Edcase

Right, it has been very very long time since I last bought myself a PC. I have always previously inherited them from work, and as an ex-game developer they have always been high specification.

however I am now in need of a new one for home use.

I no longer use the PC for gaming as its core use, however it still needs to be able to handle titles like GTR2, but the main use will be video editing (track day and mountain bike bullet-cam footage) and photo editing (DSLR).

considering how busy I am, time = money, So although I know I will get the best bang for buck if I build myself, I just don't have the time or inclination.

We use dell throughout the office, and from having a quick browse you seem to be able to build some pretty good specifications, with raid and stripe etc. but the price also ends up being pretty monster once it is at a reasonable specification.

does anybody have any other suggestions, any recommendations regarding specifications for video and photo editing, and also my main question, recommendations of flat panel monitors for photo and video editing regarding colour accuracy and management.

I have been looking at the new dell:

http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna...aspx&sku=52657

but its just too much money for the amount of use it will get!

ed

D16GER

I suggest if you don't want to build your own, then have a look at Mesh

They are consistently ranked in the top 3 almost every single month in PCPro Mag. Some good deals to be had, and decent warranty too.

EDIT - For the uses you describe, you will definately want at least an AMD X2 processor, makes video editing etc a breeze as it will only need 1 of the 2 cores available, leaving the other free for you to edit photos etc.

Edcase

thx, presumably a good size raid stripe will help access times to the drive when editing too?

And at least 2gb ram?

Edcase

this seems to tick most of the boxes right away...

http://www.meshcomputers.com/Default...DUCT&KEY=72756

D16GER

That's a cracking looking system!!! Excellent spec, and the latest GPU to boot!! That would absolutely fly.

As for Raid, yes a bit quicker, but not worth it IMHO. With that processor and Ram, you should have no speed issues at all.

Beefy

If moneys not an issue then you cant beat Alienware. I got one 2.5 yrs ago, and yes it was pricey when i got it, but it still plays anything on the market games-wise, and is excellent for video and photo editing.

Edcase

DrEvil

Ed - if you gonna keep a lot of data online with out any (or many backups) then think about RAID1 (2x500Mb drives that mirror each other) - will help protect your data.

As for the spec - blinding

Edcase

Hi Alex,

Hope you are well?

I will probably get an external USB2 500gb drive for backups. incredibly cheap nowadays!

cheers
Ed

DrEvil

Yeah, ok bar a few developers being a royal pain in the a$$ today...

Anyhow... good idea re usb storage. They are a bargain at the moment - recommend you look at the Seagate ones.

I'm looking at a linux file server (mirrored) using SAMBA at the moment to securely store my data - not as cheap a solution, but will be wicked for serving the file systems around the house

Iain Young

You don't need raid to do video editing. It will work fine running off a bog standard sata drive (7200rpm preferred).

I'm using a 500gb Sata2 drive in my system for video editing (via premiere), and have everything else (operating system etc) spread over two 250gb sata drives. It is very quick indeed. Will even handle editing hi-def video with no problems.

D16GER

I would say avoid Seagate like STD's

They are not what they once were - far too many failed drives. Just Google and see for yourself.

I would strongly recommend Western Digital. IMO the best HDD maker atm.

Edcase

Iain,

so presumably in that system above the ideal situation would be to install the operating system etc on one drive and store / work with the source information off the other drive?

DrEvil

Swings n roundabouts - Seagate & WD both have good reps - but equally have their fair share of failures.

Touch wood, I've had no issue with my Seagates so far - but a WD drive grenaded itself within a week - I'll still be buying both though in future - pot luck.

PS. Digger you referring to the 7200.8s right? (just been googlin') - as said, never had issues my self.

Iain Young

Yep.

I'm running the os off of one of the 250gb drives, I install my games etc on the other 250gb drive, and I use the 500gb drive for video editing, 3d rendering etc.

Seems to work well

D16GER

Yep, that's the ones. I know of one guy in particular who had 3 out of 4 purchased go boom within a week of each other - and all 3 less than a year old. He was gonna RMA them, but with all 3 going bad, he chose instead to bin them and buy WD.

DrEvil

Ah - explains it - to be honest though, if you google WD you get as many bad'uns. Anyhow, from personal experience the 7200.9s are blinding, speed of these things for the money is amazing - WD Raptors of course are still no.1 to be the first on the battlefield!