Questions

[cvol]

Hi there, I've been lurking around the forums for some time now. I'm going insane over all the research into my upcoming computer purchase. I've scoured the internet, looked at many different vendors, read the reviews and the compass keeps pointing to MainGear. I could post my wish list of components but the budget is crippling me. I really want the quad e6600 but it is a budget buster.(got $2200 to spend)I 'm focused on the Prelude series but I need your opinion. I would be using the computer primarily for digital video editing on a consumer level, (looking a Pinnacle Studio DV 10.x), digital photo editing (Photoshop CS). General home use as well. I'm not a big gamer but need a stout enough card to play the current titles. Storage is a big need as an average 1 hour encoded edited video sucks up 12gb of space so I'm figuring 2-500gb HDD. Would the Western Digital 150gb Raptor serve me well or is it overkill? Would the OS run faster on a Raptor ??
I'm just curious what your opinions are!
Suggestions welcomed!
Thanks

[theDreamer]

Evening, so budget is the concern well lets see what I can pull out for your:


Customizations:
Exterior Automotive Color:
Silver Aluminum Finish

Power Supply:
MAINGEAR 750W Ultra Quiet Power Supply

Motherboard:
Asus P5N-E SLI nForce 650i SLI

Processor:
Q6600 Core 2 Quad

$443.75
CPU Cooling:
Intel Quiet CPU Cooler

Memory:
2GB Corsair DDR2 PC5300 DDR667 (2x1024MB)

$112.50
Hard Drive One:
Western Digital Raptor Enterprise 150GB 10K RPM 16MB Cache - SATA

$210.37
Hard Drive Two:
Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache - SATA II

$149.99
Optical Drive One:
16X DVD-ROM - Black

Video Card:
NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB PCIe

$357.50
Sound Card:
Onboard 8-channel High Definition Audio

Network Card:
Dual Gigabit LAN

Game:
FREE! Guild Wars: Factions PC Game

Operating System:
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (32-Bit)

$100.00
Warranty:
1 Year Maingear Warranty

Reconfigure Prelude Core
Product Subtotal: $2,482.97

~Now I know I am over budget but we could easily make some changes. Could go with a different version of Vista, might be able to go with a 8800GTS (320) yet I do not know how much memory in the GPU you need for video editing overall.

Also, I do not want to deter from MG sales, but you can always purchase your system with a single raptor drive and add a single 500gb drive of your own choosing which can save you some money...Also if you want you can always buy a terabyte drive if you want.

Finally, this setup only comes with on-board sound which might cause problems if you are planing on needing good sound quality then you might need to upgrade that, but if all you want is video then onboard will work perfectly. Also sound has been an issue in Vista for awhile, while it is becoming better with every update on drivers side onboard can work perfectly for you maybe.

Any other questions just ask. :D

[cvol]

Thanks for the reply Dreamer! Will I get more speed from the OS using a Raptor? I can only assume that it will help to cut my encoding time. My current machine just isn't up to the task as it takes 4 hours to get final output to DVD. It is the encoding that takes the most time and if I have extensive editing (transitions, wipes etc.) it only prolongs the time. My Athlon XP 2000+ with 1 gb ram is tired. Would there be a substantial savings in time using a quad core processor vs. dual core? There is some savings if I step down to a duo core and would allow me to add a sound card and perhaps a 500gb second drive or substitute the Raptor with another 500gb drive.
I wonder what the mean time failure rate is for the Raptor? Over the course of 5 years with my current machine I've had 3 drive failures and I'm concerned that the Raptor wouldn't last long given it's 10,000 rpm speed or am I just being paranoid?
Another question, when will system bus speeds be increased to 1,333 mhz?
Is this achieveable now if one overclocks the system??
Thanks again for the response!!

[carsonmd]

If your encoding software is multi-threaded, then the more CPUs (or CPU cores) the better.

Intel will officially launch the 1333 FSB processors in July. With this launch Intel is also supposed to reduce prices on exisiting dual and quad core CPUs. If you want a Q6600 (like me), I would wait until then. The price of the Q6600 is supposed to be cut by 50% ($530 to $266).

[cvol]

Sweet, thanks for the info carsonmd! Where did you find this info? I am anxious but I can wait one more month. I would be really PO'ed if I made a purchase only to find out 2 weeks later prices dropped.

[theDreamer]

The failure rate on the raptors are actually very very low, the 36gb version was a horrible hard drive, but MG does not offer it. The 150gb will increase launch time of a program, OS boot ups, along with individual program items depending on what you are doing. Other things that will help quick things up are the ram choices you choose, the CPU, if your programs take use of Quad then go for it, if not at all or "in the future" then go with only Dual and save the money. Also, you could just got with dual and get a good soundcard and your production might only be slowed down by a minor amount.

Also, if you are interested in OC that can help with the speed of your system, but MG does not OC preludes so you need to make sure that if you OC on your own things will still be fine with warranty & such.

On the note of failures, I would get in contact with MG about there coverage during warranty on what they do if you experience any failure. I know during the whole 680i board & ram problems they were very good about shipping out ram to those who ended up having problems.

Hope that helps.

[cvol]

Thanks for the info Dreamer. I'm a little confused when you stated "The 150gb will increase launch time of a program". I thought the time it takes for boot up and program launch would "decrease" due to the faster Raptor HD?
Anyway, I was hoping to future proof myself for the following few years going with a Quad however in light of the upcoming price cuts in July I can only assume that the DuoCores will be reduced as well as the Quads thereby allowing me even more bang for the buck. I suspect that most of the applications that I'll use (other than video editing) would be single threaded negating the need for a Quad. I suppose I'll dwell on this issue a little longer and see what happens in July with MG's pricing structure. I've waited 5 years, I can wait 3 more weeks!

Thanks again for your input and to all who have posted to this thread!!

[theDreamer]

Woah...so sorry about that.
Late night typing responses & studying (HA!) for a test can significantly decrease my ability to type properly.

You are correct that it will decrease launch time.
The price cut I know about, but until it happens I will wait to see.

Also, many times they do a good price cut like this there is going to be a new CPU released (aka Penryn or w/e may be coming out soon). Though the increase is probably not something that is going to be a killer end all be like when dual cores hit the market. As what I am reading, though it will be a very good boost in performance overall.

[cvol]

Yeah, I know about late night typing & studying :)
Another question for you. I see a lot of cheap 22" wide screen monitors out there costing anywhere from 250-330$. I had done some research and apparently some of those monitors are 6 bit vs. 8 bit screens (262,144 colors vs. 16,777,216 colors) Obivously I would want the 8-bit screen. I'm not to thrilled about the wide screen format as I don't plan on watching DVD movies on my computer. Is the Dell 20" Ultrasharp monitor the biggest 4:3 aspect ratio LCD monitor out there? I do a lot of AutoCAD work and a normal aspect ratio would seem to work better using this program. I'm wondering what your opinion on LCD monitors are and if you could suggest a particular manufacturer (unless Dell is the only game in town!)
Thanks

[carsonmd]

Sweet, thanks for the info carsonmd! Where did you find this info? I am anxious but I can wait one more month. I would be really PO'ed if I made a purchase only to find out 2 weeks later prices dropped.

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=7293

Link talking about Intel CPU price reductions. Don't expect to see "Penryn" CPUs until the 4th quarter.

[cvol]

That's some good info carsonmd, thanks for that! I will wait for the quad come July 22. I wonder how long it will take for these savings to show up here at MG?

[theDreamer]

I will lay it down hard then.
They may come right before the new CPUs or they may never come or they may come the day of/after.

You must remember as a company there business goal is to make money, so even though the market (Intel) has lowered its price it does not mean an OEM builder is going to do the same. Maybe not immediately also.


~Also, on your comment of monitors I am not the greatest knowledgeable person on that subject. Though I do know that Dell does not make there own monitors actually. In the sense of the actual panel that is.

Top brands that are doing well currently in the 20-22 inch range.
~Dell
~BenQ
~Samsung
~Acer
The aspect ratio thing can be a bit scary if you have never had a WS monitor. My original monitor was some 17" CRT that I replaced with a very nice 19" the next year. Still have it sitting here next to me, but since I got my laptop & it is WS. I have yet to really utilize the second monitor since it is not WS.

Though another option you could go, especially with the GPU you are picking up, is you could pick up two monitors. Maybe not directly right now, but pick up a WS maybe and try something new and if it does not feel perfect for working then a few months later pick up (or return for) the other. Though if you end up getting both WS & non-WS you could have your normal working monitor & a gaming monitor. :D

[Ella Lythe]

With any program that can be used in a windowed mode (eg most of them) you can just scale your window to use the center portions of the screen. Personally I feel you cannot go wrong using a WS monitor. More area on screen is always a good thing. The WS aspect gives you room to place all your toolbars to the side of the work piece. As far as the quad vs dual core issue. Most of the highend art and drafting software will use multiple cores. You should check with your software manufacturer for what they recommend. BTW welcome to wonderland.

[cvol]

Thanks for the reply theDreamer and Ella! Your right in saying that if I wait for price cuts, something new (processor,video card) will be there for me to spend the potential savings on anyway!
Question, if I get the Raptor, will I need any additional cooling (second fan on HD). I've read that the Raptors run hot given their speed or does the Prelude's case design provide adequate air circulation?
Ella Lythe, I've been thinking a lot about wide screen vs. normal aspect ratio LCD monitors and I see your point as well. I'll have to check them out in person. I'm sure once I've seen a 22"WS I'll buy it :)

[rcb]

Thanks for the reply theDreamer and Ella! Your right in saying that if I wait for price cuts, something new (processor,video card) will be there for me to spend the potential savings on anyway!
Question, if I get the Raptor, will I need any additional cooling (second fan on HD). I've read that the Raptors run hot given their speed or does the Prelude's case design provide adequate air circulation?
Ella Lythe, I've been thinking a lot about wide screen vs. normal aspect ratio LCD monitors and I see your point as well. I'll have to check them out in person. I'm sure once I've seen a 22"WS I'll buy it :)

I've got a Raptor and there's no need for additional cooling. MG's cooling works just fine. However, my personal opinion is that it's not worth the money. I don't notice anything booting or loading faster, despite what the tech reviews say. From what I've read, loading a program is CPU intensive, anyway.

Well, that's my two cents; hope you guys didn't mind me jumping into the middle of this discussion. :oops:

[cvol]

Thanks for your input rcb! I will be dealing with digital video encoding and I was curious if using a Raptor would cut my encoding time?