opposed to 2 more.
Video cards, Make sure you get a dedicated card as opposed to using any onboard integrated graphics as the integrated graphics are inherently slow, a 16Mb dedicated card will outperform 128Mb intergrated graphics. Get the fastest card with the most RAM you can afford but it won't make rendering any quicker so don't go overboard. Don't forget you want this system to last as long as possible so the more speed you can get now the better, but stick to a budget.
Think that covers it.

Oh, if you're serious about getting the colours right in your photos you'll want a decent, configurable monitor and a calibration tool, but that's a whole other topic...

[Cheung]

Thanks for the advice!

Regarding the RAM it's usually DDR2 667 that is advertised. Assuming I will go E6600, would there be much difference with DDR2 800 or 1066? I'm not sure of the price difference between the different RAMs yet.

Secondly, I will get a motherboard with 4 slots for RAM. Is it possible to just fill 1 slot with 1x2Gb RAM as opposed to 2x1Gb?

If DDR3 is so new, I am unlikely to use it. My present computer uses RAMBUS which was used as a selling point - it turned out to be a poor choice.

[kwun]

I got the brochure for the Mark III last and 'accidently' left it lying around in an obvious position....

did it work? do you want me to send you mine? two may be better than one. put one in the bedroom also.

[kwun]

the bigger the disks the better your backup strategy needs to be

how about
http://www.freecom.com/objects/00009348.pdf

i gave my disk issue a fair bit of thought. but still haven't come up with a good solution yet.

i have two 300GB disks right now. they are RAID1'ed and there is a grand total of 350MB left in them right now.

500GB disks are cheap now. US$110 + tax.

i just got one for emergency as i have no space to download my photos.

my current plan is to get one more and RAID1 the two 500GB.

the question then is what to do with my 300GB disks?

i can put them in one of those enclosures. but i already have RAID1. the external enclosure is slower (USB/FW) and also cost $$. maybe for backing up other things.

just seems wasteful to have 600GB of disks lying around and not put them to good use.

[Cheung]

did it work? do you want me to send you mine? two may be better than one. put one in the bedroom also.

Or do you want me to send you the chinese version as well so no chance of misinterpretation?

[Cheung]

i gave my disk issue a fair bit of thought. but still haven't come up with a good solution yet.

i have two 300GB disks right now. they are RAID1'ed and there is a grand total of 350MB left in them right now.

500GB disks are cheap now. US$110 + tax.

i just got one for emergency as i have no space to download my photos.

my current plan is to get one more and RAID1 the two 500GB.

the question then is what to do with my 300GB disks?

i can put them in one of those enclosures. but i already have RAID1. the external enclosure is slower (USB/FW) and also cost $$. maybe for backing up other things.

just seems wasteful to have 600GB of disks lying around and not put them to good use.

Can't you just keep the 300Gb in the computer and when they fill up to 250Gb, use the 500Gb as an external backup?

[kwun]

Or do you want me to send you the chinese version as well so no chance of misinterpretation?

nah. i don't need mine anymore.

[Cheung]

how did you come to that conclusion??

but the answer is... not yet.

And

Quote:
"Originally Posted by Cheung View Post
Or do you want me to send you the chinese version as well so no chance of misinterpretation?"
nah. i don't need mine anymore.

Wow, you've ordered it already. Great! Congratulations! See you in HK later this year.

[kwun]

Can't you just keep the 300Gb in the computer and when they fill up to 250Gb, use the 500Gb as an external backup?

the 300GB already filled up to capacity right now.

[kwun]

i gave my disk issue a fair bit of thought. but still haven't come up with a good solution yet.

i have two 300GB disks right now. they are RAID1'ed and there is a grand total of 350MB left in them right now.

500GB disks are cheap now. US$110 + tax.

i just got one for emergency as i have no space to download my photos.

my current plan is to get one more and RAID1 the two 500GB.

the question then is what to do with my 300GB disks?

i can put them in one of those enclosures. but i already have RAID1. the external enclosure is slower (USB/FW) and also cost $$. maybe for backing up other things.

just seems wasteful to have 600GB of disks lying around and not put them to good use.

something that dawns on me.

if i RAID0 the two 300GB, i get 600GB. and then i can use some backup software to back it up into the 500GB regularly.

then i get the speed of RAID0 and a no hassle backup.

will that work?

[silentheart]

something that dawns on me.

if i RAID0 the two 300GB, i get 600GB. and then i can use some backup software to back it up into the 500GB regularly.

then i get the speed of RAID0 and a no hassle backup.

will that work?

Yes, also, you might want to look into this enclosure.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817716013

USB and eSATA. If you have a spare internal ind SATA header this will work. I just got this thing and now I don't need enclosure for SATA.

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Ports-SATA-to-...QQcmdZViewItem

[Neil Nicholls]

if i RAID0 the two 300GB, i get 600GB. and then i can use some backup software to back it up into the 500GB regularly.

Is this going to be your boot drive? Is this Windows XP system RAID rather than a separate RAID controller?

P.S. I'm no expert, but interested.

[kwun]

Is this going to be your boot drive? Is this Windows XP system RAID rather than a separate RAID controller?

P.S. I'm no expert, but interested.

my motherboard has built in RAID. so it is a hybrid solution.

the boot drive is a small 40G disk.

[kwun]

Yes, also, you might want to look into this enclosure.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817716013

USB and eSATA. If you have a spare internal ind SATA header this will work. I just got this thing and now I don't need enclosure for SATA.

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Ports-SATA-to-...QQcmdZViewItem

the external eSATA thingy looks interesting.

but for now, i am trying to keep all the disk inside the main case. i don't trust myself with too many dangling cables.